DON’T STOP (Lila and Darrell) novel Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Bella

I stared at the screen of my laptop in the campus library, heart pounding as I refreshed the student portal one more time And there it was my grades updated. The failing mark in Darrell’s class had flipped to a solid Passed Scholarship safe No more panic emails from financial aid. No more late-night spirals about dropping out.

let out a long, shaky breath and leaned back in the chair, closing my eyes for a second. Relief washed over me like col water-sharp, almost painful. Darrell had actually done it. He’d submitted the “correction form, claimed it was a grading error on his end, and the department had bought it. They’d even sent him a mild reprimand email (I saw the thread in e system logs somehow). He took the hit so I didn’t have to.

But the money in my account; the extra bundles he’d pressed into my hand, still felt like it was burning a hole through everything. Every time I thought about Mom using it for her treatments, gratitude tangled with share. I’d bought me for her. I’d bought my future. And I’d paid for it with pieces of myself.

Lara still hadn’t come home. No reply to my texts, no answer to my calls. Every message sat there delivered but unread the little blue ticks mocking me. I kept telling myself she was just busy; maybe her phone died, maybe she was crashing at someone’s place. But Jones’s words kept echoing: Gina and Lara are best friends. She knew long before me If that was true why hadn’t Lara warned me? Why had she pushed me toward Darrell in the first place?

I tried not to think about it too hard. I couldn’t afford to fall apart yet.

Then Thursday morning my phone buzzed with a text from Darrell:/

“Thursday at home, by 7.”

My stomach flipped. I stared at the message for a full minute beføre typing back one word: Okay.

I dressed quickly-jeans, a simple sweater; nothing like the outfit I’d worn that first time. I grabbed my bag and beaded campus for Tuesday classes. Lectures dragged, notes blurred on the page, my mind half here, half already dreading & pm

Classes ended. I was walking across the quad toward the bus stop when my phone rang-unknown number I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the screen. My thumb hovered. Who the hell..?

After three more rings, I answered. “Hello? Who am I speaking with, please?”

“It’s Lara”

Her familiar voice sounded casual, like nothing had happened, and it hit me like a slap. Liroze. My breath caught

“Lara?” My voice came out higher than I meant “Where have you been?

“I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA the past few days I lost my phone dropped it in a pucklic, totally dead. I’ve been saving at s friend’s place since then. I’ll be back Thursday evening

I bit my bottom bip hard enough to taste copper. A friend My mind flashed straight to Cinta Was that who tara mea.

I swallowed. “Okay then. I’ll be waiting for you” My voice sounded steadier than I fell. Also I have some ding to talk to you about when you get here

There was a short pause on her end. “Yeah, of course Everything okay

I didn’t answer right away. The quad buzzed around me students Laughing, bikes whizzing past – but it all felt distant.

47 am PPPP.

Chapter 69.

Yeah, Llied. “Just stuff See you Thursday.”

Okay. Love you, babe Bye.”

0:4

chers

The call ended. I stood there, phone still pressed to my ear for a second longer, like maybe she’d come back on the line and explain everything.

She didn’t.

lowered the phone slowly. My hand shook a little. Thursday evening. That gave me two days to figure out what the hell I was going to say. Two days to decide if I confronted her about Gina, about the plan she’d pushed me into, or about how he’d known exactly who Darrell was to her best friend.

Two days until I had to face her-and maybe learn if my best friend had set me up on purpose.

I started walking again, faster now, toward the bus stop. The sun was dipping low, casting long shadows across the grass

got home, kicked off my shoes, and headed straight to the kitchen. My stomach had been growling since the last class, but I hadn’t felt like eating all day-too much spinning in my head. I threw together something quick: leftover rice from the fridge, scrambled eggs, and a little hot sauce. Nothing fancy, just fuel.

I sat at the tiny table with my plate and phone propped against a water bottle, scrolling mindlessly while I ate. That’s when I saw it.

A post from one of my coursemates-someone I barely talk to outside group chats. She’d tagged a bunch of people in a carousel of pool-party pics and videos from last weekend. Smiling faces, splashing water, golden-hour lighting And there, in the middle of it all, was Jones.

Jones and her.

In one photo they were in the pool, arms wrapped around each other, both grinning like idiots-his head thrown back laughing, her cheek pressed to his shoulder. In the video clip that followed, he lifted her out of the water, spinning her around while she squealed and clung to him. They looked happy and excited. Like they’d been doing this forever

My fork froze halfway to my mouth.

I screenshotted the clearest photo-the one where his hand was on her lower back, hers on his chest-and opened our cha My thumbs moved before my brain caught up.

“I didn’t see any of this in your profile. Did you block me from seeing them?”

“How do you

even know her?”

Sent

The message got delivered. Then, immediately, the read receipt popped up. He was online.

I stared at the screen, appetite gone. I took a slow bite of egg anyway, chewing mechanically while the three little dots appeared. He was typing. Long pause. Typing again. Was he deleting? Rewriting? Explaining?

Finally, the message came through.

“Yes, Bella. I’ve known her since I started coming to your department to see you.”

“Anyway, there’s something you should know. She and I are now dating. Started two days ago.”

“It’s time we break up.”

7:47 am PP PP

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify