Page 29 of Blake University: HBCU Chronicles – Yon & Imole

hadn’t slept. Not since he found out what happened to Imole. The news hit him like a brick through a stained-glass window, violent, shattering, and too ugly to ignore. He heard about the assault an hour after it happened. Not from campus security. Not from Lala. From Ace.

Ace had come storming into the Mega Phi Psi house with clenched fists and fire in his eyes.

“Yo… something happened to Imole. That motherfucker Tree got to her.”

The words didn’t make sense at first. Not Imole. Not his Imole.

They weren’t officially anything, but everyone knew what it was. Every time she smiled at him in the quad, every late-night text, every soft look from across the cafe, she had him. And even when he was knee-deep in pledge life, even when he’d been too exhausted to string a sentence together, she was still on his mind.

Imole was... everything. Brilliant. Kind. Beautiful. Pure and Innocent.

And now... violated.

stood at the edge of the rec room in the frat house, fists buried in his hoodie pocket, rage buzzing just beneath his skin. His line brothers were talking, no plotting but he couldn’t hear them. All he could think about was her.

How scared she must’ve been. How alone. He should’ve been there. If he hadn’t been knee-deep in line business that night, if he hadn’t blown off her text earlier that day about grabbing coffee, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

“Yo.”

Ace nudged him.

“You good?”

“No,”

muttered. “I’m not.”

Ace gave him a look, serious and steady.

“We’re handling it. I already talked to Trey. The Dean’s involved. He’s been suspended. The hearing’s in two weeks, but bro we both know that ain’t enough.”

nodded once, jaw tight.

“He still walked away.”

“Not for long.”

’s mind flashed to Imole’s face. Her laugh. Her ambition. The way she pushed him to finish his essays and told him she could see him on ESPN one day if football didn’t break him first.

She believed in him in a way nobody else ever had.

And he’d failed her.

“Stormii,”

he said suddenly, voice cold.

“She was in on it.”

Ace looked away, jaw twitching.

“She gave him the info,”

continued.

“She sold Imole out. And for what?”

“I don’t know,”

Ace admitted.

“But Lala’s not letting it go. Neither should we.”

pushed off the wall and grabbed his jacket.

“I need to see her.”

“Who? Imole?”

He shook his head. “Stormii.”

Ace grabbed his arm.

“Yo, slow down. You go stomping into her dorm right now, all angry and loud you’re giving her a reason to lie. A reason to cry and play victim.”

’s breath hitched. He hated it. The waiting. The feeling of helplessness. The fact that the people who should’ve protected Imole had betrayed her instead.

He didn’t care about rules anymore.

He didn’t care about protocols or hearings or student conduct codes. He cared about her. And now that he knew what was going on, he was going to protect her by any means necessary. Even if that meant burning everything down around him.

sat the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees, head down, hands balled into tight fists. His chest rose and fell in slow, deliberate rhythm not because he was calm, but because he was trying not to snap.

He replayed everything Imole had told him, every shaky detail she’d whispered through clenched teeth, tears hanging heavy in her eyes. He encouraged her to stay the course. The guilt of the situation was eating at him.

Stormii.

The Phi Ro house.

Tree.

The way he came out of nowhere, like he knew she’d be alone.Then Stormii running her mouth to Shawna. Feeding her information. Every schedule, every class change, every vulnerable moment.

And that’s when it hit him.

Shawna.

It was always Shawna. All of this, the gossip, the isolation, the attack, it had her fingerprints all over it. And Tree? He was just her favorite toy when things got out of control.

’s eyes narrowed as the pieces slid into place. During their two years of dating, whenever Shawna needed something “handled,”

she’d always made one phone call to her cousin. The one she never talked about in public but always pulled out like a wild card when she felt threatened.

He never saw Tree face-to-face until the guy popped up at Blake University like a disease. But the stories? He remembered. Shawna’s “clean-up guy.”

This was bigger than beef. Bigger than drama. This was sabotage. This was targeted. And now it was personal. He looked at the time: 7:16 PM on the dot. stood up without hesitation, grabbed his keys off the desk, and threw on his hoodie. He didn’t text Ace. Didn’t tell Lala. He didn’t need backup for this. He wanted Shawna to see him coming.

His bedroom door slammed behind him with a thunderous crack, startling the whole house full of frat brothers. didn’t care. His sneakers hit the pavement in long, heavy strides, and each step carried one message:

Shawna better be ready to talk.

Because if she wasn’t?

There’d be hell to pay.

And Dawson III wasn’t leaving until he got answers.

Shawna, Terrence and Stormi

The Phi Ro off-campus safehouse reeked of cigar smoke, betrayal, and desperation. Stormii sat curled in one corner of the faux leather couch, hoodie pulled over her head, tears silently rolling down her face. Her hands trembled as she tried not to look at either of them.

Tree stood by the window, arms crossed, smirking like he had already won.

Shawna paced in front of them, heels clicking against the tile like a countdown to chaos.

“I want out,”

Stormii said suddenly, voice thin and hoarse.

“I didn’t sign up for this. I…I didn’t think it would go this far.”

Terrence turned slowly, one brow raised, voice calm and low.

“You thought I was bluffing?”

Stormii’s breath caught.

Tree reached into his jacket pocket and waved his phone at her.

“I’ve got ten video clips. Six photos. Three voice recordings. You wanna test me again?”

“You promised you’d delete them!”

she cried.

He chuckled.

“I deleted one. The rest? Insurance. Don’t forget who put you on this path, sweetheart.”

Shawna rolled her eyes.

“Oh please. Spare us the waterworks.”

Stormii’s lip quivered.

“Imole didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

“She didn’t deserve a lot of things,”

Shawna snapped, arms folding across her chest.

“But she got them anyway. Welcome to life. You’re in this now, Stormii. And let’s be real, it’s too late to go back.”

Stormii shook her head.

“I lost Lala. Imole. Everyone. They all know.”

Shawna stepped forward, voice cutting like glass.

“Exactly. So what do you have left, huh? Veta Xi. That’s it. You cross in two days. Two. That’s your only shot at redemption.”

“Redemption?”

Stormii scoffed.

“You think they’ll respect me if they find out I helped...”

“You helped nothing unless you open your mouth,”

Shawna interrupted.

“You wanna survive this? Keep quiet. Keep your head down. Stay the hell out of sight.”

Terrence walked over and leaned down beside Stormii, his grin dripping with menace.

“And remember… if you make noise? If you even think about growing a conscience?”

He held the phone up again.

“This little highlight reel of yours hits every inbox on campus.”

Stormii sobbed harder now, her voice a broken whisper.

“You’re monsters.”

“No,”

Shawna said coolly, adjusting her sleek ponytail.

“We’re survivors. And we’re cleaning up a mess your friend started the moment she thought she was better than everybody else.”

Terrence stood tall again, stretching like this was all a warm-up.

“Imole’s a problem. ’s a threat. But lucky for us…”

He turned to Shawna.

“We’ve got an inside girl. And a hell of a plan for crossing night.”

Stormii closed her eyes, heart sinking into something deeper than guilt. She was in too deep. And no one was coming to save her.

Imole and Lala

Lala sat at the foot of Imole’s bed, scrolling through her phone.

“Still no response. Her location’s off, social’s dead, and her bed’s still made like she never left.”

She leaned against the wall, arms crossed, eyes focused on nothing.

“Stormii hasn’t been back to the suite since it happened. Not once. Not even for clothes.”

Lala looked up.

“That’s not just guilt. That’s fear.”

Imole nodded slowly.

“She knows I saw her. Maybe not clearly, but I know she was there. I can feel it.”

Lala scoffed.

“Stormii ain’t slick. I bet she was fucking that asshole. Remember she used to sneak around with him last year when we first got here.”

Imole’s eyes narrowed.

“I hope not. Then again, if she was sneaking around then, what’s stopping her from doing it again?”

“Nothing,”

Lala said without hesitation.

“The question is why.”

Her voice was quiet.

“She sold me out. For what, though? What did I ever do to her?”

Lala hesitated.

“Stormi’s been off since the moment she started hanging around Shawna. I thought it was insecurity, maybe even jealousy, but now? I think she got caught up in something she couldn’t get out of.”

Imole looked over.

“You think she’s scared?”

“Hell yeah, she’s scared,”

Lala said.

“But scared or not, she crossed a line.”

A heavy silence settled over the room, thick with everything that had been said and everything they hadn’t said yet.

Then Imole straightened.

“She won’t miss line crossing.”

Lala blinked.

“Say that again?”

“She hasn’t come back here. She’s laying low. But she won’t miss crossing Veta Xi,”

Imole said, her voice firm.

“Not after all this. Not after everything she gave up to get there.”

Lala nodded slowly, catching on.

“That’s the one place she’ll be.”

“And the one time we can trap her,”

Imole said, eyes sharpening.

“She’s going to have to face me. In public. On that stage.”

Lala grinned.

“So, what’s the move?”

“We make her think we know everything,”

Imole said.

“But instead of confronting her there, we pull her aside after the ceremony. We hit her with the truth about everything. No threats. No anger. Just facts.”

“And if she denies it?”

“She won’t,”

she said.

“Not when Stormii knows it’s all coming out anyway.”

Lala leaned back, crossing her arms.

“And if she still tries to lie?”

Imole smiled, calm but cold.

“Then we show everyone exactly who she really is.”

Lala grinned.

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

Imole stood up, full of quiet fire.

“Let’s just say… I’ve had enough people trying to break me. It’s about time someone else felt the pressure.”