All Chapters of The Price of Blind Trust: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The back of my head screamed in pain, tearing my nerves apart. I was still shaking from the vertigo and my broken bones.That was when my eyes snapped open. I was back to the day before our applications were sent… back to the final term of senior year.My phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from my homeroom teacher. "The papers for your spot in Harland are here. Come over to the headmaster's office after class. You'll need to sign them."I took a deep breath. The stench of rust was no longer filling my lungs. This time, I had the upper hand. This time, I'd leave those rats to rot.A gentle voice echoed around my ear. "You're spacing out, Nancy."Carrie Wood, the school belle, was standing before my desk, smiling sweetly. There was an empty paper in her hands, the same paper that would be used to find out which college our classmates were trying to get into.Chris Gray, Yves Lawson, and Henry Riverson, my ex-childhood friends, were standing behind her. Their eyes nearly pier

I landed on the main building's first floor and turned the corner. What met my eyes stunned me. Darlene was in the center of the lobby. Behind her were Chris, Yves, Henry, and Carrie. Then, there was my homeroom teacher, Zach, and half the class' students.Darlene strode up to me, her eyes crimson, and then a hard slap landed on my cheek. My ear buzzed, and my head jerked aside."I treated you like my own for three years! You nearly drove my son mad and didn't even care about him!"I didn't move. I'd chewed the insides of my cheek hard enough to break skin, and my mouth was filled with the scent of metal.Carrie hid behind Henry and murmured quietly, "She's in a bad mood. Maybe she didn't mean to." Every word she said only made me look worse, smearing my name.The woman who would warm my hands with her own during winter nights was glaring at me like I'd taken her most precious thing."I should've never adopted you! We're done! My family wants nothing to do with you anymore!" She

Dead silence settled within the group. My eyes were on the screen as I gleefully tried to picture the pallor of my classmates' faces.A long moment later, texts came in like a flood."That's photoshopped! You've lost your mind, Nancy!""Carrie would never do this! You'd do anything just to make her look bad!"Chris was the first to defend Carrie. "Faking an admissions office's stamp is a crime. You're going to get sued."Yves piled on the insult, "Jealousy isn't a good look on you. The Carrie we know wouldn't do something like this! Don't try to turn us against her!"Henry went straight to cursing. "Fuck you for starting rumors about her! I'll kill you!"These idiots were still trying to shield the very person pushing everyone to the brink. I ignored the fools. "You can still check your application, even if you've logged out. It's right there."That was the spark that lit the fuse. Three minutes later, the class nerd sent a 10-second audio message, and his voice was shrill an

Things had gotten out of anyone's hands. The class athlete barged into the dorm room like an enraged lion. He grabbed Chris by his collar, flung him away, and lunged at Carrie. "Give me back my future, you bitch!"Carrie screamed like a gazelle that was about to be devoured. Henry and Yves stood adamantly before her, but their defense was torn apart by furious parents and their children alike.Fists and cracking slaps rained on the loyal watchdogs."Fuck them up! They're in on it too!""My child repeated his year three times! You ruined their future!"Screams, curses, and the sounds of everything smashing apart melded into a cacophony. I grabbed my suitcase and backed out from a corner, my face cool. I stood by the entrance, watching this drama unfold.This was their reckoning. The apoplectic crowd would destroy them even without me lifting a finger.As I arrived at the end of the corridor, the air was beginning to play the sirens of police cars. Fully armed officers rushed into

Once the detention center's steel doors swung shut, it was over for the Grays. Three days later, the Internet got the police's official statement.Carrie was suspected of data tampering and fraud that involved two million dollars, including the fee she charged per person sabotaged. Her cousin had been splitting the illegal money when the cops barged into the internet cafe to arrest him.Chris, Yves, and Henry were named as accomplices due to their assisting, watching the coast, and hiding the crime. The Department of Education made it official that they were disqualified from the SATs forever. They had criminal records now.After an emergency meeting held by the Department of Education, they decided to open up a portal for 24 hours that would allow the sabotaged students to set up a case file with the police and reapply for the college they wanted.The dust had settled. I was in my dorm, packing up the last of my belongings. After all, the students who had guaranteed spots in Harla