Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
Elijah sat down beside Bradley, caught his breath, and pulled up his email inbox to show Bradley.
When he noticed Cameron standing with her arms crossed nearby, he looked over his shoulder and frowned at her.
Cameron thought. Oh I’m not allowed to watch?
“Okay,” she said with a shrug, flashing a quick hand gesture and moving to sit across from Bradley, with her back to the screen.
Bradley’s expression turned serious as his graceful fingers danced across the keyboard-more like he was playing piano than typing. Behind the lenses of his gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were locked onto the screen, sharp with focus.
Cameron waited patiently, curious to see what he’d find.
Bradley’s brows began to knit. The longer he worked, the deeper the crease between them grew.
“How’s it going. Brad?” Elijah asked, curiosity in his voice.
Bradley kept his gaze on the screen. “Whoever this is, they’re clever. The email’s fake. The bank account mumber is real, but it doesn’t belong to them.
“The thirty grand you wired was split up and bounced across thousands of transactions-washed through IPs all over the globe. This person is really sly. They covered their tracks way too well. There’s no way to trace them.”
Elijah looked visibly disappointed. “So you got nothing?”
Bradley shook his head. “Not nothing.
Elijah perked up. “Then what did you find?”
Bradley’s voice was calm. I traced the original IP. It came from somewhere in our school, which means this person could be someone on campus.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Though it might not be a student.”
“Not a student?” Elijah frowned. But after a moment, he nodded slowly and figured it did make sense.
Since Elijah had enrolled, no one had ever come close to matching his academic record-especially in math. And whoever cracked that question not only had serious math skills, but also hacking talent. If even Bradley couldn’t trace them, they had to be on another level,
Elijah thought. There’s no way someone that badass is just a student’
Cameron’s lips curved into a faint smile as she listened to Bradley’s conclusion. Perfect,’ she thought. He couldn’t trace me. That means I can keep making money off Elijah without worrying’
Still, she didn’t plan to take too much-just enough to cover her living expenses. That said, she couldn’t help but be impressed. Bradley really was good. He actually managed to pin down her general location.
Bradley added, “Ell, the time gap’s too long-half an hour’s already passed. It makes tracking a lot harder. Next time they contact you. tell me right away. I’ll give it another shot.”
Elijah nodded. “Got it. I’ll go find a math problem and write it on the board right now.” He planned to wait for that person to reach out
With that, Elijah left just as fast as he came, practically a blur of focused energy.
Cameron watched him go, tapping a finger lightly against her forehead. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she thought, “He’s that desperate to figure out who I am? Not a chance!
Bradley shut the computer and looked up-only to catch Cameron smiling. He stared for a second too long before blinking it off, thinking. Damn, he’s got a great smile.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses
Cameron’s smile faded. “Was I smiling?”
“You were” Bradley said as he stood. “It was pretty sweet, too
That shut Cameron up for a second. She thought, ‘Sweet? Isn’t that what people say about girls? What am I not man enough for him!”
On her way back to class, Cameron was clutching her textbook when Heidi called.
Cameron was already fed up. Seriously? Do the whole family have to come at me one by one? Why not gang up and get it over with she thought
She declined the call without hesitation. But before she could take another step, Heidi called again. Cameron came to a halt under a tree and picked up.
“Cam, you finally answered, Heidi said gently, her voice laced with concert.
Cameron let out a cold, mocking laugh. If she hadn’t seen how her body had been left lying outside the hospital for three days and two nights with no one to claim it in her last life, she might’ve actually believed Heidi cared about her.
Her voice was icy. “What do you want?”
“Cam, are you mad at me?” Heidi asked.
Heidi’s voice trembled with a hint of tears. “Cam, I never wanted to force you into the transition surgery I know how crust it must’ve felt to you, but you know how it is. Your dad runs this house. I didn’t have a choice
Cameron cut in impatiently. “So because Dad’s the one in charge, that means you’re too spineless to even make a shone call without his permission?”
“What?” Heidi froze for a moment, clearly not following what Cameron meant.
Cameron’s tone turned cold. “Mom, do you even remember what day it was yesterday?
“Yesterday?” Heidi quickly backed out of the call screen to check the calendar. “Yesterday was your birthday Cam I know. was waiting for you to come home so we could celebrate, but you never showed up and you blocked your sister
“Oh, is that so?” Cameron’s lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Does she seriously think I’d buy that Excuses. That’s all it ever is.’ she thought.
In her last life, she’d been forced to have her chest removed. She’d spent the first day of being eighteen lying alone in a hospital bed, her body broken, her heart shattered.
Not a single soul had said “Happy birthday” to her. Later, Heidi had come with the same half-hearted apologies,
It wasn’t the first time Heidi had ignored her. Every time something happened, she’d pin the blame on Martin, claiming her hands were tied. And every single time, Cameron believed her and believed she had her reasons.
But eventually, Cameron saw through it. There were no reasons-Heidi just didn’t love her. She had never treated Milena that way.
Cameron had seen the way she doted on Milena, which made it perfectly clear that Heidi never really loved her.
Now, hearing Heidi try to reel her back in with the same old tricks, Cameron just found it absolutely laughable.
Heidi had no idea just how deeply Cameron loathed her. She was still clinging to her role as the doting mother. “Yeah, Cam, I even bought you a big birthday cake. It’s your favorite flavor-“
“Great. Then send me a photo right now. You, holding the cake. Right this second,” Cameron interrupted coldly.
Heidi froze, choking on her next line. ‘There is no damn cake. Where the hell am I supposed to get a picture? What’s with this brat today? Why won’t she let it go?’ she thought.
Usually, when Martin and Milena couldn’t get through to Cameron, Heidi just had to play the soft card and Cameron would ease up. But now, nothing was working.
After a few seconds of silence, Heidi said, “Cam, you didn’t come home last night. Your dad was furious. He smashed the cake. I’m sorry, Cam. I couldn’t even protect your birthday cake. I’m so useless.”
And just like always, she dumped the blame on Martin with the same old routine.
Cameron had reached the end of her patience. “Alright, Mrs. Wallace. Drop the act. You’re not that good of an actress. So? Why’d you call?”
Heidi was at a loss for words.
“I’m hanging up if you’re not gonna talk,” Cameron said.
“Wait. Cam, I get that you’re mad, but are you seriously gonna cut ties with your family over this? Can you come home tonight, just once?” Heidi asked gently.
Cameron was about to say no, but something crossed her mind, and she changed her tune. “I’m busy tonight. I’ll come home this weekend.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you,” Heidi said softly.
Cameron let out a cold laugh. ‘Waiting for me? Fine. Let them wait. I’ll make sure to give them a surprise they’ll never forget, she thought.
After hanging up, Cameron headed back to class. Her classmates were still buzzing about the math problem that had been solved.
“I can’t believe it,” someone said. “Turns out there’s someone at this school even better than Elijah. Talk about flying under the radar.”
“But Elijah’s always ranked number one in every exam,” another voice chimed in. “Whoever solved it probably just got lucky and isn’t all that gat.”
Someone else argued, “Solving a problem that hard isn’t luck. That takes great skill.”
Cameron walked in with a blank expression, one hand tucked casually in her pocket. She looked effortlessly cool, sharp, and confident as she headed straight to the back row and took her seat.
Someone whispered, “Whoa, is it just me or did Cameron get hotter?”
“No, for real. He actually looks amazing,” another agreed.
“I finally figured out what changed-it’s his vibe,” someone else chimed in. “He used to slouch all the time, but now he walks tall, shoulders back, eyes full of confidence. No wonder he feels different.”
As the chatter continued, Cameron opened the programming book she’d checked out from the library, tapping her finger lightly against the title page.
Martin and Heidi wanted her to transition and marry Amelia, all for wealth and status.
She wondered, ‘But why should I build my future on someone else’s shoulders? I’m going to build my own business empire.
There were three months left before the SATS. Academically, she had no reason to worry. Even without a perfect score, she’ d still land a spot at a top university.
What she wanted now was to make her first pot of gold before those three months were up.
‘What should I do?’ Cameron pondered, spinning her pen as her mind raced.
Then, Brody walked in with his lesson plans. “Alright, everyone, we’ve got our second mock exam coming up next Monday. Let’s give it our best shot-time’s running out. Push hard, aim high, and you won’t be looking back with regrets when graduation rolls around.”