Chapter 12
1022 Words
Keira POV
“Keira, turn your phone off.”
Mrs. Hale’s voice was sharp enough to make half the class jump.
I slid my phone into my bag.
Too late.
The message had already come through.
Unknown:
Check St. Claire Confessions. Now.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
Everyone was staring at their own phones under desks, thumbs moving fast.
Mrs. Hale noticed.
“What is going on?”
No one answered.
I knew.
I could feel it in my chest.
“Put them away,” she said.
“Now.”
Phones disappeared.
But the damage was done.
The bell rang ten minutes later, and the hallway exploded.
“Did you see it?”
“Is it real?”
“She’s done for.”
I grabbed my bag and moved fast, trying to get to the bathroom before someone stopped me.
I didn’t make it.
Mia caught me by the arm near the lockers.
Her face was pale.
“Keira, it’s bad,” she said.
“You need to see it.”
“I don’t want to see it,” I said.
I tried to pull away.
She didn’t let go.
“It’s your dad.
And Mom.
And you.”
That stopped me cold.
I pulled my phone out.
Opened St. Claire Confessions.
The post was pinned at the top.
Subject: The Morgans and Wests aren’t as clean as they look
Attached was a photo.
Mom and Mr. West leaving a restaurant.
Holding hands.
Smiling.
Nothing illegal.
Nothing scandalous.
But the caption read:
_“They were dating 3 months before the divorce was final. Cheaters.
And their kids are just as messy.”_
Below it were screenshots.
Texts.
Between Mom and Mr. West.
Dated before their wedding.
Words like “I miss you” and “Can’t wait till it’s legal.”
My hands shook so hard I almost dropped the phone.
Kaden was beside me in two seconds.
“What is it?”
I turned the screen toward him.
He went still.
Then his jaw tightened.
“Who did this?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“But they’ve got Mom’s old phone number.
And Dad’s.”
Mia looked around, nervous.
“People are already sharing it.
It’s on t****k too.”
Kaden grabbed my arm.
“Come on.
We’re going to Mrs. Hale.”
---
Mrs. Hale’s office was chaos.
Three other teachers were in there, all talking at once.
Mom was on speakerphone, voice tight.
“—I don’t understand how they got those messages,” she was saying.
“We deleted them years ago.”
Mrs. Hale saw us and held up a hand.
“Keira, Kaden, sit.”
We sat.
Mom’s voice came through again.
“Is Keira okay?”
“I’m fine, Mom,” I said.
Even though I wasn’t.
“Mrs. Hale says it’s a breach of privacy.
We’re contacting a lawyer,” Mom said.
“Don’t respond to anyone, okay?
Let us handle it.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.
“Okay.”
The call ended.
Mrs. Hale looked exhausted.
“This is beyond school jurisdiction now.
But I’m suspending all access to St. Claire Confessions on campus Wi-Fi.
And I’m bringing in IT to trace the post.”
“Will that work?” Kaden asked.
“It has to,” she said.
---
By lunch, the whole school knew.
Students walked past me and whispered.
Some looked sorry.
Most looked curious.
Like I was a story they wanted to finish.
I sat alone in the courtyard.
Kaden was in with Mrs. Hale, giving his statement.
Mia kept her distance.
Even she looked scared now.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
Unknown:
_Surprised?
I told you I see everything._
I deleted it.
Blocked it again.
It didn’t matter.
The bell rang for next period.
I didn’t move.
“Keira.”
Kaden sat down beside me, face grim.
“Mom and Dad are meeting with the lawyer after school.
They want us to stay home tomorrow.”
“Stay home?” I said.
“You mean hide.”
“Protect,” he said.
“It’s not the same.”
I looked at him.
“You knew about the messages, didn’t you?”
He hesitated.
“Yeah.
Mom told me after the wedding.
She said they started talking after the divorce was filed.
It wasn’t cheating.”
“Doesn’t matter what it was,” I said.
“It looks bad.”
“It is bad,” he said.
“But it’s not true.”
I wanted to believe him.
But the screenshots looked real.
The timestamps lined up.
“What if people don’t care about the truth?” I asked.
Kaden didn’t answer.
Because we both knew the answer.
---
After school, I went home alone.
Kaden had to stay back with Mrs. Hale.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
Mom was in the kitchen, talking on the phone.
She stopped when she saw me.
“Keira, honey,” she said, holding out her arms.
I didn’t move.
“Is it true, Mom?”
Her face fell.
“What?”
“The messages,” I said.
“Did you and Dad date before the divorce was final?”
Mom set the phone down.
She looked tired.
“Keira, sit down.”
I didn’t sit.
“Tell me.”
Mom sighed.
“We started talking after your father and I filed.
We didn’t date.
We didn’t do anything wrong.
But yes, we were talking.”
I felt sick.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it wasn’t your burden to carry,” she said.
“I didn’t want you to feel like you had to pick sides.”
I walked out before she could say more.
Upstairs, I locked my door and sat on the floor.
My phone buzzed again.
Unknown:
_Told you.
No one is clean._
I threw the phone across the room.
It hit the wall and went dark.
I sat there in the dark, listening to my own breathing.
And I realized something.
Whoever this was didn’t want me to quit.
They wanted me to break.
- Writer
