My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy novel Chapter 196

13:56 Fri, Jul 10

My Fake Boyfriend Is the School Bad Boy

Chapter 196 Waiting In The Staff Lot

Trent reached for the petition. His heavy hand hovered over the folded college-ruled paper.

I moved. I did not hesitate. I stepped between the lacrosse captain and the scholarship students. I snatched the paper from Hugo’s

trembling fingers. I shoved the document deep into the front pocket of my black oversized hoodie.

Hugo let out a breath. His shoulders slumped.

I looked at his face. I saw the sheer terror in his eyes. He worked his entire life to maintain his math grant. He scrubbed floors at a local grocery store to pay for his uniform. I could not ask him to bleed for my war. I could not ask the B-wing to sacrifice their fragile safety to

repair my ruined reputation.

“Keep your grant, Hugo, I said. My voice held steady iron.

I turned my head and locked my gaze on Trent. He towered over me, backed by his massive friends. He possessed the money. He possessed

the influence. He expected me to cower.

“You control the tuition funds, Lawson,” I stated. I refused to break eye contact. “You control the social hierarchy. But you do not control

my mind. Enjoy the hallway.”

I turned my back on the affluent elite. I walked away from the crowd.

No one spoke. The B-wing remained caught in a suffocating silence. I reached the end of the corridor. I pushed the heavy metal fire door open and stepped into the concrete stairwell. The metal door clicked shut, cutting off the fluorescent light.

I failed to secure the fifty student signatures.

The realization hit me as I descended the concrete steps. I lacked the united front. I lacked the support of the student body. I held nothing but a blank grid and a desperate plan. The burden of the academic tribunal now rested entirely on a single requirement.

I needed a senior faculty sponsor.

I navigated the dark service corridors. I bypassed the cafeteria loading dock and slipped out into the cold afternoon air.

The damp chill bit through my cotton hoodie. The gray clouds hung low over the Crestview Prep campus. I walked along the eastern perimeter, staying hidden behind the thick, manicured hedges. I reached the chain-link fence separating the main grounds from the staff

parking lot.

I found a gap near the industrial dumpsters. I squeezed through the metal links.

The staff lot sat empty of people. Rows of practical sedans and compact cars filled the painted spaces. I recognized Mr. Harrison’s dark green sedan parked near the back row, far away from the massive brick science wing..

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13:56 Fri, Jul 10

Chapter 196 Waiting In The Staff Lot

I walked to his car. I crouched behind the rear bumper.

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The wet asphalt soaked through the knees of my gray sweatpants. The cold seeped deep into my bones. I pulled my knees to my chest and

wrapped my arms around my legs.

I waited.

The minutes dragged into hours. The isolation felt heavy and profound. I sat in the shadows of the prestigious school, treated like a criminal for a fake document. I thought about Ryder. He sat in his private lawyer’s office right now, fighting his billionaire father for the right to control his own trust fund. He fought his battles in the corporate world. I fought mine in the freezing mud of a parking lot.

The shrill ring of the final school bell pierced the quiet afternoon.

Three o’clock.

The heavy metal doors of the science wing pushed open. A group of teachers spilled out onto the concrete walkway. They carried canvas grading bags and travel coffee mugs. They walked to their respective vehicles, eager to escape the massive brick fortress.

I stayed crouched behind the green bumper. I kept my head down. I listened to the sound of leather shoes hitting the wet asphalt. Car engines roared to life. Tires hissed against the damp pavement. The lot began to empty.

Footsteps approached my location. The steady, measured cadence belonged to a man who valued precision.

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