All Chapters of The things we couldn't afford: Chapter 11 - Chapter 17

Saturday arrived quietly.After the noise of Friday, Westbridge Academy seemed almost unusually peaceful. The student activities fair had been cleared away, leaving the courtyard open once more. The banners were gone, the tables had disappeared, and the only evidence that anything unusual had happened was the occasional cluster of students standing together and speaking in lowered voices.Of course, the story had not disappeared with the tables.Cecilia knew that before she even left Hawthorne House.Her phone had already received three messages from Natalie.The first contained a screenshot of the student newspaper article.The second asked whether Cecilia had seen the latest comments beneath it.The third simply read:People are making things worse. Don't read them.Naturally, Cecilia read them.She regretted it almost immediately.Most of the comments came from students who knew nothing about the situation. Some defended Daniel Whitaker, arguing that an article containing questions

Cecilia did not sleep well.The message remained on her phone long after she had turned off the light.You should be careful who you trust.Rita isn't the only one who has secrets.She had read the words so many times that they had begun to lose their meaning. Yet every time she considered putting the phone away, another question took its place.Who had sent it?And what secret were they talking about?Cecilia had spent most of her life believing that secrets were deliberate things. Someone knew something, decided to hide it, and carried the weight of that decision until the truth came out.But the past few days had taught her something different.Sometimes secrets existed because people never thought to ask the right questions.She thought of Rita.Daniel Whitaker.Even James.There were things Cecilia knew about each of them that she had not known a week ago. There would probably be more tomorrow.That was what frightened her.The anonymous sender had not simply threatened her.They

The first thing James noticed when he entered the photography studio was the smell.It wasn't unusual. The room always carried a faint mixture of photographic paper, cleaning supplies, and the dust that collected around old equipment. But something about it felt different that afternoon.Perhaps it was the open cabinet.Or the chair lying on its side near the worktable.Or the fact that Daniel Price was standing in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, looking as though he was trying very hard not to lose his temper.James stopped in the doorway."Tell me you didn't leave it like this."Daniel turned."Do I look like I enjoy making unnecessary work for myself?"James stepped inside.The cabinet beside the printer had been forced open. Several storage boxes were scattered across the floor, and the drawers beneath the main table had been pulled out. A few camera accessories were missing, but most of the equipment remained untouched.It was the disorder that bothered him.So

Rita read the document for the fourth time, hoping she had misunderstood what she was looking at.She hadn't.The page was part of the agreement she had signed the previous summer, but it was not a section she remembered seeing. Her attention had been on the opportunity being offered, the possibility of financial assistance, and the promise that she could help her family without depending entirely on her mother.She had signed where she had been instructed to sign.Now, beneath the heading Student Referrals, she found Cecilia's name.It was followed by several details: academic performance, family circumstances, personal interests, and a brief description of her financial situation. Some of the information was accurate. Other details had been written in a way that made Cecilia sound like someone who needed intervention rather than someone who had simply applied for an opportunity.Rita scrolled further.There was a column marked Referral Status.Cecilia's name had been entered as a pr