Chapter 14

• The photo slipped through my fingers, and for a heartbeat I couldn’t breathe. It showed me in a way that didn’t belong to me at all, twisted into something obscene, surrounded by faces that blurred together like shadows. My skin prickled, shame crawling down my spine as the realization sank in. Someone had created this to ruin me, and it was working.
• Students snatched the copies as they scattered across the hallway like poisoned leaves. Their voices rose in a mix of shock and amusement, each reaction chipping away at me. My name was already forming on their lips, sharp and cruel.
• Brooke Leclair stood in the middle of it all, holding one of the images delicately between her manicured fingers as if it was an artifact meant for her alone. Her golden hair caught the light, her designer outfit shimmering in contrast to the dark cloud that had swallowed me. She looked like a queen presiding over my downfall.