Chapter 6: IRL
Apologize? Not happening.
And then Kayla blocked me on Twitter. Just for good measure.
I figured if no one cared about the truth, I’d just lay low and let the storm pass. But the mess followed me offline.
During evening study hall, I dropped into my seat, only to have two girls slide into the chairs in front of me, shooting daggers like I’d keyed their cars.
“Riley, are you really that stubborn? You won’t apologize to Kayla Lin?”
“It’s bad enough you go off online, now you’re ruining our school’s reputation too.”
“While the school still doesn’t know you blew up at Kayla Lin, you’d better apologize on Twitter—or don’t blame us for exposing you.”
I stacked my books slowly, locking eyes with them. “Didn’t you see my explanation on Twitter?”
“So what? Kayla streamed the whole thing. We know her better than you. Who’d believe your side?”
I almost laughed. “If you don’t believe me, stop bothering me. Careful, or I’ll go off on you too.”
Their jaws dropped. They clearly hadn’t expected pushback. They stormed off, pulling out their phones—probably to roast me on the forum.
As I glanced around, I noticed a couple of students whispering, one of them raising a phone like he might be filming. Eyes burned into me, but nobody else stepped up.
Just when I thought the drama might finally die down—
A basketball crashed onto my desk, my glass water bottle shattering and hot water soaking my hand and textbooks. I hissed in pain, blinking away angry tears.
I looked up, rage boiling.
Tyler McConnell—the basketball team captain—was stalking over, varsity jacket half-zipped, sneakers squeaking on the tile.
“Riley, get on Twitter and apologize to Kayla Lin right now.”