5
We were in the middle of our first big review session for the final exams.
During class, Olivia leaned over and asked me to pass a note to Sean, whispering that it was something really important. I didn’t want to, but she looked so genuinely anxious that my resolve softened. I took the folded paper and passed it over.
Sean opened it. My eyes caught a glimpse of the words written inside:
[Your little childhood sweetheart is so much drama. We’ve been broken up this long. How about you consid
er me instead?]
A wave of nausea churned in my stomach.
Sean crumpled the note in his hand without writing a reply.
Olivia quickly scribbled another note and pushed my arm, signaling for me to pass it again. The homeroom teacher was explaining a crucial concept, and I couldn’t afford to be distracted. I pretended not to see her.
Frustrated, Olivia stomped her foot and decided to just throw the note at Sean. But she misjudged the force and the paper wad landed with a soft thwack right on my desk.
I froze. Before I could react, the teacher was already striding toward me. He snatched the note from my
desk.
He read it, and a cold sneer spread across his face. “Alright, class, let’s all hear what’s so, important.” He cleared his throat and read the note aloud in a mocking tone:
“Hey, I’m so great. How about you consider dating me?””
The whole class erupted in laughter.
Chapter 2
19.22
The teacher glared at me. “Ava, where is your head at these days? This is what you’re focused on in my class? ‘I’m so great’?” he sneered. “Tell me, what’s so great about you? Olivia is gorgeous and she doesn’t have these kinds of distracting thoughts. But you? You’re constantly chasing after Sean. Have you no sha-
me?”
I shot up from my seat. “Sir, it wasn’t me! It was Olivia!”
Olivia’s face paled. “No, it wasn’t me, sir,” she said immediately.
The teacher’s frown deepened as he looked back at me. “Ava, if it wasn’t you, who was it? This note was clearly meant for Sean. You think I don’t see you trailing after him all day?”
Sean, meanwhile, was completely unfazed. He was casually twirling a pen, his eyes fixed on the exam paper
the teacher was reviewing. He didn’t look up, didn’t say a word in my defense.
The teacher rapped his knuckles on Sean’s desk. “Sean, stand up. You tell me who passed this to you.”
I looked at him, a desperate hope flickering within me that he would clear my name.
Sean stood up and looked at me, his expression infuriatingly nonchalant. “Ava, you should focus on your studies. Don’t get distracted by crushes. I don’t like girls with bad grades. We’ll let it slide this time, but plea se, put your energy into your schoolwork and stop this nonsense.”
The class started jeering. “Ooooh, the little stalker got rejected!”
I stared at Sean in disbelief. I couldn’t believe he would throw me under the bus like that. He knew Olivia wrote the note. He knew exactly what kind of humiliating position his words would put me in. My reputation, my dignity-none of it mattered to him.
The teacher, who already had it out for me, seized the opportunity. He pointed a finger at me, his voice boo- ming. “You were already out for half a semester, and now you’re wasting your time on this garbage! You’re a student! It’s like you can’t function without a man. Get out! Go run five laps around the track and clear your
head!”
The phantom comments flickered with alarm.
[Oh god, this is it! This is the scene! The teacher makes her run, and Olivia’s friends film it.】
[That bitch Olivia posts the video online with the title, ‘Thirsty Stalker Gets Publicly Rejected, Cries on
Punishment Run.’】
[I remember this! The video went viral. The cyberbullying was brutal. People made disgusting comments about her, saying she was promiscuous. It destroyed her confidence, she got depressed, and her grades tanked.)
【This is so vile. Ruining someone’s reputation is a crime.]
I was about to protest, to fight back. But just then, from the desk behind me, Adrian slowly raised his hand.
“Sir,” he said, his voice calm but firm, cutting through the noise. “You’ve misunderstood. It seems Sean here
Chapter 2
is being a bit presumptuous.”
He paused, letting the silence hang in the air.
“Because that note… was from me. To Ava.”
