hapter 8
The next morning, right after dawn, my roommate sent me a string of messages.
“CHECK THE GOSSIP FORUM.”
My heart skipped a beat.
I clicked into the campus gossip forum.
A trending post had 400+ comments under a grainy hallway photo – Antonio kissing me.
The anonymous post screamed, “GRACE PARRISH: Homewrecker Extraordinaire”
The top comment was from @TruthBomb420. “Went to Brookville High with her. Total man–eater. She slept with my ex AFTER we broke up. DM for screenshots.”
Replies piled on.
“+1 She baby–trapped some lacrosse captain last year”
“That’s Antonio! He dated Madison till this psycho interfered”
Of course, there were also some clear–headed onlookers.
“Look at the pic tho… dude’s clearly forcing.her?”
“Without knowing the full story, I won’t say a word.”
My mind went blank, and my hands shook.
0.00%
Chapter 8
1288 Wouchers
They’d weaponized Antonio’s drunken ambush into some cheesy movie plot.
After calming down for a moment, I created a burner account and stalked the trolls‘ profiles.
They all followed @ShadowDragon77 — account locked, bio empty.
So, I sent a friend request.
But I waited for a long time without getting approval.
After thinking it over for a while, I made a phone call.
“Ethan? Need a favor.”
“Shoot.”
“Can you trace an IP?”
“Is it using campus Wi–Fi?”
“I’m not sure.”
“If it’s not, then it might be troublesome.”
I felt a bit disappointed and asked, “If it’s not, does that mean we can’t find it?”
“Not exactly. It would just take more time. If they logged into the network… I could pinpoint their dorm. I’ve heard about what happened to you… Nobody with half a brain believes
that BS.”
My nose felt sour.
19.55%
Chapter 8
288 Vouchers
I said, “Thanks, Ethan.”
“No big deal. Wait for my message.”
The rumors were getting more and more intense.
All kinds of baseless accusations were pouring onto me one after another.
Even when I went to class, those probing and hostile gazes were always cast on me without any concealment.
—
Someone had scrawled SLUT across my calculus textbook in Sharpie. Cafeteria whispers trailed me like poison ivy — baby- trapper, psycho, homewrecker.
The hostility was like a pack of gaping jaws with sharp teeth. If I was not careful, I would be devoured.
But I couldn’t back down.
What I could do now was to collect and preserve all the evidence of the defamation and bullying against me before the dean talked to me.
Then I waited for Ethan’s news.
But I didn’t expect those people to be so crazy.
In the evening, when I was in the restroom, I was locked in from the outside.
Before I could scream, a plastic bag exploded through the vent – mealworms.
Hundreds of segmented bodies rained onto my sweater, wriggling into my braids.
38.73%
1288 Vouchers
Chapter 8
My breathing became rapid and heavy.
My scream died in my sandpaper throat. I wanted to scream but couldn’t make a sound.
My body started shaking violently.
I could even clearly feel their texture.
I waved my hands, trying to shake off the worms crawling all over my arms, neck, and face.
My stomach churned, and the strong feeling of nausea almost made me faint.
I managed to muster the last bit of strength and took out my phone, only to find that it had only 1% battery left.
Thinking that I had once set Antonio as my emergency
contact, I hesitated for a moment.
Without overthinking, I quickly pressed the emergency button before my phone shut down.
He arrived very quickly.
He found me curled behind toilet paper dispensers twenty- three minutes later, still picking larvae from my scalp.
His pupils constricted sharply, and his gaze was fixed on me.
I was curled up in the corner. There were still a few worms on my body, my clothes were in disarray, and my hair was soaked with sweat, sticking to my face.
Antonio lifted his leg and stumbled as if his legs suddenly had no strength.
62.77%
Chapter 8
I looked up at him with a face as pale as death.
My eyes were lifeless.
288 iVouchers
Antonio squatted in front of me, his hand trembling as he reached out to touch me, but he held it back in mid–air with red eyes, afraid that his touch would cause me more pain.
After a while, he held me tightly in his arms.
I heard his voice filled with regret and pain by my ear.
“Grace, I found everything… I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I came too late.”
His eyes quickly turned red, and hot tears rolled down my neck.
88.41%
