The noise died down instantly, and everyone turned to look at us.

"Isn't Katrina already annoying enough when she's in charge? Why are we bringing her, too?"

Hayley spoke up slowly. "If Katrina comes, she'll be controlling everything. It's just going to ruin the mood. I'm the one who suggested this trip. That would put me in a tough spot."

She glanced at me with clear annoyance, her eyes sharp with warning, as if she was afraid I would interfere with her and Terry.

After all, I still carried the label of Terry's ex. She had every reason to worry that something might spark again.

Seeing the jealousy on her face, Terry looked at her with a soft, indulgent smile and quickly explained, "Hayley's right. Katrina's way too much. Remember that time we grabbed barbecue from that roadside place? She actually went into the kitchen to check things out. The owner almost kicked us out."

The others exchanged looks, then nodded in sync, glaring at me with growing irritation.

I shrugged helplessly. That had been right before the SAT. Everyone knew those roadside spots weren't exactly clean. If someone got sick and messed up their exams, it just wasn't worth the risk.

But to them, my caution just made me a problem.

I let out a quiet sigh, tightening my grip on my backpack.

"We're almost graduating. I'm not the class monitor anymore. I'll just mind my own business, okay? And I'm not going to report this to anyone's parents."

Terry let out a cold laugh and suddenly flipped my backpack upside down.

My heart jumped. I lunged forward, trying to grab it back, but he shoved me down, pressing hard on my head.

"You don't have any credibility with us anymore. If you want us to trust you, smash your phone right here in front of everyone."

As he spoke, he pulled my laptop out of my bag.

My face went pale. I grabbed his arm, shaking it.

"Please don't. I saved up for three months to buy that."

He lowered his gaze and let out a soft laugh, his tone easing just a little.

"Must've been tough, huh? Fine, we won't break it. Just give me your account password."

At that moment, something snapped. I shoved him with everything I had, knocking him to the ground.

I reached for my laptop, but a few taller, stronger classmates rushed in and pinned me down hard.

Terry picked up a sharp rock from the grass and dragged it lightly across my cheek. I couldn't stop the shiver that ran through me.

"Your face or your laptop. You choose."

His eyes darkened, and my throat tightened.

"The password is 2025…"

He quickly filled out my college applications for me, then casually smashed the laptop to pieces anyway.

"I even helped you pick a college that suits you. Don't forget to send me a thank-you card when you get in."

Grinning, he pulled Hayley into his arms and raised his voice.

"Problem solved. Now we can all relax and have some fun."

The class erupted, cheering and teasing as they watched the two of them.

I let out a bitter laugh, crouching down to gather the broken pieces of my laptop.

I turned to leave, but three tall, broad-shouldered guys stepped in front of me, blocking the way.

Terry shot me an impatient look.

"Hayley's bus is here. Find somewhere to lock Katrina up first."

They dragged me onto a bus and took me to an abandoned park, not a single person in sight.

I was shoved hard into a rusted dog cage, hitting the ground. As I struggled to get up, I heard the click of a lock snapping shut.

Terry tugged on it once, making sure it held.

"Once the application deadline passes, this lock will open on its own. Go ahead and scream all you want. There's nothing around here but abandoned buildings."

With that, he turned and got back on the bus heading for the rafting trip.

I forced down the panic rising in my chest and dropped to my knees inside the cage, feeling around desperately.

Half an hour passed. All I had to show for it were torn, scraped palms.

No matter what, I had to find a way out!

I studied the corners of the cage carefully, shaking it over and over until I found one loose metal bar.

I pulled out a shard from my broken laptop and started grinding it against that spot again and again.

A shadow suddenly fell over me.

Hope surged, and I looked up fast, only to see a skinny, bony stray cat. I reached out, trying to pet it, but it bared its teeth and hissed.

I let out a quiet sigh and murmured to myself, "My classmates were scared I'd ruin their rafting trip, so they locked me in here. My phone doesn't have any signal. I can't reach my parents. You're my only shot. If you could find a cop…"

My voice trailed off. I sat back down and kept sawing at the bar.

Blood slid down the metal, dripping slowly onto the ground.

The cat in front of me gradually relaxed, its guard lowering as it let out a soft meow.

I quickly poured some water into my palm and held it out carefully. It hesitated for a second, then lapped it all up.

Looking into its bright eyes, I pulled out a few bills, wrote SOS on them, and tucked them into its worn collar.

"Hey, little guy, remember how to get back here. Find someone to help me, okay? I'll convince my parents to take you in."

It let out a small cry, then darted off.

Three hours passed before I finally managed to cut through that loose bar. I gripped the empty bottle in my hand, tears spilling uncontrollably.

Mom, Dad… Even after getting a second chance, I still couldn't save myself.

The application deadline was getting close, and I still couldn't even get out of this rusted cage.

The air around me warped in the heat. The scorching temperature baked me until my consciousness started slipping away.

Something rough brushed against my eyes again and again. I instinctively reached up and grabbed at it.

When I slowly opened my eyes, I realized it was the same cat I had trusted with that huge task earlier.

"She's awake. Good thing we got here in time, or she could've died from heatstroke!"

Someone gently lifted me out of the cage.

"What happened here? How did a kid end up locked in a place like this?"

The sound of police sirens filled my ears, and everything went dark again.

My father rushed to my bedside, his voice tight with panic.

"Katrina, the moment I got the call from the police, I came straight here. Where's Terry? Didn't he promise me he'd look out for you?"

As I thought back to what happened this morning, tears slipped down my face before I could stop them.

I saw the exhaustion in my father's eyes and shook my head.

"Dad, I'm fine. Just…give me my laptop. I haven't finished my applications yet."

I couldn't trust Terry. I was scared he had already picked the worst possible colleges for me.

As soon as I got the laptop, my hands trembled while I logged into the application site and changed everything back to the ones I actually wanted.

Terry had probably forgotten those promises he once made to me a long time ago.

I had just handed the laptop back when I saw my father holding up his phone.

"How would Katrina know where the others are? What rafting livestream? I'm heading over right now!"

My face went pale. "Dad, don't go. My stomach hurts."

He immediately sat back down beside me and poured me some water.

If those ungrateful classmates twisted the story like last time, saying I tricked them into going, their parents would tear my father apart.

This time, I wasn't getting involved, no matter what happened to them.

I grabbed my phone and quickly searched for my classmates' livestream.

On the screen, Hayley was holding her phone up, laughing as she floated down a wild river with Terry and the others, all of them lounging in inflatable tubes.

Our homeroom teacher, Megan Reed, had already found the stream and was flooding the comments.

[There's only half an hour left to submit your applications. Why aren't you all filling them out yet?]

The moment Hayley saw that, she clutched her stomach and stood up.

She rushed back to the bus, pulled her laptop from the overhead compartment, and filled out her applications as fast as she could.

Seeing that, Megan immediately called Terry.

"How many times have I said this? Applications have to be submitted on time. And all of you ran off to a dangerous place like that? You're the top class! Every move you make affects the teachers' futures. Are you trying to drag the whole school down with you?"

Viewers who stumbled into the stream started spamming the comments.

[There's zero safety out there. Who's responsible if something happens?]

[These parents are way too relaxed. I can't believe they'd let their kids go somewhere like that!]

[These straight-A kids have guts. That branch just missed that boy's head by a few feet.]

Even Megan, who usually favored Terry, sounded shaken now.

"There are only ten minutes left. You're our school's best shot at sending someone to a top-tier college."

Right then, a scream exploded from Hayley's livestream.

Several tubes had been ripped open by sharp rocks in the river, and a few students dropped straight into the water.

On the other side, a group messing around with water guns suddenly started arguing.

One smaller student got pinned down and blasted in the face with water for a full five minutes. He covered his eyes, thrashing wildly, knocking others off their tubes and into the river.

When he finally went under, blood began spreading from beneath him.

The once carefree group panicked. Everything spiraled into chaos. Then the sound of an ambulance siren cut through the noise, and the livestream was abruptly shut off.

Back at the hospital, the students froze when they saw their parents waiting outside.

"Wait, today was the application deadline? I thought it was tomorrow!"

"If I don't get into college, my parents are going to push me to get a job…"

"Hayley said it was tomorrow. What are we supposed to do now?"