Chapter 5
I sighed and climbed into bed.
When I opened my phone, it was blowing up with notifications.
There were messages from classmates, from my advisor, and even a bunch of friend requests from people I didn't recognize.
I opened up the campus forum.
The post had already shot to the top of the trending list.
The thread under my comment had blown up with thousands of replies.
The whole vibe had totally flipped.
[Whoa! Epic twist! Turns out she's actually a rich, gorgeous girl, not some sugar baby.]
[I knew it! With her cool vibe, there's no way she'd ever do something shady like that.]
[Georgina, come out and take your punishment! Spreading rumors is easy, but clearing them is a nightmare! Go Jocelyn, stand up for yourself!]
[Who even is Georgina? Is she a finance major? Damn, that's savage.]
[Latest scoop. Georgina's boyfriend is fake, and so is her dress! This is the drama of the year.]
[LMAO, this is a total social wipeout! Watching this go down is so satisfying.]
Seeing all these comments, I could finally feel the tension in my chest start to ease up.
Just then, my phone buzzed with an unknown number calling.
I hesitated for a second, but picked up anyway.
"Hello?" I said.
"Is this Jocelyn?" The voice on the other end was a middle-aged woman, sounding really anxious.
"Yes, that's me. Who's this?" I asked.
The woman said, "Hey, Jocelyn, it's Georgina's mom. I heard from Georgina that she acted out online and said some things she shouldn't have, and it ended up causing you a lot of trouble. I'm really sorry about that. I'm apologizing on her behalf!"
Georgina's mom?
How did she even get my number?
"Ma'am, I don't think just saying sorry is enough to fix this," I said coldly.
"I understand. We really scolded Georgina hard! Could you maybe withdraw the legal notice? We're just regular folks, we can't afford all this drama."
Georgina's mom sounded desperate, her voice trembling as if she was about to cry.
If I was the forgiving type, maybe I would've agreed.
But I was not some saint.
"When she was out there spreading rumors about me, did she ever stop to think if I could survive all this drama?" I shot back.
"She's still just a kid. She doesn't know any better. Can't you just be the bigger person and let it slide this time?" Georgina's mom pleaded.
"She's an adult now. She needs to take responsibility for her actions," I replied.
I didn't want to waste any more words on her.
"I've already handed this over to my lawyer. If you have anything to say, you can talk to them," I said coldly.
With that, I hung up and blocked her number.
Not long after, another unknown number popped up on my screen.
I frowned and picked up.
This time, it was a man's rough, booming voice.
"You Jocelyn? Listen up, take back that legal notice right now, or I'll make sure you won't be able to stay at Novaris University!"
Was this Georgina's dad?
What a perfect match. This whole family was something else.
One played the good cop, the other the bad cop.
I couldn't help but laugh, half in disbelief, half in anger.
"Oh? I'd love to see how you plan to pull that off," I said, mocking him.
The man said, "Don't get cocky! Just because you've got some cash doesn't mean you're hot stuff! Let me tell you, I'm—"
I hung up and blocked the number.
Talking to people like him was just a waste of my time.
I set my phone down and let out a long, slow breath.
Aleigha reached down from her top bunk and handed me a bottle of yogurt.
"Here, have some. It'll help you calm down," she said.
I took it and gave her a small smile.
"Thanks," I said.
"Come on, no need to thank me," Aleigha said, sitting up. "But honestly, Georgina's family is just wild, aren't they?"
"Yeah," I replied, giving a helpless shrug.
"So, what's your plan? Are you actually going to take her to court?" Aleigha asked.
"Of course," I said, twisting open the yogurt and taking a sip. "I want her to understand that she can do whatever she wants, but she can't just say whatever she wants. If she screws up, she has to face the consequences."
Aleigha gave me a thumbs-up. "That's badass! That's exactly how you should handle it!"
Just as we were chatting, my phone buzzed again.
This time, it was a video call request.
The name on the screen was saved as "Dad".
My heart skipped a beat.
Crap, did all this drama already reach my dad?
I hesitated, wondering if I should answer.
The video call ended, and right after, my dad's call came through.
I took a deep breath, bracing myself, and hit the answer button.
"Hey, Dad," I said.