Ch. 9 The Fracture
I walk to my corner in Mr. Winston's class and sit by the window.
People sitting in neighboring seats move to seats on the other side of class—like I'm contagious.
I lean back into the seat and pull up the hoodie.
Exam season is here, and our finals are close.
It's been nearly a month since prom, and things couldn't be worse.
I got a written reprimand and detention for a week for striking Madison.
Jonathan Lowell was beside himself. He grounded me and pulled my allowance for the month.
People step out of my way in corridors and laugh behind my back.
Christopher refuses to talk to me. That night, he found me in my room, sitting on the floor by my bed and completely lost it.
He was just so mad.
He said he was wrong about me. That I was just like my mother—breaking relationships and destroying homes.
I couldn't find the energy to raise a fist to him. Maybe he was right.
I tried to tell him I didn't mean to come between Marcus and Madison, that I was just trying to find out if I was completely mistaken about our connection, but no words came out.
Even Jenkins keeps his distance, like I'm a volcano waiting to erupt.
Then there's Marcus and Madison.
Madison is furious. I tried to explain to her that Marcus wasn't at fault, that it was all me, but she refuses to listen. She asked me if Marcus put me up to it before congratulating me on seducing Marcus away.
Marcus.
Marcus looks so hurt. Every time I catch his eye, I can see the betrayal he feels reflected in his gaze. It's so hard to speak the words when he looks like that.
He got questioned too—because Madison claimed I attacked her due to my feelings for Marcus. Luckily, there was no proof of the kiss—Marcus denied the kiss and all his friends chose to back him up.
People at least talk to him—though things are tense with his friends.
Class ends.
Mr. Winston announces that the test schedules are up. They start next week.
I rush out after him, not wanting to run into anyone I know.
Lunch is the toughest, because I refuse to stop going.
I won't be bullied because these people refuse to listen or accept my apology—but I always arrive first and leave before people can truly register my presence.
Today though...Today, I've decided to skip lunch because I have a mission.
I pull out the letter I wrote last night.
Marcus deserves an apology after what I did.
I wait till the corridors are clear and sneak to his locker. I look around and put the envelope in.
As quietly as possible, I leave and go to my next class, working on assignments through lunch, waiting for the next class to begin.
—------------------
I'm going to give Marcus some more grief before I take him back. And I'm going to teach Celeste a lesson she'll never forget.
No one cheats on me—not even by accident.
My cheer coach had me come over at the start of lunch, so I'm late going to the cafeteria.
I'm just rounding the bend when I spot that whore slipping something into Marcus's locker.
My blood boils before it cools to ice.
Are they actually sneaking around?
I watch as she looks around, making sure she isn't caught.
I stomp to his locker and pull it open.
There. A plain white envelope.
I take it and shove it into my bag—right next to the answer key.
The answer key that's been helping me maintain my 4.0 GPA—my only path to cheerleading.
Fury burns in my bones as I stare at Celeste's letter, and a devious plan forms.
I slip an envelope into his locker and leave to find Janice—someone has to submit my anonymous complaint.
It's time for people who hurt me to pay.
—---------------
I stand in front of the Vice-Chancellor while he paces behind his desk.
Sweat pours down my back, and my hands shake in fear and disbelief.
Daniel Ingram sits in a chair across from both of us, concern lining his entire face.
"Hartley, I'm telling you, there's some misunderstanding. Marcus isn't the kind of student that cheats."
Jace Hartley slams the answer key they found in my locker at lunch on his table with a bang.
"Then someone explain to me why he had it hidden among his books."
"I don't know how it got there, Mr. Hartley. I really don't." My voice cracks on the last word.
I can see my future disappearing right in front of my eyes. This isn't just about me losing my scholarship.
I'm on track for expulsion.
That's why Daniel is here. Hartley personally called him to inform him that he was starting expulsion proceedings.
I look helplessly at Daniel Ingram, trying to convey the truth. Which is I. DON'T. KNOW.
Daniel casts an encouraging look towards me.
"Marcus, can you think of anyone that might hold a grudge against you?"
I stare at him in silence. I've never really gotten into a grudge match with anyone.
"No. I—"
A knock rings through the room before the door opens and Madison walks in.
"Sir, I just heard what happened. I want to report something."
Hartley and Daniel stare at Madison in anticipation.
"At the beginning of lunch today, I saw Celeste Shaw slip something into Marcus's locker."
We all freeze.
My heart pounds so hard it's all I can hear.
Madison's words pound in my head like a hammer to gong.
Is she saying Celeste framed me?
—-----------------
Madison finds me in my class, doing homework.
"Hartley wants to see you in his office, now."
Her words are clipped, expression carefully blank. What could this be about?
I walk to his office and knock, feeling uneasy.
Something isn't right.
"Come in."
I enter and freeze at the sight. Marcus standing there looking pale, a man I don't know and Jace Hartley.
"You asked me to come?"
Hartley takes his seat before turning to me.
"At lunch today, you were seen putting an envelope into Mr. Holden's locker. May I inquire as to what the contents were?"
I gulp, feeling more unsettled. Did someone complain? Did Marcus?
I look at him, but he refuses to meet my eyes.
"I— it was an apology letter." Marcus looks up at that, eyes blazing with fury.
"Well, when Mr. Holden's locker was searched, we found no letters in its content. What we did find, however, was an answer key. To one of the upcoming test papers."
My pulse roars in my ears. Marcus cheating? He would never.
And what about my letter?
My fingers go cold.
"Now, I'm inclined to believe the papers belong to Mr. Holden—his scholarship depended on his GPA. But I'm obliged to ask you, are they yours? If you come clean now, I'll make sure it's not reflected on your records."
Time seems to slow down, and I can feel each individual beat of my heart.
"What—What happens to Marcus?" My voice is thready as sweat beads on my upper lip.
"Why, he'll be expelled." Hartley's voice is calm, matter-of-fact.
Marcus tenses up beside me.
If I tell the truth, Marcus will lose everything. I refuse to believe he cheated.
Someone is framing both of us—my body goes cold—Madison.
I look at everyone in the room and a realization dawns on me—they'll never believe Madison would do something like this. And how would I even prove it?
The walls start closing in and my chest feels heavy.
I suspect the truth—but I'm helpless to bring it out in the open.
Regardless, Marcus's future hangs in the balance.
I owe Marcus.
His life is imploding—it's a direct result of the kiss I inflicted upon him.
It's a debt that demands to be paid back.
I square my shoulders. My lips twist in a bitter smile as I utter the words that'll destroy my life.
"They're mine."
—------------------
"They're mine." Celeste's words ring in my ears with the weight of drums.
No. No.
My whole body goes cold, before heat burns all through me.
I can't believe that. How could I have read her so wrong?
"I don't believe that. She's lying."
I turn to her and ask directly. "Why are you lying?" The words slip out of their own accord.
She turns to me fully, face carefully blank.
"Because I was mad at you for rejecting me." Her voice cracks as she speaks, but her face is remarkably devoid of expression.
Her words hit me with the weight of an anvil.
Certainty gives way to doubt, which gives way to disbelief.
She would do this over a rejection?
I stare at her—her eyes are so cold.
What happened to the girl from before prom? How could she have changed overnight?
A memory comes to my mind, unbidden. I was almost ten years old.
"You said you loved me!" Dad shouted at mom. "Why would you go tell my boss I would quit if I wasn't promoted!"
"Because you're not telling him! If you loved me, you would do that! You should at least be a plant manager after so many years!"
Mom threw the jug to the floor—the one dad and I made for her on her birthday.
"But why would you threaten my boss like that! I just got fired—because of you!"
"I took action because you rejected every request I made to move to the city! I refuse to sink with you because you refuse to do better in life!"
"I haven't been at this job for even a year! How can I ask for a jump of three positions?!"
"You could've if you'd been good at your job!"
Mom left two months later. She already had someone waiting for her—dad was never the same again—and neither was I.
Is she really just like my mother? Leaving destruction in her wake because she was dissatisfied with the situation?
Hartley speaks at that moment.
"Since you confessed voluntarily, it won't reflect on your record. But you will be expelled with immediate effect and your parents will be notified of the same. You may leave."
Celeste steps back before turning around and leaving.
—---------------
Marcus's eyes burn my back with the shock and contempt brimming in them.
I leave the office silently, my footsteps echoing after me.
The opportunity to graduate from WPA landed in my lap by chance but Marcus has worked for it his whole life.
I couldn't let my mistake destroy his life. I would never have been able to live with it.
It hurts though, that things had to end like this.
This is it.
I glance back one last time—at the door that closed behind me. So many things are lost as that door shuts me out of a life I never even dreamed of aspiring to.
My debt is paid, but if Marcus's expression is anything to go by—
I've made an enemy for life.
—--------------
My whole body shakes as shock and relief war within me.
Hartley excuses Daniel and me, and Daniel leads me out.
"Marcus. Marcus, are you okay?"
"How could she do something like that?"
I'm still unable to wrap my mind around what Celeste said she did.
Daniel stops walking and puts a hand on my shoulder.
"Sometimes, good people end up doing bad things because of how hurt they are. You have to accept it and move on...okay?"
I stare into his eyes as he urges me pull myself together.
"I—yeah. Yeah, okay."
"Hey, I understand it's a lot to take in."
I just nod numbly.
He brings me to his car, hand on my back, before driving us to a cafe nearby.
"Marcus, son, everything's okay now." He hands me a hot coffee—it warms my numb fingers.
"Listen son, shit happens. Concentrate on graduating."
I nod. "Also, I wanted to discuss your future."
That causes me to raise my eyes.
Daniel continues once he sees he has my full attention. "I would like you to work as an assistant for me. Your salary will be modest, but I'll pay for your college."
I gape at him. He can't be serious.
"I would like you to also eventually study management. We'll review your position in the company three years in. What do you say?"
I stare at him in silence.
For the second time today, I ask the same question. "Why?"
"You remind me of Keith. Both of you are brilliant but limited by your circumstances. Just promise me, if ever Keith needs help, you'll be there for him."
I think about Daniel's proposal. He allows me my time, patiently sipping his coffee.
"Okay. I accept."
Daniel smiles at me, and I didn't know it yet, but it was the start of a wonderful partnership for as long as it lasted.
—-----------------
Jonathan Lowell is a man of stature and standing. He isn't a man used to having people spit back his kindness at him.
When WPA reached out to him about my confession, he was apoplectic.
This is the first time the phrase 'pop a vein' makes sense to me.
"You ungrateful wretch! How dare you! To think you and I share blood!"
He lifts his hand to strike me again, but Jenkins stops him.
My cheek stings where he hit me before.
"Pack your bags! You're going to leave on the first flight out! If you ever show your face to me again, I'll destroy you!"
He shoves me out of his study, face purple with rage.
I stumble out, to find Christopher standing there listening. His face is an open book for his disappointment and disgust.
"Did you really do it?"
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't?"
I look him in the eyes. I don't know why, but I really want him to say yes.
"No."
Something splinters within me. I simply walk away.
Hours later, I'm on a flight to London—a nuisance to be thrown away like garbage to be disposed of.
Doesn't matter.
I'll just have to become the wildflower mom always loved.
Kindly note, chapters 8 and 9 have been revised for clarity and character development. If you've read ahead, I recommend re-reading for the updated versions.
Updated on: 21/02/2026