MPQB CH 07

Chapter 7

From the back of the classroom, the low murmuring of boys could be heard — small whispers at first, but soon they grew louder.

“Wow… no way…”
“Is that real?”

The mix of shock and laughter spread quickly.

When Jamie slowly turned to look around, dozens of eyes were already fixed on her — and those looks weren’t friendly.
They felt sharp, judgmental… cruel.

“Are you talking about me?”

More snickers rippled through the room.

“You in the back — stop whispering and pay attention!”

The teacher’s voice cut across the laughter, but the students only pretended to behave, ducking behind their textbooks.
The air, however, was still buzzing with amusement.

Jamie’s nerves were on fire, her stomach twisting with anxiety.

“What on earth is going on…?”

The teacher continued, oblivious.

“Alright, that’s it for today! Let’s go over the quiz results from last time.”

She began walking down the aisles, handing out graded papers.

“Jamie! You’re the only one who got a perfect score this time! Everyone, give her a round of applause!”

A few lazy claps followed.

From the front row, a girl with perfectly styled blonde hair — Meredith Sinclair, the cheer captain — turned around and stared at her.
Meredith was the kind of girl who looked like she’d stepped right out of an Instagram feed — beautiful, smart, and the most popular student in school.

“Why is she looking at me like that? We’ve never even talked.”

Jamie blinked, confused, but Meredith just smiled sweetly and turned back around.

Then came more whispers behind her.

“Did you hear? She got a perfect score.”
“Makes sense — she’s probably ‘good’ at other kinds of biology too.”

The mocking tone made Jamie’s stomach churn.
Now she was sure — they were talking about her.

She was about to spin around and say something when the bell rang.

The boys jumped up, snickering as they hurried out before she could react.
Jamie sighed and started packing up her binder and tumbler.

Just then, someone tapped her shoulder.

“Hm?”

She turned around to see a tall, skinny boy — Todd — his shoulders hunched, glasses slipping down his nose.

“J-Jamie…”

“Todd? What’s up?”

Todd was her classmate — the one no one ever wanted as a lab partner in biology.
Jamie had volunteered to work with him once out of pity, and since then, he’d been awkwardly hovering around her.

“I-I was sitting right next to you… y-you didn’t notice?”

“Guess not. Anyway, what’s wrong?”

He looked around nervously, beads of sweat forming on his nose.

“I-is it t-true? You and the q-q-quarterback…?”

“What?”

“W-what’s going on between you two?!”

“What are you talking about? Me and Noah didn’t—”

Todd suddenly thrust his phone right in front of her face.
The screen showed a photo — Noah, asleep, holding her in his arms like she was something precious.

Jamie’s eyes widened.
She blinked, hoping she’d imagined it. But no — the picture was crystal clear.
The two of them looked like one of those Pinterest “#couplegoals” photos.

“Where… where did you get this?”

Todd hesitated.

“I said, where?!”

“It—it was posted on the account classclown757.”

Jamie’s blood ran cold.

Classclown757 was a social media page infamous at Preston — known for spreading gossip and secrets about students.
That meant… everyone at school had already seen it.

She quickly opened the app on her phone and searched for the post.

There it was — a caption under the photo:

***

classclown757:
BREAKING NEWS! Last night, Preston Academy’s golden boy, our quarterback N, scored a “touchdown” with a nerdy girl at the football building (wink wink). With photo proof like this, no way he can deny it!

After months of mystery around our star’s love life, the truth is finally out — and it’s scandalous.

Remember, Preston Academy — Classclown is everywhere, yet nowhere. 🙂
#Quarterback’sSecretTaste #btwWho’sThatGirl

***

The comment section was overflowing — and Jamie didn’t even want to scroll down. She knew they wouldn’t be kind.

“Who even took that photo…?”

She sighed, rubbing her temples.

“I don’t know what’s worse — that this photo’s spreading, or that you found out before I did.”

“D-don’t change the subject! I’m asking you — what are you two?!”

Jamie let out a disbelieving laugh, planting her hands on her hips.

“Todd, are you serious right now? You freaked out dissecting a frog and cut my arm with the scalpel, remember? And I still helped you finish the lab! And now you’re interrogating me instead of asking if I’m okay?”

“S-sorry…”

He deflated immediately, shoulders drooping.

“Nothing happened between me and Noah. We got locked inside the football building last night. It was freezing, so we hugged so we wouldn’t get hypothermia. That’s it.”

“R-really?”

He stared at her with wide, worried brown eyes.

“Really.”

Todd nodded slowly — though his face still looked unconvinced.

“O-okay… I’ll believe you.”

“You don’t have to believe me. It’s just the truth!”

Jamie’s voice rose in frustration.

“A-alright, don’t yell… you’re scary when you do that.”

“I’m not yelling! Just—ugh, whatever. Just tell everyone the rumor’s not true, okay? You can do that much as a classmate, right?”

“C-classmate…”

Todd made a strange squeaky noise and suddenly bolted out of the classroom.

Jamie sighed.

“He’s… really something.”

He was awkward and often teased for it, but he wasn’t a bad person — just weirdly intense sometimes.
Occasionally he’d say things like, “I-I’m above average, right? Girls only avoid me because I’m intimidating.”
It always left people speechless.

Shaking her head, Jamie gathered her things and stepped into the hallway.

***

The moment she appeared, the atmosphere changed.

Whistles.
Whispers.
Everyone staring.

“What? What’s going on?”

One confused student asked another, who showed them their phone.

“No way… her and Noah?!”

Jamie could feel the gossip spreading like wildfire.

She spun around sharply, glaring at the group that had been whispering.

The students flinched, startled.

Jamie took a deep breath and said loud enough for everyone to hear:

“Nothing happened between me and Noah! We got trapped in the building by accident, and it was freezing, so we just hugged to stay warm!”

“Yeah, suuure you did.”

One boy smirked, nodding sarcastically.
Laughter erupted across the hallway.

A few voices murmured things like,

“Guys, that’s enough. This is getting mean.”
“Poor thing…”

But most of them just watched, amused.

And through the crowd, Jamie caught the eyes of her roommate — Valentina.
Her expression wavered uncertainly.