Kelvin, who had seemed cold and detached moments earlier, now glared at me, his face twisted in anger and his eyes bloodshot.
“You’d better explain how you got from South Ridge all the way back here to campus, Diana.” His grip on my arm tightened, making it clear he wasn’t joking.
I yanked my arm back, stunned by his fury. “Let go of me, Kelvin. We broke up—remember?”
He didn’t loosen his grip, his voice rising as he spat, “Don’t say we broke up! We didn’t break up!”
“Why does it matter, Kelvin? You can’t let go of Luna and now you want to control me?” My voice shook with frustration as I tried to pull away.
Kelvin’s face twisted with rage, like a man catching his wife in some unforgivable act. If I hadn’t been living through this, I would have thought I was the one who had hurt him.
“What’s going on here?” came a taunting voice from the crowd gathering around us.
It was the end of class and students lingered to watch, drawn to the unfolding drama like moths to a flame. A girl stepped forward, eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Hey, I’ve got first-hand info.” She smirked, flipping her hair. “Diana’s the only student from our school to qualify for the finals in the physics competition. Bet she ‘earned’ that spot by hooking up with some professor—otherwise, why would Kelvin be so mad?”
The crowd gasped and suddenly, all eyes were on me, filled with judgment and suspicion.
“Seriously, Diana? You’re not satisfied with Kelvin and now you’re going after some older guy?” Another girl sneered.
“Oh, come on,” sneered Karen, one of my oldest friends, with a look of pure disdain. “Diana’s parents died young. Maybe she just needs some ‘fatherly’ attention.”
The words struck me like a blow and my face drained of color. Karen, my best friend, knew how much losing my parents had hurt me; she knew that their memory was my most treasured, sacred part. And yet, here she was, using it to humiliate me.
I took a shaky breath, barely able to speak. “Karen… why would you say that? We’re supposed to be friends.”
She rolled her eyes, smirking. “Friends? I don’t need friends who are willing to stoop this low.”
I could barely breathe as the tears began to slip down my cheeks. Kelvin watched with a twisted smirk on his face, his lips curving upward as if he were enjoying every moment of my shame. He didn’t say a word, but his silence was worse than any insult.
Suddenly, someone shoved me from behind. I stumbled, my head snapping back as another voice in the crowd jeered.
“How dare this little cheat go behind Kelvin’s back? You’re lucky you haven’t been thrown out yet.”
But before Kelvin could say another word, a deep, calm voice cut through the chaos.
“Is this really how students at Princeton University treat someone qualified for the physics finals?”
