KAI'S POV
I found Aria in the music room at midnight, and she was holding a bottle of pills.
Not hers. I could tell from the way her hands shook, the way she stared at them like they were a solution to an impossible problem.
"Don't," I said from the doorway.
She spun around, shoving the bottle behind her back. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying.
"How did you—" she started.
"You sent me your location. Two hours ago." I held up my phone, showing her text. The one that said I'm sorry and nothing else.
I'd been at the hospital with Lily, watching her breathe through tubes, when that text came through. I'd driven ninety miles an hour to get here.
"I didn't mean to send that," Aria whispered.
"Yes, you did." I walked closer. "What are those pills?"
"Nothing."
"Aria."
"They're sleeping pills. My mom's prescription." She pulled the bottle out, staring at it. "I wasn't going to—I just wanted to stop thinking. To stop feeling. Just for one night."
My chest tightened. "Give them to me."
"No."
"Aria, please—"
"You don't understand!" Her voice cracked. "Isabella gave me until midnight to decide. Leave Crestwood or she destroys you. She knows about your sister, about your scholarship, about the attendance records you've been faking. If I stay, she'll report you. You'll lose everything. Lily will lose everything."
The words hit me like a punch.
"How does she know?" I asked quietly.
"I don't know! But she does. She sent me a photo of you at the hospital tonight, Kai. She's been watching you." Aria's hands trembled. "So I decided. I'm leaving. Transferring to public school. It's the only way to protect you."
"No."
"I already filled out the paperwork—"
"No." I crossed the room and took the pill bottle from her hands. "You're not leaving. You're not protecting me. And you're definitely not making decisions while you're this upset."
"It's not your choice!"
"You're right. It's yours. But you're not thinking clearly." I pocketed the pills. "Isabella's bluffing."
"She has proof—"
"Of what? That I missed school to visit my dying sister? That's not illegal, Aria. It's called being human." I sat on the piano bench, suddenly exhausted. "The attendance records show I was at 'doctor's appointments.' Which is true. I was just at Lily's appointments, not mine."
"But your scholarship—"
"Has a medical exemption clause. I filed it freshman year. Isabella can report me all she wants. The school already knows."
Aria blinked. "What?"
"Professor Morrison helped me set it up. He knows about Lily, about everything. He's been protecting me for three years." I met her eyes. "Isabella's threat is empty. She's counting on you being too scared to call her bluff."
Aria sank into a chair, the fight draining out of her. "But the posts. The videos. She said she'd send them to colleges—"
"Let her." I leaned forward. "Aria, you didn't do anything wrong. Any college that rejects you based on fake bullying accusations isn't worth going to. And the ones that matter? They'll see through it."
"You don't know that."
"I know you. I know you're brilliant, hardworking, and genuine. That's in every recommendation letter, every transcript, every essay you've written." I smiled slightly. "Some Instagram posts from a jealous girl won't change that."
Aria looked at me like she wanted to believe it but couldn't quite manage it.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked. "We barely know each other."
That was the question, wasn't it?
"Remember sophomore year?" I said quietly. "You found me crying in this exact room. I'd just come from the hospital. The doctors said Lily had six months, maybe a year. I was fifteen and about to become an orphan taking care of a dying kid."
Aria's eyes widened. "I remember. You said you had a headache."
"I lied. But you didn't push. You just sat with me. Played violin. Something soft and peaceful. You stayed for an hour, not talking, just being there." I swallowed hard. "When you left, you put a granola bar on the piano bench. You said, 'In case your headache is actually hunger.' You knew I was lying, but you gave me an out."
"That was nothing—"
"That was everything. Nobody had been kind to me in months. My parents were dead. My sister was dying. Teachers looked at me like I was a problem. Students avoided me like I was contagious. But you showed up and gave me an hour of peace and a granola bar."
I stood up, walking to the piano where Aria's violin case rested.
"I fell in love with you that day," I said. "And I've been watching you destroy yourself for Ethan Park ever since. So yeah, I'm helping you. Because two years ago, you helped me when I had nothing left."
The room was silent except for the hum of the fluorescent lights.
"Kai," Aria whispered. "I didn't know—"
"You weren't supposed to." I turned back to her. "But now you do. So here's what's going to happen. Tomorrow, you're coming to school. You're walking in with your head up. And if Isabella wants war, we'll give her one. Together."
"I can't ask you to fight my battles—"
"You're not asking. I'm volunteering." I pulled out my phone. "And I'm not alone. Maya's in. Professor Morrison's in. Even some of the other scholarship kids who are tired of people like Ethan and Isabella running the school."
Aria stood up slowly. "What are you planning?"
"Truth. We're going to expose everything. The fake scandal, the harassment campaign, the way they've been manipulating everyone." I showed her my phone. "I've been collecting evidence. Screenshots, testimonies, timeline of events. By tomorrow afternoon, everyone will know who the real villain is."
"They won't believe it. They love Isabella—"
"They love a lie. We'll show them the truth." I stepped closer. "But I need you to trust me. Can you do that?"
Aria looked at me for a long moment. Really looked, like she was seeing me for the first time.
"Why midnight?" she asked suddenly. "Why did Isabella give me until midnight?"
"What?"
"Her deadline. It's so specific. So dramatic." Aria's mind was working now, I could see it. "Unless... unless she needed me to make a panicked decision. To run without thinking."
I caught on. "Because if you thought about it, you'd realize—"
"The threats don't make sense," Aria finished. "She's desperate. Whatever she's hiding, she needs me gone before someone figures it out."
We stared at each other, the pieces clicking into place.
"We need to find out what she's hiding," I said.
"Before tomorrow," Aria agreed.
My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.
Unknown: Smart kids. But not smart enough. Check your email, Winters. Your sister's medical records just got leaked to the entire school. Everyone knows now. How long before they realize you're the charity case, just like your pathetic girlfriend?
My blood ran cold.
I opened my email. There it was. Lily's entire medical file—diagnosis, prognosis, treatment costs. Forwarded to every student email address at Crestwood.
The subject line: "Kai Winters' Dirty Little Secret"
"No," I whispered. "No, no, no—"
Aria grabbed my phone, reading fast. Her face went pale.
"Kai, this is illegal. Leaking medical records—"
"I don't care about legal!" I was already calling the hospital. "They sent Lily's information. Her private medical information. Everyone knows now. Everyone—"
My phone exploded with notifications. Text messages. Social media tags. People had already seen it. Were already commenting.
No wonder he's so angry all the time
His sister's dying and he's wasting time defending some girl?
Charity case protecting charity case
"Kai." Aria's voice was steady now. Calm. "Look at me."
I looked up, feeling like I was drowning.
"We're done playing defense," Aria said, and something fierce burned in her eyes. "Tomorrow, we don't just expose Isabella. We destroy her."
"How?"
"I have an idea. But it's risky. And you have to trust me completely."
"What is it?"
Aria pulled out her smashed phone from her bag. "Isabella thinks I'm isolated. Powerless. That I smashed my phone and can't communicate." She smiled, and it was sharp. "But she doesn't know Maya gave me a backup. Or that I've been recording every conversation, every threat, every message since the scholarship ceremony."
My eyes widened. "You have evidence?"
"Hours of it. Audio, screenshots, everything." Aria's smile turned dangerous. "Isabella made one mistake. She assumed I was just a scared girl who'd roll over. But I'm not. I'm the girl who earned a full ride to Columbia while working two jobs. I'm the girl who survived six years at a school designed to break people like me. And I'm done being nice."
She looked at me, and I saw it—the girl I'd fallen in love with two years ago. But stronger now. Fierce.
"Tomorrow morning," Aria said. "Assembly. We're going to make Isabella confess everything in front of the entire school."
"How?"
"With the one thing she loves more than Ethan. Her reputation." Aria's eyes glittered. "We're going to give her exactly what she wants. And when she takes it, she'll hang herself."
I should have asked more questions. Should have demanded details.
But all I could think was: God, I love this girl.
"I'm in," I said.
"Good." Aria headed for the door, then paused. "And Kai? Thank you. For the granola bar thing. For remembering. For seeing me when no one else did."
She left before I could respond.
I stood alone in the music room, Lily's leaked medical records still burning on my phone screen, and felt something shift.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
But as I locked the music room door, I saw something that made my heart stop.
A tiny camera. Hidden in the corner of the ceiling. Red light blinking.
Someone had been recording us this entire time.
Isabella knew everything we'd just planned.