Comments Said Not to Save My Toxic Childhood Sweetheart, I Chose Cambridge Chapter 03

Comments Said Not to Save My Toxic Childhood Sweetheart, I Chose Cambridge Chapter 03

Kael froze, his jaw tightening with irritation.

“Suit yourself then.”

Seraphina twisted her fingers together, eyes glistening with fake tears.

“Elowen, I never meant for this to spiral this far, I- ”

“It’s not your fault,” Kael cut her off, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “She’s just jealous of you. C’mon, let’s step away from her.”

Seraphina followed after him, tossing a sneering glance back over her shoulder at me.

[I actually feel bad for Elowen right now.]

[Is this really her own fault? She tried to call Seraphina out earlier, after all.]

[Seraphina was building a sweet plot twist! Elowen ruined her plan and embarrassed her publicly, of course Kael’s furious enough to destroy her future later. Why wouldn’t he retaliate?]

[Am I the only one who sees how unfairly Flowen’s been treated? When Elowen was a kid, her Auto-added to the Library stepdad nearly hurt her badly, and Kael saved her she thought he was her savior, but he only destroyed her life until she hit rock bottom.]

[Quit overreacting! Kael helped out a random kid once just for fun, she shouldn’t cling to him forever. She didn’t know her place, so all the hardship she faces is well-deserved.]

The comments scrolled nonstop across my vision.

I sank back into my seat clutching the torn ticket, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

That moment, everything clicked into place.

The comments were right. I’d spent years bending over backward to fix everyone else’s messes,

while no one ever bothered to look out for me.

Now all I could feel was relief.

I’d seen the comments ahead of time.

I’d already locked in my Haverthorp Institute acceptance letter.

Let them deal with their own mess from now on.

“Where the heck are these tickets even hidden?”

“Elowen, did you find any?”

“I’ve checked every seat, the storage racks, and the trash bin twice-nothing.”

“Seraphina, give us another clue, we’re running out of time!”

Seraphina stamped her foot lightly.

“They’re under your feet, keep looking! Elowen’s was in the trash bin after all.”

Kael checked the watch on his wrist.

“Calm down. The testing hall lets test-takers roll in up to fifteen minutes past start time. We’ve got

plenty of time, take it slow.”

His words didn’t calm a single soul on the bus.

A heavy silence fell over everyone, broken only by the rustling of backpacks and shuffling feet as they searched.

Five minutes before official testing start time, Mr. Halewell sprinted onto the bus.

“Exams start any minute now! What on earth are all of you doing?”

He gasped for breath, sweat dripping down his forehead as he stood in the bus doorway.

“Sir, we’re playing Truth or Dare and hunting for our SAT tickets,” Seraphina batted her eyelashes, feigning complete innocence.

“Have you all lost your minds?” Mr. Halewell’s voice boomed loud enough to echo. “Do you know what time it is? Whoever hid the tickets needs to hand them over immediately.”

Seraphina flinched backward like she’d been scared. Kael instantly stepped between her and our

teacher to shield her.

“Don’t yell at her like that, sir. We all volunteered for this game-you’re terrifying her.”

“For real,” Jasper huffed, clearly annoyed. “We know what we’re doing, no need to lecture us.”

“Quit wasting our time.”

Mr. Halewell pointed at the crowd, too furious to form a coherent sentence for several long

seconds.

He turned to face me instead.

“Elowen, why didn’t you step in and stop this? I can’t reach any of your phones.”

I didn’t reply, only stared down at the torn paper in my palm.

His gaze dropped to the tattered ticket, and he froze completely.

“What… who did this to your exam pass?”

I slowly lifted my head to meet his eyes.

“Sir, don’t ask about it right now.”

He knelt down to examine the broken ticket, then scanned every student’s face-no one dared to meet his stare.

“We’ll sort this ticket mess out after testing. Everyone, off the bus and into the Testing Hall immediately.”

No single person moved an inch.

“She chose to join the game on her own,” Jasper muttered.

“Don’t act like she’s some poor victim.”

“You always take Elowen’s side over the rest of us.”

Mr. Halewell inhaled shakily, his voice rough and worn out.

“Stop arguing, just get inside to take your exams, okay?”

The crowd stayed silent.

He grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the bus exit.

“Come on, we’ll get you a replacement printed first. I’ll head back to round up the rest of the class.”