CHAPTER 168: STAR NAME

Andria’s POV

By the time I got to the student council room, I was already panting like I had just sprinted across the entire campus. The echo of my heels against the marble floor sounded too loud, announcing my lateness.

Macy and Allison were already there, early birds, of course, but I guess I wasn’t the only one who was late. Jason also seemed to be absent.

Macy and Allison were sitting across from each other, with cups of iced coffee and that suspicious silence that usually meant I was the topic before I came in.

"Good morning," I said, forcing a smile as I walked in.

Macy’s lips twitched. "Morning, star of the week."

I froze halfway to my chair. "Please don’t start with that," I said, waving my hands dismissively at her.

"Oh, I will," Allison said, eyes gleaming with amusement. "Because apparently, the internet can’t stop talking about you.

The headline literally says, Let me read it out aloud in case you haven’t seen it, ’Aria Wolfsburn, the she-wolf who made the Alpha successors fight.’ So you succeeded in making my brother and his friends fight each other."

I blinked. "Wait, what?"

How easily this weird news spread in Ashwood. I mean, Aven started it, I’m not the one responsible for their issues, their ego and the moon goddess is.

Macy flipped her tablet toward me. There it was, the gossip blog that fed on Ashwood drama as if it were oxygen.

My face, Damon’s stupidly perfect smirk, Aven’s brooding glare. The caption below was worse than I imagined.

Whoever took these pictures and sent them to the news must be very silly, and must know me very well to actually aim suggestively at me.

I don’t know why I suspected Liara; she was very good with the media, so I wouldn’t doubt it being her.

The caption said: Three Alphas. One unknown ranking she-wolf who is known to be the Academy’s student president: Sparks fly at Ashwood Talent Show.

I groaned, dragging a hand down my face. "Oh, Goddess. Please tell me this is a prank."

"Wish it was. Isn’t it staring down at you?" Macy replied, sipping her coffee. "Rumor has it, you are the reason Damon and Aven almost came to blows after the show. And apparently, Tristan’s return is tied to all this chaos."

"Unbelievable," I muttered. "I didn’t make anyone fight; in fact, no one fought. Who spun those tales? Besides, they were already halfway at each other’s throats before I climbed up that stage, and of course, Aven was the silent trigger."

Allison leaned forward, resting her chin on her palm. "You always say that, but somehow, you are in the middle of their drama. It’s impressive, actually."

I shot her a glare. "I’m not the chaos, Allison, your brother is."

"Same thing," Macy teased.

"Tell me something I don’t know," Allison pushed, giving me a teasing smile and a knowing look.

I slumped into the seat beside her. "Well, if you aren’t just a gossip, I wonder what you want to know that you cannot ask your brother... no, your twin brother."

"Oh, about that..." Macy exchanged a look with Allison that made my stomach sink.

"What?" I demanded.

Allison grinned. "Apparently, it’s already obvious, you don’t need to beat around the bush, I mean, look at your glow, Ari, it’s obvious."

I groaned again. "You are kidding, right?"

"I’m sure something else happened after the show, because I saw Damon walk in, after I had left the backstage, Ari, tell me," Macy pushed.

"Nothing happened, just word banters as usual, so I suggest you shut your ears."

"I wish. On the brighter side, the show’s views doubled overnight, and the streaming stats literally crashed the school portal. You and Damon are trending on campus socials. Someone even edited a slow-motion version of the kiss with a song."

"Song," I echoed, horrified.

"Yeah, the music he sang on the stage. It’s everywhere."

Macy chuckled. "It’s actually kind of cinematic, Ari. I mean, not that I condone you kissing half your bond circle in public, but you two definitely gave the audience their money’s worth."

I dropped my forehead onto the table. "Remind me to dig a hole and live there forever."

"Oh, don’t be so dramatic," Allison said, laughing. "You basically resurrected the talent show. The Kissing Booth was already a hit, but this? This broke records. More students bought last-minute tickets just to see Damon perform with you.

"It was like a clash of the kissing booth and the talent show," Macy said, raising her hands one after the other dramatically.

I slowly lifted my head. "Wait. What? The talent show performed better than The Kissing Booth?"

Macy nodded. "By a landslide. The Headmistress is ecstatic. She said, and I quote, ’Miss Wolfsburn has a talent for generating profitable chaos,’ and I couldn’t agree less."

I stared at her, speechless. ’Profitable chaos.’ Great. My legacy was now a marketable scandal. I shrugged. Provided it benefited the school, I could be their drama queen.

Allison giggled at my expression. "Relax, Ari. The funds raised were incredible. Both events exceeded projections, but the show had a last-minute boost thanks to..."

"...Damon’s impulsive lips," I finished for her, grimacing.

"Exactly," she said, smirking, and Macy burst out laughing. We joined her not long after.

I leaned back in my chair, exhaling. "You know, I should feel proud. I should be celebrating the success of our fundraiser, but all I can think about is how my friends feel in all this. I missed their show, and it’s not nice."

Macy frowned, instantly softening. "Hey, yeah, that’s true, you need to talk to them, I’m sure they would understand whatever took you out of the backstage."

"Oh, stop it, please, don’t make this feeling worse than it already is," I responded slowly.

"I mean, yeah, we looked for you too, for approximately two, no three hours, and you were nowhere to be found," Allison added. "I just mentally thought that maybe you were in my brother’s apartment, after all, he called your phone before your sudden disappearance."

"Allison, that’s not the way to work this out, by blaming my face, I mean, I already know that I had wronged them.