MasukShirley POV I dropped to my knees in front of her and cradled her face with both hands. “Mom… Mom…” She still didn’t answer. Instead, the tears only fell harder, streaming down her cheeks and making me panic more. “Did something happen to Dad? Or the company?” My voice cracked. I couldn’t stop my own tears from spilling over. "I'm fine, don't worry" “Mom, don’t lie to me. I can clearly see that you’re anything but fine. Tell me what happened. Is it Dad? What did Dad do?” Even though my parents had their differences over the years, things had never escalated to this point — never to the point where my strong, composed mother sat on the couch openly crying. She wiped her eyes for a few seconds and forced a weak smile. “I’m fine.” “No. No, Mom, don’t lie.” I shook my head, tears falling faster. “Tell me. What did he do so we can make things right? Tell me!” I gently shook her shoulders, desperate for an answer. Before she could speak, I heard footsteps behind me. Mom’s eyes li
Shirley POV I frowned at their words. A standing full? That was ridiculous. Even professional gymnasts found that skill difficult to land cleanly, and they expected me to throw one right here during a last-minute tryout? “That’s impossible,” I said flatly. “Even professionals struggle with a standing full. How do you expect me to do it for tryouts? "Can’t you stop acting like bitches for once and just be decent? I bet none of you can even perform it yourselves.” “Yeah!” Kayla shouted beside me, clearly fed up. “Stop being so damn extra!” The girls only frowned deeper, then one of them lifted her chin with a smug smile. “Our head cheer Stacey can do it. That’s why a pretentious bitch like you can never reach her standards. You’re just a pathetic bitch trying to fit in among us.” Really? When did I ever want to fit into their crowd? Even though I hold a lot resentment against Brad and planning my revenge, I never once felt the need to become one of the popular girls. I liked myse
Shirley POVI spent the entire next period cursing my fate, and Stacey, under my breath.Because of that foolish girl, I couldn’t focus on a single thing the teacher said. By the time the bell finally rang, my head was pounding.“Ms. Patterson, a moment please.”I turned to see Ms. Sandy, our homeroom teacher, gesturing for me to stay behind as the other students filed out. Once the classroom emptied, she gave me a gentle but serious look.“I understand that you must be feeling a lot of pressure right now…”I raised an eyebrow. “Pressure? What pressure?”Ms. Sandy folded her hands on the desk. “You know… the fact that you are currently dating Mr. Hale. The public eye will naturally be on you, and that can make anyone uncomfortable — especially since you only recently transferred to Hawthorne. Both of you are under a certain amount of scrutiny now.”I stared at her, completely dumbfounded.Was this really how my life was going to be from now on?Everyone — the principal, the teachers,
Stacey POV“Like, girl, I saw the new car she posted on her Instagram. It was actually cute,” I told Jena, who was standing opposite me near the vending machines.Before she could even answer, another figure appeared in front of us.I rolled my eyes the second I recognized her.Patterson.I opened my mouth to ask what the hell she wanted this time, but before a single word left my lips, she grabbed my wrist and started pulling me away.“Hey—where are you taking me?!” I demanded, trying to yank my hand back. Damn, the girl was stronger than she looked. She dragged me through the hallway with zero hesitation, heading straight toward the girls’ locker room.The moment we reached the door, I finally managed to rip my hand free.“What the actual hell?” I snapped.“Shhhh!” she immediately shushed me. I leaned in and shushed her right back, even louder. “Don’t shhh me. have you gone mad? What gave you the mind to drag me off when I was in the middle of a conversation. That was awfully rude.
Sebastian POV “Sebastian!” I heard her footsteps behind me but I chose to ignore it and continued walking forward then her hand grab mine, forcing me to stop. “What the hell was that?!” Shirley demanded, still slightly out of breath. I turned and raised an eyebrow. “I did you a favor, like I said before.” The truth was, I had noticed her slipping away during gym and decided to follow. We needed to talk. Really talk. Sort out the mess from the motel, the photos, the rumors. But the last thing I expected was to find her meeting Brad behind the bleachers again. What the hell did she even see in that egoistic scumbag? “Look, Shirley,” I said, my voice lower now. “I don’t know what you see in that guy, but I’m not gonna let him walk over you like some piece of shit.” She stared at me with a stunned expression, completely silent for a few seconds. Then she cleared her throat awkwardly and looked away. “What about… what about, you know… the relationship?” she started in a quiet voi
Shirley POV“Uhhhh… shouldn’t you be against it?” I cleared my throat, forcing the words out. “I mean… aren’t you upset about the rumors?”Principal Hargrove simply waved his hand dismissively.“Why would I be, just look at Brad and Stacey. Both of them have formed the power couple of Hawthorne. He’s the captain, she’s the head cheerleader, and both are doing extremely well. I couldn’t be happier with that dynamic.” He turned his attention fully back to me. “Which reminds me, you will be given a list of extracurriculars to join. It’s mandatory, and I know you’ll do great at whichever one you choose.”I blinked. “Don’t I still need to be tutoring Sebastian? I’ll join something a little later…” As much as I wanted to stay far away Sebastian, it felt like Principal Hargrove was deliberately trying to set something up.“There’s no need,” he replied smoothly. “He passed the test. He’ll be joining the team starting tomorrow, so you don’t have anything to worry about on that front.”Princip







