Steven slammed his bedroom door behind him, the sound echoing through the quiet house. His mind raced as he paced back and forth, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Expelled. They had actually expelled him.
His entire future, gone.
A sharp knock interrupted his thoughts. Without waiting for a response, Jessica pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"What the hell, Steven?" Her voice trembled, but whether from anger or worry, even she wasn't sure. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Steven let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "Oh, I'm sorry, was I supposed to text you between being accused of academic fraud and getting kicked out of school?"
Jessica flinched at the venom in his tone but refused to back down. "I found out from the school notification! You couldn't have called me? I'm..."
"You're what?" he snapped. "What, Jess? You're sorry? You're here for me? On my side?"
Jessica's chest tightened. "Of course I'm on your side! I know you didn't do this."
He stopped pacing, turning to face her, jaw tight. "Yeah? Unfortunately that doesn't count now, does it? Cause I already got freaking expelled!"
"Steven, I'm sorry." Jessica said in a softer voice, stepping closer. "But… you said I had your laptop. What if something happened while it was at my place?"
Steven let out a hollow laugh, shaking his head. "You know what's funny? How you made that sound like a possibility and not a fact. It's not obvious enough?"
"I'm trying to help you!" she said, her voice rising.
"Yeah?" He took a step toward her, his eyes having a look she had never seen before. Jessica could not tell if it was disappointment or anger. "Were you helping me when you let your friends mess with my stuff?"
Her throat tightened. "What are you talking about?"
"You told me before," he said, "didn't you? You told me that Zach was up to something? Was this it? He used one of your friends to get to me, huh?"
Jessica froze, her heart thudding. She had confronted Chloe. She did suspect it. But hearing Steven say it, hearing the pain in his voice, made it feel worse.
"You're right," she admitted quietly. "I think… I think Chloe took it."
His face twisted in disbelief. "And you didn't think to warn me? Or, I don't know, stop her?"
"I didn't know, Steven!" Her voice cracked. "I didn't think one of my best friends would stab me, or you, in the back!"
Steven let out a chuckle,"Your best friends? You mean the ones you couldn't watch anime around? The ones that judged you for just hanging out with me? It's hard to believe they would do that, huh?"
For a long, heavy second, neither of them spoke. The weight of everything, of lost trust, broken routines, and the fear of what came next, hung between them like shattered glass.
Jessica's shoulders dropped, her voice softening. "I'm trying to fix this."
"Too late," he said coldly, grabbing his backpack from the floor. "They already made up their minds, Jess. And maybe you did, too."
"That's not fair," she whispered, eyes burning.
Steven's hand hovered on the doorknob. For a second, just a second, he wanted to take it back. All of it. The words. The anger. The hurt.
But he didn't.
"Yeah, well," he said, voice raw, "neither is getting expelled for something I didn't do. Trusting you was a mistake!"
He walked out, leaving Jessica standing in the silence he left behind.