My knees nearly buckled. I clutched Caleb’s sleeve, my voice barely more than a whisper.
“What is happening? What did he do?”
The officer glanced at me, surprise crossing his face. “So you have no idea what Caleb did?”
I turned to Caleb. He had gone pale beside me. The entire gym had fallen silent, phones raised, eyes wide.
Caleb finally spoke, his voice low and shaking. “Hannah, I have to tell you everything. Right now. In front of everyone. Three weeks ago, Brittany and her friends offered me money to ask you to prom.”
I burst into tears. “No, this can’t be true. Caleb, how could you do this to me?”
“I’m sorry.” Caleb reached toward me, but I stepped back. “They wanted me to dance with you, make you believe it was real, and let them film your face when they revealed the joke. I agreed, but only because I knew it was the only way to nail them.”
For a moment, everything around me seemed to go still. “Nail them… You mean this was a setup within a setup?”
One officer nodded. “This afternoon, Caleb gave a statement and turned in voice recordings and screenshots as evidence of a planned harassment scheme targeting you, Miss.”
“So, you’re not here to arrest Caleb?” I asked.
“That’s right, Miss. We’re here for the young ladies who planned this scheme.”
Something hot and old cracked open inside my chest. It was not shame this time. It was something else.
I slowly turned, searching the crowd.
She was standing near the punch table, frozen in place, a red plastic cup halfway to her mouth. Brittany. The girl who had whispered about me for four years. Her mascara was already starting to smear.
The officer followed my eyes.
“That’s her.” I pointed. “The blonde girl in the red dress standing by the punch table. Those five girls standing near her are her friends.”
The officer nodded to his partners.
All three officers turned almost together and started walking across the gym floor toward the punch table.
The officers stopped in front of Brittany.
“Miss, we need you to step outside for questioning,” one officer said.
Brittany’s perfect smile cracked. “This is a joke. You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious, Miss. We have evidence that you conspired to harass a classmate. You and your friends can step outside to speak to us willingly, or we can return with a warrant.”
Brittany’s mouth moved, but no words came out. Then she spun toward Caleb, her voice rising into a shriek. “You did this? You chose that mottled loser over me?”
“Brittany, stop.” Caleb raised his hands. “You’re only going to make this worse for yourself.”
