Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
He only had such a tiny, almost laughably small wish. But for that, he got slapped hard across the face.
Ever since Austin was a kid, that person had treated him like a thorn in their side. He never dared to hope for anything more.
Even with millions of followers on TikTok, he didn’t dare take a single ad to make money for himself.
Because the moment that person found out he could stand on his own, they’d crush him without hesitation.
For eighteen years, he’d kept his head down, always making himself seem insignificant. He was always on edge, walking on eggshells, swallowing his pride and always giving in.
And today, just for voicing the tiniest hope he had, he got slapped and screamed at for over ten minutes.
Austin clenched his fists, swearing that one day, he’d make them pay for every bit of what they did to him.
*****
Meanwhile, Cameron was walking downstairs, slipping her phone into her pocket. She’d caught a glimpse of Austin’s face earlier, and it looked like whoever slapped him didn’t hold back.
She could tell he’d tried to cover it up, but it was still red and swollen. That seemed like a pretty serious injury.
Cameron had sensed from the start that Austin was hiding many secrets. But she’d always stuck to her rule of not getting involved in other people’s business, so she looked the other way.
Still, seeing Austin hurt like that hit a nerve. In her previous life, she’d been beaten up by her father in Wallace Manor too.
Every time it happened, Cameron was terrified someone would notice what had happened to her.
Maybe it was just that feeling of shared pain, Cameron could understand exactly how Austin felt.
But this was his own battle, and no one could fight it for him. No one could save him if he couldn’t find the strength to stand up for himself.
Just like no one had saved her, all that had been left was a tragic ending.
When Cameron returned to the classroom, Elijah had already arrived a few minutes earlier. He greeted her, “You’re here.”
Cameron nodded. “Yeah.”
*****
That night, Cameron headed straight back to Room 316. While she was washing up, the school forum completely blew up.
Someone started a thread: [Breaking news! Amelia’s ex-fianc?, Cameron Wallace, is actually not straight!]
Three photos were attached to the post, and all three showed Cameron being supported by a guy with his face blurred out. The two of them looked super intimate with each another.
The photos were captured in the hotel lobby, in the elevator, and right outside the hotel room door, respectively.
Honestly, the evidence looked pretty solid. The post didn’t just have photos. There was a whole story to it too.
Elijah stared at his phone in utter disbelief. He was the one in those photos with Cameron. Even with his face blurred out, Elijah recognized himself right away.
It was from that time when he ran into Cameron at his family’s plastic surgery clinic. She was about to jump off the building, but he convinced her to step down.
Cameron took him out for barbecue to thank Elijah, but she got drunk instead. After hesitating for ages, he finally booked a hotel room for Cameron.
He slept on the sofa in her room that night, worried she might try something again. Nothing happened between them at all.
But here, the post used the nastiest words to describe them, wait, no, to describe Cameron.
Elijah’s face turned grim as he kept scrolling through his phone. He wasn’t mentioned in the entire post at all. It was just one long smear against Cameron.
And Elijah’s face had been deliberately blurred out. So clearly, this post was targeting Cameron only.
Elijah wondered, ‘Who did Cameron piss off this time?’
With his phone in hand, he hurried back to Room 316.
Meanwhile, Cameron had just finished washing up. As she walked over from the sink and saw Elijah come into the room, she gave him a slight nod.
“Cameron…” Elijah called out, sounding anxious as he held his phone out to her. “Did you see this?”
Cameron looked confused. “See what?”
Then, she saw the post on Elijah’s screen, and she froze.
She thought, ‘So there’s no dodging this after all, huh?’
From the look on Cameron’s face, Elijah could tell she hadn’t heard about it yet. He frowned. “Did you piss someone off recently?”
Cameron thought for a moment. “Honestly, I’ve probably ticked off quite a few people.”
Elijah had no words at this moment.
Cameron didn’t really react much. She was just a bit surprised, that was all. She didn’t even look the slightest bit angry. After all, she’d already been through all of this in her previous life.
Back then, she’d felt sadness, anger, pain, and frustration. No matter what she did, she couldn’t clear her name. But now, she was calm and unbothered.
It was almost like the person getting dragged through the mud online right now wasn’t even her.
Elijah frowned. “So what do we do now? We can’t just sit here and do nothing, right?”
He couldn’t just let those people slander Cameron.
But Cameron replied coolly, “No rush. Let me check who actually posted it first.”
With that, she walked over to her desk, turned on her computer, and started typing away. Elijah stood right behind her, his eyes glued to his phone screen.
Meanwhile, Austin paused mid-step when he caught whispers around him. “Wait…are you talking about Cameron from Class 15?” he asked in confusion.
“Yeah, Austin. Don’t you live in the same dorm as Cameron? You should really switch rooms. Someone like that is just gross. Who’d dare sleep at night with him around?”
The rumor mill was in full swing. And when a few people believed it, it suddenly became the truth.
Austin muttered, “That can’t be right.”
He refused to believe that Cameron was that type of person.
Austin’s mind was a mess. He needed to return to the dorm right now and hear what Cameron had to say.
When Austin got back, Cameron had just sat down at her computer.
Austin had run so fast his lungs couldn’t catch up, and he started coughing uncontrollably. “Cam…”
The swelling on his face had faded enough to go unnoticed, unless one was really looking.
“Hey, Austin. You’re back.” Cameron turned around and looked at him.
Austin was confused. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from Cameron’s reaction, and he wondered if she had seen the forum yet.
(+20)
Austin steadied himself and walked straight over to Cameron and Elijah. He wasn’t even sure how to bring it up, just in case Cameron hadn’t seen it yet.
But as soon as Austin walked up behind Cameron, he got his answer, as he saw the school forum pulled up on Cameron’s computer screen.
Austin coughed a few times. “Cam, this is fake, right?”
Cameron turned around. “What do you think?”
Austin was caught off guard, but he instinctively shook his head. “It’s fake.”
Cameron just smiled at him in response.
Elijah chimed in, “Of course it’s fake. The other guy in the photo is me.”
Austin was even more taken aback now, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. He looked at Elijah. “It was you? Eli, what’s going on?”
Elijah kept it short. “Cameron and I had dinner that night. He got drunk, so I took him to a hotel to rest. Someone took the photo and twisted it into a headline.”
Hearing that, Austin shot Elijah a surprised look. He hadn’t realized Elijah and Cameron were closer than he thought.
Austin said, “Eli, they only blurred your face. Don’t you think that’s pretty suspicious?”
Elijah nodded. “They’re targeting Cameron.”
“Found them.” Cameron pushed his keyboard aside with a look of disdain.
“Who is it?” Elijah asked urgently.
“Skyler,” Cameron replied.
