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Ch. 20 — The Kingston Name

作者: Pauline Maxwell
last update 最終更新日: 2025-12-27 02:56:57

The library was supposed to be neutral ground.

That was what Ruby told herself as she slipped through the tall glass doors after school, backpack heavy on her shoulders, thoughts heavier still. Libraries didn’t take sides. Books didn’t whisper. Facts didn’t care who your parents were.

She needed that illusion.

“Group project,” Lila had announced earlier, dropping into the seat beside Ruby in history class. “Local power structures and modern influence. Partners assigned by last name.”

Ruby hadn’t laughed at the irony. She’d barely heard the rest.

Now she sat at a long wooden table beneath soft yellow lamps, the scent of paper and polish filling her lungs. Theo sat across from her, already pulling books from his bag.

“You don’t have to stay,” Ruby said quietly.

Theo looked up. “I want to.”

She nodded, grateful and guilty all at once.

They divided the work easily—too easily. Theo took notes with calm efficiency. Ruby opened her laptop, typed in the project keywords, and let the search re
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  • The Guy Who Lives Next Door    Ch. 28 What Kai Can’t Say

    And silence was safer than honesty.because silence didn’t disappoint people.It didn’t get twisted into headlines, gossip posts, or boardroom leverage.Or neither did it give anyone something to use against him.So he’d built himself out of it.Standing alone on the edge of the football field, long after practice had ended and the sun had dipped low enough to bleed orange across the bleachers, Kai let the quiet settle around him. His phone buzzed nonstop in his pocket—texts from friends, notifications from the gossip app, his mother’s assistant reminding him about a dinner he wouldn’t attend. But he just ignored it.Ruby’s voice still echoed in his head.You don’t get to care now.He dragged a hand down his face, jaw tight.She didn’t know how close she’d been to the truth.The Kingston house had never felt like a home.It was too big, too clean, too quiet. A place designed to impress guests who never stayed long enough to notice the emptiness echoing through the halls.Kai had grow

  • The Guy Who Lives Next Door    Ch. 27 — The First Real Fight

    Ruby didn’t plan to confront Kai.It just… happened.She was halfway across campus, thoughts tangled with Theo’s confession and that single terrifying sentence—you’re leverage—when she saw him.Kai Kingston stood near the parking lot, jacket slung over his shoulder, laughing with two seniors like the world hadn’t been quietly rearranging itself around his name.Something inside Ruby snapped.Not loudly. Not dramatically.Just enough.“Hey,” she said.Kai turned.The moment his eyes found hers, the laughter died on his lips. He straightened slowly, something cautious flickering across his expression.“Give us a second,” he said to his friends.They hesitated—no one ever hesitated when Kai spoke—but one look at his face and they backed off.Ruby didn’t wait.She walked right up to him, stopping so close she could smell his cologne, see the faint bruise still shadowing his knuckles.“Did you enjoy it?” she asked flatly.Kai frowned. “Enjoy what?”She laughed, sharp and humorless. “The ru

  • The Guy Who Lives Next Door    Ch. 26 — Theo’s Motive

    Ruby found Theo in the library after school.He always chose the same corner—third table from the window, back turned to the main aisle, books stacked neatly but unread. It wasn’t avoidance exactly. It was strategy. Like he preferred to see the room without being seen himself.Today, though, he looked tense.He glanced up the moment she approached, dark eyes sharpening. “You shouldn’t be here.”Ruby stopped short. “Excuse me?”Theo sighed and closed the book in front of him. “I mean—people are watching you more than usual.”“People have always been watching me,” Ruby said, pulling out the chair across from him. “The difference now is I’m done pretending I don’t notice.”Theo studied her for a long second, then nodded slowly. “Okay.”She leaned forward. “Brielle cornered me today.”His jaw tightened. “I figured.”“And Kai defended me.”Theo’s fingers stilled on the edge of the table. “I know.”That made her pause. “How?”Theo exhaled. “Because when Kai Kingston shifts the balance, ever

  • The Guy Who Lives Next Door    Ch. 25 — Softening, Against His Will

    Ruby noticed the change before she trusted it.It started small. Almost invisible.The seating chart in history class reverted overnight. Her name was back by the window, no longer isolated in the back corner where questions went to die and whispers traveled fastest. The teacher didn’t announce it. Just cleared his throat and said, “A minor adjustment,” as if nothing had ever been wrong.At lunch, a post vanished from the gossip app. Not buried. Not drowned out.Gone.People refreshed their screens in confusion. Brielle’s comments disappeared with it, as though they’d never existed.And when Ruby passed through the hallway between fourth and fifth period, the crowd parted more easily than before. Not because they liked her.Because someone else had shifted the current.Ruby didn’t look at Kai.She didn’t need to.She felt him—leaning against the lockers with that careless posture, eyes half-lidded, attention aimed everywhere and nowhere. Like he hadn’t just altered the social gravity

  • The Guy Who Lives Next Door    Ch. 24 — The Secret Ruby Never Told

    Ruby didn’t sleep.She lay on her back staring at the ceiling, the glow of her phone burned into her vision long after she locked the screen. Every time she closed her eyes, the same words resurfaced.Why she really left.Her chest tightened.By morning, the gossip app had doubled its traffic. The post hadn’t revealed anything yet—but that was worse. Speculation filled the gaps like poison gas.She walked into school braced for impact.Whispers followed her again, but they felt different now. Less sharp. More curious. Like people were waiting for permission to decide what to think of her.Ruby ignored them until lunch, when she finally cracked.She didn’t sit in the cafeteria.Instead, she led Lila and Zara to the empty courtyard behind the arts wing—a forgotten space with chipped benches and overgrown ivy. It felt safer there. Quieter.“Okay,” Lila said gently, dropping her bag. “You don’t have to say anything. But you look like you’re carrying a bomb.”Zara nodded. “And we’re alread

  • The Guy Who Lives Next Door    Ch. 23 — Power Doesn’t Like Resistance

    Ruby woke up knowing something had shifted.Not outside—St. Celeste was still St. Celeste. The hallways would still whisper, Brielle would still smile like a knife wrapped in gloss, and Kai Kingston would still move through the school like gravity itself.But inside?Inside, Ruby felt steadier. Sharper.The anonymous text from the night before sat heavy in her mind, but instead of fear, it sparked something else.Defiance.She got dressed slowly, deliberately, choosing clothes that made her feel like herself—not smaller, not quieter. When she looked in the mirror, her eyes didn’t look scared.They looked tired of being pushed.At school, the tension was immediate.People stared more openly now. Some with curiosity. Some with unease. A few with something close to respect.Brielle stood by her locker like she owned the hallway, laughing with her friends. When Ruby walked past, Brielle’s eyes flicked toward her, assessing.Waiting.Lunch came faster than Ruby expected.The cafeteria buzz

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