Chapter 1 At the university’s Top Ten Outstanding Students award ceremony, just as I stepped onto the podium, the massive projector screen suddenly went black. The next second, dozens of highly explicit, scandalous text message screenshots popped up on the screen. The entire auditorium of two thousand students and faculty erupted in a deafening uproar. The sender was me. The recipient was sitting in the very front row: the campus golden boy, academic prodigy, and junior finance major, Liam Vance. The screenshots were filled with messages I had sent: [I’m broke. Send me a thousand bucks.] [I’m sleeping at your apartment tonight. Leave the door unlocked.] [If you don’t give me the money, I’m going to harass you every single day and ruin your reputation.] The sorority president and campus ‘it-girl’, Chloe Sterling, sprinted onto the stage with a microphone. Pointing directly at me, she announced with self-righteous fury: “Everyone, look closely! Harper Quinn is not some innocent, hardworking straight-A student. She is a shameless gold-digger who has been chronically harassing and extorting Liam Vance!” “A toxic, disgusting parasite like her doesn’t deserve to stand on this stage and accept an award!” Countless gazes of absolute disgust stabbed into me like knives. The university administrators’ faces turned ashen. Chloe looked at me with smug triumph. “Harper, Liam is too much of a gentleman to call the police, but today, you are going to publicly apologize for your shameless, predatory behavior!” I stared at the “extortion” records on the screen and helplessly rubbed my forehead. Hold on a second. Liam Vance is my biological uncle. My grandmother had him late in life. I went to my own uncle’s apartment to grab some free food and ask him for some pocket money. How did that turn me into a shameless gold-digger? … Liam Vance is my biological uncle. No one at school knew this. It wasn’t that I was intentionally hiding it. It was because on my very first day of freshman year, Liam cornered me outside the library and, with a completely deadpan expression, laid down three rules. “Do not call me ‘Uncle’ on campus.” Chapter 2 “Do not tell anyone we are related.” “Why not?” I asked. “I’m a junior in college. If you run around calling me ‘Uncle,’ what does that make me look like?” “Like an elder.” “Go home and tell your grandmother she should have given birth to me twenty years earlier.” He turned on his heel to leave. I yelled after him. “But what if I run out of money for food?” Without looking back, he tossed a debit card over his shoulder. “Text me. Let me know when it’s empty.” From that day on, we acted like total strangers on campus. He was the untouchable god of the Finance department, winning national scholarships every year, insanely good-looking, and universally crowned the campus heartthrob. I was a freshman in the Journalism department. Completely average, blending into the crowd like a grain of white rice in the dining hall. No one would ever associate the two of us together. That was, until Chloe Sterling developed a massive crush on Liam. I don’t know how she managed to get her hands on our text history. Most likely, she had someone snoop through Liam’s phone while it was confiscated during his competitive finance decathlon week. She found out that Liam transferred money to me every month. She found out I went to his apartment every few days. She found out I used his debit card to buy three cases of milk at the grocery store. But she didn’t know what our relationship was. And she didn’t care. A freshman girl frequently entering the campus heartthrob’s apartment and spending his money—that was enough evidence for her to write her own narrative. The award ceremony was abruptly canceled. The university administrators called me into their office. My academic advisor sat on the side, looking like she had just swallowed a box of chalk. “Harper, explain these text messages.” I said, “Those are normal conversations between me and a family member.” “A family member?” My advisor frowned. “Liam Vance’s emergency contact file doesn’t list you.” “He’s my…” “Were you about to say he’s your boyfriend?” Chapter 3 I didn’t notice when Chloe had slipped into the office, but she sat down with perfectly timed, red-rimmed eyes. “Professor, she’s been telling people she has a ‘special relationship’ with Liam for a while now. We all tried to talk some sense into her, but she wouldn’t listen.” My advisor looked at her, then looked at me. “Harper, Chloe is the Vice President of the Student Government. She has no reason to frame you.” “Go back to your dorm and write a detailed statement explaining your actions.” “Your award eligibility is temporarily suspended.” I opened my mouth. I wanted to say that she was the only one who had a reason to frame me. But Chloe had already helpfully opened the office door for me. She stepped aside to let me pass, whispering: “It’s not personal, Harper.” “I just think some things needed to be brought to light.” She was a sophomore. Polite. Polite like a court subpoena. When I walked out of the office, my phone was already blowing up. The top trending post on the university forum: [SHOCKING! Top Ten Student Exposed as a Gold-Digger Harassing the Campus Heartthrob! Texts Leaked!] The top comment: [No wonder she always wears nice clothes to the dining hall. Now we know how she affords them.] I looked down at the jacket I was wearing. It was a jacket Liam had thrown at me because he thought it was too big. He said it made him look fat. A 6’2″ guy with 10% body fat told me a jacket made him look fat. When my grandmother gave birth to him, she must have left his brain in the delivery room. I sent Liam a text. [Uncle Liam, we have a problem. Your crazy fangirl just plastered our texts on the jumbotron.] The message bounced back with a red exclamation mark. His phone was confiscated for the decathlon week. He was currently MIA. Great. My biological uncle is off the grid. The niece is socially dead. This family is falling apart. Chapter 4 Early the next morning, someone taped a piece of printer paper to my dorm room door. [Please have some self-respect and stay away from Liam Vance. Stop embarrassing the Journalism department.] Signed: “All the girls in the Journalism Department.” I ripped the paper down and flipped it over. The back was blank. Perfect. I needed scratch paper for calculus anyway. During my morning lecture, I sat in the very last row of the auditorium. The students sitting in front of me collectively moved three rows forward. As if I were radiating nuclear fallout. Chloe’s little minion, Mia, went out of her way to walk over and place a boba tea on my desk. “Chloe bought this for you.” “I don’t want it.” “She also said,” Mia lowered her voice, “As long as you post a public apology on the forum today, she’ll help you suppress the rumors.” “Apologize for what?” “Admit that your behavior toward Liam was inappropriate.” “What exactly is inappropriate about normal interactions with my family?” Mia let out an exasperated sigh. “The screenshots are everywhere. The entire school saw them.” “No one is going to believe anything you say right now.” “It’s better if you just swallow your pride and apologize.” I pushed the boba tea back toward her. “I’ll swallow my pride.” “Right after she gives me my Top Ten Student award back.” Mia rolled her eyes, grabbed the tea, and left. At lunch, I swiped my meal card at the dining hall. Insufficient Funds. Liam’s debit card had been confiscated by Chloe as “evidence” and handed over to the Student Government. And my personal bank account only had forty-seven dollars left. There were nineteen days left in the month.
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