Fake It

My heart gave such a hard, sickening lurch that I had to grab onto the edge of the table to keep myself from falling to the floor.

The papers left my numb fingers, and my knees turned to numb, cold stone beneath me.

"I..."

"Let me help you understand the gravity of this offence and the evidence we currently have in our hands, Miss Hailey. You were admitted to this school as a scholarship student, and that scholarship has been fully based on consistent grades, that would offer you a full ride scholarship to the Coral Heights private university of sciences. With this evidence in hand, we could consider your entire academic qualifications as a complete fraud, and it would not only mean that we may withdraw the scholarship, we could also press charges for fraud, and have you repay the bulk..."

"I didn't do it," I blurted out. "I swear, these texts are...." My voice trailed off. "It was Micheal. He and I were..."

The officials looked between each other, and the principal leaned forward. "These texts were submitted to us by Micheal Dean himself. We have had several people testify about the fact that you and he had a huge argument regarding this, and also about the blatant favouritism shown to you by a lot of teachers."

My lips parted and tears immediately filled my eyes. "Sir, I swear, I didn't do this. How would I have gotten the scholarship in the first place if I was depending on selling my body out to teachers for grades? Micheal submitted this because I broke up with him!"

"Correct," the principal said. "You broke up with him because you couldn't stop and he considered it immoral both to the school and to your relationship. That is correct, isn't it?"

"It's a lie!" I shouted, my chest heaving so hard that my body trembled. "I swear it is a lie."

"Then prove it. Because if the only proof you have that you wouldn't have done this is the fact that you might have independently achieved the scholarship, I would like to remind you that the pressure of maintaining scholarships is way higher than whatever happens before it, especially for a school as prestigious as Coral Heights. I will be listening to you if you have solid evidence regarding anything."

I looked around. The Vice principal was Johannah's mother. She was looking at me like I was nothing more than a speck of dirt beneath her shoe. The rest were shaking their heads like they had already decided I was guilty.

I swallowed hard, tears filling my eyes fast and hard. "I... yesterday, I was at the party. We broke up because he cheated on me with Johannah and..."

Johannah's mother gave a small snicker, but said nothing.

I closed my eyes briefly and continued. "These texts are between me and Micheal and..."

"Then show us concrete evidence."

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and opened it, going straight to the texts. My heart sank to my feet. The entire text thread with Micheal was wiped out.

My eyes widened. No one had taken my phone. Wait. Micheal had my log in. He could have...

"Cat got your tongue?" Johannah's mother asked, her voice drawn out in a lazy sneer. "My daughter was at home sick last night. How dare you try to lie your way out of your crimes by tarnishing her name?!"

"That's a lie! Johannah was in that party and she was..."

"Miss Hailey," the principal said, his voice so stern that I couldn't bring myself to go on talking.

"I have seen enough evidence and the meeting with you seems to be spiralling into a yelling match. I acknowledge your soundness of character so far. And that is why I have come to a decision. I understand you are flustered and emotional, and we as the council will take a step back too. Two weeks. I will give you three options. Two weeks to stand here and give me concrete evidence that these texts were not from a teacher, or for you to compile a list of those teachers, and the particular grades that had been influenced, or we will pass our own judgement, and you should prepare yourself for that."

I stood there, feeling like I had been doused with cold water. I had thought of Micheal doing so many things. So many. Just not this one. I never thought he would go this far. I never thought he would have the vile intent in him to go this far.

They walked away, leaving me in the now empty conference room. My knees finally gave way, and I fell to the floor, tears rolling down my cheeks in torrents.

What do I do? Where do I start from? This school, this scholarship, it was the only thing I held on to. It was my only hope for a life that was better than my mother's.

"Look what we have here."

I turned slowly.

Micheal was leaning on the wall, his smile small. I slowly stood up, my fingers tightening into fists.

"How could you do this? I... how could you do this, you fucking scumbag?!"

"Language," he said, his finger resting on his lips. "I told you. You can either be mine... or you can leave. I heard. Two weeks, huh? A lot of time, Hailey, don't you think? A lot of time for you to come back to me begging. Wear the cheerleader dress you hate and come to me. All of these accusations will die in a minute."

I broke into a bitter laugh, tears running down my cheeks. "You are a fucking psycho."

He sighed. "I know. I really liked you, though. Very intelligent, very innocent. When else is a man supposed to appreciate something like that, if not now?"

Before I knew it, I covered the distance and grabbed him by the collar, my chest heaving.

"You... this is my last year! This is my only way and... how dare you?! How could you?!"

His eyes flashed, all of the amusement immediately turning into thinly veiled rage. He grabbed my wrists and pulled me even closer.

"What? I had one night of fun with someone else and you think you can just break up with me? You should have understood. You should have..."

"Let go of me!"

"No, you shut up, Hailey! You walk around this school acting all important! You can either date me, or leave! I rule this school and I..."

"Let her go."

We both froze, and my eyes looked up, past Micheal. Axel was standing behind us. His eyes were the same emotionless pools I was used to seeing, but he was holding a hockey stick, and his stance alone sent the message that he intended to use it.

Micheal let me go roughly, then broke into a laugh. "Careful, Hunt. The bitch doesn't fuck."

"As she should," Axel said. "You are nineteen, Dean. Failing every class and sports. Fucking should be the last thing on your mind."

Micheal broke into a laugh again, but he said nothing to Axel. Instead, he turned to me. "We will meet again in two weeks, sweetheart. I will help empty your locker, out of the kindness of my heart."

He turned and walked away, closing the door behind him with a loud slam.

I fell to the floor, my chest heaving hard, my body trembling. What do I do? There was no way I could go back to that bastard. No way I could stand him. But I also can't lose my scholarship. I can't lose everything I worked so hard for.

"I am not good at this," Axel said, as he covered the distance to me and offered me his hand.

I looked up, past the carefully manicured nails, to his face.

"Take it," he said. "School doesn't seem like a good option for you right now so I can take you home."

I didn't have the energy to protest. I slowly took his hand and he pulled me to my feet. Without another word, he led me out towards the garage.

His car was a black sleek sports car, the type I only saw here in school or in adverts. He opened the car door and turned to me, ushering me in.

I got in, and he closed the door. He walked around and got in, then backed out of the garage.

The car was silent, and I kept glancing at his profile as he drove, my chest hammering. The tears had dried on my cheeks, and my mind kept running between the accusations the principal had so calmly laid against me, and the boy driving beside me.

He wasn't saying anything either except for the occasional directions he asked for.

I nipped at my fingers, then sighed as the silence grew too deafening, especially with all the noises in my head.

"Shouldn't you be angry?" I finally asked, breaking the silence as we rounded the corner to my place. I knew he could remember handing me the scholarship in that ceremony. "Your family gave me this scholarship."

He turned to me for a brief second before he turned back to the road. "My family. Not me. I don't exactly care. Besides, I know you didn't do it."

My brows furrowed. "Why are you doing this? Because if you are interested in me, just know that I..."

"I am not interested in you, Hailey," he said, his voice tainted with a hint of amusement.

I felt my face heat up. "You are not... kind. Why are you doing this?"

He brought the car to a stop right in front of the house, then turned to me fully. I swallowed hard as his eyes met mine.

"I am interested in something you have."

My hands immediately wrapped around my chest.

He gave a small laugh. "I have no shame in admitting this, but Dean isn't the only one failing. I have always been a little envious of you, Hailey. All those As."

I shifted. "You want a tutor? I am getting expelled. I might even be in more trouble than that. I am of no use to you right now."

"Until I step in," he said, leaning closer. "I saw those texts. Plus, you know me. Whatever Dean can do, I can do it thrice over. Help me, and I will help you."

I bit down on my lips. This... nothing about this felt right, but I couldn't bring myself to say no. He was admittedly the lesser evil.

"So.... what? How will you prove those texts were not with a teacher?"

He shrugged. "They can't be from a teacher if they are from me."

I felt heat rush up my face.

"What?"

He shrugged. "You can say they are from me. We can show them all the proof they want and..."

"What? What sort of relationship do we have that we can convince them that we can share such explicit texts between us?"

"Date me, then," he said simply. "Till the end of the senior year. Let's fake it. Plus, they can't refute it if you decide to get freaky with your boyfriend, can they?"