Chapter 5

Before leaving, Wesley made one more trip to campus.

He needed to pack up his things, say goodbye to the friends who'd truly stood by him, and gather the materials for his video.

A send-off ceremony for the graduating class was underway on the athletic field.

As the department's outstanding graduates—and the only two recommended recipients—Derek and Natalie took the stage to speak.

Derek wore a white shirt with a silver pin at the collar.

It was identical to the one Wesley had tucked away at the back of a drawer.

He remembered Natalie giving him that pin and telling him, so earnestly, that she'd had it custom-made just for him. She'd designed it herself. There wasn't another one like it in the world.

So he'd never been one of a kind after all.

Wesley headed for the lab building without looking back, but Derek's words stopped him in his tracks.

"There's one special person I want to thank.

"Natalie Rowan.

"For four years, I was broke, insecure, and alone, and you pulled me out of the dark more times than I can count.

"You tutored me. You fought to get me a work-study position. When my family was in the hospital, you covered the medical bills. When I thought I had no chance to be recommended, you did everything you could to make it happen.

"Without you, I wouldn't be standing here today.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Wesley stopped.

He thought of Natalie yesterday, smiling as she promised, "You're the one I've always known I'd spend my life with."

Then he heard her say, "Yes."

Wesley kept walking.

At the lab door, he froze.

His computer had been smashed. His notes were soaking in water. Someone had splashed red paint across his workstation and scrawled BULLY in huge, ugly letters.

The crystal keepsake his grandmother had left him lay shattered on the floor.

Wesley rushed over and gathered up the pieces. He knelt helplessly in the wreckage, tears falling, trying to fit the crystal back together.

Someone grabbed him by the hair from behind and dragged him toward the door.

"You've got some nerve showing your face here! If Derek hadn't exposed you, none of us would've known you were such a two-faced piece of trash!

"The graduation ceremony's still going. You're going to apologize to Derek in front of everyone!"

Wesley barely managed to clutch the crystal to his chest before he was dragged toward the field.

His back was scraped raw. The pain nearly made him black out.

People passing by pointed at him. Some even threw rocks and spat at him.

A rock split Wesley's forehead open. Through the blood, he saw Natalie and Derek walking toward him side by side.

She stopped in front of him, her gaze cold and haughty.

"Yesterday, right in front of my dad, you said you'd marry me." Wesley's voice was hoarse, his mouth tasting of blood. "So what's this today?"

Natalie was calm. "Call it figuring out what I really want. Derek and I will be in the same grad program. If we're together, we can help each other, academically and professionally.

"Wesley, I really do like you, but your reputation's ruined. Your life's a mess. I can't see a future for you.

"People have to look out for themselves, don't they?

"So from now on, stay out of Derek's and my life. And you don't need to post that video, either. Derek's work will speak for itself."

Then she turned to the crowd with a sweet smile.

"Okay, everyone, thank you for standing up for my Derek, but that's enough. I don't want anyone getting in trouble because of us."

The crowd finally backed off.

Wesley limped away.

He fell seriously ill and couldn't get out of bed for a week.

Richard and Laura looked at their son, who'd lost so much weight, their hearts aching.

"The immigration paperwork's done. We can leave anytime. Is there anything else you want to do first?"

"Dad," Wesley said, "our company does security systems. Every surveillance feed in the city is backed up in our core database, right?

"I need some of that footage. I want it released along with my video after we're gone."

With everything arranged, Wesley boarded the plane.

Before takeoff, a message came in from Natalie.

"Dinner tonight. You have to come. Even if we didn't end up together, I don't want to lose my best friend."

After reading it, Wesley canceled his phone number and deleted all his social media accounts.

He was going to get as far away from Natalie, Derek, and the whole mess as he could. He had his own life to live.