His mouth crooked, a flash of warmth breaking through the control. “Always.”
The vice principal called his name, and he stepped away with a mix of reluctance and purpose. I watched him disappear into the knot of adults by the exit. They closed ranks, voices low. Every so often, I caught a glimpse of him through the doorway—his shoulders squared, his head bent as he spoke, the adults listening harder than they wanted to.
Near the bleachers, I felt someone come to my side before he touched me. Theo’s hand brushed mine—just a quick clasp, warm, steady, enough to ground me. He didn’t speak.
Jax’s gaze caught on it then rose to my face. A nod, no more.
Chase hovered a step away, conflict written in the set of his mouth. His eyes raked the gym—Elise’s orbit, the administrators’ knot, the cluster of girls already trading whispers—and came back to me. He looked at Theo’s hand. He looked at Luke. “We’re not losing each other over this,” he muttered finally, more to himself than anyone. A declaration. A dare.
Theo gave my hand one more squeeze before letting go.
The exit door shut. The gym’s noise rose then flattened as if we’d all agreed to hover in place. Time stretched. When the door opened, the principal entered with the vice principal, Luke a step behind. The gala adviser’s face had lost all its color. The principal returned to the mic and didn’t bother with “testing, testing.” His voice changed slightly this time.
“We will reschedule this run-through,” he announced. “Committee leads, check your email for new times. We’ll be in touch. Students, you are dismissed.”
Elise didn’t get her moment under the lights. Not today.
People crowded the aisles and exits in a rush to leave. Luke rejoined me. The look we traded said it all: the office would investigate, the phone would be reviewed, the fallout would come later. The public explosion was over.
We moved as a unit to the doors—Jax, Theo, Chase a half-step behind, Luke and me in the center. Students watched without getting caught. Elise stood near the stage, smile gone tight, fury bleeding through the cracks she tried to keep in place. She didn’t come after us. Not here. Not yet.
We cleared the gym, and the sound shifted to the usual din of the hall. Locker doors clanged. Someone called for a ride. Luke walked me to the end of the corridor and paused where the wall met the glass doors. The sun threw sheets of brightness across the floor. He set his bag down and leaned in, not enough to make a scene but enough to breathe air that hadn’t been in a gym.
“Expulsion’s off the table,” he murmured. “They won’t admit it yet, but it is.”
“What about her?”
“She’ll fight it.” His jaw worked once. “But this time, there’s a trail.”
My throat tightened. “You stood up there and put your name between me and her.”
“It belongs there.”
He moved into the space between us, and I saw the cost in his eyes—the shadow of his father, the weight of the name he’d just turned into a weapon. Protecting me meant crossing them, and I wasn’t going to let him carry that alone. “Does your family know that?”
His eyes cooled then warmed back. “They will.”
I didn’t kiss him. We couldn’t officially be a couple yet, not publicly. I squeezed his hand for a second then let it go. “Thank you.”
“You know I’ve got you.”
“Take me outside,” I murmured. “In five minutes.”
He glanced to the guys, letting them know to go ahead to practice without him; he’d catch up soon. Jax, Chase, and Theo turned as one and headed off in the direction of the arena.
We slipped into the courtyard behind the fine arts building, where the wind cut the heat, and palms brushed against each other. He stood close without touching, heat from his arm bleeding through the breeze. I tipped my head back and closed my eyes until the pressure eased a notch.
“When do they review her phone?” I asked, opening them again.
“Tonight,” he answered. “The IT lead doesn’t sleep when the principal and review board toss him a bone.”
“Elise will spin things before they can act.”
“She’s already spinning.” He nodded toward the campus, toward the networks we couldn’t see but felt. “But Tori moved out from under her. That matters.”
“Elise is scared.”
“She should be.”
