Chapter 2 2.

HONORIA.

The assignment was due in seventeen minutes and my internet just died.

God no.

I stared at my laptop screen. The little spinning wheel mocked me. 

Eleven forty-three PM. 

I'd spent four hours working on this presentation for the school media page after my café shift ran late and Aunt Margot had demanded more money from me. Mr. Harrison's assignment was simple: create a multimedia post about a community achievement and upload it by midnight. 

Late submissions got an automatic zero. This was worth forty percent of my grade.

I grabbed my phone and called Sera. She picked up on the second ring, voice thick with sleep. "Honoria? What's wrong?"

"My internet died. Can you upload my assignment for me? Please?"

Rustling sounds came through the phone. "Yeah, send it now. I'll do it right away."

My hands shook as I pulled up my files. I found the folder and hit share without looking at anything else. My brain was screaming panic panic panic and I just needed to get it sent before time ran out. "Sending now."

"Got it. Uploading now." A pause. "Okay, it's live. You're good."

Relief hit me so hard I felt dizzy. "Thank you. Oh my god thank you so much."

"Go to sleep. You sound like you're about to collapse."

I ended the call and fell back against my pillow. My heart was still racing but at least the assignment was submitted. Everything was fine now.

Everything was going to be fine. 

––•––

Nothing was fine at all.

The staring started the second I walked through the school doors. 

Not the usual quick glances from Minka's friends before they started whispering. 

This was different. 

This was... everyone. 

Sophomores I'd never spoken to. Seniors who didn't know I existed. All of them looking at me with their phones out and expressions ranging from shock to pure glee.

A girl near the lockers held up her screen to her friend. They both exploded into laughter.

Ice shot through my veins.

I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and opened the school media page. The top post had over three hundred comments in eight hours.

The thumbnail loaded. And my stomach dropped straight through the floor.

It was Kayden. Maybe thirteen years old. Looking scrawny and gangly in football gear three sizes too big. His hair hung in his face. He was mid-fall, arms windmilling as he tripped over his own feet. There were multiple images of him in all sorts of not so professional poses.

The caption read: "Future star quarterback everybody."

I scrolled down with numb fingers. More photos filled the screen.

The comments were absolutely vicious.

I clicked on the post details. The uploader name made my heart stop completely.

My hands shook so violently I almost dropped my phone.

My name. My account.

But I hadn't uploaded anything. I'd sent Sera my assignment. Nothing else.

Did someone hack into my account?

I pulled up my files with my heart in my throat. Two folders sat near the top of my recent documents. One labeled "Community Achievement Project." The other labeled "Football Team Training Photos Spam."

I labeled it DO NOT OPEN. 

All sorts of clubs at school sent random files to the school media teams email. They contained viruses sometimes, so I was always careful to never open them. 

But the training photos folder was highlighted. Recently shared.

Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god.

I'd grabbed the wrong file. I sent Sera the photos instead of my actual assignment. And she'd uploaded them without checking because why would she check?

The hallway tilted sideways. 

This couldn't be real. This wasn't happening.

"Honoria."

The voice came from directly behind me. 

Cold and controlled and radiating fury.

I turned around slowly.

Kayden stood three feet away. His blue eyes had gone dark and stormy and dangerous. He held his phone up with the screen facing me. The photos glared back at me in high definition humiliation. "We need to talk." 

He didn't wait for an answer. Just turned and walked toward the empty physics classroom at the end of the hall.

I followed because my body moved on autopilot. My legs felt like they'd been replaced with water. Every step took conscious effort.

He held the door open. I walked through. He closed it behind us with a click that sounded way too final.

Then he turned to face me and I saw real rage burning in his eyes for the first time.

"Explain. Right now."

My brain scrambled for what to say. I couldn't tell him the truth. I couldn't drag Sera into this nightmare. She'd helped me when I was desperate and panicking. Taking the fall was the absolute least I could do.

I lifted my chin and forced myself to meet his eyes. "What do you want me to explain?"

"Those photos. How did you get them? Why did you upload them to the school page?"

"Why do you think?" I kept my voice steady even though my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest. "Revenge."

His expression went dark. "Revenge for what?"

"Yesterday at the café. You humiliated me first."

"I gave you a fucking tip."

"You gave me pity, you made fun of me. There's a difference."

Kayden's jaw clenched so hard I could see the muscle jumping. "This isn't the same thing at all. Every single person who has access to the internet can see those photos. How on earth does it even the supposed score?"

"I never wanted to even the score, I wanted to override it."

His eyes flashed gold for just a split second. Then his expression went completely blank and cold as ice.

What the hell?

I knew I hadn’t imagined it. “Your eyes...?”

"Stay away from me.” He turned away sharply, “Whatever this is, it ends right now. Don't talk to me ever again, Greyheart. The bickering days are over. Don't look at me. Don't even think about me. We're done here."

He walked past me and out the door without looking back.

I stood alone in the empty classroom with my heart trying to break through my ribcage and tears burning hot behind my eyes.

He thought I was vindictive enough to destroy him on purpose.

That was a him thing. 

And despite the way my heart was pounding in my chest, I told myself I didn’t give a damn what he thought about me. 

––•––

By lunch the entire school had seen the photos.

I tried to stay invisible. Kept my head down. Moved through the hallways like a ghost hoping nobody would notice me. Maybe if I was quiet enough everyone would just forget I existed.

That hope died a brutal death the second I walked into the cafeteria and saw Minka waiting near my usual table. Her entire cheer squad surrounded her like soldiers waiting for orders.

She smiled when she spotted me. That same sweet poisonous smile she always wore right before destroying someone.

"Honoria. Perfect timing. We've been waiting for you."

I should have turned around. But my feet kept moving forward like they had a mind of their own.

"I heard about those photos." Minka's voice carried across half the cafeteria. Every conversation around us died instantly. "So brave of you. Standing up to Kayden like that."

Her tone made it crystal clear she thought I was anything but brave.

"I don't want trouble," I said quietly.

"Trouble? Why would there be trouble?" Her smile widened into something razor sharp and cruel. "I just think it's fascinating. How obsessed you are with him. It's honestly kind of pathetic."

"I'm not obsessed with him."

"No? Because you can't seem to stop thinking about him. Can't stop trying to get his attention every possible way you can think of." She picked up her lunch tray. It was loaded with spaghetti drowning in red sauce. "It's really sad actually."

I saw it coming but my body moved too slow to stop it.

Minka dumped the entire tray over my head.

The cafeteria went dead silent.

Sauce dripped down my hair onto my face. Noodles slid down the front of my shirt. The smell of sauce filled my nose and made my eyes burn.

Or maybe that was just tears threatening to fall.

Minka's friends exploded into laughter. The sound bounced off the cafeteria walls like breaking glass.

"Oops." Minka's voice was syrup sweet. "My hand slipped."

I stood there frozen. Every single person in the room was staring at me. Some looked genuinely horrified. Most just looked entertained. Like I was a show put on specifically for their amusement.

I turned and ran out of the cafeteria. I tried to hold onto some tiny shred of dignity even though I was covered head to toe in spaghetti and complete humiliation, but it was practically pointless.

The bathroom was empty when I got there. I locked myself in a stall and finally let the tears come.

This was Kayden's fault. 

All of it. 

If he'd never given me those stupid cinnamon rolls. 

If he'd paid attention for five seconds to what was happening around him. If he'd bothered to notice what his ex-girlfriend was doing to me for six straight months.

But he hadn't noticed. Because he was selfish and careless and couldn't see past his own perfect reflection.

The feeling burned it’s way through my chest like swallowing acid.

I hated him.