Chapter 53: #FIFTY-THREE

Nicholas’s POV

This was crazy. He was crazy. This was the school’s restroom. Literally anyone could walk in, the door wasn’t even shut all the way.

But that didn’t stop me from reciprocating. I gripped his shirt and kissed him back just as hard, moulding my body against his.

Elijah groaned against my lips, grunting when I suddenly pushed back and slammed his back against the wall instead, taking the lead.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw someone peek from the bathroom door, but then, Elijah pulled me closer and my mind clouded again in a haze of lust.

Maybe I was imagining things?

"Excuse me!" The furious voice hit us so suddenly that we sprang apart at the same time. My heart nearly stopped beating as I turned toward the source of the voice.

A professor stood only a few feet away, his face flushed with anger, while one of the students lingered behind him with an awkward expression that suggested he hadn’t expected things to escalate this far. Neither Elijah nor I had even heard them approaching again.

The professor wasted no time closing the distance between us. "What exactly do the two of you think you’re doing? Have you completely forgotten where you are? This is a university corridor, not somewhere you can behave however you please. The lack of shame is unbelievable."

For a moment I couldn’t even find my voice because my mind had gone completely blank.

Elijah stepped forward before I could say anything, putting himself between the professor and me. "Professor, we’re sorry. We got carried away for a moment. It was a mistake, and it won’t happen again. We understand this isn’t the right place, but if you’ll just let us explain—"

"’You got carried away?’" the professor repeated, cutting him off before he could continue. "That’s supposed to make this better? You expect me to hear that excuse after catching the two of you in broad daylight where anyone could walk past and see you? No. I don’t think so. Both of you stay exactly where you are."

He pulled his phone from his pocket.

"Professor, please," Elijah tried again, keeping his voice calm despite the situation. "There’s no need to make this any bigger than it already is. We admitted we were wrong. If there’s any punishment, we’ll accept it, but involving the principal over something like this—"

"You don’t get to decide what’s appropriate," the professor snapped. "The moment you chose to do this in the middle of school grounds, you made it the school’s business."

By then it was already too late.

Students had begun slowing down as they passed the hallway. Some whispered to each other before stopping altogether, while others shamelessly stared without even pretending to hide their curiosity. Every few seconds another person appeared, asking what had happened before squeezing into the growing crowd. I could hear my own name being passed around before anyone even knew the full story.

"Who’s involved?"

"I heard someone got caught."

"Isn’t that Elijah Blackthorne?"

"Who’s the other one?"

"The transfer student."

"I knew something weird was going on."

Oh shit. This was bad. This was terrible.

I lowered my head, wishing the floor would simply open beneath me.

The principal didn’t send for us, instead, she came herself which was way worse.

The hallway gradually fell silent as she approached, her heels clicking against the polished floor while everyone instinctively moved aside to make room for her.

She looked first at the professor, then at Elijah before finally letting her gaze settle on me. "What exactly happened here?"

The professor answered immediately.

"I caught these two behaving inappropriately in the hallway during lecture hours. Several students witnessed everything."

She looked between us again. "Is that true?"

Neither of us answered straight away. Finally, Elijah nodded. "...Yes."

The principal folded her arms before looking directly at me. "So you’re Nicholas."

"...Yes, ma’am."

"I’ve heard quite a bit about you since your transfer." She scowled.

I frowned in confusion. "I don’t understand."

"It means your name seems to appear far more often than it should. I accepted your admission believing you would uphold this university’s standards, yet today you’ve managed to turn one of our hallways into a public spectacle. Students from multiple departments have abandoned their lectures because of what happened here."

I opened my mouth quickly. "It wasn’t—"

She raised a hand, stopping me before I could finish. "I’m speaking." The firmness in her voice made me fall silent. "I don’t care whether this lasted thirty seconds or thirty minutes. I don’t care whether you thought no one would see you. What matters is that it happened, and dozens of students witnessed it."

She turned toward Elijah. "Mr. Blackthorne."

"...Yes, ma’am."

"You were present. Tell me something. Was Nicholas the one who initiated this?" She asked.

Every muscle in my body stiffened and I turned so quickly toward Elijah that my neck protested.

Say something. Please. Tell her it wasn’t just me. Tell her the truth. Tell her we were both responsible.

Elijah looked at me first. Then at the principal and his lips parted slightly as though he wanted to speak, but nothing came out.

The principal gave a slow nod. "I understand."

"No!" I blurted out before I could stop myself. "That’s not what happened. He just—"

"Enough." Her voice cut through mine. "I will not tolerate interruptions."

"But you’re misunderstanding everything." I pleaded.

"Am I?" She looked almost disappointed. "Mr. Blackthorne has maintained an exemplary record throughout his time in this university. Not once has his name been attached to any disciplinary issue. You, however, have barely settled in, and somehow you’re already standing before me because of this."

The crowd erupted into louder whispers.

"I knew it."

"So it really was him."

"Poor Elijah."

"I’ve seen Nicholas following him around before."

"I knew something strange was going on."

What were they saying? They were misunderstanding.

I looked at Elijah again. He still hadn’t defended me, but he wasn’t agreeing with them either. He was simply... standing there.

One sentence. That was all it would’ve taken. One sentence to tell them I hadn’t forced myself on him. One sentence to stop everyone from looking at me like I was something disgusting.

The principal took one final step toward me. "Your conduct today has brought embarrassment to this institution. Whether intentional or not, your actions have disrupted lectures, drawn unnecessary attention to the university and reflected poorly on the standards we expect from our students." She didn’t hesitate. "I’ve made my decision. Effective immediately, you are suspended from this university for one month." For a second, I genuinely thought I’d misheard her.

"...A month?" I croaked.

"One month." He said with a tone of finality.

Some people gasped, but a lot of people looked pleased, like she had done them a favor.

I barely noticed any of them. My eyes stayed on Elijah. Finally, he looked back at me.

There was guilt written all over his face. But despite all of that... He still didn’t say a word.

How could he do that?