CLMO 18

Chapter 18

That late afternoon.

Janice went to Sienna’s house.

She couldn’t count how many times she had been anxious, worried that Sienna might discover her true intentions.

“Hm… No matter how I look at it, I don’t get this. Should I just call Aaron and ask him?”

Unaware of Janice’s nervous heart, Sienna’s focus was solely on her homework.

Even though it was only the start of the semester, the sheer amount of homework pouring in from each class was overwhelming.

She knew she couldn’t rely on Aaron so much this early on…

As Sienna groaned in frustration, a knock came at the door.

“Sienna, can you come help me for a moment?”

“Yes.”

At her stepmother’s call, Sienna immediately got up.

“I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Mm-hm. Don’t worry about me, just go.”

At last, the opportunity came.

Ignoring the pounding of her heart, Janice kept her face composed as she let Sienna leave.

“What should I help with?”

Sienna’s voice grew fainter as she went further down the hall.

Janice waited until the sound was completely gone before jumping to her feet.

As soon as she had agreed to Victoria’s proposal, only one thing came to Janice’s mind—

The secret Sienna had shared with her alone.

Her old photos.

Sienna might say she wasn’t ashamed of her past, but there was no way that was entirely true.

She must have felt embarrassed inside, which was why she hesitated before showing them in the first place.

“……”

Janice froze in front of the bookshelf where the albums were kept.

If those old photos were leaked, Sienna would know instantly who had betrayed her.

After all, Janice was the only one Sienna had ever shown them to.

This was her last chance to back out.

Janice took a deep breath.

“It’s fine.”

She might lose her very first friend, but in exchange she’d be accepted into a much better crowd than before.

Her school life would be smooth sailing after that.

No—not just smooth.

She could date a handsome boyfriend and make others jealous, maybe even become cheer captain like Victoria.

If she just closed her eyes and got this over with.

“I don’t have a choice.”

Muttering a pathetic excuse, Janice pulled out Sienna’s album.

Her heart was in turmoil, but her fingers turned the pages swiftly, searching for the photo she wanted.

It didn’t take long before she found it.

Janice snapped a picture with her phone and sent it to Victoria.

“Thanks for the great material.
Leave the rest to me.
Delete my message right away.”

Seeing Victoria’s reply a moment later, all the strength drained from Janice’s body.

There was no turning back now.

She thought she’d feel relieved—

But what crashed down on her instead was regret.

“Nothing serious will happen.”

Whatever Victoria had planned, if Sienna really wasn’t ashamed of her past, she’d be fine.

So Janice told herself.

Just then, she heard Sienna’s footsteps approaching again.

Apparently she was already done helping her mother.

Janice quickly shoved the album back in place, returned to her seat, and pretended nothing had happened.

“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”

Sienna came in through the door, completely unaware that Janice had just betrayed her.

Janice couldn’t bear to look her in the eye anymore.

She closed her book and began gathering her things.

“No, I didn’t wait long. But I think I should go home now.”

“Already? Stay for dinner before you go.”

Sienna’s stepmother was overjoyed that her daughter’s friend had come over again, and was cooking a feast.

Janice made up a lie.

“My mom said I need to come home early today.”

“Ah… Then I guess you have no choice.”

Though disappointed, Sienna let her go.

I did the right thing.

Janice left quickly, almost as if running away.

It was a day like any other.

She still hadn’t found a way into the Rockefeller building where the 12th graders studied, Ian Morgan was nowhere to be seen, and her investigation into the Morgans wasn’t progressing at all.

But then something unexpected happened.

“Janice?”

Sienna’s eyes widened as she sat across from Aaron in the cafeteria at lunch.

That morning, and even on the way to lunch, Janice hadn’t been around—yet now she appeared together with Victoria.

“Why’s she with them?”

Aaron frowned as he followed Sienna’s gaze.

The strange pairing shocked more than just the two of them.

Everyone in the cafeteria stared wide-eyed at the unlikely duo.

“They must’ve gotten close after practicing cheerleading together.”

“No way.”

Aaron muttered in denial at Sienna’s naïve interpretation.

How could she be so positive about such an obviously suspicious combination?

“Janice!”

Sienna waved and called out.

For an instant, their eyes met across the room—then Janice quickly looked away.

Huh?

She had clearly seen Sienna, yet pretended not to.

And instead of sitting with Sienna and Aaron, she went to join Victoria’s group of friends.

“Did she not see me?”

Aaron snorted at Sienna lowering her hand awkwardly.

“She saw you. I’d bet Ian Morgan on it.”

“Why would you bet my brother?!”

Sienna snapped, then realized Aaron was only trying to cheer her up with a joke.

Even so, her disappointment over Janice wasn’t completely hidden.

“Don’t let it get to you.”

Aaron offered quietly.

“Opportunists like her exist everywhere. You’ll get used to it.”

Is that supposed to be comforting?

Sienna shook her head but still glanced back at Janice.

She was laughing brightly, sitting right where Sienna had once dreamed of being.

“She looks so happy… I can’t even be mad.”

It wasn’t true that she felt nothing—her heart ached at being ignored by her new friend so quickly.

But if Janice was happy…

Sienna shrugged her shoulders.

The two of them continued their light conversation and finished their meal as usual.

After returning their trays, they heard a commotion in the lobby outside.

“What’s going on? Let’s check it out.”

Curious, Sienna tugged Aaron’s arm, but he grimaced.

“Crowds are the worst.”

Given how jumpy he was just from brushing hands with her, she understood.

“I’ll wait outside. You go see.”

“Okay.”

They split up—Aaron heading out of the building, Sienna heading toward the crowd.

At first she thought it’d be hard to push through, but as soon as students recognized her, they snickered and stepped aside.

What is this…?

Something had happened. And whatever it was, it wasn’t good for her.

The hairs on her neck stood on end.

Soon, she saw the source.

“Congrats on being nominated for Homecoming Royalty, Sienna.”

A mocking voice rang out, and suddenly laughter, jeers, and whistles erupted around her.

Ignoring the noise, Sienna’s eyes locked onto the bulletin board.

A new notice had been posted—

The list of Homecoming Royalty nominees, with names and photos.

Her name was among the 10th-grade girls.

But there was a problem.

“Why… Why is that photo there…?”

The picture wasn’t recent—it was from when she was battling leukemia.

And not just one.

Multiple enlarged photos of her, pinned up for all to see.

“Hey, is this really you, Sienna?”

“You kidding? Someone must’ve messed up.”

Half the students thought it was a mistake, half believed it was her.

But Sienna couldn’t answer any of the questions stabbing at her.

Janice…

These weren’t the same photos she had shown Aaron before.

Only Janice had ever seen them.

And Sienna could guess when they’d been stolen—yesterday.

But why…?

As she struggled to understand, a familiar voice pierced her ears.

“Blay, looks like they posted the Homecoming nominees. Let’s go take a look.”

Victoria’s silky voice, dripping with amusement.

Sienna turned instinctively.

There she was, striding proudly with Blay on one side and Janice on the other.

“……”

Again, Janice avoided her eyes.

Which was as good as confessing that she was the one who leaked the photos.

Everything fell into place—

Why Janice had avoided her all day.
Why she now appeared with Victoria.

She had sacrificed Sienna to climb into the popular crowd.

“Oh my, Sienna. Congratulations on your nomination. The photos came out so well.”

Victoria openly mocked her, but Sienna’s gaze stayed fixed on Janice.

She truly wasn’t ashamed of her past.

Even if the entire school saw her old pictures, it didn’t bother her.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Victoria’s lips twitched in irritation at the unexpected response.

But Sienna wasn’t interested in her.

She turned to Janice.

“Janice. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

What hurt wasn’t the photos themselves—it was the betrayal.

She had expected that maybe Janice would use her as a stepping stone someday, but facing it for real still stung.

“If you wanted my photos, you could’ve just asked. I’d have given them to you myself.”

Sienna smiled coldly, plucked one of her enlarged photos from the board, and held it out to Janice.

Of course, Janice didn’t take it.

Sienna simply shrugged.

“Someone asked earlier if this was really me. Yeah—it’s me.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the murmuring around them swelled.

At that moment, Blay stepped forward to stand before her.