The Girl Behind the Smile
Chapter 06 - The Girl Behind the Smile
Brielle returned to school after her suspension and discovered that popularity could disappear faster than a viral video. Her closest friends still walked beside her, but they checked the hallway before speaking. Students stopped conversations when she approached. Someone taped an empty milk carton to her locker with the words HONOR IS EARNED written across it.
She tore it down, yet she could not argue with the message.
For years, Victor had treated Brielle’s life like a campaign. He selected her clubs, rewrote her speeches, and reminded her that second place was simply first place for people without discipline. When Lena’s scholarship scores surpassed hers, Victor called it an administrative error. When Brielle protested, he asked whether she wanted to attend the college he had promised her or spend her life explaining why she had failed.
The cafeteria stunt had been Brielle’s idea, but not its purpose. She believed Lena would shout, shove her, or throw the carton. Victor had assured her that a public outburst would only “restore balance” to a process already tilted by sympathy. Brielle had not known he had created a false disciplinary record to make the reaction look like a pattern.
Now every laugh in the video sounded crueler than she remembered.
After school, Brielle opened her father’s home office using the birthday code he had never changed. Inside a locked desk drawer, she found printed scholarship rankings. Lena’s name appeared first, circled in red. Beside it, Victor had written: REMOVE BEFORE FINAL REVIEW.
There were also text messages printed for a meeting packet. One came from Superintendent Bell: Portal updated. Need an actual incident to support the record.
Brielle photographed every page.
A floorboard creaked behind her.
Victor stood in the doorway.
For several seconds, neither moved. Then he looked at the phone in her hand.
“You have no idea what you’re touching,” he said.
Brielle backed away. “You used me.”
“I protected you.”
“You made me hurt someone so your lie would look real.”
Victor’s voice softened, which frightened her more than anger. “Give me the phone. We can fix this.”
Brielle slipped it into her pocket. “That’s what you always say right before you ruin something.”
May you like
She ran past him, out the front door, and into the rain. She had nowhere safe to go, no friend she trusted, and one person she had every reason to fear facing.
Still wearing her honor sash beneath her coat, Brielle drove to Lena Hart’s apartment.
