[This chapter is dedicated to Kourtney_Sspears! Thank you so much for your golden ticket, love! You made my dayyyyy (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ)
I tilted my head, the words I was expecting settling deeper in me. They sounded distant at first, like a voice calling from the end of a tunnel.
But the more I turned them over in my mind, the heavier reality pressed down on my chest until breathing became a chore.
"I-I can't be expelled." My voice broke halfway, childish and desperate.
"Please, Miss Porter." Principal Brown sighed, his tone final. "This is not up for further discussion. A letter will be sent to your guardians later in the day."
My palms clenched against my skirt. "But Principal—"
"Miss Porter, please." His voice was dismissive now. He pointed toward the door as if I were no longer worth his time. The bright glow of his phone lit up the desk, and he quickly snatched it, already rising. "When I'm back, you should already be gone."
Gone.
The word rang in my ears long after the door shut behind him.
So this was real?
My chair scraped loudly against the floor as I forced myself up. My body moved before my mind caught up, each step down the corridor numb and mechanical.
Expelled.
In all my past lives—Failures, humiliations, deaths even—I had tasted all of them, but expulsion wasn't written in any script I remembered.
And the worst part? Someone had found out. Found out I and Hayden's secret.
And who else could it have been but him?
"I like your shoes," the principal's assistant who trailed behind me, finally said. I get she was trying to ease tension, but bad timing.
Her eyes were full of pity that only made bile rise in my throat.
When I reached my dorm room, I packed in silence. My school ID and textbooks were placed neatly in her palm like relics being surrendered. She pressed her lips together, almost guilty, before whispering, "You shouldn't have messed with that boy."
I froze. That boy?
My voice came louder than I intended. "What do you mean by that?"
She shifted on her feet, clearly regretting her slip. "…He admitted to helping you cheat. That's why he wasn't expelled... just suspended."