KAI'S POV
I watched Ethan Park laugh with his friends in the parking lot, and it took everything in me not to break his jaw.
The video was still spreading. Every time someone's phone lit up, it was Aria's face—red, humiliated, trying not to cry. The caption kept changing. "Scholarship Girl Can't Take a Joke." "Poor Aria Gets Roasted." "When You Can't Afford Real Friends."
Five hundred likes now. Six hundred.
Ethan was sitting on his car hood, checking his phone and grinning. Isabella stood next to him, whispering something that made him laugh harder.
They thought this was funny.
I had left Aria in the bathroom with Maya twenty minutes ago. Told them to stay there, stay safe. Maya had argued, but something in my face must have scared her because she nodded and locked the door behind me.
Now I walked across the parking lot, my hands in my jacket pockets so no one could see them shaking.
Not from fear. From rage.
"Winters!" Ethan called out when he saw me. "Did you see the video? Comedy gold, right?"
His friends laughed. Marcus high-fived him. Jake was already showing the video to someone else.
I stopped three feet from Ethan's car. Close enough to see the smirk on his face. Close enough to remember every reason I'd stayed away from him for two years.
Guys like Ethan Park got away with everything. Rich parents, good grades they didn't earn, respect they didn't deserve. The world bent around them, making their lives easy while the rest of us fought for scraps.
But not today.
"Take it down," I said quietly.
Ethan blinked. "What?"
"The video. Take it down."
"Dude, I didn't even post it. That was—" He glanced at Isabella, who suddenly looked very interested in her nails. "Someone else did."
"Then tell them to take it down."
Ethan slid off his car, standing up straight. He was taller than I expected, but I'd fought guys bigger than him. Size didn't matter when you were angry enough.
"Why do you care?" Ethan asked, his eyes narrowing. "It's just a joke. Aria knows that."
"She was crying."
"She's sensitive. Always has been." Ethan shrugged like it was nothing. "Look, I get that you have some weird hero complex, but Aria and I have been friends for six years. I can tease her. It's what friends do."
"Friends don't humiliate each other in front of the whole school."
"I wasn't—" Ethan stopped, his jaw tight. "You don't know anything about our friendship."
"I know you made fun of her for being poor. I know you laughed when she tried not to cry. I know you recorded it and let it spread like she's some kind of joke."
Ethan's friends had gone quiet. A crowd was forming now, phones out, ready to record round two of today's entertainment.
"She's fine," Ethan said, but his voice had an edge now. "Aria's tough. She can handle it."
"She shouldn't have to handle it. Not from you."
"Who are you, her boyfriend?" Ethan laughed, but it sounded forced. "Oh wait, that's right. Aria doesn't have a boyfriend. She just has her little crush on me that she won't let go of."
Something snapped inside me.
I stepped forward, and Ethan stepped back. Just one step, but enough that everyone saw it.
"Leave her alone," I said, my voice deadly calm. "Delete the video. Apologize. And stay away from her."
"Or what?" Ethan tried to sound brave, but his eyes darted to his friends for support. "You'll beat me up? I'm not scared of you, Winters. My dad's lawyers would destroy you."
"I don't need to touch you." I smiled, and it wasn't nice. "I just need to tell everyone the truth."
Ethan's face went pale. "What truth?"
"About who really writes your papers. Who really does your homework. Who's been carrying you for six years while you take all the credit."
The crowd murmured. Phones stayed up, recording every word.
"That's—that's a lie," Ethan stammered.
"Is it? Should we ask Ms. Chen to show everyone her Google Docs history? I bet we'd find a lot of interesting files. Essays with your name on them, written at two in the morning by someone who wasn't you."
Isabella grabbed Ethan's arm, whispering urgently. But Ethan shook her off, his face red now.
"You don't know what you're talking about," he said.
"Try me."
We stared at each other. The parking lot was silent except for the sound of cars on the distant highway and the click of phone cameras.
Ethan looked away first.
"Whatever," he muttered. "Aria can take care of herself. She doesn't need you."
"You're right," I agreed. "She doesn't need me. But she definitely doesn't need you anymore."
I turned to walk away, my heart pounding. I'd done it. Stood up to him. Defended Aria without throwing a punch.
"Hey, Winters!"
I looked back.
Ethan's smirk was back. "You think you're so noble, don't you? The bad boy protecting the damsel. But you're just like everyone else—you want something from her. At least I'm honest about it."
"I don't want anything from her," I said.
"Sure you don't." Ethan laughed. "You've been staring at her for two years like a creep. Now you're playing hero, hoping she'll finally notice you. It's pathetic."
My hands clenched into fists.
"But here's the thing," Ethan continued, getting bolder now that I wasn't advancing. "Aria's loyal. Stupidly loyal. No matter what I do, she'll forgive me. She always does. Because deep down, she knows her place. She's the scholarship kid who got lucky enough to be my friend. She won't throw that away for some delinquent with a motorcycle."
"You really believe that?" I asked.
"I know it. Aria needs me. Without me, she's nobody at this school."
"Then you don't know her at all."
I walked away before I could hear his response. My whole body was shaking—partly from anger, partly from adrenaline, partly from fear that Ethan was right.
What if Aria did forgive him? What if she went back to him, back to being his doormat, back to letting him use her?
I couldn't watch that happen again.
My phone buzzed. A text from Maya.
Maya: Where are you? Aria's asking for you.
Me: Parking lot. On my way back.
Maya: Good. Because we have a problem.
Maya: Isabella's telling everyone that Aria tried to steal Ethan from her. That Aria's obsessed with him and won't leave him alone.
My blood ran cold.
Me: What?
Maya: The story's already spreading. By tomorrow, everyone will think Aria's some crazy stalker girl who can't accept that Ethan moved on.
I started running back toward the building. This wasn't just bullying anymore. This was character assassination. Planned, calculated destruction.
Another text came through. This time from an unknown number.
Unknown: You shouldn't have gotten involved, Winters. Now Aria pays the price.
I burst through the bathroom door where I'd left them. Maya was there, phone in hand, face pale.
But Aria was gone.
"Where is she?" I demanded.
"She ran," Maya said, her voice shaking. "After she saw what Isabella was posting. She just... ran."
"Where?"
"I don't know! She wouldn't answer my calls. Kai, those posts—they're everywhere. Everyone thinks Aria's been harassing Ethan and Isabella. They're calling her desperate, psycho—"
I was already out the door, phone to my ear, calling Aria's number.
It went straight to voicemail.
I tried again. And again.
Nothing.
Where would she go? Home? No, she lived too far away. The library? The music room?
Then I remembered something. Something Aria didn't know I knew.
Two years ago, after I'd broken down in the music room over Lily's diagnosis, Aria had told me about her place. Her secret place where she went when the world was too much.
The old equipment shed behind the tennis courts. Abandoned, quiet, hidden by trees.
Nobody knew about it except—
I ran faster than I'd ever run in my life.
The shed door was ajar. I pushed it open slowly.
Aria was there, sitting on the floor in the darkness, her phone in pieces beside her. She'd smashed it. Her eyes were empty, staring at nothing.
"Aria," I said softly.
She looked up at me, and what I saw in her face broke my heart.
Not sadness. Not anger.
Surrender.
"Everyone believes her," Aria whispered. "They all think I'm crazy. That I've been stalking Ethan. That I'm the villain."
I knelt beside her. "You're not—"
"My mom called. Someone sent her the posts. She's crying, asking me what I did, why I would humiliate our family like this." Aria's voice cracked. "Even my own mother thinks I'm lying."
"Aria—"
"I'm done, Kai." She looked at me with dead eyes. "I can't fight this. Isabella wins. Ethan wins. I'm transferring schools. I'm leaving Crestwood."
"No," I said firmly.
"I have to—"
"No." I grabbed her hands, making her look at me. "You're not running. You're not letting them win. You're not disappearing."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" she cried. "Everyone hates me!"
I made a decision in that moment. A crazy, reckless, possibly stupid decision.
But it was the only way to save her.
"You're going to let me claim you," I said.
Aria blinked. "What?"
"Tomorrow. In front of everyone. I'm going to tell the whole school that you're mine now. That anyone who messes with you messes with me." I squeezed her hands. "Let me be your shield, Aria. Let me fight this battle for you."
"Kai, you don't understand. If you do this, they'll come after you too—"
"I don't care."
"Your reputation—"
"Is already garbage. I've got nothing to lose." I smiled grimly. "But you do. So let me lose it for you."
Aria stared at me like I was insane.
Maybe I was.
But before she could answer, my phone rang. The hospital.
Lily's name flashed on the screen, and my entire world stopped.
They only called when something was very, very wrong.