Page 56 of Lords of the Campus

“Oh, no idea?” Levi says, crossing his arms. “No idea what it was like to be shunned by everyone who used to care about you? We have no idea?”

Lyric flinches. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she says in a whisper. “But it was fuckinghard, okay? So you don’t get to come in here and act like you have any right to him!”

“Because you took that right away when you neglected to tell us!” Archer says, his anger rising. “You could have told us at any point. You could have told us when we first approached you! Or when we found out you had a kid!”

“I was scared!” Lyric said. “I didn’t trust you. All you did was bully and harass me. I was trying to protect him.”

“You know we’d never hurt Eli,” I point out. “We said that time and again. We proved it. I don’t understand why you think we’d hurt an innocent kid. You know what Levi and I have been through, Lyric! We would never subject a kid to that kind of shit.”

“I’m sorry,” Lyric says, her voice thick as she starts sobbing. “I handled it badly, but I didn’t know what else to do! I’m doing all this on my own. I don’t have any friends or support. You guys made sure of that! I had no one to turn to, so I did what I thought was right until I thought we could trust each other.”

“Well, congratulations,” Archer says, a cold look of fury on his face. “You proved that we were wrong to ever trust you.”

Levi gives her a look of disgust. “I never want to see you again,” he says.

“What about Eli?” Lyric asks, her voice weak.

“We’re going to sue you for full custody,” Archer tells her. “We have the money and resources. You’re a single mother on a scholarship with a history of lying and sleeping around. We can provide a much better life for him than you can.”

“Don’t you dare take my son away from me!” Lyric shouts. Eli is wailing now and she moves to go get him.

“You took him away from us,” I remind her. “Karma is a bitch.”

“This isn’t over!” Lyric says, storming into the bedroom. “But right now, I want you out of my house. Now!”

We leave, the threat hanging in the air. Lyric needs to understand what she did, that this is serious and she can’t manipulate everyone around her.

32

LYRIC

The apartment feels suffocating, the walls closing in on me as I cradle Eli in my arms. His tiny sobs have finally quieted, but my own tears won't stop. I rock him gently, whispering soothing words, but my mind is a whirlwind of fear and heartbreak. How did everything become such a mess?

Eli’s warm body against mine is a fragile comfort, a reminder of the love I have to protect. But the boys' words from this morning echo in my mind, along with their threats to take him away. I can’t lose him. I won’t.

I shift on the couch, holding Eli tighter. His chubby hands grasp at my shirt, seeking reassurance. I brush my fingers through his soft hair, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "It’s okay, baby. Mama’s here. Mama’s got you."

The tears fall faster and hot tracks run down my cheeks. How did it come to this? How did the boys I once loved, whom I thought I could trust, turn into my worst nightmare?

I spend the rest of the day alternating between comforting Eli and breaking down myself. Every time I think I’ve cried all I can, another wave hits me. The fear is overwhelming. I can’t imaginea life without my son, but their threats were real and I know they have the resources to follow through.

I glance at the clock, each passing minute a reminder of how little time I might have left with Eli. I need to think, to plan, but all I can do is hold him close and pray that somehow, we’ll make it through this.

Maybe I can talk to Madison. She’s been a source of comfort, the first friend I had since starting at Sterling Heights and she’s never failed to help me when I needed her.

I reach for my phone, dialing her number. She answers on the third ring.

“Hey, Lyric, what’s up?” she asks, sounding cheerful. I feel bad for bringing the mood down, but I don’t know what else to do.

“The boys know about Eli’s paternity,” I confess, unable to keep the words inside any longer. “They came and confronted me. I don’t know what to do, Mads! I thought that we were rebuilding trust and that things were finally moving in a good direction! But they threatened to take him away from me. What do I do?”

Madison is silent for a moment, then her voice comes back on the line. “Lyric, I warned you that you needed to tell them the truth,” she says. “I believe in doing the right thing and you were stringing them along by keeping them in the dark. I’m the one who told Levi at the party last night.”

“What?” My voice breaks. “Mads, why… why would you do that?”

I feel the ache in my chest grow, threatening to crush my heart into pieces.

“Lyric, you know that Eli deserves to know who his father is and those boys deserve to know that he’s their son. I don’t understand why you thought it was right to lie to them.”

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