Chapter 21: A Storm Behind Smiles

The sun beat heavily over campus as students rushed through the busy courtyard, backpacks bouncing, laughter echoing. But for Elias, the world felt muted, like everything played in a different frequency he couldn't reach.

After the drama at the union elections, his name had started spreading across campus — whispered in bathrooms, discussed in back rows of lecture halls, even appearing in anonymous gossip blogs.

"Elias, the 'silent' candidate… Elias, the mystery student…"

Some found it thrilling. Others hated it.

And jealousy, silent and poisonous, seeped deeper into the halls.

---

Inside a luxurious but hidden corner of the campus, in a café called Velvet Brew, a secret meeting brewed.

Maxwell — the current vice president of the Student Union and heir to a real estate empire — leaned back in a velvet chair, spinning a silver pen between his fingers.

Across from him sat Dana, the ranked number #3 campus beauty. Her manicured nails tapped impatiently on the mahogany table.

"He's getting too much attention," Dana muttered, glancing at a blurry photo of Elias on her phone screen.

Maxwell chuckled. "Relax. Popularity fades fast, especially when you feed the right rumors."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "You have something planned?"

Maxwell smirked, cold and deliberate. "Watch."

---

Meanwhile, Elias sat alone in the library's farthest corner, next to a dusty window, skimming through a thick economics book he could barely afford to rent.

His mind wasn't on the text though. It drifted to the secret message he'd received yesterday — a small, coded note slipped into his locker:

"Not all friends are friends. Be careful who smiles at you."

He didn't know who sent it. Maybe he was getting paranoid. Maybe... not.

Just as he packed his bag, a soft voice interrupted.

"Elias?"

He looked up to see her — the quiet girl who had spoken up for him once. The one with the shy smile and those intelligent, observant eyes.

Lila.

She hesitated, clutching her worn-out notebook like a shield. "Are you... okay?"

For a moment, Elias forgot how to speak. Nobody had asked him that. Not in a long time.

Not since his mother used to.

"I'm fine," he lied, standing up. His voice cracked slightly.

Lila didn't push. Instead, she held out a piece of candy, awkwardly.

"I don't have much... but you look like you need this more than me."

Elias blinked at it, stunned by the ridiculous, pure kindness of it. He took the candy with trembling fingers, a laugh escaping his lips without warning — a sad, small laugh that somehow healed a tiny piece of him.

"Thank you," he whispered.

---

Outside, darkness brewed.

Maxwell's team was already uploading the first phase of their plan: a fake screenshot of Elias "bragging" about using girls for votes.

It was a messy, fabricated chat, but the Internet didn't need proof to burn someone alive.

In minutes, campus social media caught fire.

"Elias Exposed!"

"He's just like the rest!"

"Never trust a poor boy pretending to be innocent!"

---

By evening, Elias's phone buzzed with hundreds of notifications.

Fake accusations.

Hateful messages.

Death threats.

He turned the phone off. His hand shook slightly.

His chest felt like it had caved in.

He had no way to fight back.

---

As the stars blanketed the sky, Elias found himself wandering the empty school fields, hands in his pockets, thoughts heavy.

Everyone he barely trusted... already slipping away.

Maybe he deserved it.

Maybe it was his fault for believing he could change anything.

He collapsed under the giant oak tree behind the sports complex — the only place nobody came anymore — and stared up at the cold, indifferent stars.

Somewhere nearby, hidden by the shadows, Lila watched him silently.

She clenched her notebook to her chest, her own heart breaking a little for him.

"Hold on, Elias," she thought desperately.

"Hold on just a little longer. Your story isn't over yet."

---