My Childhood Sweetheart Cheered as The Transfer Damsel Ruined My Future — Idiot, She Ruined YOURS! Chapter 06

My Childhood Sweetheart Cheered as The Transfer Damsel Ruined My Future — Idiot, She Ruined YOURS! Chapter 06

“Austin, it’s okay. Didn’t you say worst case you just repeat a year?”

Katie had no idea how bad that sounded.

She grabbed Austin’s hand, crying, face covered in tears.

“Why can’t you just let it GO? You said if it were you, you wouldn’t say one harsh word to me!”

Austin violently shook her off.

Katie staggered, nearly falling, but tried to move closer again.

“Austin, we can go to community college together. I’ll be with you.”

Austin raised his hand.

SLAP.

The sound CRACKED through the microphone.

Katie covered her face. “You just HIT me?!”

Austin’s eyes were bloodshot. “YOU destroyed me. Katie, you DESTROYED me!”

Katie cried harder.

“I didn’t know that was your account! If I’d known, why would I change YOURS? I just wanted to teach Hailey a lesson. Why does she get EVERYTHING? Why have you circled around her since we were KIDS?”

Austin’s face twisted. “So you did it ON PURPOSE?”

“Not on purpose to destroy you. On purpose to destroy HER.”

The audience completely EXPLODED.

Mr. Peterson rushed onto the stage, shaking with rage.

“Katie, do you GET what you did? Tampering with applications is ILLEGAL. And you’re still CRYING?”

Katie immediately dropped to her knees and grabbed at his pant leg.

“Mr. Peterson, please! My family’s so poor. I can’t go to JAIL! I’m not bad-I was just too scared to go to that kind of

school alone.”

Mr. Peterson shook her off.

“You were scared, so you RUINED her entire life?”

He turned to look at Austin, eyes filled with pain.

“And YOU. What did you say in the group chat yesterday? You told Hailey to be generous, to repeat the year, not to

make a fuss.”

Austin kept his head down, unable to say a word.

Mr. Peterson sighed.

“I taught you for three years and THIS is what I get? The two of you conspired to spread LIES about her-said she threw everything away for some delinquent.

Now the truth is right here. What FACE do you have left standing on this stage?”

Austin’s head snapped to the side. He slowly looked up at me.

“Hailey, I was WRONG. Help me.”

Hearing those words, I felt nothing. Just empty.

“How should I help you?”

Austin spoke urgently.

“Your family knows people. Have your parents contact MIT admissions. Explain someone tampered with it-it wasn’t my choice. I can still go to MIT. I was SUPPOSED to go to MIT.”

“If it had really been MY application changed today, would you have helped me contact admissions?

Would you have BELIEVED me? Would you have made Katie take responsibility?”

His lips went pale. “That’s… different.”

“How is it different?”

Austin’s voice dropped. Barely audible. “I’m a guy. I can’t be destroyed.”

Someone in the audience cursed.

“Absolutely SHAMELESS.”

Katie suddenly screamed.

“Who are you to judge ME? Austin, who was it last night saying Hailey’s family is rich so going to community college would just be a life experience for her? You only thought it didn’t matter because it was HER being destroyed!”

Austin turned around. “SHUT UP.”

Katie was past caring. “I won’t shut up. Why didn’t you call the police last night? You were afraid something would happen to me-because you felt SORRY for me!”

Austin lunged at her to hit her again but security grabbed him.

His voice, breaking with despair, carried through the auditorium.

“I felt sorry for YOU? You DECEIVED me. You kept saying you were poor, saying Hailey looked down on you. You used me like a KNIFE and cut my entire future to PIECES.”

Katie screamed back through her tears.

“You were WILLING to be that knife! If you’d believed her even ONCE, could I have succeeded?”

Austin stood frozen.

The auditorium descended into chaos.

I walked to the front of the stage and picked up the Riverside Community College notice, handing it back to him.

“Austin, you said those words last night. I made sure to remember them.

He looked up at me, eyes filled with despair.

I placed the notice in his hand.

“Community College Student Austin. Enjoy your future with Katie.”

Austin’s fingers twitched. The notice fell to the floor.

He collapsed to his knees and slapped himself hard across the face.

“Hailey, I really know I was wrong!”

When Austin’s father arrived, that first statement made his face go completely white.