A Joke That Went Too Far

I kicked the chair next to me hard enough to send it sideways. "Joking around? Then why don't you put your own names and numbers out there and sell yourselves?"I looked them dead-on, one at a time."Cut the chatter. We're going to the dean's office. Or I'm calling the police."The air fell silent for a few seconds–then they burst out laughing.Tara lifted her chin and tossed her hair. "Even if you take it to my dad, what is he going to do, Sophie? Really?"I knew her too well. She was banking on me caving like I always had.That ended now.Giving in only gets you trampled.I stepped closer. "If you're not scared, let's go right now."Seeing I was serious, her expression stiffened. She quickly grabbed my arm. "My dad's busy. He doesn't have time for nonsense."And since you're my best friend, I don't even have to tell him."Before she finished, I turned and walked off. She hurried after me.As long as I found the dean, this would be easy to settle. I sent my dad a quick mes

The dean pushed his way straight into the center of the crowd. The moment he saw the bruises on my face and arms, his expression changed instantly."Who did this?"His voice was shaking. He looked like he was about to pass out.Tara, who had been holding her composure right up until now, broke. The color went out of her face. Her voice came out small."It's nothing serious, sir. Why would you, why are you here yourself..."Before the dean could answer, Cassidy and Holly elbowed forward to spin the story.Cassidy threw her chest out, voice loud. "Dean, if we hadn't been watching out for Tara, Sophia would've bullied her to death!"Holly shot me a sideways glance and added with a mocking tone, "Exactly. She stays out all night fooling around with men outside, and now she's even doing it on campus. She's ruining the school's reputation!"The dorm supervisor nodded quickly from the side. "That's right, I can testify. She's always been arrogant and difficult!"Tara is such a kind a

The dean took Michael's phone, scrolled through it, then compared it to what was on Tara's phone. His expression darkened.He turned to her sharply, his voice filled with undisguised disgust. "Tara. do you have anything to say for yourself?"Her legs gave out, and she dropped to the floor. The phone fell to the ground, landing face-up. On the screen was her chat with the print shop–filled with explicit photos of me.Photos I had never taken."I never took those pictures. Did you use AI to fake them?"She tried to shake her head in denial, but my father cut in coldly."Whether it's AI or not, our technical team can verify it."The crowd lit up. "She used a deepfake on her own friend. That is sick.""So that's how the dean's daughter acts? Impressive."Tara opened her mouth to spin one more time. "I-I didn't mean…"Before she could finish, the dorm supervisor rushed out with a basin of cold water and dumped it over her head."I can testify!" she said sharply. "The one snea

Two days later I went back to the dorm to pack up.The second I walked in, Cassidy and Holly were on me, all smiles and bobbing heads. "Sophia, you're back? Do you have a lot to pack? Want us to help?"I gave them a cold look and said nothing.They immediately shrank back into the corner, not daring to say another word.I opened my closet and started going through it. My expression darkened.The sapphire necklace my mom gave me for my coming-of-age was gone. It was worth a fortune.So were several designer clothes and pieces of jewelry.I turned to them. "Talk. Who touched my things?"Cassidy quickly waved her hands. "Not me! I didn't take anything! I saw Tara going through your closet a couple days ago, I swear."Holly was nodding before Cassidy was done. "Yeah, I saw it too. It must've been her."I clenched my fists, my chest tightening as I called the police.After listening, the officer sounded slightly helpless."There's no surveillance in the dorm, so it's hard to pro