novelraw The Laptop Sabotage
The Laptop Sabotage
POV: Leah
I didn’t sleep. Even after I signed that stupid contract, my brain refused to shut down. Between the fire, the humiliation, Mr. Connors’ warnings and Jared’s smug satisfaction, I was frayed at every edge.
But today mattered.
I had my Constitutional Law presentation and it was one of the few things keeping my scholarship locked in place. I showed up early, clutching my laptop like it was a lifeline.
It was old, secondhand, the fan wheezed when it ran too long, but it worked. Barely. And it had my entire presentation saved on it.
Until Jared Connors happened. I was in the hall of the law building, walking fast, head down, when I collided with someone tall and sharp.
Cold liquid hit my chest and my bag.
“Watch it,” Jared snapped, stepping back and shaking Coke off his hand. “Great. This shirt was custom.”
I froze at the scene in front of me. As if everything happened in slow motion, I slowly opened my laptop case to see the coke was dripping inside.
My jaw dropped as I pulled out the device, heart racing. It blinked a few times then suddenly fizzed before proceeding to shut off.
“No,” I whispered. I pressed the power button like a maniac, hoping it would save my laptop’s life. Instead of turning it on, it gives me nothing at all. No reaction, no screen, no sound.
Nothing. Shit.
“You fucking broke it,” I snapped, turning to him.
“I didn’t touch it,” he said innocently,
“You spilled soda on it!” I screamed.
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t carry electronics like a lunch tray.” I could barely hear him over the ringing in my ears.
My hands were shaking. “I have a presentation,” I said, hopelessly “This is my entire grade.”
“Then I hope you memorized it,” he smirked and then just walked off. Like it was nothing. Like he didn’t just ruin the one thing keeping me here.
I must have stood frozen in that hallway for five minutes before I heard a voice.
“Hey. Are you okay?” I turned to see a guy I’d seen around campus but never spoken to.
Neatly dressed, calm energy. A literal human contrast to Jared Connors. He looked worried and my jaw dropped seeing how attractive he is.
I must have stared for too long that he decided to introduce himself instead of waiting for me to answer.
“I’m Carlson,” he said gently. “You look like you’re going to pass out.”
“Oh hi! Um… Yeah, I’m Leah.” I laughed awkwardly once, sharp and desperate. “My laptop’s dead. Coke. And my entire presentation is on it.”
“Do you have it backed up?” He looked at it, confused but also really trying to help.
“Yeah—but I can’t access it.”
“Here.” Carlson reached into his backpack and pulled out a sleek MacBook. “Use mine. If you have a backup in the cloud, then you can retrieve it back.”
I blinked. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “Yeah, try it!”
“Thank you so much.” I took it like it was a lifeline. “I never thought someone could be this kind!”
“Anytime. When is your class?” He asked, turning to his watch. His attention shifted to me, waiting for me to answer.
“In 10 minutes.”
“Just take my laptop. You need it.” He pointed and I was about to protest when he beat me, “I’ll be taking my laptop back in two hours. I have another class to attend now. Will that be okay with you?”
“Yes, sure! Thank you so much, you’re truly my saviour!”
* * *
Walking into the classroom, still flustered but determined, my hands shook, but when I opened the presentation file from the cloud and found it the relief washed over me.
I waited for my turn to present in front of the class and when I did, I began to speak, something in me locked in. I hit every point. Every case. Every angle.
When I finished, the professor clapped, actual applause followed. I sat down, flushed and breathless, when a few students nodded in approval. Then I saw him.
Jared was standing outside the door, watching through the glass with an unreadable expression.
The rest of the class was a blur and after it, I gathered my things with adrenaline still rushing my veins. Jared waited until the last student walked out before stepping in. He looked down at my ruined, soda-stained laptop bag.
“Still carrying that?” he said casually. “It’s not Lazarus, it’s not coming back.”
I stared at him. “You should really get yourself checked.”
“For what?”
“For that thing where people with egos mistake cruelty for charm.” He didn’t flinch and I kept going. “You’re so desperate to feel superior, but it’s funny... your dad trusts my brain more than yours. He handed me the case you begged to lead.”
That hit. His expression shifted, just a flicker—but I saw it when he stepped closer in fast, grabbed my wrist and backed me hard into the wall. I gasped, heart thudding as my shoulder blades hit the cold surface.
He was so close. Too close. Breath to breath, heat pouring off of him.
“You think that was smart?” he asked, voice low and dangerous.
“I think it was true.”
His hand didn’t move, but his eyes dropped to my mouth. My pulse jumped.
“You drive me crazy,” he whispered.
“Good,” I said, breathless. “You deserve it, bastard.”
And just like that—he kissed me. There was no warning, no gentle approach. Just heat.
His mouth crashed into mine like he’d finally lost the war we were both pretending not to fight. His hand slid up to my jaw, tilting my face, deepening the kiss with so much hunger it made me gasp against him.
I didn’t fight and just kissed him back. Desperately and recklessly, I wasn’t thinking or even trying to stop him.
My fingers gripped his shirt as his body was pressed hard into mine, like he wanted to erase the space between us, erase the insults, the tension, the contract, the whole world.
It was fire and fury and everything we weren’t supposed to feel. But then—he stopped. Pulled back, fast and furious.
His chest was heaving, lips were red and hand lingered on my jaw for a second longer… then dropped to his side. He didn’t speak and also didn’t mind to explain.
Just looked at me like he regretted it... or wanted more, before he turned and walked out.
Left me against the wall, breathless, lips tingling and heart shattered in half — one side screaming ‘yes’, the other whispering ‘what the hell just happened?’