เข้าสู่ระบบHazel's POV The call ended just like that and I stood paralyzed at the door, breathing shallowly. She? Who was he talking about? A secret from his past? The words echoed ominously in my mind. My stepfather, always so composed, had sounded genuinely afraid.I wanted to leave like I hadn't heard anything but my legs carried on before my brain could stop it,I opened the door and walked up to his desk, when his eyes met mine, he stood up in a hurry.“How long have you been standing there?” I heard him say but my eyes immediately caught some financial documents spread out, like he was studying them.I wasn't wearing my glasses but I caught a glimpse of a bold heading “TRUST FUND”. Before I could get close to see any other thing, he quickly packed them up and put them away in his drawer.“You are still up?” He gave me a tight smile.“Its just 8pm, dad.” “Oh.. I know… you looked quite exhausted when you walked in so I thought you would be asleep by now.”Right, since when did he care this
Hazel’s POVI stared at my phone as my stepdad’s name flashed across the screen for the third time that hour. The sight of it dragged me straight back to that awful night just days earlier, him standing in the doorway with a cold, unyielding expression, pointing at my bag on the porch. “You’ve embarrassed this family enough with all your action and that pathetic livestream,” he had snapped, his voice cutting like ice. “Take your things and get out. Don’t come back until you’ve fixed the mess you made.”This was right after I went live to clear Jaxon's name. He called me to come home, I knew it was bad news already but with Jaxon not taking my calls and everything closing on me. I thought perhaps home would be a better option. But of course, as always that place has lost all it has to be called a home.I had stood there in the rain, bag slung over my shoulder, feeling utterly abandoned. Now here he was calling as if none of that had happened. I finally picked up the phone knowing he
Tiffany’s POVI got an official notice for school delivered in mail. When I got the pop-up notification, I set out my fingers to slide it away because I had developed the habit of skimming subject lines and moving on. But there was something about this particular one that made me pause.“Office of Legal Affairs — Student Conduct Review.”I opened it standing in the middle of my room and read it through twice.The language was different from anything I had seen before. It was precise and formal and listed specific terms I had never seen applied to a student situation, ‘coordinated unlawful entry, documented coercion, potential institutional liability.’“What the fuck is this.” I muttered to myself, reading the mail over again word to word.I walked to my desk and stood very still for a moment.Then I picked up my phone to call Amber.“Have you heard anything? About Hazel. About what she’s doing.”“What do you mean?” Amber’s voice was cautious.“Hold on, let me add Chloe to this call.”
Hazel's POVI opened my eyes and caught Jaxon staring at me from his couch. I was surprised that I'd gotten this much sleep after everything that happened last night. After breakfast, we sat together on his couch, watching the footage Brielle handed over to us four times before I wanted to look away.Each replay made my stomach twist harder. The first time, all I could see was myself. The second time, I noticed the pauses. The third time, I caught the way Tiffany kept stopping the recording and making me start again.By the fourth, I couldn't ignore it anymore.My eyes moved toward the left before every retake. My voice sounded flat whenever I repeated a line. Every hesitation, every restart, every correction was right there on the screen.Anyone paying attention would know I wasn't speaking freely. Jaxon set down his phone on the table, disrupting my thoughts."This is enough to stop her." He spoke upI wrapped both hands around my mug. "Stop her, how?""She's been sitting on her ve
Jaxon’s POVI knew Hazel’s stay in the dorm was out of the way. I looked at Hazel sitting in the passenger seat with her arms still wrapped around herself and decided without overthinking it.“I am taking you home with me.. You can't stay here tonight.,” I said.She looked at me. “Jaxon…”“Don’t.” I put the car in drive. “You can argue with me tomorrow.”She didn’t argue. She turned back to the window and watched the campus move past us and said nothing.When we got home, she sat on the couch and pulled her knees up the same way she had done in the car. I went to the kitchen and made tea because it was the most useful thing I could think of that wasn’t talking.I set the mug on the table in front of her.She looked at it, then at me. “Thank you.”“Don’t thank me yet,” I said. “I’m still figuring out what I’m doing.”Something moved at the corner of her mouth. Not quite a smile but close enough that it loosened something in my chest.We sat in silence. I wasn’t going to push it. Whatev
Jaxon’s POVThe cheerleader stood outside in the parking lot light, one hand still raised from where she had tapped the glass. She was standing alone but she looked almost as unsettled as Hazel did.Hazel’s breath came out sharp. “That’s Brielle.”“From the squad right?”“Yes.” Her voice flattened. “Don’t open the window.”But Brielle was already shaking her head, both hands up now, palms out, something urgent in her expression that didn’t read like a threat.I opened the window just a little in case she wanted to do anything stupid.“I’m not here to cause trouble,” Brielle said immediately. “I just… I need five minutes. Please.”Hazel’s jaw was tight. “You were there tonight.”Brielle closed her eyes for a second. “I know.” “Then you have nothing to say to me.”“Hazel.” Her voice cracked slightly. “I am here to help you. Please just… five minutes. That’s all.”I looked at Hazel. She was staring at Brielle through the glass with an expression that had many emotions. She gave me a s
Hazel’s POVJaxon’s car pulls up in front of my dorm like a scene straight out of a movie I take a quick look at myself one more time on my phone's reflection before finally stepping out in sight.My white crop top clung to my waist in perfection, in contrast with his jersey paired with my short s
That evening, my phone buzzed while I was brushing my teeth and I almost ignored it until the screen lit up and I realized that the notification was for my blog—WildLifeMy heart did a small, stupid jump. I rinsed my mouth quickly and picked up the phone, towel still draped around my shoulders. The
Hazel’s POVI was still moving my body to the music as Jaxon stepped away to get us drinks, I could still feel his hands on my waist, where he had held me earlier.That thought alone made my heart swoon with joy. I was smiling to myself when a familiar voice cut through the noise.“Hazel.”I turned
Jaxon’s POVWhen we stepped out of the auditorium, Hazel suddenly became the most popular person on campus, a lot of persons came to congratulate her up close while others stared from afar.Across Tiffany and her crew quickly got into their cars and drove away, they never saw this coming and I cou







