All Chapters of Rival Hearts: Chapter 61 - Chapter 67

The rain started just after midnight.Harper noticed it first because Emery shifted closer in her sleep, instinctively chasing warmth as thunder rolled faintly in the distance. The dorm room was dark except for the soft glow of streetlights bleeding through the curtains. The world outside felt distant—muted beneath steady rainfall tapping against glass like quiet applause.Harper lay awake, staring at the ceiling, listening to Emery breathe beside her.She still wasn’t used to this.Not the closeness. Not the comfort. Not the terrifying, fragile reality that someone knew her completely and stayed anyway.Emery stirred again, murmuring something unintelligible before her hand slid across the mattress until it found Harper’s wrist. Her fingers curled there, half-awake, grounding herself.Harper swallowed.“Em?” she whispered softly.Emery hummed, eyes still closed. “You’re thinking too loud.”Harper let out a small laugh. “You can hear that?”“You always get quiet when you’re spiraling.

Thread One — Formal Hearing Begins (High Drama & Confrontation)The administrative building smelled like polished wood and anxiety.Harper adjusted the sleeves of her blazer for the third time while standing outside the hearing room. The hallway hummed with low voices, footsteps, and the occasional sharp echo of doors closing too hard.Across from her, Emery leaned against the wall, arms folded but eyes locked on Harper with steady warmth.“You’re going to rub your sleeves off if you keep doing that,” Emery said softly.Harper glanced down, realizing her fingers had been tugging the fabric unconsciously.“I hate rooms where people decide your future like it’s paperwork,” Harper muttered.Emery stepped closer, lowering her voice.“They don’t decide you. They decide policy. Big difference.”Harper wanted to believe that.The door opened. A campus official gestured them inside.The hearing chamber was colder than expected. A semicircle of administrators sat behind long tables stacked wit

Opening — Countdown to JudgmentThe clock above the faculty chamber reads 6:42 p.m.Eighteen minutes before the final vote.The hallway outside buzzes with restrained panic. Students cluster in anxious knots, phones glowing in their hands as rumor threads update in real time. Faculty members move quickly, their professional composure barely masking the brewing storm.Harper stands beside the tall windows at the end of the corridor, watching dusk swallow the campus skyline. The fading sunlight paints long shadows across the floor, stretching like warning signs she can’t ignore.Behind her, Emery speaks quietly with Jordan and Maya, reviewing digital files and timestamps one final time.Harper doesn’t turn around immediately. She needs a moment where the world isn’t watching her breathe.Footsteps approach.Emery stops beside her.“You’re disappearing again,” Emery says softly.Harper exhales slowly.“I’m preparing.”“For what outcome?”“For every outcome.”Emery studies her profile—the