Chapter 2

The next morning, my arm was a canvas of purple and black.

But the physical pain was quickly overshadowed.

My phone buzzed with a notification from a campus gossip forum.

The title of the post made my blood run cold: "Sarah Miller - Up Close and Personal - $5 A Set."

My heart hammered against my ribs.

I clicked it, my hand shaking.

There they were. Private photos of me. Photos Ethan had taken. Photos I had trusted him with.

Sold. For five dollars.

My breath hitched. The world tilted.

Comments were already flooding in, crude, disgusting.

My name, my dignity, plastered across the internet for anyone to see, to mock.

Tears streamed down my face, hot and furious.

How could he? How could Ethan do this?

The bruise on my arm throbbed in time with the sick feeling in my stomach.

I had to find him. I had to know why.

I threw on a hoodie, pulling the hood up to hide my face, and practically ran to his fraternity house.

The usual loud music was blaring, even though it was early afternoon.

I pushed open the unlocked door, my bruised hand aching.

His voice carried from the main room, loud and boisterous.

"...yeah, Miller's finally getting what she deserves."

I froze, hidden in the hallway.

Mark, one of his frat brothers, laughed. "Dude, aren't you worried she'll dump you after this?"

Ethan scoffed. I could hear the arrogance in his voice.

"Dump me? Are you kidding? She's so shamed now, she'll be begging me to marry her. Gotta save her precious reputation, right?"

My stomach churned. Beg him?

Josh, another friend, chimed in, "So, why'd you do it, man? Just for kicks?"

"Nah," Ethan said, and his next words hit me like a physical blow. "She disrespected Chloe yesterday. Demanded an apology at the clinic. Chloe was really upset."

My mind reeled. The clinic. The bruise. This was because of that?

"Sarah needed to be taught a lesson," Ethan continued, his voice cold. "And hey, if you guys want more, I've got videos too. Those will cost you a bit more, say, ten bucks?"

Laughter erupted from the room.

Videos. He had videos too.

The world swam. I backed away slowly, then turned and fled, the sound of their laughter chasing me.

He didn' t just leak them. He sold them. To teach me a lesson. For Chloe.