[BOOK2]
Friendship built their world. Love will break it open. ❤️
*****
I want her.
I want her more than I've ever wanted anything.
But I can't have her. Because the moment I admit that out loud, the moment I risk everything we've built, I could lo...
{A/N: Song of the Chapter:- Dress by Taylor Swift}
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Three weeks.
That's how long it's been since the hearing — since the day the truth clawed its way out of the dark and dragged every lie into the light.
Harrington feels different now. Calmer, lighter, like the campus itself finally exhaled. Blossoms spill over the stone courtyard walls, bees drifting lazily through the air. The last week of exams has left everything in that in-between haze — half relief, half exhaustion. Students cross the quad with iced coffees sweating in their hands and tote bags stuffed with revision notes they'll never look at again. Laughter hums beneath the May sun.
If you didn't know better, you'd think nothing had ever happened here. But I know better.
The ghosts still linger if you look close enough — faint cracks in the paint, whispers that used to follow Theo through hallways. They don't stare anymore, though. Not after the verdict.
The Vice Chancellor's door is bare, her nameplate gone. Jake Sutton's expulsion email hit every student group chat within minutes. Peyton's suspension followed the next morning — so did the gossip. People whispered about "academic misconduct," about how she'd have to redo every psychology assignment under supervision, about the lecturer who conveniently resigned two days before the review board summoned him.
Karma took its time, but it didn't miss.
I kick off my sandals and sink into the grass behind the Student Union, sunlight warming my skin. Theo's stretched out beside me, hoodie sleeves shoved to his elbows, curls glinting gold in the light. He looks relaxed for the first time in months, fingers trailing lazily through the grass. Becca and Lewis are sprawled a few feet away, their laughter bouncing across the field.
It's been a long time since laughter felt this easy.
"Okay, hear me out," Lewis says, holding up a crisp like a microphone. "If I ever get expelled, I'm going out in style. Full marching band, fireworks, maybe a confetti cannon shaped like my face."
Becca snorts. "You'd get expelled for streaking before you ever managed a parade."
He grins, eyes closed against the sun. "Either way, people would remember me."
Theo flicks a crisp at his chest. "They'd remember the trauma."
I laugh, leaning into Theo's side. "You're all idiots."
"Happy idiots," Becca corrects, slipping off her sunglasses. "And before anyone says it—yes, I'm aware I'm the reason Theo still has a future and Dr. Gillian no longer has a pension."
Lewis sits up and bows dramatically. "All hail Becca Chen, queen of evidence."
She tosses him the empty crisp bag. "If you're going to worship me, at least clean up after yourself."
