Chapter 5
1022 Words
The air froze.
The overlapping figures in that photograph burned into my eyes. So this was how far things had already gone. How had I been so blind not to see it before?
Caleb's expression tightened. He snatched the photo and shoved it haphazardly into his pocket. "Eleanor, we were just messing around. It's like when we used to play childhood games as kids, it doesn't mean anything."
I felt sick at the absurdity of it. Caroline stared at Caleb, disbelief written across her face. She swallowed her frustration and forced out the words. "We just got carried away at the moment. We were only… trying it out."
My brother Austin glanced at me and jumped in quickly. "Eleanor isn't blaming you. She just assured me earlier, she only sees you as a friend." After a pause, he added, "The SAT is coming up. Be careful about getting into relationships too early."
Caleb's expression went cold. He stared hard at me. "Just friendship? Eleanor, is that really how you feel?"
I forced a smile. "Of course."
'Who knows? Soon we might not even have that little friendship left.'
Caleb's face darkened with sudden, inexplicable anger. He turned and stormed off. Caroline bit her lip and shot me a venomous glare before chasing after him.
I ignored it. I went home and kept working on reviewing all my notes preparing for the exam.
In the days that followed, gossip about Caleb and Caroline was everywhere at school. "I saw it with my own eyes at lunch, Caleb was peeling shrimp for Caroline in the cafeteria!"
"I heard Caleb took down four or five guys all by himself for her sake…"
All our classmates were convinced they were a couple. But whenever I happened to run into Caroline on campus, the look she gave me grew sharper and more resentful each time.
I didn't care. I just wanted to put all my attention on one goal, SAT.
Until that day.
The moment I walked into the classroom, nearly everyone turned to stare at me. Whispers buzzed from every direction. "Some top students act all aloof and serious, but in private they're the most shameless of all! If someone hadn't posted it on the confession wall, who would've guessed she'd be so cheap as to be a mistress messing around?"
Confusion swirled in my chest. Someone called out, "Eleanor, the principal wants to see you in the academic office!" I caught the gloating smirks on their faces, and a cold sense of dread crept over me.
On my way to the office, I opened the school's confession wall online. Someone had anonymously posted the kissing photo from the Ferris wheel that night. But the girl's face, the face that should have been Caroline's, was swapped with AI. And that girl in that picture was me.
I stopped walking. Chaos and shock crashed over me. Only four people knew about this photo. And it had been in Caleb's possession. It was obvious who did it.
I pushed down the emotions churning inside me and walked into the office. Caleb was already there. He strode toward me, with his face stern, and began scolding me on the spot.
"Eleanor, I never realized until now how hypocritical you really are. You said you wanted to let go of your feelings. You said you wanted to be friends. But behind my back, you resort to despicable tricks like this?"
His eyes were full of anger and disappointment. My own fury ignited in an instant. "I'm not that petty! And I'm certainly not that low! In case you've forgotten, I'm the one being slandered here. I'm the one everyone is cursing! If I really wanted to use underhanded methods, why would I use something that destroys my own reputation???"
The principal slammed his hand on the desk, cutting me off. "You're still arguing? Our school has repeatedly made it clear that public displays of affection that disrupt the learning environment aren't allowed. Do you treat the teachers' words as nothing more than a passing breeze?"
When he looked at me, there was disappointment in his eyes. "Eleanor, this incident has caused a serious and deeply negative impact across the entire school. It has severely disrupted the atmosphere for the senior class. By all rights, you should be given a formal demerit. Since the SAT is only a week away, you will instead issue a public apology before the entire student body."
My head spun. I rushed to defend myself. "Mrs. Sanders, this photo was altered with AI. The person Caleb is seeing isn't me, it's someone from Class F..."
"Eleanor!" Caleb's expression tensed, and he cut me off sharply. He turned to the principal. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Sanders. This is my fault, and Eleanor's. I'm willing to accept the consequences with her."
I turned to him in disbelief. My heart dropped like a stone. He was willing to take the fall with me just to protect Caroline.
The principal, well aware of the Thomas family's influence, could only nod in reluctant agreement. I wanted to say more, but Caleb dragged me out.
The moment we were outside, he dropped my hand and frowned at me. "You said you wouldn't compete with Caroline. You know exactly what you need to do now."
Then he walked away.
I stood there frozen for a long moment before quietly making my way back to class. On my way home alone after school, I finally checked my phone. Caleb posted something on his Twitter again.
This is honestly so infuriating. The fake heiress is so desperate for me that she went as far as using AI to fake a photo of us kissing.
Reading those words, I felt my heart close in a cold, crushing grip. It was getting hard to breathe. I stumbled home in a daze. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Foster were there too, staring at me with grim expressions.
I froze. "Mrs. Foster..."
Before I could get another word out, Mrs. Foster marched straight up to me and slapped me hard across the face.
- Writer
