Chapter 9
998 Words
Keira POV
Mia’s smile was slow.
Too slow.
“You two are so screwed,” she said again, stepping closer.
Kaden slid off the hood and stood in front of me.
“What are you doing here, Mia?”
“Following you,” she said, like it was obvious.
“Lila said you’d come here. Said you’d try to hide.”
My stomach dropped.
“Lila told you to follow us?”
Mia shrugged.
“She said if I got proof you two were ditching together, it’d be over for you, Keira.
For good.”
Kaden stepped forward.
“Delete it.”
Mia held up her phone.
“Can’t. It’s already uploading.”
On the screen, a red bar moved across the top: Uploading… 23%.
Video.
Us sitting on the hood.
Talking.
Looking too close.
I felt cold.
“You can’t do this,” I said.
“This is private.”
Mia laughed.
“Nothing’s private when you’re famous, Keira.”
Kaden moved fast.
He reached for her phone.
Mia jumped back, holding it high.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Give it here!”
They were almost wrestling for it.
I grabbed Kaden’s arm.
“Stop! She wants this. Don’t give her a fight on camera.”
He froze.
Breathing hard.
Mia grinned.
“Too late,” she said.
“Upload complete.”
The phone dinged.
Video posted to St. Claire Confessions.
Mia lowered the phone, satisfied.
“Thanks for the content.”
Kaden’s face went blank.
Dangerous blank.
“Get out of here before I make you.”
Mia didn’t argue.
She just walked past us, brushing her shoulder against mine as she went.
“See you tomorrow, Keira.
If you come back.”
Her footsteps faded down the path.
Silence hit hard.
Kaden turned to me.
His hands were shaking.
“She’s going to ruin you,” he said.
“She’s already trying,” I said.
My voice sounded far away.
“I can’t keep doing this.”
“You’re not alone,” he said.
“I’m here.”
I looked at him.
Really looked.
For the first time since Mom married his dad, I didn’t see the cocky guy from school.
I saw someone scared.
For me.
“Why?” I asked.
“Why do you care so much?”
Kaden hesitated.
Then he said it.
“Because if you leave, it feels like Mom left again.”
The words hit me hard.
I didn’t know what to say.
Before I could, his phone buzzed.
Then mine.
Both screens lit up at once.
Group Chat: St. Claire Confessions
New video: “Keira & Kaden caught hiding at the quarry.”
I opened it.
The video started shaky, but clear enough.
Me and Kaden on the hood.
His hand brushing mine when he reached for Mia’s phone.
My face, too close to his.
Comments were already rolling in.
“SEE? I KNEW IT.”
“They’re literally dating.”
“Expel her. She’s toxic.”
My hands went numb.
Kaden read over my shoulder.
His jaw clenched.
“This is it,” he said quietly.
“They’re not going to let this go.”
I closed the video.
My chest felt tight.
Like I couldn’t breathe.
“What do we do?” I asked.
Kaden looked at the road, then back at me.
His eyes were hard.
“We tell the truth.
All of it.
Right now.”
“How?”
“We go to the principal,” he said.
“We show her the original video.
We tell her Lila edited it.
We tell her everything.”
I stared at him.
“That’ll get Lila expelled.”
“Good,” he said.
“She deserves it.”
I thought about Mom.
About Mr. West.
About what would happen if this blew up in their faces.
But I was tired of hiding.
Tired of letting Lila control everything.
“Okay,” I said.
“Let’s go.”
---
The principal’s office was quiet.
Too quiet.
Mrs. Hale sat behind her desk, reading something on her computer.
She didn’t look up when we walked in.
“Keira. Kaden,” she said.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”
Kaden stepped forward.
“Mrs. Hale, we need to talk about the video.”
She finally looked up.
Her face was calm.
Too calm.
“I’ve seen it,” she said.
“Both versions.”
Both versions?
Kaden frowned.
“What do you mean, both versions?”
Mrs. Hale turned her monitor toward us.
On the screen was the original library footage.
Unedited.
No music, no cuts.
It showed Lila walking in, stopping, pulling out her phone.
It showed me pushing Kaden away.
It showed Lila smiling as she recorded.
I sucked in a breath.
“How did you—” I started.
“The library cameras,” Mrs. Hale said.
“They record everything.
Lila didn’t know that.”
Kaden let out a breath I didn’t know he’d been holding.
“So you know it’s fake?”
“I know it’s edited,” Mrs. Hale said.
“And I know who did it.”
She leaned back.
“Lila is suspended, effective immediately.
Pending expulsion hearing.”
Relief hit me so fast I almost staggered.
Kaden nodded once.
“Thank you.”
Mrs. Hale looked at me.
“Keira, I need you to know something.
Rumors spread fast here.
But the truth spreads faster if you speak it.”
I nodded.
“I will.”
“Good,” she said.
“Now go to class.
Both of you.”
We walked out together.
The hallway was still loud.
People were watching us.
Whispering.
But it felt different now.
Kaden bumped my shoulder.
“Ready?”
I straightened my back.
“Yeah.”
We walked into the courtyard together.
Not fighting.
Not hiding.
And for the first time since this started, I wasn’t scared of what they’d say.
Because this time, the truth was coming too.
- Writer
