Chapter 2She Framed Me to Steal My Boyfriend Not Knowing I Could See the Plot

The moment class ended, Lila returned with a large bag filled with boba tea. She passed them out, her cheeks flushed with a shy smile. “I’m new here, so I just wanted to thank everyone for being so welcoming. This is for you guys.”

The class erupted in cheers. But when she got to my desk, the bag was suddenly empty.

Lila looked at me, her face a canvas of remorse. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Paige. I must have miscounted. Here, you can have mine.”

She held her cup out to me. I instinctively raised a hand to refuse. “No, that’s okay, thank—”

Before I could finish, the cup tilted. Icy, milky tea cascaded down the front of her shirt. Lila gasped, her eyes instantly filling with tears as she stared at me. “Paige… I know what I did this morning was presumptuous, and I already apologized. You already made me sit by the garbage cans. What more do you want from me?”

Her words were a lit match in a gas-filled room. The class turned on me.

“I knew she was a bitch. She always acts so high and mighty just because Liam likes her. And now she’s bullying the new girl?”

“So that’s why Lila is sitting by the trash! I thought there were other seats. Paige must have forced her!”

“Doesn’t Paige’s family have money? Why is she tormenting someone over a cup of boba?”

Lila was only wearing a thin, white blouse. The dark tea made the cheap fabric translucent, revealing the outline of her bra. The subtitles scrolling in front of my eyes were all praising her genius, not a single one calling her out for being a homewrecker. They saw it as a noble sacrifice for love.

I opened my mouth to explain, to say that I hadn’t touched her, but Liam, who had been silent until now, cut through the noise. He pulled off his own jacket and threw it at her, then glared at the rest of the class. “All of you, shut up! Get out!”

The other students, intimidated by Liam, fell silent but continued to stare at me with open hostility.

After Lila scurried away, clutching his jacket, Liam leaned closer to me, his voice a low murmur. “I only love you, Paige. You don’t have to go after her.”

I blinked. “What?”

He just turned away, pretending to sleep on his desk. A heavy, frustrating pressure built in my chest. The subtitles were right. This was exactly how it was supposed to go.

To avoid a worse fate, I decided to go to our guidance counselor and request a seat change. If I couldn't fight this narrative, maybe I could outrun it.

But when I returned to the classroom, I found Lila sitting in my chair, her body pressed against Liam’s as she pointed at something in his textbook. She was drowning in his oversized jacket, the entire scene an intimate portrait of dependence and protection.

The second they saw me, they sprang apart. Lila jumped to her feet, her voice laced with panic. “I’m so sorry! Liam helped me earlier, so I just wanted to return the favor by helping him with this problem!”

Then, she did the most theatrical thing I had ever seen. She knelt and started wiping down my stool with the sleeve of his jacket. “You don’t like me here, I’ll clean it for you!”

Before I could speak, Liam pulled her to her feet, his voice cold and pointedly directed at me. “We’re all human beings. You don’t have to be afraid of us.” He turned to me then, his expression flat. “It’s not what it looks like.”

I managed a smile. “I know.”

With as much grace as I could muster, I walked to the desk, gathered my books, and moved them to an empty seat in the very front row.

Liam shot up, his hand grabbing my arm. “What are you doing?”

Lila’s voice was a wounded whisper. “Do you hate me that much?”

I sighed, looking at the faces around me, all poised to condemn me again.

“You’ve misunderstood,” I said, my voice calm and even. “Finals are coming up, and I want to focus. Sitting in the front will help. Besides,” I added, glancing between them, “Lila wanted to sit next to you, Liam. This way, everyone gets what they want, right? And I’d hate for her to have to sit by the trash cans. We wouldn’t want that to affect her grades.”

Liam’s jaw tightened. “Can you just stop it?”

I stared at him, genuinely confused. He let out a cold laugh and, without another word, walked to the back of the room, grabbed Lila’s things, and dumped them on my now-empty desk. “From now on, you’re my deskmate.”

The class hooted and whistled as Lila’s face turned a triumphant shade of crimson. I thought that if I just removed myself from their orbit, I’d be safe.

But then, the subtitles began to scream again.