Chapter 107 Chapter 107

Chapter 107 Chapter 107
  The next day didn’t wait for her to be ready.
  It hit.
  Hard.
  Cass knew something was wrong the moment she stepped onto campus. Not whispers this time. Not subtle glances.
  People weren’t hiding it anymore.
  They were staring.
  Phones weren’t lowered.
  Conversations didn’t stop.
  They just… shifted.
  Like she was the center of something everyone had already accepted as truth.
  Her steps slowed.
  Jace noticed immediately.
  His hand brushed hers again, not gripping this time, just there, steady.
  “Keep walking,” he said quietly.
  Cass nodded, even though her chest felt tight.
  Too tight.
  Lena was already waiting.
  But this time, she wasn’t leaning casually.
  She was standing in front of their usual spot like a wall.
  Arms crossed.
  Eyes sharp.
  “Okay,” Lena said as they got close. “We’ve got a problem.”
  Cass gave a hollow laugh.
  “Only one?”
  Lena didn’t smile.
  “They released more.”
  Cass felt her stomach drop.
  “Released what?”
  Lena stepped aside slightly, lowering her voice.
  “Details.”
  That word hit differently.
  Cass didn’t want to ask.
  But she did.
  “What kind of details?”
  Lena hesitated.
  And that hesitation told her everything.
  “Lena.”
  “They’re saying you were in the room,” Lena said quickly. “Not just there. Not just present. They’re saying you were… involved.”
  Cass felt the ground shift.
  “I was in the room,” she whispered.
  Lena shook her head.
  “No. They’re not saying it like that.”
  Cass looked at her.
  “What do you mean?”
  Lena’s voice dropped even more.
  “They’re saying you caused it.”
  Silence.
  Complete.
  Cass didn’t react right away.
  Because her brain didn’t catch up.
  Not immediately.
  Then—
  “No.”
  Her voice came out flat.
  Wrong.
  “No, they can’t say that.”
  “They are,” Lena said.
  Jace’s jaw tightened.
  “Who leaked it?” he asked.
  Lena didn’t even look at him.
  “Does it matter?”
  It did.
  But not right now.
  Because Cass felt something else creeping in.
  Something worse than fear.
  Doubt.
  Not about what happened.
  About how it looked.
  How it would always look now.
  “I didn’t…” she started.
  Her voice broke.
  “I didn’t mean—”
  “I know,” Lena cut in immediately.
  But the world didn’t.
  That was the problem.
  They didn’t make it to class.
  Not really.
  A teacher stopped them halfway down the hall.
  Polite.
  Too polite.
  “Cass, can you come with me for a moment?”
  That tone.
  That careful, measured tone people used when something was already decided.
  Jace stepped forward.
  “I’m coming too.”
  The teacher hesitated.
  Then nodded.
  “Alright.”
  Lena followed without asking.
  No one stopped her.
  The office felt colder than the rest of the school.
  Cass sat down slowly, hands in her lap again, fingers twisting together.
  Jace stood beside her.
  Lena leaned against the wall.
  Waiting.
  The principal walked in.
  Expression neutral.
  But not kind.
  “Cass,” he began, sitting across from her. “I assume you’re aware of the situation.”
  Cass nodded.
  Barely.
  “Yes.”
  He folded his hands.
  “There’s been an official request for cooperation from the investigation team.”
  Her heart dropped.
  “What does that mean?”
  “It means,” he said carefully, “you’ll need to provide a statement.”
  Cass stared at him.
  “I was a child.”
  “Yes,” he said. “And that will be taken into account.”
  That didn’t feel comforting.
  At all.
  Jace spoke this time.
  “She shouldn’t be doing anything without legal representation.”
  The principal looked at him.
  “You’re right.”
  Then back to Cass.
  “Your parents will be contacted. This will move quickly.”
  Everything was moving too fast.
  Too fast.
  Cass felt it.
  Like she was being pulled into something she couldn’t slow down.
  “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said quietly.
  The words felt small.
  Weak.
  The principal didn’t argue.
  But he didn’t agree either.
  “That’s what the investigation is for,” he replied.
  That was worse.
  Outside the office, the hallway felt louder.
  Too loud.
  Cass stopped walking.
  “I can’t go back in there.”
  Jace didn’t push.
  “Then don’t.”
  Lena stepped closer.
  “Skip,” she said. “No one expects you to sit through class right now.”
  Cass nodded slowly.
  Because she couldn’t breathe properly inside those walls anymore.
  They ended up back in the same quiet place again.
  The one that felt removed from everything else.
  Cass sat down first.
  Then leaned forward, elbows on her knees, hands covering her face.
  “I can’t do this,” she whispered.
  Jace crouched in front of her.
  “Yes, you can.”
  “No,” she shook her head. “You don’t get it. It’s not just what happened anymore. It’s what everyone thinks happened.”
  Lena exhaled softly behind them.
  “They always think the worst,” she said. “That’s not new.”
  Cass dropped her hands.
  “But this time… I don’t even know how to defend myself.”
  Silence.
  Because that was true.
  Jace looked at her carefully.
  “Then don’t defend it.”
  Cass frowned.
  “What?”
  “Don’t fight the version they made,” he said. “Find the truth and stand in that instead.”
  Cass stared at him.
  “That sounds simple.”
  “It’s not,” he said. “But it’s the only thing that holds.”
  Lena nodded slightly.
  “He’s right.”
  Cass leaned back slowly.
  Her eyes distant.
  “I need to know exactly what happened,” she said.
  Not whispered.
  Not broken.
  Clear.
  Jace’s expression shifted.
  Because that—
  That was different.
  “Then we find it,” he said.
  Lena pushed off the wall.
  “And we don’t wait for them to tell it for us.”
  Cass nodded.
  Something settling inside her.
  Not peace.
  Not strength.
  But direction.
  And right now—
  That was enough.
  Far away, a man closed a file and picked up his phone.
  He had been silent for years.
  Watching.
  Waiting.
  But now—
  Now his name was back in it.
  And so was hers.
  He didn’t hesitate.
  He dialed.
  And when the call connected, his voice was calm.
  Controlled.
  “It’s time,” he said.
  Because the past wasn’t just reopening.
  It was walking straight toward them.