ARIA'S POV
Kai's phone was ringing, the hospital's name glowing on the screen, and I watched his face turn white.
"Lily," he whispered, and the terror in his voice made my heart stop.
He answered, his hand shaking. "Hello? What's wrong? Is she—"
I couldn't hear what the person on the other end said, but I saw Kai's entire body go rigid. His jaw clenched. His eyes squeezed shut.
"I'm coming. I'm coming right now. Don't—just tell her I'm coming." He hung up, already moving toward the door.
"Kai, wait!" I grabbed his arm. "What happened?"
"She's having trouble breathing. They need to intubate." His voice cracked. "I have to go. I have to—"
"I'll come with you."
"No." He pulled away. "You need to stay here. Deal with the Isabella situation—"
"Your sister is more important than high school drama!"
Kai looked at me, and for the first time since I'd met him, I saw fear. Real, bone-deep fear.
"I can't lose her, Aria," he whispered. "She's all I have."
My chest ached. Here I was, wallowing in social destruction, while Kai was facing something actually life-threatening.
"You won't lose her," I said firmly. "Now go. Drive safely. Text me when you get there."
He hesitated, then nodded and ran.
I stood alone in the abandoned shed, surrounded by broken phone pieces and shattered dreams, and made a decision.
If Isabella wanted war, she'd get one.
But first, I had to survive tomorrow.
The next morning, I almost didn't go to school.
My mom had called five more times last night. Each time, I'd let it go to voicemail. I couldn't face her disappointment, couldn't explain that I wasn't the villain everyone thought I was.
Maya picked me up at six AM, two coffees in hand and murder in her eyes.
"You look terrible," she said.
"Thanks."
"I meant it as a compliment. Shows you're human." She handed me the coffee. "Ready for battle?"
"No."
"Good. Neither am I. Let's do this anyway."
Walking into Crestwood felt like walking into a firing squad. Whispers followed me down every hallway. Phones came out, recording my every move. Someone laughed as I passed.
"Stalker girl," someone coughed behind me.
Maya whirled around. "Say it to her face, coward!"
"Maya, don't," I pleaded. "It'll just make it worse."
"How could it possibly be worse?"
Then I saw the posters.
They were everywhere. Printed photos of me—screenshots from the cafeteria video, from old social media posts, from candid shots I hadn't known anyone was taking. Each one had a caption:
"OBSESSED" "DESPERATE" "CAN'T TAKE A HINT" "LEAVE ETHAN ALONE"
My face was plastered across every hallway, every bathroom, every bulletin board.
I couldn't breathe.
"Who did this?" Maya's voice was shaking. "Who—"
"Does it matter?" I whispered.
It did matter, though. Because this wasn't random bullying. This was organized. Planned. Someone had printed hundreds of posters, hung them overnight when no one was around.
Someone wanted me destroyed.
First period was English. My favorite class, the one place I usually felt safe.
Not today.
Mrs. Patterson announced we'd be doing group projects. "Pick your teams. Four people each."
The room erupted into movement. Friends clustering together, names being called out.
I stood frozen as everyone around me found their groups.
Ethan didn't even look at me. He turned to Isabella, Marcus, and Sophie. "We're a team, right?"
"Perfect," Isabella purred.
I waited. Surely Ethan would remember that we always worked together. Six years of group projects, always partners, always a team.
He zipped his backpack and sat down with Isabella's group.
I was still standing.
"Aria?" Mrs. Patterson called. "Do you have a group?"
Every eye turned to me. Thirty students watching the girl nobody wanted.
"I—"
"She can join us," someone said reluctantly. Tyler Kim, a quiet kid who probably felt sorry for me.
Mrs. Patterson smiled. "Wonderful. Aria, join Tyler's group."
I walked to their table, my face burning. Tyler and his friends shifted uncomfortably, making space but not really welcoming me.
They'd seen the posters. They believed the lies.
The entire class, Ethan laughed with Isabella. He didn't glance my way once. Like six years of friendship had evaporated overnight.
When the bell rang, I grabbed my bag and tried to escape.
"Aria, wait."
Ethan's voice. Finally.
I turned, hope fluttering stupidly in my chest. Maybe he wanted to apologize. Maybe he'd finally see what he was doing to me.
"Did I do something wrong?" I asked quietly.
Ethan sighed, like I was a chore. An annoyance. "What do you mean?"
"The group project. We always work together."
"Aria, we're not joined at the hip. I can have other friends."
"I know that, but—"
"You're being clingy." His voice was cold. Distant. "It's not a good look."
The words hit me like a slap.
"Clingy?" I repeated. "Ethan, you asked me to check your essay yesterday morning. You texted me at midnight about your calculus homework. How is that me being clingy?"
"That's different. That's school stuff." Ethan glanced toward the door where Isabella was waiting. "But acting like I owe you my time, like I have to include you in everything—it's weird, Aria. People are noticing."
"What people?"
"Everyone." He lowered his voice, trying to sound kind but coming off condescending. "Look, I get that you're used to us hanging out a lot. But I have a girlfriend now. You need to respect that and give us space."
"I haven't done anything—"
"Haven't you?" Ethan raised an eyebrow. "The way you look at Isabella. The way you get all quiet when she's around. It's obvious you're jealous."
"I'm not—"
"Just back off, okay? Let me be happy. Be a good friend and support my relationship instead of trying to sabotage it."
I stared at him. This person wearing Ethan's face, speaking with Ethan's voice, but saying things the real Ethan would never say.
Except this was the real Ethan. I was just finally seeing it.
"I've never tried to sabotage anything," I said, my voice shaking. "I've done nothing but support you for six years."
"Then support me now by giving me space." Ethan stepped back. "I've got to go. Isabella's waiting."
He left me standing there, alone in an empty classroom, feeling like I was two inches tall.
I don't know how long I stood there. Long enough that I was late to second period. Long enough that my legs felt numb and my chest hurt from holding in tears.
My phone buzzed. Finally, an update from Kai.
Kai: Lily's stable. They got the tube in. She's sleeping now.
Relief flooded through me.
Me: Thank god. Are you okay?
Kai: Been better. You?
I looked around the empty classroom, at the posters visible through the doorway, at the life I'd built crumbling around me.
Me: Been better.
Kai: When I get back tomorrow, we're doing this. My plan. Are you in?
Tomorrow. He wanted to publicly claim me as his in front of the entire school. Stand up to everyone who was destroying me.
But what would it cost him?
Before I could respond, the classroom door opened. Isabella walked in, and she was alone.
"I thought you'd be here," she said, closing the door behind her.
My stomach dropped. "What do you want?"
Isabella smiled, but it wasn't sweet anymore. It was sharp. Predatory.
"To give you a choice." She walked closer. "Leave Crestwood, transfer schools quietly, and I'll take down the posts. Clear your name. Tell everyone it was all a misunderstanding."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I'm not a monster. I'm just protecting what's mine." Isabella's eyes hardened. "Ethan is mine. This school is mine. The scholarship you won? That should have been mine too. But I can be generous. Leave, and everyone forgets this happened."
"And if I stay?"
"Then it gets worse." Isabella pulled out her phone. "See, I have more videos. More screenshots. More proof of your 'obsession' with Ethan. I've been collecting them for weeks. One post a day until everyone at Crestwood—and every college you applied to—knows exactly who Aria Chen really is."
My blood ran cold. "You wouldn't."
"Try me." She headed for the door, then paused. "Oh, and that bad boy you've been running to? Kai Winters? I know about his sister. About the hospital bills. About the scholarship he's barely keeping." She looked back, her smile vicious. "It would be such a shame if the school found out he's been faking his attendance records. If they discovered he's missed more days than allowed. He'd lose everything."
She knew. Somehow, Isabella knew about Kai's situation.
"How—"
"I do my research." Isabella opened the door. "You have until midnight to decide. Stay and watch everyone you care about burn, or leave and save them."
She walked out, leaving me alone with an impossible choice.
My phone buzzed again. A message from an unknown number.
A photo loaded.
It was Kai at the hospital, sitting beside Lily's bed, his head in his hands.
The caption beneath made my heart stop:
"Poor Kai Winters. It would be tragic if his scholarship investigation started tomorrow. All because someone couldn't let go of a boy who didn't want her."
Isabella wasn't bluffing.
If I stayed, if I fought back, she wouldn't just destroy me.
She'd destroy Kai and Lily too.
I sank into a desk chair, Isabella's ultimatum crushing me.
Midnight. I had until midnight to choose.
Save myself and lose everything.
Or save Kai and disappear forever.