Chapter 108
Ellie POV
There’s a shift.
One i felt since the morning.
But especially now.
The way the air in the cafeteria thickens the moment I step inside, like I’ve walked into a room where a fight was about to start and I was center stage.
My leg aches with every step. I favor it without thinking, my limp subtle but unavoidable, and I hate that it makes me feel
smaller.
I’m halfway to the table when it happens.
Cold water slams into my shoulder.
It splashes down my chest, soaking my shirt, dripping onto the floor. I freeze, stunned, as laughter ripples nearby.
“Opps, sorry! Figure you’d wanna cool down after that steamy night!”
Steamy night?
With Dom? How would they know-
Someone across the room meets my eyes and flips me off, bold as anything.
What the???
Whispers chase me as I move again. I hear my name.
I sit down hard, breath shaking, hands clenched in my lap.
Sarah drops into the seat beside me a second later, fury radiating off her in waves.
“What the hell is wrong with these people?!” she snaps, already halfway out of her chair like she might flip a table. “Did someone seriously just throw water at you?”
I nod, staring at the wet fabric clinging to my skin, at the way my hands won’t stop trembling.
“I’m so tired,” I whisper. “I’m so-“My voice cracks. I press my lips together, forcing the words back down. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything.”
Sarah leans closer, lowering her voice. “It’s Vivian. Vivian and that stupid photo!”
The name lands like a spark in gasoline.
Photo. The photo she took.
My head slams to the table.
Shit. You know, she is the worst, but for some reason, I didn’t expect her to spread it. Naive of me.
“She’s been waiting for this,” Sarah continues, eyes scanning the room. “She’s turning the whole school on you like you’re some kind of—”
She cuts herself off, jaw tight.
“Like I’m a harlot?” I finish flatly.
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Sarah’s silence is answer enough.
I slowly push myself up from the table, ignoring the flare of pain in my leg as it protests the movement. Sarah grabs my arm.
“Ellie-”
“No,” I say. “I’m done.”
I don’t even know what I’m going to say yet. I just know I can’t sit there while my life gets rewritten by people who weren’t there. By people who don’t care what’s true.
I don’t know what they think, but I’m not with Lucas and it had nothing to do with Dom.
I start across the cafeteria, every step uneven, my limp more pronounced now that adrenaline is kicking in. My gaze locks onto
Dominic’s table instantly.
He’s there.
Laughing-oh, no, not laughing. Sitting. Silent. His friends are talking animatedly around him, faces tight with outrage that feels rehearsed.
Vivian is there too.
Only I don’t get far.
Marcus steps into my path first. Jake joins him a second later, blocking me in like I wandered somewhere I’m not allowed.
“Back off,” Marcus says, voice sharp. “Don’t start something.”
“I just want to talk to him,” I say, trying to move around them. “To her.”
Jake shakes his head. “You’ve done enough.”
My pulse roars in my ears. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Yeah?” Marcus scoffs. “Sure doesn’t look that way.”
I try to push past them, desperation clawing up my throat. “Dominic,” I call, my voice shaking despite myself. “Just hear me out! Two seconds.”
For a moment, nothing happens.
Then he does.
Dominic lifts his head.
Our eyes meet across the room, and the noise falls away.
Hope flares in my chest, fragile and stupid.
“Dom-”
Then he looks away.
Just like that.
He turns back to the table, to Vivian.
The dismissal hits harder than the water.
I scoff. Disbeailf, leaning into Marcus. “No…way? Did you just
Marcus pushes me off him, lowering his voice. “Leave him alone.”
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Chapter 10
I stare at Dominic’s turned back, my chest hollowing out.
Slowly, I step back.
Every eye in the cafeteria feels like it’s on me now, tracking my retreat, cataloging the scene as truth.
Great. Just great.
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I don’t need anyone to tell me we came in last.
That my team blames me for a horrible lost.
I can see it in there stance, Karina, Bren, and Tamson standing stiff next to me-circled in there own click.
We all got called for punishment, but I’m the only one looking guilty as they send glares my way.
Karina doesn’t even pretend to hold back.
“This is on you,” she snaps, spinning toward me, eyes blazing. “You just had to play both Alphas, didn’t you? You had to make everything messy and drag the rest of us down with you. I hear you even took some riskier route then the normal one. That you wanted to get lost and for the-” she claps her hand, mockingly, “Big strong boys to come find little old you! Pathetic.”
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