Comments Said Not to Save My Toxic Childhood Sweetheart, I Chose Cambridge Chapter 05

Comments Said Not to Save My Toxic Childhood Sweetheart, I Chose Cambridge Chapter 05

The second the sentence left my mouth, absolute silence fell over the entire parking lot.

Parents, classmates, security staff, even passing SAT Proctors all stared straight at me.

Kael reacted first, shock thick in his tone.

“You… what did you just say?”

“I turned down MIT and Stanford,” I met his gaze evenly.

“When did you even apply?” His voice tightened with disbelief.

“Last school year.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

A faint, bitter smile tugged at my lips.

“Did you ever stop to listen when I tried to talk to you?”

Kael froze, suddenly realizing how long it had been since he’d sat down and listened to me without judgment.

Every time I’d tried to talk to him, he’d called me overbearing for pushing him to study, or accused me of targeting Seraphina nonstop.

One panicky parent bolted over and clamped a tight grip on my arm.

“You have an offer from Haverthorp Institute! Hand that MIT research slot over to my child!”

I glanced down at her grip on my arm, then lifted my eyes to meet hers.

“Ma’am, that MIT research spot isn’t some prize I can hand out to whoever I want.” I gently pulled my arm free. “I already rejected the position-the slot’s completely void now.”

She stood frozen on the spot.

A second a student’s dad hurried up to me.

“Then go talk to the academy board and fight for make-up testing for all of us! Admissions staff might listen to my input since I got an international institute acceptance!”

I held her stare without breaking eye contact.

“Ma’am, no one spoke up for me when Jasper ripped my SAT Admission Ticket in half. Why are you all begging me for favors now?”

She clamped her mouth shut, unable to argue back.

[Wait-did I skip a major plot point? How’d Elowen get into Haverthorp Institute?)

[Is Elowen able to see all these live chat comments just like we are?]

The floating comments cut out entirely, blank white text filling the screen for a beat.

Seraphina’s head shot up, rage burning in her eyes.

“You planned all of this on purpose! That’s why you agreed to join our game, why you didn’t panic when your ticket got torn!”

“You threw your phone out the bus window to let us let our guards down, and you set the whole class up to tank our SAT chances!”

I let out a sharp scoff and pushed her roughly backward.

“Seraphina, get your facts straight. You invented this Truth or Dare game. Jasper decided everyone should power off their phones. I only played along with every single thing you set in motion.”

I reached out, snatched Marlow’s camera from his hands, and pulled up all the recorded footage on its screen for the whole crowd to watch.

Seraphina’s sugary voice blared out from the speakers for every parent to hear.

“Keep searching under the seats, guys!”

“This is such an insane SAT day stunt-no one’s ever pulled something this bold.”

“Our class’s best at wild games, who else would think up something this fun?”

Her giggling, carefree tone echoed across the parking lot for everyone to process.

“Wow, she’s got zero right to blame Elowen after all that.”

“She dug this hole for herself, plain and simple.”

“That so-called popular girl’s awful, trying to pin all the blame on Elowen now.”

The crowd’s mutters of judgment washed over Seraphina, her cheeks flushing bright red with shame.

The two students’ parents who’d begged me for help moments earlier wanted nothing more than to vanish on the spot.

Mr. Reed grabbed Jasper by the arm, pulling a leather belt out from his bag to whip his son.

“Truth or Dare, huh? I’ll teach you what happens when you waste your education on stupid game.”

“I dropped thousands sending you to this fancy private prep, and this is how you repay me?”

Camp staff sprinted over within seconds to pull Mr. Reed off his son before things escalated.

Mrs. Tate marched over and slapped Marlow hard across the cheek.

“Online Content Creator fame? I’ll put an end to that nonsense right now!”

[A minute ago someone said retaking the SAT via gap year was no big deal.]

[Now that everyone’s facing consequences, no one’s defending her anymore.]

[Does anyone still root for Seraphina after all this?]

The scrolling comments flickered back into view once more.

Mr. Halewell rushed between fighting families, overwhelmed and sweating through his shirt.

“Elowen, please try to calm everyone down.”

One upset parent had dialed the county non-emergency dispatch line minutes earlier over the unruly crowd blocking the testing lot.

Before I could respond, the noise drew a pair of County Sheriff Deputies over to the testing center entrance.

“What’s all this commotion? No loud gatherings permitted on SAT testing grounds.”

Mr. Halewell hurried forward to explain everything, while the deputies scanned the angry crowd with stern expressions.

I watched our teacher struggle to mediate, then stepped forward without hesitation.

“We’ll wrap this up and clear out after a quick statement, officers.”

The deputy nodded, silent, letting me speak.

I turned to face my former classmates, every single one avoiding my eyes or staring at the pavement.

“About the torn SAT Admission Ticket,” I said clearly. “That was my final attempt to pull all of you away from this disaster. You chose to ignore my warnings, side with Seraphina, and egg Jasper on to destroy my exam pass.”

“Every single one of you here is partially responsible for what happened today.”

i paused, shifting my gaze fully onto Seraphina.

“Seraphina, did you honestly forget where you hid all the tickets?”

Every person’s eyes locked onto her instantly.

Seraphina’s face drained of all color, stumbling backward a full step.