Page 218 of Save You

“I’d never have thought that you’d lie to us so you could sleep with your boyfriend either, but apparently things have changed in the last few months.”

I gape open-mouthed at her.

Mum takes a deep breath and then sighs.“I don’t have anything to say to you right now, Ruby.I’m so disappointed in you.”

Tears fill my eyes.I try to find the words, but there are none.My body feels numb.The only thought racing through my head is this:Who the fuck took those pictures?

“Mum…”

“Get the bus home,” she says, gulping hard.“I have to speak to your father.”

“I didn’t do it, Mum.”

She doesn’t respond to my words, just adjusts her handbag strap on her shoulder, turns, and walks away down the corridor.

I’m left alone.

Lexington’s words are echoing in my head on a loop.

You are suspended from Maxton Hall with immediate effect.

Suspended.Just before the Easter holidays.Before my A levels.With my St.Hilda’s offer printed out and pinned to my noticeboard at home.

If I don’t get the grades, I can forget Oxford.

Everything I’ve spent the last eleven years working toward.

The recognition of what just happened hits me full force.I sway, have to grip on to the secretary’s desk as the world seems to spin around me.I have to fight to walk out of the room without collapsing.

In the corridor, I meet gaggles of younger kids on their way to lunch, and my feet want to turn toward the dining hall.But I’m not allowed in there.

I’m not allowed to go to events committee meetings.

You are suspended from Maxton Hall with immediate effect.

I’m not even allowed to be in this corridor anymore.

“Ruby?”a familiar voice says behind me.

I look up, eyes blurred with tears.James is there.As he sees how shaken up I am, he takes my upper arm gently.

“I heard them call you.What happened?”he asks urgently.

I can only shake my head.Saying it out loud is just too crazy—and it would turn this nightmare into reality.The only thing I can do is fall into James and cling to him.I bury my face in his blazer and let the tears fall for a moment.Just a moment, just until I’ve got solid ground under my feet again.

“Mr.Lexington…said I’m suspended,” I manage after a while.I pull away from James and look up at him.He wipes my eyes with his hand, looking confused.“Apparently someone took photos of me and Mr.Sutton which make it look like we’re kissing.”

James’s hand freezes on my cheek.“What?”

I can only shake my head.

James pulls away from me and stares wide-eyed at me.“What did you say?”

“Someone sent Lexie these photos that make it look like it was me in a relationship with Sutton,” I whisper urgently.I wipe my eyes, my hand shaking.A few people stare at me as they pass, and among them, I spot a pair of ice-blue eyes.

“That’s impossible,” James stammers.

“Why?”asks Cyril.“You were the one who took those pictures, Beaufort.”