Chapter 117 The Panic Attack

Chapter 117 The Panic Attack
Aleli’s POV
The noise in the school hallway felt like sharp needles against my ears. Every footstep, every quiet laugh, and every whispered rumor seemed twice as loud as it had before.
I clutched my books tightly against my chest and kept my eyes fixed on the floor as I walked. My head throbbed with a dull, constant ache. Ever since the hotel photos had appeared on the school board that morning, it felt as though the entire world had closed in around me.
Kristoff had turned his back on me.
The students looked at me like I was some kind of criminal.
And I had never felt more exposed or alone.
All I wanted was to disappear somewhere no one could see me until the final bell rang.
I turned toward the quiet back hallway near the old science lab, hoping to avoid the crowds. The area was usually deserted between classes, and I thought I could finally breathe there.
But the moment I stepped past the lockers, someone moved into my path.
I stopped abruptly.
It was Debbie.
She stood in the middle of the narrow hallway with her arms folded across her chest. Her student council badge caught the overhead light, shining against her blazer like a warning. Two of her closest friends stood behind her, their phones already in their hands.
“Where are you running off to, Aleli?” Debbie asked sweetly. “You didn’t really think you could walk away after creating such a huge mess, did you?”
I took a slow step backward until my heels touched the lockers.
“Please, Debbie,” I said quietly. “Just leave me alone. I don’t want any trouble.”
“Trouble?” Debbie laughed. The sound echoed sharply through the empty corridor. She walked toward me until only inches separated us. “You brought the trouble here yourself. You act like a helpless victim, but you drag Kristoff down with you. You go to private hotels, get photographed, and then cry when everyone finally sees who you really are.”
“I didn’t leak those photos.” My voice broke as panic tightened my throat. “You know I didn’t.”
“It doesn’t matter what I know.”
Debbie leaned closer, her fake concern disappearing completely.
“What matters is what everyone else believes.”
She paused, watching my face carefully before smiling.
“And you know what’s really funny, Aleli? Those hotel photos are only the beginning.”
A chill went through me.
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you really think your little secrets would stay buried forever?” Debbie asked. “The strange calls. The sudden moves. Your precious Uncle Jerry.”
The moment she said his name, something inside me seized.
My breath caught painfully in my chest.
“Uncle… Jerry?” I whispered.
Debbie’s smile widened.
“Oh, don’t look so surprised. We know about the police visits to your old house. We know about the blood. The crime scene. The hidden court records.”
She stepped closer.
“And we know about the terrified little witness who suddenly lost her memory.”
Blood.
Police.
Witness.
The words slammed into my mind with such force that I staggered.
A sharp pain exploded behind my eyes. The hallway seemed to tilt beneath my feet, while the fluorescent lights above me stretched into long, blurry streaks.
I dropped my books.
They struck the tiled floor with a loud crash, but the sound seemed impossibly far away.
“Stop,” I gasped, pressing my hands against my temples. “Please, stop talking.”
“Why should I?” Debbie demanded. “Tell us the truth, Aleli. What happened back then? Why were police officers at your house? Whose blood was on the floor?”
“I don’t know.”
The words barely escaped my lips.
My lungs suddenly refused to work properly. I dragged in one breath after another, but none of them seemed to reach deep enough. Cold sweat broke across my forehead as my heart hammered against my ribs.
The edges of my vision darkened.
My knees gave out.
I slid down the lockers until I was sitting on the cold floor, my entire body trembling.
Then the flashes came.
They were not memories in the way I understood memories. They were violent pieces of something buried deep inside me, breaking through without warning.
I saw a tiny hand.
Small.
Trembling.
There was something red smeared across the skin as the hand pressed against a cold floor.
The image disappeared before I could understand it.
Then another flash came.
A heavy metallic object struck the floor. I caught only a glimpse of something sharp before the image vanished again.
A scream followed.
A woman’s voice, high and terrified, filled a small room.
Then came the sound of sirens somewhere in the distance.
“Aleli, run! Don’t look back!”
I gasped.
My chest tightened until it felt as though something heavy were crushing my ribs.
“No…”
I wrapped my arms around my knees and buried my face against them, but the images continued to tear through my mind.
The cold floor.
The red stain.
The scream.
The sirens.
I couldn't tell which parts were real and which parts my terrified mind was creating.
I only knew that I was drowning.
“Look at her!” one of Debbie’s friends exclaimed.
There was excitement in her voice instead of concern.
“She’s completely losing it.”
“Is she having some kind of fit?” another student asked.
I heard footsteps approaching.
More people were gathering.
No one helped me.
No one told Debbie to back away.
Instead, I heard laughter and whispers spreading through the hallway.
Debbie stood over me, watching my breakdown with a cold smile.
Then she raised her hand and pointed directly at me.
“Look at the innocent act now,” she announced loudly. “She can’t even handle the truth.”
The first camera shutter clicked.
Then another.
My head snapped up.
Through my blurred vision, I saw students filling the hallway. A small crowd had gathered around me, creating a tight circle that left me nowhere to go.
Every face seemed to be looking at me.
Every hand held a phone.
Every camera was pointed in my direction.
The flashes were blinding.
One after another, they captured my shaking hands, my tear-streaked face, and every desperate breath I struggled to take.
Someone laughed.
Someone whispered that the video would probably go viral.
Another student raised her phone higher to get a better angle.
I wanted to tell them to stop.
I wanted to scream.
But my throat closed around the words.
My body shook harder as I pressed myself against the lockers, pulling my knees tightly against my chest.
I had never felt so helpless.
Not when the rumors started.
Not when the hotel photos were leaked.
Not even when Kristoff walked away from me.
Because this was different.
They were watching me fall apart, and they were turning my pain into entertainment.
Another flash exploded across my vision.
For one terrifying second, I saw that tiny hand again.
Red.
Trembling.
Then the image vanished.
I squeezed my eyes shut, desperately trying to escape it.
But there was nowhere to run.
I was trapped beneath the lockers, surrounded by students and their cameras, while the panic swallowed whatever strength I had left.
And for the first time, I wondered if the truth hidden inside my own mind was more frightening than anything Debbie could ever reveal.