Chapter 28 Caught in the Act

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“Thanks, Zayden! I bknew /byou were the bsweetest /bto me!” Naomi lit up, totally ignoring the annoyed looks from the rest of the bss/bb. /b

This bwas /bschool–not a ce to flirt.

Even the normally quiet math teacher finally spoke up, his tone t. “Zayden, if you’re leaving, go ahead. Just don’t disrupt the bss/bb./bb” /b

Zayden’s heart sank a little at the teacher’s cold tone.

Sure, the ss was optional, and the teacher wasn’t even from their homeroom. But still–he was in charge of coaching them for the mathpetition. First impressions mattered.

And on the very first day of ss, Zayden had already made a scene by walking out.

There was no way the teacher would give him extra attention after this. He could forget about getting any kind of guidance moving forward.

With everyone watching, Zayden still packed up his stuff and left with Naomi.

“You don’t have to worry about him,” Naomi said cheerfully. “It’s not like he’s our regr math teacher. He can’t help you on the SAT anyway.”

”

She was still basking in the excitement of ditching ss to hang outpletely unaware of the hesitation written all over Zayden’s face.

Back inside the ssroom, Eliza wasn’t the least bit surprised by Zayden’s choice.

In herst life, Zayden had stood out during these prep sessions. The math teacher ended up seeing real potential in him, even going so far as to give him one–on–one tutoring.

And Zayden went on to take first ce in the mathpetition.

But with Naomi dragging him away this time, that probably wasn’t going to happen.

Eliza pulled her phone from the desk drawer and recorded a quick video of the ssroom.

?? ???

Then she opened Facebook and typed out a quick status. “Everyone’s working hard in prep ss–time for me to catch up

too!”

She adjusted the privacy settings so only one person could see the post.

That personb? /bZayden’s mom.

She moved quickly and casually, like it was no big deal. But just as she looked up to get back to work, she realized someone bwas /bwatching her.”

Nn reached over and plucked the phone out of her hand like it was nothing. “Wow,” he said, his tone t. “Here I thought you didn’t bcare /babout any of this. Turns out you’re just bthe /bbtype /bto snitch behind people’s backs.”

Eliza bfroze/bb. /bShe hadn’t even noticed Nn was awake.

And nowb, /brealizing he’d seen everything she just did, her stomach dropped. iCrap/i.

“bGive /bbit /bback!” she hissed, reaching for bher /bphone.

But bNn /bcasually lifted his arm, holding it out of reach.

With bthe /bheight differenceb, /bbthere /bwas no way she could grab it without standing up.

The bteacher /bbwas /bstill right in front of them. She couldn’t cause a bscene/b.

“What do you want?b” /bshe asked through gritted teeth. “Just bsay /bit.”

8:39 AM

Chapter 28 Caught in the Act

She already knew Nn wasn’t the type to y nice. He caught me red–handed. Fine, I’ll deal with it.

Eliza braced herself, fully expecting him to ckmail her for something.

+8 Pearls

But instead, Nn casually tapped a few random letters into her Facebook search bar, sent himself a friend request, and handed the phone back like it was nothing.

“Find me after school,” he said. Then heid his head back down like nothing had happened.

Eliza blinked, confusedi. /iWhat was he trying ito /iido/ii? /iWhat the hell was that?ckmaili? /iNn didn’t need money, Mess with me ifor /iifin/i? What was the point?Try to flirt? Seriouslyi? /iWith me? Not a chance,

She nced over at him warily. Whatever he’s up ito/ii, /iiI /ineed ito /iistay /iifar /iaway from it. From now ion/i, I’ll make sure we don’t cross paths unless absolutely necessary.

By evening, when Zayden got home, Grace was waiting with a belt in hand.

The first strikended hard across his back. His face went pale instantly.

“You told me you were in ss today,” Grace snapped, her voice shaking with fury. “So where the hell were you?”

Zayden dropped to his knees without thinking, his head down, silent.

“Do you even realize how many people have had their eyes on our money since your dad passed?” Grace’s voice cracked as tears welled up. “I’ve busted my ass raising you on my own. I thought maybe–just maybe–you were finally going to graduate and help take some pressure off me at thepany. And what do you do? You skip out on the one thing that actually matters.” Her eyes brimmed with tears as she shook his shoulders, furious. “And this is how you repay me? Skipping ss? Wasting time? Talk to me! Who have you been hanging around withi? /iIs it some punk from school? Are you sneaking out behind my back? Is someone dragging you down? You sneaking off with your little girlfriend now? Who is it? Who’s trying to ruin my son after everything I’ve done for you?”

Zayden’s face tightened, his silence speaking louder than anything. When he still didn’t respond, Grace lost it. “Fine. If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself. I’ll call your teachers. And when I figure out who pulled you into this, I swear I’ll make sure they never set foot in Westbrook High again.”

“Mom!” Zayden finally shouted. “It was Naomi. Naomi wasn’t feeling well… So I walked her home.”

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