AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Too bad. You need to learn to take responsibility. No more bailouts.”
“But I was relying on you. You always said you’d help me with college,” I choked out, tears pooling in my eyes. “Please, Dad. Don’t do this. I need you.”
“Get a job,” he said bluntly. “Goodbye, Sienna.”
With that, he hung up, leaving me crying and shaking on the cobblestone path. People stared at me with naked judgment in their eyes as they passed, but I couldn’t stop the tears from spilling out or my shoulders from quaking. It felt like the whole world had tilted on its axis, violently throwing me into the cold darkness of outer space where I was doomed to float, knowing I could never return.
After what felt like an hour, but was probably only five minutes in reality, I wiped my puffy eyes and opened my purse to see what I had. Forty-three dollars in cash, two bank cards that were almost certainly non-functional as per my father’s statement, and a meal card for the dining hall. The meal card had enough funds loaded on it to potentially last me six weeks if I was careful to ration things out.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and spoke to myself out loud, trying to psych myself up. “Maybe you can actually do this. Maybe it’ll all work out.”
At the start of the semester, a girl in one of my classes had mentioned something about a work-study program in the library that allowed her to pay for her degree and dorm. She’d told me that entry into the program wasn’t as competitive as she’d initially assumed it would be, because so many Worthington kids were attending on scholarships or on their parent’s dime.
It was probably impossible to start now, seeing as we were already halfway through the semester, but I could still email the girl and ask her to send me the details on it for next semester. Until then, I could survive with what I had. My dorm was already paid off until the end of this semester anyway, so it wasn’t like they could throw me out right away.
My phone lit up again. I unlocked it immediately, wondering if my father had changed his mind, but it wasn’t him. It was an email from the dean’s office, asking me to attend a meeting at 4:45 p.m. on Monday.
Shit, shit, shit. I might not even need to worry about paying my tuition if I got expelled. I just had to hope I could plead my case on Monday well enough to stay.
I snapped my purse shut, stood up straight, and squared my shoulders. Then I took off down the path again.
When I turned the corner a moment later, I spotted Paxton and some of the other hockey guys sauntering toward the quad. He spotted me too, and he grinned at me and lifted his right hand in a mocking wave.
Fucking asshole.
I sucked in a deep breath and affected a blank expression, refusing to show him how terribly he was affecting my life with all the nasty, psychotic shit he was doing to me. I wouldn’t give him that satisfaction. I’d simply breeze right past him like I’d never seen him before. Like everything was fine.
When I finally reached my dorm, Tate and Michaela were waiting for me at the door. “We saw what happened,” Michaela said, holding up a box of chocolates. “Want to hang out and chat about it?”
“Yes.” My face crumpled as emotion clogged my throat all over again. “Thanks.”
My friends wrapped me in a tight group hug. Then they followed me into my room and let me haltingly explain everything from my point of view.
“I knew it wasn’t you in that video,” Tate said, eyes narrowing. “It was so obvious.”
“But your name was on it, so everyone just assumed it had to be you,” Michaela added, slowly shaking her head. “It’s fucking bullshit.”
“I know.” I sighed and stuffed another chocolate in my mouth.
“I just don’t understand who would do this to you,” Michaela went on, brows knitting in a contemplative frown.
I sure as hell do, I thought bitterly. Of course, I couldn’t tell anyone my suspicions about Paxton for the same old reason as always—I’d already accused him of something terrible before and been painted as a vicious liar.
However, if my friends came to the conclusion that it was Paxton on their own… well, that was something else entirely.
“I guess someone here on campus really despises me,” I said. “Someone who wants to get rid of me and totally ruin my life.”
Michaela’s nose wrinkled. “But who? You’ve never done anything to hurt anyone.”
“Exactly,” Tate said, nodding emphatically. “And definitely not enough to warrant this kind of—”
He abruptly stopped, eyebrows shooting up. Michaela stared at him. “What?”
“This is going to sound a bit nuts, but…” Tate lowered his voice. “What if it’s Paxton Cole? Or maybe even a crazy fan of his?”
I tilted my head and widened my eyes, telegraphing my faux surprise. “You think that could be it?”
“Yeah. I mean, maybe you were right at the start of the semester. Maybe he really does hate you for what happened in high school.”
