Chapter 10: What He Chose in the End
The school never felt this cold before.
Even the walls seemed quieter. Like they knew I didn't belong here anymore.
I was only back to collect my expulsion letter. That's what the message said. "Pick it up from the main office during the lunch break." No fanfare. No apology. Just one last nail in the coffin of the place I'd tried to make home.
Jace didn't look at me when I passed him in the hallway.
He was surrounded by teammates, laughing at something someone said, his arm draped across the back of a chair. Like nothing had happened. Like I hadn't shattered in front of him days ago. Like I hadn't begged him to believe me and watched him walk away anyway.
He looked perfect.
And I'd never felt so invisible.
I waited near the library garden steps—far from the cafeteria, far from anyone who might try to record me again. I hugged my knees to my chest and stared at the cracks between the bricks.
The sky was too blue. It felt wrong.
The students trickled into the lunch area in clumps. I could hear the buzz of conversation, laughter, the occasional bark of a soccer ball being kicked around behind the gym.
And then I heard it.
Mia's voice.
She wasn't exactly subtle.
"I still can't believe how easy it was," she said, laughing as her heels clicked across the stone. "I mean, seriously. All I did was unlock her phone while she was in the shower. The girl didn't even have a passcode."
Another voice—a guy's—snickered. "You're savage."
"I just did what needed to be done. She was getting too comfortable. And Jace? Please. He needs someone who understands his world. Not some charity-case artist who lives in paint-stained hoodies."
I froze.
Every word hit like a slap.
I stood up slowly, trying not to make a sound. But they weren't looking at me. They were standing just outside the lunch doors, facing the courtyard. Laughing.
And behind them—at the edge of the hallway—I saw him.
Jace.
He was standing perfectly still. His expression was blank. But his eyes—his eyes were wide open.
Mia didn't see him.
Not yet.
I didn't stick around to watch what happened next. My pulse was racing too fast, and my stomach was twisted into knots. I just turned and walked the other way.
Toward the cafeteria.
Maybe I should've gone straight to the office. Maybe I should've kept hiding. But I was tired. So tired of running.
That's when they found me.
Two of Mia's friends—older guys, one from the football team. I'd seen them before during assemblies, always loud, always smug.
I was sitting near the edge of the lunch tables, trying to disappear, when they flanked me on either side.
"Didn't think you'd come back," the first one said, leaning on the table.
"I'm just here to pick up a letter," I said quietly. "Then I'm leaving."
The second guy clicked his tongue. "Nah, stay a while. You caused enough drama, might as well own it."
I stood up.
One of them blocked me.
"Where's that energy now?" he mocked. "You were bold enough to post a photo of the MVP half-naked. That was your peak, huh?"
"Back off," I snapped. "I didn't post anything."
"Oh right, you just accidentally let it leak?" He reached for my bag.
I stepped away, heart racing. "Don't touch me."
"Oh come on. You wanted attention, right?"
He reached for my arm.
I slapped his hand away.
He stepped in, and my back hit the wall.
And then—
His voice again.
Hard. Sharp. Controlled.
"Let her go."
Everyone froze.
The crowd went dead silent.
Jace was standing at the edge of the lunch area. His expression was unreadable. Calm—but in that dangerous way.
The guy smirked. "Oh come on, man. You dumped her. Now she's school property."
Wrong move.
Jace was across the space in seconds.
He shoved the guy back, hard enough to make him stumble. The guy cursed, but didn't come forward again. Not after the look Jace gave him.
"She's not school property," Jace said. "She's mine."
He turned to me.
And before I could speak—before I could even breathe—
He kissed me.
Right there.
In front of everyone.
It wasn't shy. It wasn't soft. It was bold and open and full of all the things he hadn't said. His hand cupped my cheek. His thumb brushed just under my jaw. His lips were warm and certain.
I forgot how to breathe.
When he pulled away, his forehead touched mine.
"I believe you," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."
It was just his hands on my cheeks, my knees trembling beneath me, and the taste of apology in a kiss I never saw coming.
But then the world caught up.
Phones were out.
People were gasping.
Someone whispered, "Is that… are they—?"
And then came the voice I'd been bracing for.
"What the hell is going on?"
Mia.
She stood near the drink machine, arms frozen at her sides, a half-eaten strawberry yogurt clutched in one hand. Her mouth was parted, eyebrows twisted in disbelief. She looked like a shattered sculpture—still beautiful, but broken in all the wrong places.
Jace didn't even flinch.
He turned to her, still holding my hand.
"You're done," he said. His voice wasn't loud, but it didn't have to be. "I heard everything. Every word you said to your little group. About her. About the phone. About the post."
Mia laughed, but it cracked in the middle. "You're just mad because I told the truth."
"Truth?" Jace stepped forward. "You stole her phone. You posted the picture. You framed her. And you watched her get expelled for it."
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Phones kept recording. Someone muttered, "Oh my God…"
Mia looked at the growing crowd, her eyes darting left and right like she was trying to calculate an escape route.
"You don't have proof," she said tightly.
"I do now," Jace said. "And you're going to confess. Right now."
"No way," she spat. "I'm not going anywhere."
He turned to me. "Come on."
And then, without another word, he led me by the hand through the stunned crowd, past the frozen tables and open mouths and buzzing cameras, straight to the front office.
The secretary barely looked up when we entered.
"We need to see the principal," Jace said.
"He's—" she started.
"It's urgent," he said.
She blinked at his tone, then disappeared into the office.
Three minutes later, we were called in.
Mr. Gallard sat at his desk, glasses low on his nose, fingers steepled.
"Mister Anderson," he said. "Miss Velazquez. I thought we'd settled this matter."
"We haven't," Jace said. "Mia Langford framed Elena. I heard her admit it."
The principal frowned. "That's a serious accusation."
"She stole Elena's phone," Jace continued. "She posted that photo. She bragged about it to her friends."
"I see. And you have evidence?"
"She's about to confess," Jace said. Then he opened the door and—shockingly—Mia stepped in behind him.
Her expression was pale. Cornered. She held her phone like it might save her.
"You dragged me here—"
"Confess," Jace said quietly.
"I won't—"
"I'll show the video," he said.
Mia blinked. "You… what?"
"I wasn't the only one who heard you," Jace said. "One of your friends was recording it. You're in the background. Laughing. Calling Elena an idiot for leaving her phone unlocked."
He leaned forward.
"I'll post it if you don't tell the truth. Right now."
Mia looked like she was about to faint.
Finally, she dropped her gaze.
"I did it," she said.
Mr. Gallard raised his head slowly. "Excuse me?"
"I took Elena's phone," she muttered. "When she was staying with Jace. I posted the photo. I thought—" She swallowed. "I thought if people turned on her, she'd go away."
The room was silent.
The principal sat back, eyes dark. "You let another student be publicly humiliated. Expelled. And said nothing."
Mia's lower lip trembled.
"You're expelled," Mr. Gallard said coldly. "Effective immediately. Leave. Now."
She did.
And she didn't look back.
The air outside the office felt different—lighter, like someone had finally opened a window after days of suffocating silence.
We walked side by side down the steps of the main building. Jace didn't say much. Neither did I. But this time, the silence between us didn't feel like a wall. It felt like a bridge we were building together, one careful step at a time.
He didn't ask if he could walk me home. He just did.
The car ride was quiet. His driver didn't ask questions, but I could tell he knew something had changed.
When we reached my building, Jace opened the door for me.
"Wait," he said, before I stepped out.
He pulled something from his pocket.
A small black box.
He opened it.
Inside was the crescent moon necklace—the one I'd left on the nightstand, the one I thought I'd never see again.
"I was angry," he said softly. "Hurt. And stupid. But I never should've taken this back. It was never about the necklace. It was about what it meant."
My throat tightened.
"I didn't stop believing in you because I had proof," he said. "I stopped because I was scared to trust someone that much. And that was my mistake."
He stepped forward, gently lifted the chain, and fastened it around my neck. His fingers lingered against my skin.
"Thank you," I whispered.
He nodded. "Can I talk to your mom?"
That surprised me.
But I led him inside.
My mother was seated in the living room, sketching in a pad with a mug of tea beside her. She looked up, saw Jace, and froze.
"Mrs. Velazquez," he said, his voice steady. "I owe you both an apology."
She folded her hands in her lap. "Go on."
Jace didn't flinch.
He told her everything. How he'd believed a lie. How I'd been expelled unfairly. How he'd learned the truth. How Mia had confessed.
He didn't make excuses.
When he finished, my mother stood slowly, then nodded once.
"Thank you for telling me."
Jace turned to me. "I'll be outside. Take your time."
He left.
My mom waited a few seconds, then turned to me.
"You still like him?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah."
She smiled faintly. "Good. Just make sure the next time you fall, he's already there to catch you."
That night, I lay in bed with my window cracked open.
The air smelled like rain, even though it hadn't fallen yet.
I reached up and touched the crescent moon at my neck.
Soft. Cool. Real.
My phone buzzed beside me.
It was Nina.
Nina:It's everywhere. Like… everywhere everywhere.
She sent a link.
I opened it.
The video of the kiss.
The moment Jace pulled me into his arms, right in the middle of the cafeteria. The way he said, "She is," when someone asked why he was protecting me.
My heart skipped just watching it.
The comments were wild.
"When did Crestmore become a drama series?"
"Protective Jace is EVERYTHING."
"This is the real love story and y'all can't convince me otherwise."
I smiled. Not because of the attention.
But because when I closed my eyes, I could still feel the weight of his hand in mine.
He chose me.
Finally.
And for the first time in weeks, I let myself believe—
Maybe this was just the beginning.