Filed to story: That Campus Prince Is a Girl
William asked, “What kind of proof?”
“Hold on a sec.” Milena pulled out her phone and started searching through her chats.
Leanne sat quietly to the side, just watching. She also didn’t expect this twist.
Milena quickly found the chat logs and said, “Sir, Ms. Starling, these are the messages from Xander, and these are the design sketches my brother drew,”
William took the phone.
Sure enough, from the chat history between Xander and Milena, it was clear that the designs were really drawn by Cameron.
William wondered, ‘Cameron? How could that kid be involved in this? There must be some kind of misunderstanding.’
“You mean this guy?” Leanne asked, pointing at the incomplete figure of the man in the photo.
Milena nodded. “That’s him.”
Leanne asked, “Did he ask you to submit the designs?”
Milena nodded, “Yes.”
“Mr. Drake…” Leanne turned to William.
“Wait a second,” William cut her off, already guessing what she was about to say. “Something’s not right here. I’ll get the other two guys here, so we c clear this up face to face.”
In his heart, William silently prayed, ‘Kid, please don’t throw your future away over this!
Leanne nodded. “Alright.”
“No,” Milena shouted, her voice trembling with panic.
Just a second ago, she’d been feeling pretty smug. After all, Cameron was about to get into some serious trouble.
But then, she heard William say he was going to call Cameron and Xander here to clear things up.
Milena panicked, thinking, ‘No way. Absolutely no way. If Cameron and Xander both showed up, wouldn’t the whole thing get totally exposed? Xander is my last hope.’
“Huh?” William frowned. “If you’re afraid to face them, does that mean you’re lying? Are you trying to frame Cameron on purpose?”
Milena wondered, ‘What’s up with William? Why is he so obviously siding with Cameron?’
Leanne chimed in, “Milena, how much of what you said is actually true, and how much is made up?”
Milena’s mind was spinning, scrambling for a way out.
“Mr. Drake, this has nothing to do with Xander. Just get Cameron here,” Milena said.
“How could it have nothing to do with him? Wasn’t he the one who took the photo of the design drafts?” William said.
Milena bit down hard on her lip. Right now, she only had two ways out.
First, she could admit she copied Eric’s works. That stain would follow her for life, and she’d be expelled from school.
Second, she refused to admit it and kept blaming Cameron. But if Cameron and Xander came to confront her, Xander would find out she was pretending to be Cameron, and she’d never get anything out of him again.
She was torn about what she should do, but it wasn’t even her turn to choose.
William called both Cameron’s and Xander’s teachers and asked them to bring the two students to his office right away.
Milena’s face went as white as a sheet. She thought, ‘Forget it. If Xander finds out the truth, be it. If Cameron gets expelled, that’s not a loss for me. Maybe I’ll meet someone even better than Xander.’
With that thought, Milena felt a lot better.
Cameron arrived at William’s office ahead of Xander. She knocked on the door and walked in. “Mr. Drake, you wanted to see me?”
Cameron’s eyes swept over Milena and Leanne. Leanne’s outfit had Noir ?clat’s logo on it, so Cameron instantly understood w s was all about.
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she thought, ‘I really didn’t expect Milena to submit Eric’s designs as her own. She’s really something.
“Cameron, you plagiarized Mr. Eric Saunders’ work? How could you be so shameless?” Before William or Leanne could even say a word, Milena blurted out, flustered and desperate.
Cameron looked at Milena. “Me? Plagiarize Mr. Eric Saunders’ work? Are you kidding me?”
Milena was momentarily speechless. Then, she snapped back, “Cameron, the evidence is right in front of us. Are you still going to deny it?”
Cameron smiled. “Evidence? What evidence? Why don’t you enlighten ine?”
Milena was at a loss for words.
William finally spoke up, “Cameron, did you ask Milena to submit your designs for you?”
Cameron replied, “Ask her? I’ve got my own email. Why would I need her to do it for me?”
Seeing how relaxed Cameron was, William finally let out a sigh of relief.
“So, you didn’t ask her to do it for you?” William asked.
Cameron replied, “Mr. Drake, I don’t get along with her at all. I blocked her on WhatsApp and on my phone: How could I possibly ask her for help?”
William immediately turned to Milena. “Care to explain what’s going on here?”
Milena thought bitterly, ‘She’s just going to deny it? If she denies it, that’s it?’
Milena said, “Cameron, Xander took pictures of your design drafts, and I just submitted them for you.”
Cameron shot back, “Oh, you just ‘happened’ to submit it? Or did you steal my drafts on purpose and submit them?”
Milena yelled, “Cameron, are you seriously trying to pin this on me?”
Cameron replied, “When I was browsing Noir ?clat’s website, I thought Mr. Eric Saunders’ latest designs looked amazing, so I did a quick sketch and left it on my desk in the dorm. How did you even get your hands on it?”
Milena was stunned.
William said, “She asked Xander to take the pictures.”
Cameron nodded. “Got it. So I casually sketched Mr. Eric Saunders’ design, and you thought it was my original, so you submitted it, right?
“And now that Noir ?clat’s staff are here, you’re trying to dump all the blame on me. Milena, you are really something else.”
Cameron looked at Milena with pure mockery.
Milena’s eyes went wide in shock. She thought, ‘What the heck is going on? How did a couple of words from Cameron suddenly make this my faultTT wasn’t even the one who drew the drafts. What’s this got to do with me?’
Milena said, “This is on you. I didn’t draw those designs.”
Cameron shot back, “I only copied them for fun, but you submitted them without asking me. How are you any different from a thief?”
Milena bit her lip, and after a long pause, she finally said, “Xander sent them to me. He said you wanted to enter the design competition, so I just helped you submit them.”
Cameron asked, “So, it was Xander who told you to submit the drafts for me?”
Milena wondered, ‘Should I say it was Xander? Well, Xander will find out I pretended to be Cameron when he gets here. Might as well just pin it all on him.’
Milena bit her lip. “Yeah, Xander told me to submit them for you.”
“I told you?” Xander happened to walk in just then, looking totally confused.
He spotted Cameron and said, “Oh, you’re here too, little brat?”
Seeing Cameron there, Xander looked a bit surprised.
Cameron just shot him a glance.
Xander walked over to William. “Mr. Drake, you’ve got anything to ask me?”
William nodded. “Xander, did you take pictures of the design drafts Cameron copied for fun and send them to her?”
Xander followed William’s gaze and looked at Milena.
“Who is she? I don’t know her. What design drafts are you talking about?” Xander frowned.
Both Milena and William froze for a second.
Leanne sat quietly off to the side, not saying a word. She figured she’d wait until they sorted out their own mess.
Cameron looked at Xander like he’d lost his mind. “What the heck? You’re saying you don’t know Milena?”
Xander’s eyes widened as he pointed at Milena. “Wait, she’s Milena? Her name is Milena too?”
