Chapter 3 · Panty Thief

Aisha looked seriously upset.

On one hand, it was the student council president with all his connections and the campus queen, and on the other, there's just me, a total nobody.

This wasn't even a real choice. Aisha let out a sigh and looked at me, her voice tinged with exhaustion, like she was saying, 'I've done all I can.'

Aisha signed. "Sidney, here's what we'll do. Go home and write a really detailed apology letter. The school will have a meeting about your punishment and decide what happens next."

Basically, Aisha wanted me to take the fall so they could put me on probation and keep Brent and his crew satisfied.

'Nice play.' I didn't move and said, "Mrs. Rhodes, if the school decides to punish me without any real evidence, just their side of the story, I'll report it straight to the Board of Education.

"And believe me, the headlines will be way bigger than some campus gossip."

Aisha's face turned livid.

Brent let out a cold laugh. "Sidney, who do you think you're threatening?

"Let me make this clear. If I want you out of this school, you're out. No question about it."

With that, Brent put his arm around Vivian, leading her parents, and strutted out of the office like he owned the place.

It was just me and Aisha left in the office. She looked at me, her expression hard to read, and finally let out a long sigh.

"Sidney, why bother?" Aisha said. "You can't win against them."

I walked out of the office, and the sunlight outside was almost blinding.

Brent really did have a lot of pull.

In just half a day, the story about me being a "scheming bitch out to get the campus queen" spread like wildfire all over campus.

Everywhere I went, people were shooting me looks and gossiping behind my back.

In class, the students next to me would inch their chairs away like I had the plague.

In the cafeteria, the moment I sat down, the tables around me emptied out like I was radioactive.

I was officially persona non grata.

Lena shot me a worried look. "Sidney, what are we gonna do? They're really out to get you."

I was picking at my food, mindlessly scrolling through the campus wall on my phone.

Every single post was trashing me, and even the rare comment that questioned things got instantly buried under a tidal wave of hate.

On the outside, I looked like I didn't care at all, but only I knew there was a fire raging inside me.

I was just biding my time. Waiting for that one shot to pin them to the wall of shame, so they'd never crawl back up again.

That night, Lena came back with some news. She said, "Sidney, I was just in the bathroom and overheard Vivian's roommates talking.

"They said that whole 'second-degree chemical burn' diagnosis for Vivian? Brent just got some doctor buddy at his family's hospital to sign it off. It's not even that bad."

My fork froze in midair.

Lena added, "They also said Vivian just had some redness and a bit of itching. Her skin wasn't even broken."

She leaned in, her voice low, face lit up with a mix of excitement and outrage. "They're just trying to blow this up so the school will kick you out."

I set my fork down, and it was like a bomb went off in my head. 'So that's their game.

'I knew it. The extra-strength hair removal cream I used might be powerful, but every ingredient is safety-tested.

'There's no way it could've caused a second-degree chemical burn.

'Unless her skin was ridiculously sensitive, or maybe this whole thing was a carefully orchestrated scam from start to finish.'

Vivian played the lead, Brent pulled the strings, and the whole school cast as extras, just to bury me for good.

Stealing my underwear was just to piss me off.

Being all passive-aggressive in the group chat was just to give me a motive for revenge.

Then Vivian put on those panties I left behind, coated with hair removal cream, and put on the whole act as the poor victim.

And finally, with a fake medical report, they slapped me with the label of intentional harm and made sure it stuck.

'Talk about a setup. They really go all out to take me down. Wow, I must be a real VIP in their eyes.'

Chapter 3

Aisha looked seriously upset.

On one hand, it was the student council president with all his connections and the campus queen, and on the other, there's just me, a total nobody.

This wasn't even a real choice. Aisha let out a sigh and looked at me, her voice tinged with exhaustion, like she was saying, 'I've done all I can.'

Aisha signed. "Sidney, here's what we'll do. Go home and write a really detailed apology letter. The school will have a meeting about your punishment and decide what happens next."

Basically, Aisha wanted me to take the fall so they could put me on probation and keep Brent and his crew satisfied.

'Nice play.' I didn't move and said, "Mrs. Rhodes, if the school decides to punish me without any real evidence, just their side of the story, I'll report it straight to the Board of Education.

"And believe me, the headlines will be way bigger than some campus gossip."

Aisha's face turned livid.

Brent let out a cold laugh. "Sidney, who do you think you're threatening?

"Let me make this clear. If I want you out of this school, you're out. No question about it."

With that, Brent put his arm around Vivian, leading her parents, and strutted out of the office like he owned the place.

It was just me and Aisha left in the office. She looked at me, her expression hard to read, and finally let out a long sigh.

"Sidney, why bother?" Aisha said. "You can't win against them."

I walked out of the office, and the sunlight outside was almost blinding.

Brent really did have a lot of pull.

In just half a day, the story about me being a "scheming bitch out to get the campus queen" spread like wildfire all over campus.

Everywhere I went, people were shooting me looks and gossiping behind my back.

In class, the students next to me would inch their chairs away like I had the plague.

In the cafeteria, the moment I sat down, the tables around me emptied out like I was radioactive.

I was officially persona non grata.

Lena shot me a worried look. "Sidney, what are we gonna do? They're really out to get you."

I was picking at my food, mindlessly scrolling through the campus wall on my phone.

Every single post was trashing me, and even the rare comment that questioned things got instantly buried under a tidal wave of hate.

On the outside, I looked like I didn't care at all, but only I knew there was a fire raging inside me.

I was just biding my time. Waiting for that one shot to pin them to the wall of shame, so they'd never crawl back up again.

That night, Lena came back with some news. She said, "Sidney, I was just in the bathroom and overheard Vivian's roommates talking.

"They said that whole 'second-degree chemical burn' diagnosis for Vivian? Brent just got some doctor buddy at his family's hospital to sign it off. It's not even that bad."

My fork froze in midair.

Lena added, "They also said Vivian just had some redness and a bit of itching. Her skin wasn't even broken."

She leaned in, her voice low, face lit up with a mix of excitement and outrage. "They're just trying to blow this up so the school will kick you out."

I set my fork down, and it was like a bomb went off in my head. 'So that's their game.

'I knew it. The extra-strength hair removal cream I used might be powerful, but every ingredient is safety-tested.

'There's no way it could've caused a second-degree chemical burn.

'Unless her skin was ridiculously sensitive, or maybe this whole thing was a carefully orchestrated scam from start to finish.'

Vivian played the lead, Brent pulled the strings, and the whole school cast as extras, just to bury me for good.

Stealing my underwear was just to piss me off.

Being all passive-aggressive in the group chat was just to give me a motive for revenge.

Then Vivian put on those panties I left behind, coated with hair removal cream, and put on the whole act as the poor victim.

And finally, with a fake medical report, they slapped me with the label of intentional harm and made sure it stuck.

'Talk about a setup. They really go all out to take me down. Wow, I must be a real VIP in their eyes.'