Episode 4: The Rumor
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By Friday morning, I had become campus gossip.
Not because I'd done anything remarkable.
Not because I'd joined a club or aced a test.
But because I'd shared a twenty-minute lunch with Kael Draven Vale.
It was ridiculous.
"You've officially gone viral," Lily announced, dropping into the seat beside me in Business Communications.
I looked up from my notebook.
"What now?"
She held out her phone.
Someone had uploaded a blurry photo from the café.
Kael sat across from me, listening as I spoke.
The caption read:
WHO IS THE MYSTERY GIRL HAVING LUNCH WITH KAEL VALE?
Over eight thousand likes.
Hundreds of comments.
"She's pretty."
"Freshman?"
"Serena won't like this."
"I heard she's his secret girlfriend."
I nearly choked on my water.
"Secret girlfriend?"
"I know." Lily laughed. "These people need hobbies."
I handed the phone back.
"I've spoken to him exactly twice."
"Tell that to the internet."
---
Kael stared at the same post from his office in the Student Council building.
Ronan walked in carrying a stack of files.
"Oh."
He noticed the screen.
"That didn't take long."
Kael locked his phone.
"It needs to disappear."
"I've already asked the media club to take it down."
"They'll just post another one."
"I know."
Ronan sat opposite him.
"You can't control rumors."
"I'm not worried about rumors."
Ronan understood immediately.
"You're worried about Serena."
Kael didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
---
After my afternoon lecture, I decided to escape the noise by visiting the campus bookstore.
The scent of fresh paper instantly relaxed me.
I wandered between the shelves, picking up novels I'd promised myself I wouldn't buy.
"You'll end up carrying ten books."
I turned.
Kael stood at the end of the aisle.
Holding a book on corporate finance.
"You've been following me?" I asked.
His eyebrows rose.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
I laughed before I could stop myself.
"Fair enough."
For a moment, neither of us reached for another book.
It wasn't awkward anymore.
Just... quiet.
"You like reading?" he asked.
"I love reading."
"What kind?"
"Romance."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"I should have guessed."
"You?"
"History."
I smiled.
"That also makes sense."
"It does?"
"You seem like someone who always wants to understand how things began."
He looked at me for a long second.
Then said softly,
"Sometimes understanding the past is the only way to protect the future."
The words felt oddly personal.
Before I could ask what he meant, another voice interrupted.
"Kael."
Serena.
She approached the aisle with effortless elegance, stopping beside him.
"There you are."
Her gaze landed on me.
"What a coincidence."
"It is," I replied politely.
Serena glanced at the book in my hands.
"The Art of Financial Analysis."
"A little ambitious for a first-year, don't you think?"
I smiled.
"My scholarship depends on my grades."
"So does mine."
Serena blinked.
Then laughed lightly.
"Touché."
She turned to Kael.
"The committee meeting starts in five minutes."
He nodded.
"I'll be there."
She waited.
He didn't move.
Instead, he looked at me.
"Enjoy your book."
"You too."
Only then did he walk away with Serena.
As they disappeared around the corner, Serena spoke quietly enough that she thought I couldn't hear.
"You've never recommended a book to anyone before."
Kael's reply was calm.
"People change."
---
That evening, Amara received an unexpected email.
Subject: Student Council Leadership Scholarship Reception
Dear Ms. Cole,
You have been selected as one of twenty first-year scholarship recipients invited to an exclusive networking reception hosted by the Student Council next Wednesday.
Attendance is highly encouraged.
She frowned.
"Lily?"
"What?"
"Did you get this email?"
Lily checked her phone.
A second later, she groaned.
"No."
"What?"
"I didn't get invited."
Amara looked back at the message.
"But we're both on scholarships."
"Not that scholarship."
Lily frowned.
"That's the leadership scholarship."
"I didn't apply for it."
"Exactly."
A strange feeling settled in Amara's stomach.
There had to be a mistake.
Across campus, Kael closed his laptop after approving the final guest list.
Ronan looked over his shoulder.
"You added her."
"Yes."
"You realize she's going to wonder why."
"I know."
"So why risk it?"
Kael looked out the window toward Hawthorne Hall.
"Because someone else requested her name first."
Ronan's expression changed instantly.
"Who?"
Kael's voice was barely above a whisper.
"I don't know."
"And that's exactly what worries me."
- Writer
