Steven Greece
Steven Greece had never been late to school. He had never missed a deadline, never failed a test, never even gotten a detention. Rules were his thing. Routine was his sanctuary.
So, when the principal's secretary appeared at the door of his fourth-period computer science class and called his name, a strange chill ran down his spine.
Jessica glanced at him with a small smile, her lips about to form the words she'd been holding in for weeks. "Steven, about prom,"
"I'll be right back," he whispered, flashing her a hopeful smile.
He followed the secretary down the hall, stomach tightening with every step. Something was off.
When they reached the principal's office, the air shifted. The atmosphere was too still, too sharp. Principal Darnell sat behind his desk, two other faculty members beside him, Mr. Gaines from the IT department and Mrs. Palmer from administration.
"Have a seat, Steven," Darnell said, his voice unusually flat.
Steven sat, heart beginning to pound. "Is something wrong?"
The principal slid a printed packet across the desk. It was a system log, Steven recognized it instantly. IP addresses, timestamps, school server entries.
"You want to explain how these files," Principal Darnell asked, "were accessed using your personal computer?"
Steven leaned forward, frowning as he scanned the pages. His brain stumbled, then froze.
Test keys. Answer files. Administrative data. All of it tied to the school's secure network.
"I didn't do this," he said automatically. "That's not possible. I... I wouldn't."
"Steven," Mrs. Palmer interjected, her voice firm, "your laptop's MAC address logged into our internal system at 2:14 a.m. yesterday. These cheat codes were extracted and then reorganized into a private AI file you've been developing."
Steven's blood ran cold. The AI. His personal project. The one he'd spent months building, his pride, his escape, his future.
"I didn't... someone must've taken it," he stammered. "I.... I lost it for a few hours. I swear. It was... Jessica had it,"
He stopped.
That morning. Jessica had taken his laptop home. She'd brought it back... but had she?
His pulse raced.
"Where's my laptop now?"
Mr. Gaines folded his arms. "We retrieved it from your locker this morning. The files were still on it."
Steven stared blankly. His locker? But he hadn't even used his locker today.
He realized, with a sinking feeling, what must have happened.
Someone had planted it.
His mind spun with possibilities, who knew his locker code? Who would even want to frame him?
And then the worst thought hit.
Zach Monroe.
Steven had seen that smirk a hundred times. Seen the lazy swagger, the casual cruelty. But this... this was beyond Zach's usual games.
His fists clenched in his lap.
"I didn't do this," he said again, voice firmer. "Someone set me up."
Principal Darnell's face didn't change. "Unless you can prove that, Steven, we have no choice."
A pause.
"You are being expelled."
Jessica
Jessica nearly dropped her phone when she saw the school-wide notification: Student Expulsion Hearing Concluded, Steven Greece permanently removed for academic misconduct.
She bolted from her lunch table, heart pounding in her chest.
This had to be a mistake. Steven would never cheat. Not on anything, especially not like this. Her brain raced through everything she knew, Steven's habits, his routines, his relentless honesty.
Something wasn't adding up.
And then a horrible memory surfaced.
The day before, when the girls were at hers, she'd left Steven's laptop plugged in her room.
Chloe had been there.
Jessica hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but now… something about Chloe's too-sweet smile when she came back, her oddly timed compliments.
"Chloe," she muttered, storming out of the cafeteria.
Chloe
Chloe sat outside near the back lot, phone in hand, Zach's latest text glowing on the screen.
> "Told you. Now he's out of the picture. You're welcome."
She smiled faintly, but there was an ache in her chest she didn't want to admit. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? Zach had noticed her. He'd even taken her out for pizza. He called her smart.
So why did she feel like garbage?
Her stomach flipped again when she saw Jessica charging toward her.
"Chloe!"
Too late to run.
"Where's Steven's laptop?" Jessica demanded.
"I... I gave it back to him," Chloe stammered.
"Don't lie to me," Jessica snapped, stepping closer. "You stole it. You gave it to Zach."
Chloe looked around helplessly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
But Jessica's face was hard. "If you let Zach ruin Steven's future just to get a boy to notice you, then you're worse than he is."
That cut deep.
Chloe flinched.
Jessica shook her head in disgust and walked away, fury in every step.
Chloe sat frozen, her hands trembling.
Maybe this wasn't worth it.
Maybe nothing about this was worth it anymore.