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    65 votichan


    The professor walked in and ss began. Everyone immediately fell silent, the forum chatter dying down.


    Alicia listened intently to the lecture and took notes,pletely unfazed by the online drama.


    After the two–hour ss ended, Alicia was packing her bag when someone in the room suddenly yelled, <b>“</b>Whoa, there’s a new update on the forum. Someone’s asking the same questions I had.”


    Alicia’s hands paused for a beat, a faint smile touching her lips. ‘Looks like Tiffany couldn’t sit still, she thought. ‘She’s already sent her trolls to stir up trouble on the school’s rification post.


    Before she could check her phone, Sienna was already fuming beside her, phone in hand. “Why do these scumbags always have to crawl out of the woodwork to make a scene? The school already posted an official statement, so why are they still yapping? Are they trying to question the administration?”


    Alicia quickly finished packing and walked over. “What’s wrong?<b>” </b>


    Sienna shoved her phone at Alicia.


    Alicia nced at thements under the school’s rification post. Sure enough, a few users were stirring the pot.


    [This statement from the school is so vague. They don’t have any hard evidence, just their word against the original post. So, where’s the proof? The original poster had photo proof.]


    [Exactly. A statement like this means nothing. We don’t buy it.]


    [Why is the school protecting Alicia Lawrence like this? It’s all just empty words.]


    [Show us the evidence. If you can’t, then you owe us an exnation. We came to this school to learn, not to be surrounded by people who sell their bodies to get ahead. This kind of behavior is a toxic influence and a distraction. The school needs to take this seriously.]


    A stream of otherments followed, all demanding evidence and echoing the “pictures or it didn’t happen sentiment of the original post. Alicia noticed that the first person to question the school’s statement was a user called ‘Your Gossip Guru‘, with a few others quickly jumping in to support them.


    Anytime someone tried to change the subject, this user would steer the conversation back on track. If anyone defended Alicia, they and their followers would immediately attack, until no one dared to speak up for her anymore. The thread was now filled with nothing but doubt and vitriol aimed at her.


    Sienna kept scrolling, her expression growing darker with everyment. Furious, she started hammering out replies, ready to go to war with the trolls.


    Alicia watched her friend’s fingers fly across the keyboard and couldn’t help but smile. It was good to have a friend like her.


    She gently took Sienna’s phone and exited the school forum.


    <b>19:18 </b><b>Wed</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b><b>1 </b>


    Sienna was exasperated. “Hey, I wasn’t done cursing them out. It makes me so mad. Are those people idiots? Can’t <b>they </b>see how obviously photoshopped those pictures are? ‘Photo proof my ass.”


    <b>“</b><b>It’s </b>okay, let them talk,” Alicia said. “I believe the truth wille out.”


    Sienna looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What ‘truth wille out? That’s just wishful thinking. Don’t you know how vicious these online mobs can be? They can ruin people’s lives.”


    “President Lee is aware of the situation, and I trust him. Don’t worry about it. Do you need to use the restroom? I have to go.”


    Seeing that Alicia seemed to be in a hurry, Sienna sighed and waved her hand. “Fine, restroom first. A person can’t just hold it in forever.”


    The two of them walked to the restroom together.


    Alicia finished up, washed her hands, and waited for Sienna toe out. Just then, Nora Judd walked in.


    Seeing Alicia, Nora let out a triumphant scoff. “Don’t think you’re safe just because you’ve hooked President Lee. He doesn’t run this school by himself.”


    Alicia frowned. She hadn’t expected Tiffany to be so vicious as to drag the president into her mess.


    Seeing Alicia’s frown, Nora assumed she was scared. She leaned in closer and whispered, “You’re really done for this time, Alicia. You shouldn’t have messed with Tiffany.”


    With that, she turned and walked into one of the stalls.


    Alicia pulled out her phone and opened the school forum. Thement count on the rification post had already surpassed ten thousand. The topments were mostly insults, but further down, people were starting to specte that the school had defended her without evidence because she was involved with President Lee.


    There was even a new photo of her standing across from Derek Lee. He was smiling at her, and the background waspletely blurred, making it impossible to tell where it was taken.


    The picture was shot from the side, clearly showing Derek’s smiling face and her own. It was definitely her.


    Alicia thought back. She hadn’t had any contact with the president before today. She examined the photo more closely and it all clicked. This was from her meeting in the Office of Student Conduct earlier.


    That was when Derek had asked if she was Alicia Lawrence. He had been smiling, and at the time, she’d thought he seemed very kind.


    She couldn’t believe that a simple, brief exchange had been twisted into something like this. <fn7dff> Readplete version only at find(?)ovel</fn7dff>


    She looked at the photo’s angle again, closing her eyes to recall where she had been standing. The shot was taken from the doorway.


    At that moment, Tiffany had just left the office. She must have snapped it from the hall.


    19:18 Wed<b>, </b>Oct 1


    <b>55 </b>vouchers


    Alicia nced at the ID of the user who posted the photo, then immediately sent a message to Hank Grant. [I need the info on two users: ‘Purely White‘ and ‘Your Gossip Guru)


    Hank replied instantly. [On it.]


    About ten minutester, he sent over the files for ‘Purely White‘ and ‘Your Gossip Guru‘, adding a note. [That ‘Your Gossip Guru‘ ount seems to know their way around aputer. It took a few extra minutes to track them down.]


    He had started exining his process to Alicia, anxious to show he was doing his best work for her.


    Alicia: [Thanks!]


    After sending her thanks, Alicia opened the file for ‘Purely White. The user was Nora Judd.


    As for ‘Your Gossip Guru‘, it was a graduate student majoring in physics with a minor inputer science. He was close to graduating, came from a low–ie family, and had applied for financial aid nearly every year.


    She saved the information.


    Sienna came out of the restroom, and the two of them started walking back to their ssroom.


    As they walked, Alicia’s mind was racing. ‘Does the Office of Student Conduct have security cameras?‘ To shut down the rumors about her and Derek, she needed everyone to see what really happened. A video recording would be perfect.


    She didn’t know if the office had cameras, but she knew a ce that did. There was a stationery store next to the administration building with a 360–degree security camera mounted outside. Besides covering the store’s entrance, its view extended through the window of the Office of Student Conduct.


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