Xander never thought Tiana would brush off both his pleas and excuses. She was royally pissed.


    Time to put on a pitiful act.


    "Aunt Tiana, I messed up big time. Cross my heart, I won''t go near Cameron again. Just cut me some ck, okay? The SATs are two months away. Transferring now would be a total nightmare." He clung to her arm, batting his eyes.


    "Not happening." Tiana''s tone brooked no argument.


    "Please, please, please! Just this once?" He gave his best puppy-dog act.


    Tiana arched an eyebrow. "Swear on your life you''ll leave Cameron alone?"


    Xander raised his hand. "Scout''s honor."


    "Fine. You''re out of the dorm."


    His brief relief vanished. "Where am I supposed to live then?"


    "My staff apartment''s a three-bedroom. I''ll clear out a room."


    Xander''s jaw dropped.


    "One more thing. No more setting foot in the boys'' dorm. I''ll have the dorm manager tail you 24/7."


    Xander was at a loss for words.


    When he stood there gaping, Tiana flicked his forehead. "Chop-chop! Pack your junk and move it."


    "Yeah, yeah." Xander slunk off, grumbling.


    ''Better than transferring,'' he supposed. But if he found out who ratted him out, that person was in for it.


    After the second period that morning, Cameron''s phone pinged with a bank alert. Her eyes widened at the message-a 600 thousand dors deposit had justnded in her ount.


    "Seriously?" she muttered, staring at the screen.


    With 20 minutes until the next ss, she stepped into the hallway, quickly dialing Ryan from the Municipal Criminal Police Brigade.


    "Hey, Cam! Cash hit your ount yet?" Ryan''s voice crackled cheerfully through the line.


    Cameron''s lips pressed into a thin line. ''So they are behind this,'' she thought.


    "Ryan, I got the money, but I can''t keep it," she said


    "Are you kidding? You earned every cent. Tuck it away," he replied. "Oh, and one more thing-where''d you learn to shoot like that?"


    The shootout had been such a blur that he''d only just thought to ask.


    Cameron froze. Ryan didn''t fall for half-baked excuses like Elijah and Austin did. "Ryan, do I have to answer that?" Cameron asked.


    Ryan paused, then chuckled, "No sweat. Keep it under wraps if you want, say, are you sure you don''t want to join the force? You''d bet loc


    "Thanks, but it''s really not my thing," she replied.


    Ryan shrugged it off. "Fair enough. Your call."


    Before Cameron could say more, the bell shrilled,fher to end the call.


    Right before the fourth period, Bradley''s message popped up: [Lunch today? Just us.)


    Cameron: [Just the two of us?)


    Bradley: [Yup.]


    Cameron: [Sure.]


    This was his first on-campus lunch invite.


    She wondered, ''He''s been swampedtely. Has he finally wrapped up his stuff?''


    As the teacher stepped into the room, Cameron stashed her phone and flipped open her textbook.


    The bell rang for dismissal.


    Cameron stepped outside the room, and Xander pped her shoulder twice with


    a bit too much force. "Cameron. Not bad at all. That was some serious recognition you got. Let''s celebrate, yeah? Come on, I''ll take you to the best restaurant in Viremont."


    Elijah came up beside her. "Wanna go to the cafeteria together?"


    "Sorry, Eli. I''m meeting Brad," she said.


    Elijah froze, thinking, ''Since when does she have solo ns with Brad? Can''t I join them?"


    Before he could respond, she''d already crossed half the hallway.


    "Cam!" Austin jogged up.


    She looked at him with a nod.


    "Going to the cafeteria? Let''s grab food together," he offered.


    AD


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