The Ruined Bride of Velvet Nights by Brick Moving Ant

Chapter 15

Transferring to AP classes senior year was basically asking for side eye from the other students.

On my first day, Mrs. Bennett went out of her way to introduce me properly: “Phoebe Johnson is a member of our state academic decathlon team who brought home national gold last year. Kind of a big deal.”

“She wasn’t in AP before due to scheduling conflicts, but her test scores are off the charts. Don’t let the new kid status fool you–she’ll probably end up tutoring half of you before midterms.”

The AP class had no academic deadweight, and I watched their initial skepticism transform into grudging respect

“Sid Loxley also just transferred in. There’s an empty seat next to him. You’re both decathlon nerds, so maybe you can keep each other sharp.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

Sid sat in the back row by the window, looking effortlessly put–together, offering me a genuine smile. “Saved you a seat,” he said quietly.

Having my former underclassman suddenly become my peer felt unexpectedly disorienting.

“We’re in the same grade now… you don’t have to be so formal with me.”

Sid looked at me thoughtfully, something unreadable in his expression.

his profile as he smiled–a moment so

Phoebe it

this weird little stutter that caught

suddenly fascinated by

Calculus and Stanford essays

41.0%

hapter is

is just background

was giving me the whispers and

bathroom incident seemed to have

I checked our school’s Discord server. I quickly found why in

author had openly

happened with Phoebe Johnson. She came to school with a 103° fever to drop off competition materials for

wrong bathroom and collapsed alone in a stall, requiring

to the hospital with severe dehydration.

needs to understand that online harassment and defamation have actual legal consequences. The administration has been provided with screenshots of all

my redacted hospital report

personal details were blurred out, showing only

dehydration.