04:02He didn't answer.
08:46...
09:16...
17:05C'est parti.
17:35The men's restroom is the other side.
17:37I'm not here to use the restroom.
17:39He crossed the room in two long strides.
17:41He was too tall.
17:43In a few steps, he was already behind me.
17:45The narrow space of the restroom cornered me in instantly.
17:49What are you running from?
17:51I'm not running.
17:53Nora Hayes.
17:55He cut me off.
17:56Then he stepped closer, one hand slamming onto either side of the sink,
18:00trapping me between his chest and the cold porcelain.
18:03Warm breath fared over my face.
18:04Where on me haven't you seen before?
18:06And now you can't even stand being near me?
18:08My brain completely shut down.
18:10The faucet was still running.
18:12He knew everything.
18:13My face went pale.
18:14My voice trembled uncontrollably.
18:16When?
18:16When did you find out?
18:18Luca stared at me, then let out a short, mocking laugh.
18:21Find out what?
18:22That you hid behind someone else's face,
18:24called me baby online,
18:25and made me jerk off to your voice every night?
18:30I hung my head in shame,
18:32so humiliated I wanted to vanish on the spot.
18:34The snerk on his face dropped instantly,
18:37replaced by a blazing, furious rage burning in his eyes.
18:40I knew something was off the first day I brought Chloe around.
18:44She couldn't even make sense of the most basic tactical diagrams we'd gone over.
18:48He leaned closer, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him.
18:51Then you got into my car, your voice,
18:53the way you fidget when you're nervous, even your scent and air.
18:55Did you really think I was blind?
18:56I had your IP checked.
18:57No wonder I couldn't find you.
18:59You took the money, disappeared, and blocked me like I meant nothing.
19:01His chest rose and fell heavily.
19:04What the hell did you take me for, Nora?
19:06A late night distraction?
19:08A tool for you to get back at Chloe?
19:11I looked at him,
19:12the man who was now barely holding back something violent
19:13and lowered my eyes, overquilmed with shame.
19:15Sorry, it's all my fault.
19:17If you want the school to revoke my scholarship or report me for fraud, I'll take it.
19:20I'll pay back every cent of the money, I promise.
19:24Laura!
19:32You think I stayed up nights talking dirty to a girl online for $5,000?
19:37I flinched.
19:38My tears finally fell.
19:39$5,000 is still money!
19:42Fuck the money!
19:43He grabbed my shoulders and spun me toward him.
19:45Only then did I realize his eyes were bloodshot.
19:47You're still talking about money?
19:48What about those nights?
19:49When you said you loved my abs, that you wanted to hold me, that you loved me?
19:52Was any of it real?
19:53He took a shaky breath, his voice cracking faintly.
19:56This wasn't supposed to happen.
19:58I'd lied to him.
19:59He should hate me, resent me, tell me to get lost.
20:02My silence seemed to break something in him.
20:04I froze.
20:08Luca Bennett, the captain,
20:10the golden boy who wrecked opponents on the field,
20:12now standing in front of me like something abandoned,
20:15asking if I had ever loved him at all.
20:18He let out a hollow laugh, eyes closing briefly.
20:21After a long moment, he let go of my shoulders.
20:24I see.
20:25So that's it.
20:26I was just your little tool to mess with Chloe.
20:29Congratulations.
20:31You got what you wanted.
20:36After that night, Luca never showed up again.
20:39His teammates said the captain had turned into someone unrecognizable on the training field.
20:43angry, reckless, snapping at anyone who got close.
20:47I tried sending him a friend request,
20:49but every time, it came back rejected.
20:52That tiny red exclamation orn felt like a blade,
20:55cutting deeper every time I looked at it.
20:58While I was still drifting through days and a daze,
21:00my mom called.
21:02I stepped out onto the balcony to pick up.
21:07Mom.
21:08Nora, how's school going?
21:09My throat tightened.
21:10I didn't answer.
21:11Listen, honey, if those rich kids give you trouble, stay away from them.
21:13Don't argue.
21:14One phone call and they can kick you out.
21:15Just keep your head down, finish your credits, get your degree, and leave.
21:18Don't make trouble, okay?
21:19Same message again.
21:20Ever since I was little, no matter how badly I got hurt,
21:23they always gave me the same answer.
21:24Just endure.
21:25I've got day to work.
21:26I'll hang up now.
21:27I ended the call and stayed in the cold air for a while before heading back inside.
21:31But the moment I pushed open the lab door,
21:34I froze.
21:38My laptop was drouched in dark brown liquid.
21:40Coffee seeped slowly through the keyboard cracks.
21:42The indicator light was dead.
21:43My analysis files, the ones I'd spent four sleepless nights building for tomorrow's defense,
21:46were destroyed.
21:49Oh no, Nora.
21:50I'm so sorry.
21:52I accidentally knocked over my coffee while grabbing my things.
21:57It can't be that big of a deal, right?
21:59You're so smart.
22:00Rewriting everything will only take you a few hours.
22:02The seniors around us watched silently,
22:04a few snurkering quietly under their breaths.
22:07As I stared at my ruined work,
22:09something inside me snapped clean in half.
22:11Back in my senior year of high school,
22:13Chloe and I got into a fight.
22:15She took a compass and dragged it across my right cheek,
22:17leaving a deep scar.
22:19In the principal's office,
22:20I cried, terrified I would be permanently disfigured.
22:26Chloe's father, a state senator,
22:29arrived first in his luxury sports car.
22:32My dad showed up on a beat-up old bicycle,
22:35nervously fingering with his grimy trucker cap between his rough hands,
22:39too afraid to question anyone.
22:46Her lawyer said plainly,
22:47If we pursue this,
22:49it may affect Nora's scholarship and academic record.
22:51Dad lowered his head,
22:52unable to meet my eyes.
22:53In a quiet voice,
22:54he said to the principal,
22:55It was just an act between two girls.
22:56Nora's just being too sensitive.
22:58We don't want to press charges,
22:59and we don't want to cause any trouble for the senator.
23:01Endure.
23:02I endured for three years,
23:03and what did it get me?
23:03My dignity crushed beneath their feet,
23:05my feelings hidden like I had no right to love someone,
23:07and the future I fought so hard to build
23:08destroyed in seconds like it meant nothing.
23:09I curled my hands into tight fists,
23:11nails digging deep into my flesh.
23:12I fixed my gaze on her polished, deceitful face,
23:14my voice unnerdably calm even to my own ears.
23:16Are you sure it was an accident?
23:18Of course, babe.
23:19I moved before she finished.
23:20I grabbed her perfectly staled blonde hair and yanked hard.
23:23I'd spent years hauling boxes and doing manual labor with my mom.
23:26My grip was brutal.
23:27She screamed as she lost balance.
23:29My grip didn't loosen.
23:30Two sharp slaps cracked across her face.
23:32She fell backward into the racks.
23:36You bitch! How dare you!
23:38Chloe shrilled, scrambling to her feet to claw at me.
23:41I climbed on top of her and hit her again and again.
23:43Everything I had swallowed for years came out at once.
23:46Chaos erupted through the lab.
23:47Screams, scraping chairs, clattering metal filled every corner.
23:51Several male students snapped out of their star,
23:52rushing forward to grab my arms and drag me backward by force.
23:56Chloe stumbled shavily to her feet,
23:58her hair a wild mess.
23:59Makeup streaked all over her face.
24:01The team manager burst in, livid.
24:02Nora Hayes!
24:03Are you insane?
24:04You're fighting in the lab!
24:05Nora, right then, the crowd lingering by the door
24:08split apart of their own accord, clearing a path.
24:10Someone breathed out.
24:12Luca's here.
24:13You're fighting in the lab!
24:14You're fighting in the lab!
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