Betrayed By Friends I Choose To Close The Inn To Them Chapter 01

Betrayed By Friends I Choose To Close The Inn To Them Chapter 01

A week before the final SAT, I asked David and Laura to reserve 50 rooms.

It was for my senior class. They would be free of charge.

Then SAT scores came out, and senior class president Chloe completely bombed it.

Her post spread through the class, and soon everyone was repeating the rumor online, claiming my family’s hotel had construction work going on in the middle of the night and cost her the Buckeye Promise scholarship.

The post blew up on TikTok and in a local Facebook group. Complaints forced Bennett Inn into a temporary shutdown for inspections, and David and Laura burned through their savings on refunds, fines, and canceled bookings.

By morning, they looked completely drained.

From start to finish, not one of the 50 classmates who had stayed at my family’s hotel said a word in our defense.

When I woke up again, I was back to a week before that final SAT test date.

David and Laura were talking in the kitchen.

“Maya, SAT weekend is coming up. Do you want us to hold rooms for your classmates?”

I set down my fork.

“No.”

“Don’t hold a single room.”

Laura froze.

“But Bennett Inn is the closest place to Ohio University. All the other motels are so far away…”

I smiled.

“Good.”

I stood at the classroom door and looked at those familiar faces inside.

My stomach turned.

I remembered everything clearly.

The first time around, when my family was being dragged online and Bennett Inn was pushed into a temporary shutdown for inspections, not one of them had said a word in our defense.

Chloe had been the first to post.

She claimed Bennett Inn had construction work going on in the middle of the night and deliberately made noise so she would bomb the SAT and lose her scholarship.

The post got more than 10,000 likes and more than 10,000 shares.

It stayed on TikTok and Athens County Community Watch for 2 full days.

David and Laura had always run the business by the book.

All they wanted was to make Bennett Inn a family-owned inn where guests could feel safe and comfortable.

For those 2 days, the hotel phone never stopped ringing.

Cancellations.

Insults.

Threats.

Athens Code Enforcement came to investigate.

The Building Department came to inspect the property.

Some people even showed up outside the hotel holding protest signs.

David looked like the stress had aged him overnight.

Laura cried until her eyes were swollen.

In the end, Bennett Inn was forced to close temporarily for inspection.

Fines, refunds, canceled partnerships.

Our family savings were wiped out.

I shook off the memory and walked into the classroom.

McArthur’s local SAT test center had temporarily closed this year, so seniors from several nearby high schools had been assigned to the regional test center at Ohio University.

The school had only blocked rooms at a budget motel on the other side of town. Driving from there to the test center would take at least 40 minutes, and morning campus traffic could make it worse.

Bennett Inn was a 5-minute walk from the test center.

So everyone knew exactly how convenient my family’s rooms were.

The classroom was noisy.

People sat in small groups, talking about SAT weekend.

Some were looking at notes.

Some were flipping through books.

Some were talking about where to go after the test.

I walked to my seat and hung my backpack on the side of my desk.

Sophie, who sat in front of me, turned around and smiled.

“Maya, did you finish the worksheet?”

The first time around, she had stayed in the best suite at Bennett Inn.

Laura had upgraded her on purpose, saying girls should be comfortable.

On top of that, Sophie had eaten 3 days of free breakfast.

Later, when people were trashing my family online, she said nothing.

I looked at her and didn’t answer.

Sophie didn’t seem to care.

She turned back around and kept talking to the person beside her.

Chloe walked over to my desk.

“Maya, you’re here.”

I looked up at her.

Chloe Miller.

My good friend.

Starting freshman year, we had sat together.

On weekends, I often brought her to Bennett Inn. Laura made her food, and David drove her home.

I knew her family didn’t have much money, so I always rushed to pay.

She said she had never stayed at a boutique hotel.

So I brought her to Bennett Inn to swim and have brunch, and I never let her spend a cent.

I thought we were friends.

In the end, she was the first person to spread rumors about my family.

I guess insecurity really could rot into jealousy.

“What’s wrong?”

Chloe tilted her head and looked at me, confused.

“You look kind of pale. Did you not sleep well?”

“I’m fine.”

My voice was flat.

Chloe sat beside me, set down her backpack, and leaned in like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Then she lowered her voice.

“Maya, where are you staying for the SAT?”