Chapter: The StandCheryl.I stood frozen in the middle of the quad. The crowd tightened around us, drawing in with that particular hunger people get when they sense a public execution. Phones were raised at every angle. The exact same eighteen seconds of footage played back on at least a dozen screens within my line of sight. Over and over, my own face remained buried against Dylan's chest, repeating like a loop of accusation.The tight crop made it worse every time I glanced at it.Dylan's arm hung over my shoulders, framing me against him while erasing everything that had happened. It stripped away the tears, the exhaustion, and the simple truth that I needed someone to sit with me while he asked for nothing in return. Watching it now, isolated from reality, I could almost believe the story it was spinning. That frightened me more than the crowd did."I was crying," I said, pushing the words out against a voice that shook so violently I barely recognized it. "My family had just torn into me. Dylan f
Last Updated: 2026-09-01
Chapter: A Damning LieCherylI felt it before I understood it: the particular shift in the air that happens when you become the subject of something you don't yet know exists. Conversations died as I passed. Heads turned. A girl near the fountain lifted her phone and angled it my way before quickly lowering it when she caught me noticing.My stomach knotted. An old, familiar dread rose before I had a single piece of information to justify it.I had not checked my phone since last night. After the family meeting, after the rink, after Dylan walked me most of the way home before I insisted I could manage the rest alone, I fell into bed too exhausted to do anything but sleep, my phone forgotten face-down on the nightstand."Cheryl."Amara's voice cut through the noise of the quad. I turned to see her jogging toward me, her face pale in a way that made my chest tighten before she said another word. She grabbed my arm the second she reached me, pulling me slightly off the main path. Her eyes scanned the crowd
Last Updated: 2026-08-30
Chapter: The FrameCelesteI sat on my bed with my laptop balanced on my knees, watching the footage for the eleventh time. I studied every frame the way I imagined Cheryl studied hockey plays, searching for the exact angle that would land hardest, the exact half-second that would do the most damage.The raw clip was good. Better than good. Cheryl's face buried against Dylan's chest, his arms wrapped around her, the two of them illuminated just enough by the rink's emergency lighting to be unmistakably identifiable, unmistakably intimate.Raw footage needed context to do real work, though, and context was something I was always good at building. Ever since I was young, I understood that the truth mattered far less than what people were willing to believe about it.I trimmed the clip down to the eighteen seconds that mattered most: the moment Dylan's hand slid up her back, the moment she turned her face further into his shoulder instead of pulling away. I cut out the part where he asked if she wanted him
Last Updated: 2026-08-30
Chapter: The ComfortCherylI didn't decide to run to the rink. My feet just carried me there, the way they always did, drawn by some old, worn groove in me that still equated that particular sheet of ice with the only kind of safety I ever fully trusted.The building was locked for the night. I knew the side door by the equipment bay stuck if you leaned into it the right way, a trick I learned years ago filming late practices nobody else wanted to stay for. I let myself in and climbed up into the bleachers. The metal bit cold through my jeans as I sat there in the dark, pulling my knees tight to my chest.The tears came before I even fully settled, quiet at first, then rolling out of control. My whole body shook with the effort of holding two years, maybe my whole life, of accumulated hurt behind a composure that had finally, completely given out.My father's silence kept replaying in my head, louder than anything Celeste actually said. I expected her outburst. I expected the accusation, the tears, the f
Last Updated: 2026-08-30
Chapter: The DescentCelesteThe bottle on my nightstand had been half empty for three nights straight. I stopped bothering to hide it by the second night, too exhausted to perform the version of myself that kept everything contained behind a locked door and a controlled expression.Nothing was working anymore.The seduction narrative landed some damage. I could hear it in the way conversations went quiet when I walked into certain rooms, but it hadn't produced the collapse I needed. Cheryl kept showing up to class. She kept filming practices. She kept walking across campus with Carlson's hand at the small of her back like the rumors were something happening to somebody else entirely.I missed two classes this week. I couldn't remember the last time I studied for anything. My grades were sliding in a way I would have found unthinkable a month ago, back when maintaining perfect optics was the only skill that ever mattered to me. My coach pulled me aside after practice to ask if something was wrong, and I s
Last Updated: 2026-08-29
Chapter: The VulnerabilityCherylHis heartbeat was slower than mine, steady under my palm in a way that made the whole room feel quieter than it actually was. I lay there listening to it long after either of us said anything, trying to memorize the rhythm of it like it might disappear if I stopped paying attention.I spent two years writing versions of this in a journal I never meant anyone to find. They were elaborate fantasies built out of longing and desperation, every detail imagined and polished and completely wrong. The real thing didn't match a single page of it. It was nothing like the practiced, choreographed intimacy I invented out of loneliness.It was better. Messier, more honest, both of us reaching for something that had nothing to do with performance and everything to do with survival. It was two people terrified in different directions finding a few hours where the fear didn't win. I hadn't felt safe like this in longer than I could remember, not the fragile, conditional safety I learned to exp
Last Updated: 2026-08-29
Chapter: SHADOW FROM THE PASTKyrian’s POV “Good boy,” Connie said, smiling with her eyes. “Boy!” I exclaimed. “I am a grown man.” She smiled even more pleasantly, “Do you realize you look really cute when you talk like that?” I glared at her, “Why would I want to be cute? It’s not as if I’m five years old.” “Cutey pie,” she teased me further. “Come to mummy.” I looked her in the eye and asked, “Did you move from calling me cute to flirting with me?” It was her turn to get defensive, “Why would I flirt with you? Don’t be absurd.” “But that’s what you are doing—” I insisted. “How would you explain ‘come to mummy’? I doubt you have a reasonable explanation. Just accept you were trying to flirt with me. It’s totally normal, it only shows that you are a healthy woman.” “No,” she insisted strongly. “It was a slip of the tongue.”“Sure, anything that makes you feel better,” I chuckled. A knock on the door stopped her conversation and Connie went to see who was at the door. I noticed her body language change the
Last Updated: 2026-07-31
Chapter: OLD HABITS DIE HARDConnie’s POV The moment I heard that Kyrian was awake, I discharged myself from the clinic just like he had done. I could argue that my condition was much better than his when he left and that I didn’t run into a heavy snow, the fact remains that I discharged myself. To think that I had done that just for Kyrian to treat me like this, I felt like I had played a losing game. I mean, I just saved him from sure death. I thought I had earned the right to talk to him and have him listen. But that wasn’t the case and I was clearly furious. I rushed into the restroom where I cried my eyes out. It was due to anger and a recollection of how I had pulled him out that snow. Even thinking about it was hard for me. I washed my face after I had finished crying and stepped out. I was shocked to find Kyrian standing right outside the restroom. “You shouldn’t be here,” I said instantly. “I know this is near the female restroom but I had to come. The nurse said that was where you went. I am not a
Last Updated: 2026-07-31
Chapter: BLUE, RED, AND WHITEKyrian’s POV For a long time, the only colors I saw were blue, red, and white. I saw what seemed like the clouds and the sky. They were all blue at first as if it was such a great day to go to the park with your lover. I saw the bubbles made by the children and I heard their laughter. The sky turned red suddenly, the clouds and the sun bloody red. I saw what I deemed to be demons chasing after me with fire on their heads and with long swords in their hands, the longest I have ever seen. Then it all went white or rather, blank. I saw nothing and everything and then I heard it, the beeping of the heart monitor. I clutched what I could and opened my eyes forcefully. I was gasping by the time I woke up and there was a nurse watching me. “Can you hear me?” She was asking. “How many fingers are this?” I was too stunned to reply. She waited for a bit and then she walked away. By the time she came back, she was with someone dressed as a doctor and a man who was clearly a security guard fr
Last Updated: 2026-07-31
Chapter: ONE HOUSECallum Vress’s POV “How do you know that?” Connie asked. She wasn't trying to hide the anger squirming inside her and that was my goal from the onset. I derived pleasure from rilling her up. “Oh yes, how could I have known?” I played along with her. “Are you spying on us?” She asked, staring at me viciously. Then she added, “I know you have cameras everywhere but it is illegal to have them in our rooms. If you have been spying on us there by any chance, I will make sure–” “You don't have the power to do anything, Connie,” I cut in readily. “By the way, I am not acknowledging putting spy cameras in your rooms. I wouldn't do that, would I?” I started to laugh hysterically while Connie’s breathing got heavier. If she had her chance, she would probably tear me into pieces. I had done enough for today though, I shouldn't push her past that. “Get some rest, Connie. I will see you next time,” I touched her briefly on the shoulder. She flinched instantly, breathing harder than ever. Hor
Last Updated: 2026-07-31
Chapter: OUT OF SIGHT, STILL IN MINDConnie's POVI was driven back to the show house and from the tense mood that existed upon my entry, I knew they had all gotten the news. Everyone was in the living room and they stood up the moment I arrived. God forbid, it was as if someone had died. The cameras were on so I figured the viewers must already know. Hori came to me and hugged me tightly, patting me on the back. I held onto her too, fighting the tears. “Are you okay?” Hori asked. “I was so scared,” That was all I could say. “I thought he was going to die. Even now, he is unconscious. He might still die.” “He won't,” Hori reassured me. “He is in one of the best hospitals in the country right now and he will be treated well. He will be back here before you know it.” “Are you sure?” I asked, disengaging from the hug. “I am,” Hori replied. She looked at me intently and brushed my hair. “You look like you've gone through a lot. Let's get you to the clinic for a checkup.” “No, I'm fine,” I muttered. “A checkup won't h
Last Updated: 2026-07-31
Chapter: FROZENConnie's POV Harlow didn't believe me at first but she had no choice but to come with me. She thought I was crazy and that the best thing to do was to let me have my way so I could finally come back with them to the house. I led the way, of course, and was followed by Harlow and two security guards. She had sent the third back to the house to bring a car. “I must be crazy for coming with you here,” Harlow muttered. “Why would he come to train when he isn't even recovered yet and in this heavy snow?” I didn't reply. I started to look around and there he was, collapsed on the ice rink. I felt as if my legs had given out yet I still ran to him. It was Kyrian definitely but he was all covered by the snow. The security guards got there next and they worked on pulling him out. He was cold as ice himself and he didn't look like he was breathing. I started to cry and Harlow held me still while one of the security guards carried Kyrian on his back. We ran out and the guard who left to brin
Last Updated: 2026-07-30
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