Craving My Brother's Best Friend (Bailey and Kaleb) novel Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

**Bailey’s POV**

As I strolled alongside Selena towards the faculty, the urgency of our pace felt palpable. I was already running late, and the clock was ticking mercilessly against me.

Initially, I brushed off the sensation, but soon enough, a creeping awareness settled in: people were staring. I could feel their eyes on me, their gazes lingering longer than usual. The way heads turned, fingers pointed, and glances darted between me and their illuminated phone screens set off alarm bells in my mind.

Frowning slightly, I leaned closer to Selena and whispered, “Why is everyone staring at me?”

Selena, absorbed in her own thoughts, remained oblivious to my concern. She was animatedly discussing our plans for after class, her voice a bright contrast to the shadow of anxiety creeping over me.

“You know what we should do after class?” she chirped, her excitement palpable. “Let’s check out that new café near the library! I’ve heard their pancakes are so fluffy, like little clouds.”

A small smile tugged at my lips at her enthusiasm, but my mind was elsewhere, preoccupied with the stares that felt like daggers.

“We can share a plate! Call me when you’re out of class, and we’ll go together. It’ll be fun!” she continued, her voice bubbling with anticipation.

Yet, the whispers around me grew louder, and the tightening in my chest made it hard to focus on her words. I gripped my bag straps tightly, forcing myself to push forward through the throng of students.

Then, out of nowhere, a voice cut through the air like a knife. “I can’t believe she’s such a whore. So much for thinking she was cool.” The words were directed straight at me, and they hit with the force of a slap.

I froze, shock paralyzing me. Selena’s mouth fell open, and she spun around, her expression a mix of disbelief and fury.

“What the hell did you just say?” I snapped, my voice trembling yet laced with defiance.

“Yeah, what did you say to her?” Selena demanded, her brows knitting together in anger.

The girl who had spoken, a stranger with an excess of lipstick, shot me a disdainful look before hissing, “You’re very shameless,” and sauntered off with her friends, their laughter echoing in my ears.

A wave of nausea washed over me, and my heart raced so loudly I could barely hear Selena’s voice as she called after me, “Wait, what the hell is going on?”

In a flurry, Selena pulled out her phone, her face draining of color as she scrolled through something. Panic surged within me as I grasped her wrist. “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

She bit her lip, hesitating, clearly torn about sharing whatever it was that had shaken her so deeply. My heart raced faster, and I pressed her arm gently, urging her to tell me.

In a moment of urgency, I whipped out my phone, but she snatched it away. “Selena, stop!” I exclaimed, my frustration bubbling over.

With trembling fingers, she reopened her phone, revealing a post on the student website. The headline blared like a siren: “Student caught sleeping with lecturers for grades?”

My mouth went dry as I scanned the blurred video thumbnail of me exiting a lecturer’s office, the angle suspiciously unflattering, as if captured without my consent. My bag hung from my shoulder, my head bowed as I fiddled with my phone, and the caption beneath the image was a gut punch: “This is proof she’s been exchanging her body for marks.”

My throat constricted, and I felt the world spin around me. The comments flooded in, a relentless tide of venomous words that felt like daggers aimed straight at my heart.

“She’s so desperate, lol. I knew she wasn’t that smart. Typical whore. Fake news, maybe? Doesn’t look that bad. She’ll do anything for grades.”

“Where… where the hell did this come from?” I stammered, my voice cracking under the weight of disbelief. “Who would… who would even do this?”

Selena was already typing furiously, her fingers flying over the screen as she responded to one of the trolls. “Shut up, you coward,” she muttered under her breath, her jaw clenched in determination as she hit send.

She turned to me, her expression softening. “Ignore them, Bailey. Everyone knows this is fake news. Let’s go, come on.”

But I was still reeling, my hands trembling uncontrollably as I followed her. My mind raced with questions. How had everything spiraled so quickly? Who could possibly want to ruin me like this?

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, a voice slithered through the crowd, dripping with malice. “The pretender is here.”

I looked up to see Lila, her eyes sparkling with delight as if she had been waiting for this moment her entire life.

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