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Chapter 5

Author: Eternity
Olivia rushed into the office, snatched the security stills and my notebook from the floor, and ran.

Mom started to stop her, but the principal and two school board members appeared in the doorway.

She stopped.

I didn’t.

I chased Olivia through the library and onto the terrace overlooking the parking lot.

Mason and two other students were waiting for her.

Olivia immediately handed him my notebook.

“She’s going to use this to destroy us.”

Mason flipped through several pages. Along with the record of all one hundred times Mom had punished me, the notebook held my library records and stills from the security footage.

“Give it back.”

Mason blocked my path.

“If you admit you were the girl in the equipment room, Olivia and I won’t lose our college recommendations.”

“So you decided to destroy me instead?”

I reached for the notebook.

In the struggle, my sleeve tore and the notebook fell to the ground. The wind caught the appeal documents inside and scattered them across the terrace.

I managed to grab the notebook.

Olivia planted her foot on one of the security stills.

“Dean Hart has no intention of clearing your name. Keep your mouth shut, and this will all blow over.”

I yanked the picture out from under her shoe.

She stumbled, then grabbed my wrist.

“You pushed me!”

“I did not!”

She tried to tear the picture from my hand. I grabbed her sleeve to stop her.

Mom’s voice suddenly came from the terrace entrance.

“What is going on?”

Everyone froze.

Mom strode toward us.

This time, she already knew the whole truth.

“Mom—”

Before I could say anything else, Olivia burst into tears.

“Dean Hart, Sophie cornered me out here. She said she was going to ruin my scholarship, and then she stole my things.”

“She stole my notebook.”

I held up the security still.

“They tried to force me to confess that I was the girl in the equipment room.”

Mom did not look at the documents scattered across the ground.

She did not look at my torn sleeve.

She only saw my hand gripping Olivia’s.

“Sophie, let go of her.”

Mason and the others exchanged knowing looks.

I slowly released Olivia.

She could have stepped away.

Instead, her eyes fell on the security still in my hand, and something vicious flashed across her face.

The next second, she shoved me hard.

I staggered backward, my heel landing on one of the windblown appeal papers.

It slid beneath my shoe.

My back slammed into the section of railing wrapped in yellow caution tape.

Metal shrieked as it tore loose.

The coldness on Mom’s face shattered.

She lunged for me, her fingers coming within inches of my wrist.

But it was already too late.

In the final second before I fell, I saw her drop to her knees beside the broken railing.

She was no longer Dean Hart, always right and relentlessly impartial.

She was only a terrified mother.

“Sophie!”
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  • One Hundred Reasons To Leave My Mother   Chapter 7

    Sophie lay on the asphalt between two parked cars.A campus security officer knelt beside her, keeping her neck still while a teacher held a folded jacket over the blood near her head. Sophie’s eyes were closed, and her left arm rested at an angle that made Margaret stop breathing.“Sophie!”She dropped beside Sophie, but the security officer blocked her hands. “Don’t touch her. The paramedics are almost here.”“I’m her mother.” Margaret’s voice broke. “She gets low blood sugar. There should be glucose tablets in her bag. Please, she needs—”“Right now, we need to keep her still and breathing.”The ambulance turned into the lot. Paramedics rushed over with a trauma board and oxygen, forcing everyone back.Margaret stood a few feet away, shaking so hard that the principal had to hold her upright.One paramedic checked Sophie’s pupils while another cut open the sleeve that had torn on the terrace. They spoke in clipped phrases that Margaret could not understand.“Four-story fall.”“Unequ

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    For one second, Margaret Hart didn’t move.She remained on her knees beside the broken railing, staring into the empty space where Sophie had been.One of the security stills fluttered against the yellow caution tape.“Sophie?”Her voice was barely audible.Olivia backed away, both hands pressed to her mouth. “I didn’t mean to—she slipped.”Mason grabbed her arm. “The railing broke. That wasn’t our fault.”Margaret turned toward them so slowly that everyone fell silent.She had seen Olivia shove Sophie.She had seen the torn sleeve, the stolen notebook, and the evidence scattered across the terrace.But the last thing Sophie had heard from her mother was an order to back down.“Sophie, let go of Olivia.”The principal and the two board members reached the terrace entrance. One of them looked over the edge and immediately called emergency services.The other board member ordered campus security to seal the terrace and keep every student there. Mason tried to step toward the door, but a

  • One Hundred Reasons To Leave My Mother   Chapter 5

    Olivia rushed into the office, snatched the security stills and my notebook from the floor, and ran.Mom started to stop her, but the principal and two school board members appeared in the doorway.She stopped.I didn’t.I chased Olivia through the library and onto the terrace overlooking the parking lot.Mason and two other students were waiting for her.Olivia immediately handed him my notebook.“She’s going to use this to destroy us.”Mason flipped through several pages. Along with the record of all one hundred times Mom had punished me, the notebook held my library records and stills from the security footage.“Give it back.”Mason blocked my path.“If you admit you were the girl in the equipment room, Olivia and I won’t lose our college recommendations.”“So you decided to destroy me instead?”I reached for the notebook.In the struggle, my sleeve tore and the notebook fell to the ground. The wind caught the appeal documents inside and scattered them across the terrace.I managed

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