Everyone at school knew about my pact with Ethan Wright, the valedictorian. If I beat his test scores just once, we would date after graduation. Just when our classmates were eagerly waiting for our academic rivals-to-lovers story to unfold, Ethan started online dating. He stayed up all night carrying his "pocket healer" in ranked matches, skipped classes to meet her in person, and became half of a viral gamer-couple on TikTok. He even intentionally bombed the last three math questions on our finals just so his score would drop enough to attend a college in her city. Later, at our high school graduation, someone asked me a question. "You finally took the valedictorian spot, but Ethan fell for someone else. Do you regret it?" Holding my diploma, I shook my head. "Not at all. Men only drag down my GPA." 1 Ethan Wright had been spacing out in class a lot lately. Even after being scolded by the teachers a few times, he showed no signs of changing. Just as I was trying to figure out what was wrong with him, I caught him sneaking his phone out of his pocket. Ethan slowly scrolled through the screen, a faint, doting smile playing on his lips. Seeing this, a bad feeling washed over me. I tapped on his desk, cleared my throat, and said seriously: "Ethan, midterms are coming up." "This time, I'm definitely going to beat you and take the number one spot in the grade." Issuing a challenge like this was nothing out of the ordinary for Ethan and me. As the eternal runner-up, I would playfully "provoke" him before almost every major exam. Usually, he would confidently tease me for wishful thinking, then pull his practice quizzes out of my desk. He would patiently help me find my weak spots and review my mistakes. In those moments, the usually aloof and composed Ethan would always show a gentle expression. It was as if he was looking forward to the day I finally surpassed him and took first place. But for some reason, this time, he didn't even lift his eyes. He simply listened to my words and replied with a cold, impatient tone. "Take it if you want. Just leave me alone." With that, he kept his head down, typing away on his screen. The early autumn sun filtered through the gap in the blinds, hitting his fingertips. I accidentally glanced over. It looked like he was typing the word "Babe" on his keyboard. And the person he was chatting with had a pink, aesthetic anime-girl profile picture. 2 A week later, the midterm rankings were posted. A crowd instantly swarmed the bulletin board. When everyone saw clearly that the name in the very first row of the first column was not "Ethan Wright," a ripple of shock went through the crowd. But when they confirmed the first place was me, the crowd erupted into a chorus of teasing and playful cheers. "Chloe, you actually beat Ethan this time!" "Doesn't that mean you won the bet?!" Hearing this, I slowly pulled my gaze away from the number one spot on the board. After a few seconds of stunned silence, I nodded awkwardly. I hadn't expected the people around us to still remember that bet. A wave of panic hit me, but it was overshadowed by a hidden sense of anticipation. About half a year ago, standing right here by the bulletin board. When the junior year spring rankings were posted, I had lost to Ethan again by a mere 3 points. That was the 45th time I had lost to him. From freshman year to junior year, I hadn't beaten Ethan a single time. Seeing my red, teary eyes, he suddenly had a spark of inspiration to comfort me. Right in the middle of the crowd, he said: "Chloe, if you can beat my score even once..." "I'll agree to any request you have." I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and mumbled: "Really?" Ethan's sincere, gentle gaze fell on me, and he nodded. I don't know if it was that look that gave me courage, but I somehow found the nerve. I publicly confessed the crush I had been harboring for five years: "If I beat you, you have to date me after we graduate." Amidst the roaring cheers of the crowd around us, Ethan looked at me with a smile and agreed. "It's a promise." From then on, I gave every exam everything I had. And Ethan did his best to help me. We had an unspoken understanding; we were just waiting for that final piece of paper to be torn away. However... My thoughts snapped back to the present. Half a year later, amidst the same teasing cheers from our classmates. I was met with a pair of angry, freezing eyes. Ethan sternly shut down the chants of "Date her!" from the crowd. He stood in front of me once again. Only this time, the words that came out of his mouth plunged me into an ice bath. "I already have a girlfriend." "Chloe, that bet was just a joke. Please stop deliberately leading people on." Ethan's words left me with absolutely no dignity. He used the cruelest words to shatter that unspoken understanding into a million pieces. The anticipation vanished into thin air. Inappropriately, I suddenly remembered that pink profile picture on his phone. So the signs had been there all along. Amidst the whispers of my classmates, I used the excuse of needing to go to the bathroom and fled in a panic. Like a total clown. That day, I went to our homeroom teacher and asked to switch seats. From then on. My crush withered and died before it could even bloom. 3 Ethan falling from the number one spot was just the beginning. After that midterm, he actively requested to be moved to the back row. During class, aside from spacing out, he would constantly look down to secretly play on his phone. In just two months, he plummeted from being the top student in the grade to outside the top 300. It was also during these days that I overheard classmates gossiping. Ethan was addicted to an online multiplayer game. He was online dating a "pocket healer" he met in the game. When people looked up their match history, they saw that the two of them were still playing ranked duo matches at 3 AM. No wonder his dark circles were getting heavier, and he always looked so drained. "I really don't understand what Ethan is thinking. Senior year just started, and he's suddenly obsessed with online dating." "He's clearly Ivy League material, but with these last two midterm scores, he'll be lucky to get into a state school." A few girls next to me sighed and lamented. "Yeah, and that girl he's playing with is apparently a minor streamer on TikTok." "Look, she goes to a community college in the next city over. Her name is Lexi Carter." My gaze fell on the screen they were holding. In the video, Ethan's character was hard-carrying Lexi's support character, securing a team wipe. He would run all the way back to spawn to pick her up, give her all the best loot, and let her take the final kills. He would even relentlessly hunt down the enemy team whenever Lexi got targeted. Countless details of favoritism and sweet interactions filled the clips. My eyes locked onto the "Couples" icon on their game profiles for a long time, unable to snap out of it. Her page was already flooded with these sweet gaming montages, some of which included screenshots of their text messages. Finally, in one of the chat screenshots Lexi posted, I saw that familiar pink anime profile picture. Sure enough, the person Ethan had been keeping his head down for, smiling warmly at all day, was Lexi. The comment section under the video was full of envy. "Kill me now, I'm so single it hurts." "I'm so jealous of Lexi. She has money and such a handsome, cracked boyfriend." "I heard her boyfriend is a total genius at a top high school in the city, super smart..." "Lexi, when are you going to show us what he looks like?!" Under that comment, Lexi replied: "The 25th of this month." My heart skipped a beat. Because the 25th of this month was the first day of our senior year winter finals. 4 Ethan missed the exams. He used catching the flu as an excuse, but the reality was he went to meet Lexi in person. After finals were over, I lay in bed and watched the two of them flaunt their relationship online. In the video, Lexi was wearing a pleated skirt uniform. Her left hand was linked with Ethan's. Because of the height difference, his face wasn't in the frame. Then the camera panned to Ethan's side profile. Seeing that chiseled side profile that used to sit next to me every day, now appearing on a screen... I felt a momentary daze. What followed was Lexi leaning in for a kiss. A bright smudge of lipstick suddenly appeared on that sharp jawline. It was jarring and an eyesore. For some reason, I had a premonition. The Ethan Wright who was like a bright, untouchable moon, had completely vanished from this world. I sighed, but my heart didn't ripple the way it used to. His blind obsession made me suddenly realize something. I hadn't admired Ethan himself; I admired the pride and academic brilliance he embodied. For five years, it had always been like this. It was my rational admiration for excellence. But once he fell into the mud and revealed a vulgar, pathetic side... I instantly went from his most loyal supporter to a cold, indifferent bystander. Ethan, you're so disappointing. I frowned slightly, lifting my hand to swipe away the video. But unexpectedly, my cat suddenly rubbed against my right hand. Under Lexi's pink profile picture, a word popped up. "Following." Annoyed, I immediately tapped to unfollow. Then I grabbed my cat and continued scrolling through other videos. I didn't take that little mishap to heart. Senior year breaks always go by fast. In just a day, we were back at school. On Monday, the final exam scores were posted. I took first place again. Without Ethan, my grip on this spot was practically guaranteed. No suspense whatsoever. After organizing my mistake notebook from the finals during evening study hall, I packed my bag and headed home alone. It was only a quarter-mile walk. It usually took a few minutes. But just as I was about to reach the entrance of my neighborhood... A group of people blocked my path. It was Lexi, Ethan, and her little entourage. I slowly eased my pace, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and discreetly hit record. Then I hesitated and asked: "Can I help you?" Lexi scoffed coldly. She immediately slapped me hard across the face. Her long, acrylic nails dug deep into my skin. With a burning, stinging pain, I could feel a streak of blood drawn across my cheek. "It was you who snitched to his homeroom teacher, wasn't it?" The sharp pain on my cheek made my head spin for a moment. Snitched? Oh, it must be about them meeting up in person. I wondered what Ethan faking the flu to meet her had to do with me. If they got reported, why would they blindly blame it on me? But before I could even figure it out. Seeing no reaction from me, Lexi's anger flared even hotter. She reached out and shoved me to the ground with all her might. "Still trying to play dumb? Is this account named 'Chloe' not you?!" Lexi cursed as she shoved her phone screen in my face. It was a screenshot of my accidental follow from a few days ago. It clicked in my head. Ethan must have told her that account belonged to me. Because on that app, Ethan and I were the only classmates mutually following each other. I let out a cold laugh. Looking up at Lexi, I said: "Just because I watched your little meet-up video, that makes me the snitch?" "Your messy drama is already known by half our class." "Why do you suspect me?" I raised my eyes contemptuously, scanning Lexi's heavy "innocent" makeup, before finally looking at Ethan. Compared to Lexi, I despised him even more. He was cowardly and disgusting. Ethan was staring at me with a completely indifferent expression, though his eyes carried a faint trace of resentment. A light chuckle broke our stare-down. "Stop playing dumb. Ethan already told me you've been secretly in love with him for years." "He said you're the number one suspect." "As a girl, can you have absolutely no shame? I got Ethan, which means I won. You're still pulling these petty tricks behind my back, have you no dignity?" With my palms pressed against the pavement, the gravel dug painfully into my skin. I slowly wiped my hands and stood up. The 11 PM wind carried a biting chill down the alleyway. I ignored Lexi. Instead, I walked right up to Ethan and tilted my chin up. "Ethan, I did have a crush on you. But ever since you publicly humiliated me, those feelings have been dead and gone." "Tell me, why would I bother snitching when I don't even like you anymore?" "I was second place for so many years. I wanted you to crash and burn more than anyone. With you being this pathetic, no one can steal my number one spot." "And one last thing." "Liking you was the most disgusting thing I've done in my entire life." As the sharp, icy words left my mouth, Ethan's previously detached, bystander-like expression finally began to crack. He looked at me in slight shock. His eyes carried not only disbelief but also a flash of anger. Who was Ethan Wright? He grew up as the golden child. Even now, throwing his future away for "love" despite the criticism, he probably viewed himself as some tragic romantic hero. So hearing words like that from me definitely pierced his ego. But was that enough? I shifted my gaze to Lexi and spoke up. "Having a few impressionable fans on the internet makes you think you're tough?" "You brought a few friends to back you up, so you think you can just assault people in the street?" "A piece of trash like Ethan is only good for having you clean up his messes. If you offered him to me to tie my shoes, I wouldn't even take him." "Trash belongs with trash." I stared at Lexi with undisguised mockery, tearing her down. Amidst my sneers, Lexi finally exploded. She grabbed my hair tightly. Then, she and her friends shoved me back to the ground. Punches and kicks rained down on me. I curled up, desperately shielding my head. From above came a barrage of vile, filthy insults and spitting. "You little slut, trying to act all high and mighty?!" "Lexi is a famous influencer, who the hell are you compared to her?!" "You think being a pocket healer is cheap? Those skins cost thousands! Could your family make that much in a year?" "All you know how to do is read a book, stop acting superior." ... I felt wetness hitting the top of my head. They were spitting on me. Half an hour later. It was finally over. My arms, which had been shielding my head, weakly fell to my sides. I tried to get up but found it incredibly difficult. My entire body was likely covered in bruises and swelling. With trembling hands, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The screen showed over a dozen missed calls. I called back. "Mom, Dad... take me to the police station." 5 There was a police precinct not far from the school. When filing the report, I handed my phone to the police. The recording was exactly forty minutes long. Most of it was pitch black. Because of the beating, I had kept it in my pocket to prevent it from being smashed. But the very beginning clearly captured the faces of Ethan, Lexi, and her followers. This recording became ironclad evidence. "You can also pull the security footage from the surrounding area." "I didn't fight back a single time." "It was a completely one-sided assault by them." I stated calmly to the officer. The officer watched the video, then looked at my injuries. Based on the information I provided, they immediately began tracking them down. The blood on my forehead still hadn't completely stopped. At this moment, my condition was far from good. My entire body throbbed with pain, and I couldn't even straighten my knee, but I forced myself to stay conscious. I had my parents take me to get a forensic medical evaluation. As long as it was classified as a 'minor injury' legally, no one would be able to save Lexi. 6 "Fractured patella, mild concussion, perforated eardrum." The attending doctor looked at me on the hospital bed, listing off my specific injuries one by one during his rounds. When he had finished briefing me. He looked at my mother with deep sympathy. "How did she get hurt this badly?" My mother, her eyes red and swollen, choked out a reply. "She was beaten up by a gang of street girls." "Her dad is already at the school trying to figure out what happened." The doctor nodded gently and sighed. "Seeing her uniform, she goes to the city's magnet school, right? My son goes there too." "It's such a good high school, how could something like this happen?" Hearing this, my normally poised and composed mother finally burst into tears. She kept repeating that she was sorry, that it was all her fault. The originally noisy hospital ward gradually quieted down amidst her crying. But how could this be her fault? I painfully raised my hand and patted her leg to comfort her. After all, I was the one who chose to take a massive risk... 7 The next afternoon, my father brought several of my close classmates to the hospital room. They brought flower baskets and fruit baskets. They looked into the room with worried faces. When she saw that almost half my body was wrapped in bandages, the soft-spoken Mia Brooks instantly burst into tears. "Chloe... How could Ethan do something like this?!" "He used to be so nice to you, how could he..." She choked on her sobs, unable to continue. She just stood by my bed, wiping away tears. Caleb Hayes, our usually calm and collected class vice president, comforted her, then looked at me with suppressed anger. "Chloe, don't worry. The school will definitely handle this." I nodded in response. I honestly didn't have much hope for how the school would handle an incident like this. Ethan, who didn't physically participate in the beating, wouldn't be as easy to deal with as Lexi and her crew. Just then, having calmed down, Mia leaned in closer to me. She whispered: "Chloe, did you know? Yesterday at school, your dad punched Ethan's dad several times." "His dad didn't dare say a word, and our homeroom teacher didn't even try to stop him." "Ethan is honestly disgusting." "He swore up and down that he didn't know the girls who attacked you. He said you brought the trouble on yourself outside of school." "But when your dad dropped Lexi's name, he completely panicked." Hearing this, I raised an eyebrow. He probably assumed that because the lighting was bad last night and there were no cameras in that exact spot, there was no way to prove who attacked me. If that had been true, he could have helped his little girlfriend escape criminal charges. But he didn't expect that I had recorded it all, and had already filed a police report. And now, the medical evaluation was out. A fractured patella officially constituted a 'minor injury' under criminal law. I would immediately press criminal charges against Lexi and her gang. And from what I knew, Lexi was a year older than Ethan. She was already 19 this year. She wouldn't be able to escape a single punishment she deserved. "Chloe..." Mia looked at me lost in thought, her expression looking troubled. It seemed like she wanted to say something else. "What is it, Mia? Do you have something to tell me?" She tugged at the hem of her shirt. She hesitated but finally made up her mind to speak. "Chloe, could you let me take a picture of your medical evaluation?" I looked at her, a bit confused. Of course, she could take a picture, but what did she need it for? "Sure, but you have to tell me what you're using it for?" I asked softly. Mia nervously pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled for a bit, eventually stopping on a page. She handed the phone to me. "That girl Lexi posted a video about you online last night." "She's publicly trashing you..." "I spoke up for you in the comments, saying they jumped you, but no one believed me." "I want to take a picture of this and post it online as proof." My eyes fell on the phone resting on my blanket. It was Lexi's video. White text on a black background read: "Chloe Adams from City High is a shameless b*tch." "She tried to steal my boyfriend and act like a homewrecker, then purposely snitched to the school about us meeting up." Right below that was my school ID photo, and she even tagged my social media account. My left hand, hidden under the blanket, clenched tightly into a fist. Because of my injuries, I had spent the last few days either sleeping or resting. Except for taking calls from the police, I hadn't looked at my phone at all. I didn't expect Lexi to so quickly use her influencer privilege to rally her fans to cyberbully me. The comments under the video were a barrage of insults and attacks aimed at me. Mia's attempt to defend me was completely drowned out by the filth and proved entirely useless. With a trembling hand, I clicked into my own direct messages. There were already thousands of hateful messages. Every single one was vile and unbearable to read. Caleb, who had been silent by my side, borrowed the phone and saw the video. He frowned, looking puzzled. "The person who snitched about them meeting up was Ethan's mom." "She admitted it herself in the office this morning." "How are they pinning this on you?" Caleb explained that his mother admitted she was checking Ethan's phone and accidentally found out he was dating online. Then she saw the texts about them meeting up in person. So she complained to the teachers, asking why they weren't keeping a closer eye on Ethan and letting his grades plummet. That was how the school found out about Ethan and Lexi. So, as far as I was concerned... This was a complete and utter disaster that had absolutely nothing to do with me. 8 "Mia, can you hand me my backpack?" I dug through my bag and pulled out the police report filing and the medical evaluation. I took screenshots from the video I recorded the night they assaulted me. Then I called my homeroom teacher. I confirmed the situation with him and asked him to verify that the person who exposed Ethan and Lexi's meetup was Ethan's mother. Not me. I also explained to him that I was being cyberbullied and needed to use this phone call recording as evidence to clear my name. At the same time, the police called. They informed me that they had issued summons for Lexi, Britney, Riley, and Ethan. I then requested a copy of the summons record from the police. With that, all the evidence I could gather at this stage was ready. I picked up my phone. I drafted a response video. "In response to the defamatory rumors spread by Ms. Lexi Carter about me last night, I have the following points to make:" "First, the person who reported Ms. Carter and her boyfriend Ethan Wright meeting up was not me, but Ethan's own mother." Then I attached the recording of my phone call with my homeroom teacher. "Second, Ethan and I are merely classmates. I am not a 'homewrecker'." "Third, Ms. Carter, Britney, Riley, and others subjected me to a 30-minute physical assault on the night of the 10th. I have full video evidence, a medical evaluation confirming 'minor injuries' (a felony threshold), and the police report and summons records. I will legally pursue criminal charges against all individuals involved." I attached the screenshots and documents as evidence. "Fourth, Ms. Carter's video last night constitutes a violation of my portrait rights and defamation of character. I will be filing a separate civil lawsuit against her." "Lastly, to the 'big influencer' Lexi, I hope you won't be begging me for mercy later. Xoxo." The moment my video went live, it caused a massive uproar online. Complete and indisputable evidence was far more convincing than a few inflammatory, text-only claims from Lexi. After the video hit a million views. The fans who had been relentlessly screaming and the random internet users who jumped on the bandwagon were instantly silenced. Only a few incredibly immature, die-hard fans continued to leave comments: "We don't know the whole story, reserving judgment. Waiting for Lexi's response." "Won't take sides until the dust settles." Hypocritical, double-standard garbage. Faced with hard evidence, they claim they "don't know the whole story," but when it was a baseless frame-up, they were quick to pick up their pitchforks of justice. It seems they just wanted to hack me to pieces. The narrative online rapidly shifted. It went from unanimous support for Lexi... To overwhelming condemnation and insults directed at her. Some insiders even stepped forward to share their own experiences of being bullied by Lexi in the past. They exposed her terrible behavior at school and the fact that she was actually the one with a history of homewrecking. Someone from Lexi's inner circle even posted leaked chat logs: "The money she spent carrying Ethan on games was all from predatory payday loans. She's been overdue for a long time." "If she doesn't pay it back next month, she's going to end up on a debt defaulter blacklist." In just two or three days, Lexi's painstakingly built following of 170k dropped to barely 80k. Her persona as a young, beautiful, rich girl completely collapsed. I hadn't originally planned to post all the details online. Seeing Lexi face legal justice was the part I cared about most. But since Lexi was so used to acting like a god on the internet, weaponizing her fans to enact her twisted "justice"... Then I didn't mind using her favorite method to destroy the very capital that made her so arrogant. Over those three days, various commentary channels in the gaming community began to embellish the feud between Lexi and me. "Rich e-girl streamer used payday loans to buy skins, and led a physical assault against a top high school student?!" "Former wealthy e-girl influencer facing prison time for gang assault." They added clickbait titles and spread the story even wider. Any viewer with a functioning moral compass and logical netizens understood this was a morally bankrupt case of an influencer using her platform to bully an ordinary student. The online crusade against Lexi reached new heights. Yet even backed into such a corner, Lexi still hadn't come forward to deny it or apologize. Because. She had much bigger problems to deal with right now.
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