Chapter Nine:
Trouble At (UGV) University of Graydell, Velmora8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhMHZecbDF
8Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbYlJXDpzW
It all started that morning at school, same as always. teens running wild, lockers slamming, and conversations mixing into this steady, chaotic hum. I lingered near the entrance, my hands stuffed deep in my hoodie pockets. Normally, I wouldn’t care about the noise—half the time I could tune it out—but that day, it felt louder, heavier. Maybe it was me. Or maybe it was the weight of everything going on lately.
Marcus walked beside me, cool as always. He had this way of moving, like nothing could touch him. It was his armor, his mask, and nine times out of ten, it worked. But today? I wasn’t buying it.
“Yo,” I said, keeping my voice low. “You good?”
Marcus shot me this grin, cocky and confident, like the question itself was a joke. “C’mon now, Han. You know me. I’m chillin’. Ain’t nothin’ a brother can’t handle.”
I tilted my head, side-eyeing him. “Sure. ‘Cause you’re the poster boy for ‘I’m totally fine.’”
He rolled his eyes, brushing me off like I was the crazy one. “Man, quit playin’. Look, I gotta hit the bathroom real quick. Hold my spot in line, though. Don’t let nobody take it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, watching him weave through the crowd and disappear down the hall. Typical Marcus—always cracking jokes, even when he was barely holding it together.
I leaned against the wall, not really paying attention to anything, when I saw her. Jasmine.
She was standing near the lockers, by herself. Normally, Jasmine didn’t do “quiet.” She was a force—bold, lively, always drawing people in. But right then, she looked... small. Like she was somewhere else entirely.
It hit me, seeing her like that. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in my chest, this knot tightening, like my body was reacting before my brain could catch up.
Before I could figure out what to do, I noticed someone else watching her. Mei.
She was standing off to the side, her eyes locked on Jasmine with this look—part guilt, part concern. I didn’t know what her deal was, but I could see the wheels turning in her head. And then, before I could even think to stop her, she started walking toward Jasmine.
“Hey,” Mei said as she approached Jasmine. Her voice was soft, careful, like she was stepping into dangerous territory. “I, uh, heard about your parents. I just wanted to say I’m really sorry. For everything.”
Jasmine didn’t react right away. She just stood there, her face unreadable. Then her head tilted, and her expression shifted. Sharp. Cold.
“Sorry?” she said, her voice laced with sarcasm. “That’s funny coming from you.”
I felt my stomach tighten. This wasn’t gonna end well.
Mei hesitated but pressed on. “Look, I know I wasn’t the best person back then. I was a stupid kid—”
“A stupid kid?” Jasmine cut her off, her tone rising. “Girl, you were a freakin’ nightmare. You think saying sorry fixes years of you acting like you ran this place?”
Mei didn’t flinch. She just nodded, like she was expecting the backlash. “I get it. I hurt people. I was a bully. But I’m not that person anymore. I’ve been working on myself—”
Jasmine let out this bitter laugh. “Working on yourself? That’s cute. Bet you read one self-help book and thought you had a breakthrough.”
I winced. Jasmine was coming in hot, and Mei? She just stood there, taking it.
“Jasmine,” Mei said gently, “I know you’re mad. You have every right to be. But you can’t let what happened eat you alive. You can’t—”
“Can’t what?” Jasmine snapped. “Can’t feel what I feel? Can’t be mad about my life falling apart?”
“No,” Mei said, her voice steady. “I’m saying you can’t let it make you believe things that aren’t real.”
That’s when everything changed.
Jasmine’s face twisted, confusion and anger mixing together. “What the heck are you talking about?”
Mei took a deep breath, and I swear the whole hallway went silent.
“You think your mom had eight arms,” Mei said quietly. “That she tied your dad up in webs and... sucked his blood dry, like a spider.”
The words hit like a bomb. My chest went cold, and my thoughts spiraled.
Eight arms. Webs. Sucked his blood dry.
The images slammed into my head. Memories I’d buried deep. My father, changing. His body twisting, his face unrecognizable. The way he looked at me, like I wasn’t his son anymore. My heart started racing, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
What if she’s not wrong? What if everything we’ve been taught to ignore, to dismiss... what if it’s real?
“I KNOW WHAT I SAW!” Jasmine’s voice cut through the silence like a knife.
Everyone stopped. Conversations froze. Heads turned.
Jasmine’s hands were shaking, her voice cracking as she yelled. “Don’t try to make me sound crazy just ‘cause you wanna feel better about yourself!”
The whispers started immediately. Quiet at first, but growing. people were staring, some smirking, others whispering behind their hands.
I couldn’t move. I wanted to step in, to do something, but my feet felt glued to the floor.
Mei, somehow, stayed calm. “Jasmine, I’m not saying you’re crazy. I’m saying—”
“You’re saying what?!” Jasmine cut her off, her voice trembling. “That I’m making it up? That I didn’t see what I saw?!”
And then she looked past Mei, her eyes landing on someone else.
Marcus.
Marcus had just come back from the bathroom. He was standing there, frozen, his face a mix of shock and something I couldn’t read. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t move.
Jasmine’s whole body tensed. Her anger melted away, replaced by something rawer. Embarrassment. Shame.
She shook her head, her jaw tightening, and turned away. Without a word, she pushed through the crowd, her steps quick and uneven. She didn’t look back.
I watched Marcus, hoping he’d say something. Hoping he’d follow her. But he just stood there, staring after her, his expression unreadable.
And me? I stayed where I was, too scared to move, too lost in my own thoughts. The spider thing... it shook me. Deep down, in a way I didn’t want to admit. Because if what she said was true, if any of it was real... what did that mean? About her? About us? About everything we thought we understood?
The hallway slowly came back to life, but the moment stayed heavy in the air. Marcus finally glanced at me, his eyes clouded with something I couldn’t name, then walked away.
Jasmine had always been the strongest one. The loudest, the boldest. But that day, I saw her crack. And for the first time, I wasn’t sure if any of us could put her back together.
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