XANDER’S POV
I’m in the locker room getting ready for football practice when I hear some guys from the team giggling over someone’s phone. They’re huddled together like they’re looking at something they shouldn’t be.
I assume it’s just another one of their perverted videos or memes, so I ignore them and focus on getting my gear together. Coach will be pissed if we’re late to the field.
I’m halfway to the door when Caleb appears beside me, slapping me on the back with this huge grin on his face.
“Well done, dude,” he says, still grinning. “We saw your real work even though you tried to keep it away from us.”
He laughs, and I can see the other guys smiling and nodding behind him.
I stop walking and block his path, panic starting to rise in my throat. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Caleb looks genuinely surprised by my reaction. “You don’t know?” He shakes his head like he can’t believe it. “Your girl is now a popstar.”
They all start laughing again, and I feel like I’m going to be sick.
“What are you talking about?” I demand, grabbing Caleb’s collar.
“Whoa, calm down, man,” he says, but he’s still smiling. “We’re just congratulating you on finally sealing the deal.”
“What deal?”
“The bet, remember? Getting Aria into bed?”
My blood turns to ice. “What bet?”
“Come on, don’t play dumb. We all saw the proof.”
“What proof?”
Caleb looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Jake, show him the picture.”
Jake holds up his phone, and when I see what’s on the screen, I feel like the world is falling apart.
It’s Aria. Naked. In my bedroom.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, my voice barely audible.
“It’s everywhere, man,” Jake says. “Someone sent it to the football group chat this morning.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. It just started circulating.”
I stagger backward, feeling like I can’t breathe. This can’t be happening. This cannot be happening.
“You okay, dude?” Marcus asks. “You look like you’re gonna puke.”
I don’t answer. I just turn and run out of the locker room, leaving all my gear behind.
I have to find Aria. I have to explain. I have to make this right somehow.
The hallways are mostly empty since classes are still in session, but I can hear whispers following me as I run. People are looking at their phones and laughing.
Everyone knows. Everyone has seen her.
I check her usual spots – the classroom, the art room, her locker. Nothing.
Finally, I see Camile walking down the hallway looking angry and upset.
“Camile,” I call out, jogging over to her.
She turns and sees me, and her expression immediately turns cold.
“Where’s Aria?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she says icily.
“I need to find her. It’s important.”
“I’m sure it is.”
I can tell from her tone that she knows about the picture. She turns around and walks away.
I spend the next twenty minutes searching every corner of the school until I finally find her in the back corner of the library, hidden behind the tall stacks where no one usually goes.
She’s sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chest, crying silently.
“Aria,” I say softly.
She looks up, and when she sees me, her face crumples completely.
“Get away from me,” she whispers.
“I need to explain.”
“There’s nothing to explain.”
I move closer, but she scrambles backward. “Don’t come near me.”
“Aria, please. I didn’t do this.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I didn’t. I would never hurt you like this.”
She laughs, but it’s a broken, bitter sound. “You’re the only one who had that picture.”
“I know how it looks, but—”
“How it looks?” She stands up, wiping her eyes. “Everyone in school has seen me naked. They’re calling me a slut, a whore. Miles is telling everyone I’m a hypocrite for not sleeping with him but sleeping with someone who has shared my pictures everywhere.”
“Miles?”
“He’s the one who showed it to me. Right there in the hallway in front of everyone.”
“Miles has the picture?”
“Everyone has the picture, Xander. Everyone.”
“But I didn’t—”
“You took it,” she says, her voice getting stronger. “You asked me if you could take it, and I said yes because I trusted you.”
“I know, but—”
“I trusted you with something private, something intimate, and you shared it with the whole school.”
“I didn’t share it.”
“Then how does everyone have it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Her voice is getting louder now. “You don’t know how a picture that only existed on your phone ended up being seen by hundreds of people?”
“Aria, I swear to you, I didn’t send that picture to anyone.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Why would I do this to you? Why would I hurt you like this?”
But looking at Aria’s face, at the pain and betrayal in her eyes, I realize it doesn’t matter what I say. She’s already made up her mind.
“I never want to see you again,” she says quietly.
“Aria, please—”
“Stay away from me, Xander. Don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t even think about me.”
She stands up and walks away, leaving me standing there, in total confusion.
30
