Sunday night, 11:35 PM. Priya is staring at her phone. The screenshot she meant to send only to Mia is now visible in the Greenfield Scholarship Support group chat. Jade has already seen it. And she has just sent one single word.
Przeczytaj o 23:47
Jade wysyła Priyi zimną, wściekłą wiadomość — wie, że Priya coś widziała. Ale gdy Priya przegląda starsze wiadomości Jade, odkrywa prawdę, która zmienia wszystko, co wiedziała o swojej rywalce.
Wczytywanie narzędzi tłumaczeniowych…
Priya
she saw it. jade saw the screenshot
Mia
WHAT. how
Priya
i sent it to the wrong chat mia. i sent it to the scholarship group. the one she's IN
Mia
oh no. oh priya no
Priya
she sent me a message. a direct message. just me
Mia
what did she say
Priya opens the direct message from Jade. It is short. It is very cold.
Jade
I know you saw something. I don't know how much. But you need to stay out of this, Priya.
Priya
i'm sending you a screenshot of what she wrote
Mia
ok she's angry but she doesn't know exactly what you heard
Mia
she said "i don't know how much". so she's guessing
Priya
yeah but the screenshot shows the voice note was from her. she KNOWS i heard something
Priya
i deleted the screenshot from the group chat as fast as i could but she already saw it
Mia
are you going to reply to her??
Priya
idk. not yet. i need a minute
Priya doesn't reply to Jade. Instead, she does something she knows she probably shouldn't. She goes back to the scholarship group chat and scrolls up — searching for the merged messages that appeared earlier. Most of them are gone now. But not all of them.
Priya
ok so some of jade's old messages are still there. from earlier in the week
Mia
priya don't read them
Priya
i already am
Priya scrolls through several days of Jade's private messages. At first they are about the scholarship — notes, plans, stress. Then she finds something different. Messages from Tuesday night. And Wednesday. And Thursday.
Priya
mia. she was working night shifts
Mia
what do you mean night shifts
Priya
she was at the hospital. with her mum. three nights this week. tuesday, wednesday, thursday
Priya
her mum is sick mia. like actually sick. and jade's been going there after school and staying until 2am
Mia
wait. seriously??
Priya
she was absent from morning registration thursday. and friday too i think. she told her friends she was "just tired"
Priya
she didn't tell anyone the real reason. not even her teachers
Mia
okay that... that changes things a bit. like, i still think what she did with mr davis was wrong. but if her mum is in hospital and she's been running on no sleep and still trying to finish a scholarship application... i mean. that's a lot. that's really a lot for one person.
Priya
yeah
Priya
and the scholarship rules say you can't have more than two unexplained absences in the last month
Priya
she has two. thursday and friday. and she didn't give the school a reason
Mia
priya
Mia
where are you going with this
Priya
the submission deadline for the scholarship board is tomorrow morning. 9am
Priya
if someone told them about the absences before 9am, jade's application could be flagged
Priya stares at what she just typed. She doesn't delete it. She sends it. Then she waits.
The double tick appears. Mia has read the message. But she doesn't reply.
Priya
mia?
Priya
i'm not saying i'm going to do it. i'm just saying i could
Priya
mia. are you there
No reply from Mia. The chat shows she read the messages at 11:54 PM. Priya puts her phone face-down. She feels the weight of Jade's 'Read' receipt in their separate private thread, while Mia remains silent here.
Ten minutes later, a notification lights up her phone. Not from Mia. It is from the Jade private chat.
Jade
You haven't replied. That tells me a lot.
Jade
I don't know what you're planning. But I need you to know something first.
Jade
My mum has been in hospital since last Monday. I haven't told my teachers because I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me or treat me differently. I don't want the scholarship because people feel bad for me. I want it because I earned it. And yes, I used Mr Davis's name before I asked him — that was stupid, I know that. But I am going to speak to him first thing tomorrow morning. Before 9am. I just... I need this scholarship, Priya. Not to beat you. I need it because without it I can't stay at this school next year. My mum's medical bills are — it doesn't matter. Just. Please.
The voice note ends. Priya sits very still. The scholarship deadline is in less than nine hours. She knows something Jade doesn't know she knows. And Jade has just asked her — not as a rival, but as a person — to let it go.
Priya
jade's message is... mia i don't know what to do
Priya's message to Mia shows two grey ticks. Sent. But Mia has not opened it. The chat says: Read at 11:47 PM. Mia stopped reading after Priya said she could report the absences. She hasn't come back.
Priya
ok