Part 3Ranked a Fool, Crowned a Champion

I blocked Casey and deleted her contact. My phone barely made it into my pocket before Garrett called.

"Shane! Check the class group chat! Casey's going off about you!"

I opened the chat and saw over 100 unread messages. At the top was a long post from Casey, complete with a crying face.

[Am I being unreasonable here? I tried to let Shane down gently because I didn't want to embarrass him. Now that he realizes he can't harass me into dating him, he's refusing to finish my competition slides.

[My presentation is next week. I've spent six months getting ready for this competition, and now he's trying to ruin my future. Can someone please help me?]

The replies poured in.

[Seriously, Shane? She won't date you, so you're getting back at her?]

[I thought he just had a huge crush on her. I didn't realize he was this nasty.]

[No wonder Casey said he was harassing her. Guys like that are scary.]

Several of Casey's friends tagged me and demanded an apology.

Then Garrett sent me a private message. [Want me to call her out? I'll post the proof right now.]

I watched the insults scroll past, rubbing the crumpled payment form between my fingers in my pocket.

I replied, [No need. I've got a better place to post it.]

I opened the folder on my phone with the hospital payment form and money transfer records.

Every photo Garrett took of Casey with her boyfriend, Kevin Zimmerman, was in there as well, all sorted by date.

I started a new post on the campus forum. I only got one letter into the title before my phone buzzed again.

Kevin sent me a friend request with a message attached.

[Apologize to Casey, and I'll give you 1,000 to settle this. Otherwise, I'll make sure you can't show your face on campus again.]

My finger hovered over the screen for a moment before I accepted his request. Kevin messaged me immediately. A separate Venmo notification showed a payment of 1,000 dollars from him.

[There's your money. Apologize to Casey, delete whatever crap you're about to post, and finish her slides tonight. Do that, and maybe I'll let this go.]

Before I could reply, another message popped up.

[Your dad lays bricks at one of my family's construction sites, right? Keep this up, and I'll get him fired tomorrow. How's your family gonna eat?]

I stared at the two messages, then sent him a screenshot of my itemized expenses.

[Over the past two years, I spent 6,540 dollars on Casey, including money I sent her, gifts, and medical bills.

[She wants twelve slides. At 60 dollars a slide, that's another 720, bringing the total to 7,260 dollars. Send the rest, and I'll consider the job.

[You can forget about an apology.]

He went quiet for two minutes. Then a string of voice messages came through.

I played the first one, and Kevin's voice blared from the speaker.

"Are you that desperate for cash, Shane? You think you can shake me down? Alright. You've got some nerve. Just wait.

I was about to block him when Julia called.

"Shane, what were you thinking?" Her voice was cold. "Casey's parents went straight to the dean of students with medical records showing she has severe depression.

"They say your harassment caused her breakdown. The dean called an emergency meeting with your class this afternoon. You'll be formally reprimanded in front of everyone, and you'll lose your place in the graduate program."