Chapter 127 

Chapter 127 

“It’s you, you idiot,” Mom hissed, her face too close to mine, her words like needles. “Dan had humbly requested that you keep a five–foot distance from Kaiden until the election–and what do you do? You shamelessly fuck him under Dan’s roof. You are my biggest concern, you shameless bitch 

Her words hit like slaps, sharp and swift. My heart stilled in my chest. 

“If Dan were a bad man, I wouldn’t give a fuck,” she seethed, “but he’s good. So good. And every time I see you and Kaiden fooling around behind his back, it breaks my heart.” 

A shaky breath of relief escaped from me. 

It’s me, I realized. I’m the problem. Not Dan. 

Thank God. It’s just my paranoia–not reality. 

about “We’re not fooling around,” I whispered back. “Dan told us to keep our distance in public, and we do. Without fail. But he never said anything about private moments.” 

I shrugged. 

Mom’s eyes darkened. “This is not some courtroom where you can show up with loopholes.” Her voice dropped into a poisonous hiss. “Stay away from Kaiden. Just three more months. Can’t you control yourself till then? You’ll graduate, we’ll send you abroad for your studies, and you can do whatever the hell you want there. But here? Under Dan’s roof? Have some damn respect.” 

I scoffed. “Like you did, right?” 

That one sentence–short and sharp–hit her like a whip. 

She shot up from her chair so fast, her cutlery clattered noisily across the table. 

“You’re impossible,” she spat, loud enough for the whole room to hear. 

Kaiden stilled. Dan’s fork hovered in midair. Even the servers froze for a beat. 

Mom didn’t care who heard. Didn’t care what anyone thought. Her eyes burned with fury as she shoved the chair back and walked away, leaving her half- eaten food behind. 

The three of us–Dan, Kaiden, and I–watched her disappear around the corner. 

Then, slowly, both men turned their eyes on me. 

Dan’s were unreadable. Kaiden’s held concern. 

Neither of them said a word, but their silence screamed louder than a chorus of accusations. 

“What?” I asked, trying to play innocent. “I didn’t do anything.” I even 

a 

shrug for effect to support my lie. 

Dan’s gaze narrowed like he was peeling away layers of my face, looking for the truth. 

“You did, didn’t you?” he asked flatly. 

I sighed, caught. “Yeah,” I admitted. “I did.” 

Dan shook his head slowly, disappointment dragging the corners of his mouth down. “Kids these days,” he muttered, and turned his focus back to his 

food. 

But I couldn’t focus on mine. 

1/3 

Chapter 127 

Not with Kaiden across from me. 

Not with zero guilt tightening around my throat—because there was none. There were only the memory of last night, still bubbling like a rich, forbidden stew in the depths of my desire, thick with heat, taste, and the kind of thrill that lingers long after the spoon is dropped. 

The scratch of my pen was the only sound I actually appreciated in this room full of chaos, as I hunched over my chemistry worksheet, focused on balancing equations that–at least–made more sense than the people in this class. God, where the hell is Mrs. Delfort? I’d never missed her this much before. Everyone else was happily soaking up the unexpected free time, but even though I’m not exactly a fan of Mrs. Delfort, I’d still rather read than waste energy gossiping for no reason. Socializing hasn’t exactly been high on my priority list lately. I was in no mood to even look up, let alone engage. 

It was shaping up to be just another ordinary period with a missing teacher–until the unmistakable tremor of drama rolled in. A sudden shift in the air, a crackling silence that snapped into place–then came the click of heels and a wave of whispers rising like static before a storm. 

Then the doors flung open like we were on the set of a teen drama–not the super fancy halls of West Sterlingo High. 

Amber Davis entered. 

Correction: Amber Davis arrived–because girls like her never simply walked in. 

Four boys carried her on a glitzy, makeshift throne, their arms straining more from ego than effort. I swear to God, she was giving off full Regina George 

s could probably knock a fly unconscious. from Mean Girls vibes. On either side of her stood her loyal shadows–their synchronized hair flips 

Amber was wearing a sash–not one officially given, of course, but a glittery, self–proclaimed “Future Prom Queen” banner that shimmered under the fluorescent lighting. Her sunglasses were still on, despite being indoors. Classic Amber. 

She raised her manicured hand and the class, willingly or otherwise, paused. 

“Listen up, lesser mortals,” Amber chirped in a voice that sounded too sweet for the venom behind it. “Prom season is on.” Her words echoed with theatrical flair. “Prom’s happening at the beginning of the next month, and I suggest–no, I advise–you all start prepping yourselves to ask your little crushes before someone else steals them.” 

The room collectively held its breath. Some students chuckled nervously, others rolled their eyes. I pretended to write, but my eyes and ears were secretively on full alert. 

Amber adjusted her sunglasses like she was about to say something deeply profound. 

“Oh–and just a friendly reminder from your unofficial but soon–to–be official prom queen…” she said, leaning forward like she was sharing a secret, “… no matter who you go with, if you want your graduation to be actually fun, you better cast your vote for me.” 

A few people blinked. Someone in the back muttered, “Seriously?” 

Amber didn’t hear–or pretended not to. 

“Because,” she smiled, all white teeth and saccharine venom, “voters will have fun, and anti–voters… will be the fun.” 

A dramatic pause. A blink. A smirk. 

Then she snapped her fingers, and her entourage carried her right back out like she’d just hosted the Met Gala. 

The door clicked shut behind them, but the tension lingered. For a second, no one dared breathe too loudly, as if Amber’s perfume still haunted the air like glittered smoke. But then, like a record skipping back into motion, the class slowly burst into noise again. But this time, everyone’s topic was the same, i.e., prom. 

Whispers turned into chatter, and soon the whole room sounded like a talk show panel with twenty hosts and zero filters. 

“I thought prom was supposed to at the end month?” 

09:07 

vved, I 

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Chapter 127 

“Do you think she actually expects us to vote for her?” 

“I don’t know, but I do actually expect her to bully us if we don’t.” 

“I haven’t even asked anyone yet…” 

“Should I get a suit or rent one?” 

“Has anyone ever actually thought of asking Amber to prom?” 

“Amber is hot, but what’s the point of being hot if she doesn’t let any of us fuck her?” 

Clara Winslow, the new middle of the year admission and the only one in this class with both a working brain and a sarcasm license, turned around in her seat and gave me a look of dramatic betrayal. “What the hell just happened?” She glanced back at the door like it had personally offended her taste in drama–ready to gag on the cringe Amber just served. “That was so freaking embarrassing. She probably thinks she looked like Regina George from Mean Girls, but she actually looked like Regina George from Alibaba.” 

To be continued…