His Public Shame

axis by the time I walked b

sity, once a place of comfort and ambition, now felt

s would flick to me, then quickly away, fo

into a tight, har

they pos

nd walked faster, my head down. I just had to get t

e was no

s quad, I saw a group of girls hud

hey all turned to stare, their faces a mixture of pity

my ribs. I pulled out my phone, my hands slick with sweat. I opened the university' s u

the t

rt Chick Chloe Mi

t was. The video. The thirty-second clip Ryan had taken. It

the linoleum floor. The room felt airless, the walls closing in.

lut

knew she wa

so much better. She p

she' s totally

utal, relentless.

me, condemning me based on a thirty-second clip stolen from me without my knowledge or cons

c social media page. With a sense of dread, I clicked it. He h

culating," it began. "I am deeply sorry

never my

ast night, things got out of hand. I was not in my r

am the victim here, and I ask for your p

s role; he was flipping the entire narrative. He painted himself as the victim, and me as

strong,

ieve you

rash. Don' t let

this. He had recorded me, shared it with his friends, and now he

n I pushed open the door to my room, my two roommates, Ashley and Megan, were there. They were packing my thi

g?" I asked, my vo

, her face a mask of disgust.

out?

ward the door. "My parents saw that video. They said if you' re not gone by tonig

"But... you don' t understand. He lied

. You were practically throwing yourself at him.

hem on the floor. One of them, a charcoal portrait I' d don

s lacrosse buddies, looking down at me with an expression of deep disappointment. The

hear. It was dripping with false sorrow. "I can' t believ

e crowd, cementing his r

, tears streaming down my face.

t know what kind of game you' re playing, but it' s over. Ever

awings on the floor, then

ooked at me with a cold, calculated p

ont of everyone, he sealed my fate. I was the liar. The s

e hallway with my trashed belongings and the judgmental eyes of my peers, I