Page 17

S URPRISINGLY ENOUGH , Victor leaves me alone, and when he’s away for his hockey games, it’s even better. Most people have lost their interest in me too, and I love it like that. I can finally focus on studying and just living my life.

But today is my turn to have a presentation in class, and I’m a little worried about how it’ll go. Everyone’s attention will be on me, and I don’t know how comfortable I’ll feel about that.

But it’s just a presentation. Why would that cause any trouble? I’ll live, just like I survived everything else and countless presentations in high school.

But when the professor calls my name and I step in front of the class, my gaze immediately finds Victor’s. And he refuses to look away.

I focus on setting up the presentation on the computer and the professor turns on the projector. Before starting, I clear my throat and focus on the spot on the wall behind everyone.

I keep glancing between the wall and the papers in my hands, and I don’t look anywhere else. Seeing Victor now could distract me, and I don’t want anything to mess this up. The presentation counts for a big part of my grade. Sure, it looks like Victor has left me alone, but I don’t want to give him a chance to change his mind.

But when I press the button for the next slide, the class erupts into laughter and shocked gasps. People get their phones out and start taking photos or recording.

I just stand there, frozen, unwilling to move. The pit in my stomach grows, and my chest hurts from trying to breathe. What could possibly be on the projecting screen behind me that everyone is suddenly so loud?

“Turn it off!” the professor shouts.

I checked my presentation more than a dozen times. There’s no way I wrote something so wrong or included some kind of photo that would cause this reaction.

“Why won’t it turn off?” the professor asks in frustration as she keeps pressing a bunch of buttons on the computer.

My gaze lands on Victor’s, and he grins. I finally find the courage to turn around and look at the thing that has everyone laughing and the professor panicking.

My eyes go wide, my breath getting stuck in my throat.

No!

It’s a big photo of me. Except it’s not me. It’s my head pasted onto someone’s body. A body of a naked woman, who’s on all fours and showing her ass and pussy to the class. Above the photo, there’s a message.

Victor, I’ll suck your cock.

Another fake image with a new message pops up. This one shows me spreading my legs.

Please fuck me.

My whole body trembles, my heart beating so fast I think I’m going to faint. The professor yanks the computer’s cord out of the socket, shutting everything down.

I turn toward the class. Everyone is still pointing at me and laughing, and some are shouting disgusting stuff at me and offering me to suck them off instead. Words like desperate and slut and whore fly around.

“That’s enough! Everyone quiet,” the professor yells.

Her face is red with fury as she looks at me.

“I swear it wasn’t me,” I say, pointing in Victor’s direction. “It was him!”

Everyone laughs again, just not as loud as before.

“I’m sorry, Noemi,” Victor says. “But no means no. You can’t blame me for this. It’s your presentation, not mine. Quit trying.”

He leans back in his chair, clearly enjoying himself. I clench my fists because I know going over to him and punching him in the face in front of everyone would get me expelled. Throwing away my future because of some asshole isn’t an option.

I push back the tears that are threatening to spill down my cheeks. How could I have been so stupid to believe Victor would leave me alone? He was probably plotting and waiting for the right moment to strike.

And what happens now? If the professor believes it’s me who did this, I could face consequences or get a failing grade, or both. I could still get kicked out of here anyway. Victor keeps a soft smile on his lips as if the whole thing doesn’t concern him.

“You’re all free to leave,” the professor says. “Except you, Noemi.”

I fight the urge to extend my foot and try to trip Victor as he passes next to me, but that would only make things harder for me. So instead, I stare at the wall to my right, ignoring everyone.

It’s not going to be easy because I’m sure there are plenty of recordings and photos all over the internet already. I’m back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

“I’m so sorry,” I say once everyone’s gone, and a sob escapes my throat.

The professor closes the door and turns on the computer. “I hope you understand how serious this is. Showing inappropriate photos—”

“They’re not mine. I swear.”

“I checked the computer before class. I know there was nothing strange on it. And only you used it after that.”

“I know, but it wasn’t me. Why would I do that? Why would I take that risk?”

No one’s going to believe me, are they? Victor and everyone else will get what they want and I’ll be expelled from Emberwell. They’ll ruin my life just like that, without a second thought. How evil can they be? Or is it only Victor who doesn’t give a damn about anyone other than himself?

“Hmm.” The professor’s brow furrows as she clicks through something on the computer. “It looks like someone else was connected to the computer remotely. They got your presentation off the screen and put up those images instead.”

Hope glimmers inside me. “So you believe me, right? It wasn’t me.”

“We’ll have to do an investigation, but...” She sighs as her gaze meets mine. “Off the record, I believe you. You have no reason to do this, and you’re an excellent student on a scholarship. If anyone else had done it, maybe I would’ve believed it. But doing something like this would only hurt you. Who do you think would do something like that? Do you have any enemies?”

Any enemies? More like the whole college.

“It was Victor,” I say.

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Victor Overton?”

“Yeah.”

She tilts her head at me. “You seem sure about that, but why do you think it’s him? He’s a star hockey player and an excellent student. There hasn’t been any trouble with him so far. Just because his name was used, doesn’t mean it had anything to do with him. Maybe you’re both victims.”

I want to scoff. Right. The college’s perfect golden boy Victor couldn’t possibly do something like this. He’s a victim. Wow.

“I... um, I accidentally dropped something on his ankle a few weeks ago and hurt him. This might be payback for that.” I don’t want to tell her the whole truth, especially because she’ll probably be more concerned about Victor’s future than mine.

No matter what happens after the investigation, I’m sure Victor will get away with it and suffer no consequences. The best I can get is that no one blames me for the whole thing and insists on kicking me out.

But if Victor was smart about it, he probably had someone set up and do the whole thing for him. I doubt he was doing it during class on his phone or something. Whenever I looked at him, he was way too relaxed. Someone else must’ve done it, but I’d been too focused on my presentation to notice.

“I don’t think he’d be mad at you for an accident,” the professor says.

“He got injured, so—”

“He looked fine to me. Played all the games. I think you’re focusing on the wrong person. Can you think of anyone else?”

I inwardly groan. “I guess you’re right, but no, I can’t think of anyone else. It’s just... a lot of people believe I don’t belong here.”

It’s better if I agree with the professor than try to antagonize her and keep insisting it’s all Victor’s fault. If they find any evidence against him that doesn’t magically disappear into thin air, great. If not, then fuck it. It’s not like there’s anything I can do to prove I’m right.

“You do. Your grades prove it,” the professor says. “Don’t worry about this. Some student who has nothing better to do with their time must’ve done this, and we’ll find them.”

She knows it, just like I know it and everyone else does—they won’t find who did it. Maybe Victor will throw one of his worshippers under the bus and pin it all on him, but I don’t think so.

Whoever else was in on this is one of Victor’s people, and he won’t turn against them. Why would he do it when they can both get away with anything? Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Victor had Jake’s support. That man doesn’t like me either, and maybe Victor did this to prove that he has no interest in me either.

But I don’t want to let Victor get away with this. Yeah, my previous plans didn’t go very well, and today might be the consequence of it all. But Victor probably won’t stop anyway, and I’m tired of seeing him come out unscathed.

I need something better that I can use against him. Something that he won’t just get out of easily, and maybe that something is in his dorm room.

I just have to figure out where it is and try to get in while he has practice. If I’m going to go against Victor for real, I need something really big. Something so damaging that not even he can pretend it didn’t happen.