My Childhood Crush Tricked Me Out of My College SpotChapter 3

The next day, the school began organizing the graduating students’ records.

I packed my belongings into a document envelope, leaving only a discarded draft in my file box.

Elowen came over and pressed her fingers against the envelope.

“Verity, can I take a look at your graduation speech?”

I pulled the envelope away. “What do you need my speech for?”

“I took a year off school. I don’t have enough experiences to talk about.”

Elowen smiled ingratiatingly. “Let me borrow a few stories to fill mine out.”

I closed the file box.

“They’re my experiences, not stories.”

Cassian walked in carrying a hot drink and casually set it in front of her.

“What’s wrong with letting her use it as a reference? Elowen just got the recommendation. Her résumé can’t look too empty.”

I looked at Cassian.

“Changing my name to hers counts as using it for reference?”

Elowen’s eyes immediately reddened. “I never said I was going to copy it.”

I hugged the envelope against my chest. “Then write your own.”

An announcement came over the PA system, calling every class downstairs, and students began filing out.

Elowen stayed behind, clutching her chest. “I don’t feel well. I’ll go down later.”

Cassian was about to stay with her, but someone downstairs called for him. He pushed the hot drink toward Elowen.

“Wait for me.”

I took my official documents to the records office.

Before leaving, I saw Elowen staring at the file box on my desk.

A few minutes later, I returned with my sealed-document receipt.

The lock on the box had been forced open.

Elowen was crouched beside the desk, holding a pen in one hand and flipping through my discarded draft with the other.

The moment she saw me, she jumped up and knocked the box over with her elbow. Pages scattered across the floor.

“What are you doing?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed a sheet of paper and rushed to the doorway.

“Verity, do you really look down on me that much?”

Her crying drew students from the hallway.

A newly written sentence appeared on the page in her hand.

“An alternate will always be an alternate. Don’t dream of replacing me.”

Cassian pushed through the crowd.

Elowen immediately held up the page, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

“I was only trying to help her organize her things. I never expected her to have written something like this about me.”

Cassian barely glanced at the page before grabbing my wrist.

“Apologize.”

I yanked my hand free. “I didn’t write that.”

“It’s your paper. Did the words magically appear by themselves?”

I pointed at Elowen. The pen in her hand didn’t even have its cap on yet.

“Want to have the handwriting examined?”

Elowen’s face immediately went pale.

Cassian quickly stepped in front of her.

“Fine. I won’t pursue what you wrote. But she only wanted to borrow a speech. Did you really have to be this aggressive?”

“If she has no experiences to write about, she can go make some herself.”

I stared at Cassian.

“She broke my lock, took my speech, and now she’s trying to justify it.”

Cassian shoved the draft into Elowen’s arms.

“I’m borrowing it for her. Happy?”

The students watching erupted.

“Seriously? Just because he’s popular doesn’t mean he can steal things with that pretty face.”

“Exactly. How is that any different from outright robbery?”

Cassian swept them with a cold stare. “It’s just a few sheets of paper. Verity isn’t that petty.”

I didn’t stop them.

Elowen wiped away her tears and immediately clutched the draft tightly.

“Cassian, you’re always so good to me.”

She flipped through a couple of pages, her eyes growing brighter. “I’ll use this at tomorrow’s graduation showcase.”

At the same moment, a notification appeared on my phone.

“7:00 a.m. tomorrow. Holden Central Station. National Young Researchers Program check-in point.”

I put away my phone and watched them take my discarded draft.

“Fine. Good luck tomorrow.”