By the time Maya reached the principal's office, the video was already everywhere.
Someone had filmed the cafeteria fight.
Of course they had.
Westbridge could turn anything into content.
A spilled drink.
A breakup.
A rumor.
A fight.
By fifth period, Maya's phone had twelve notifications from people she barely knew.
She didn't open any of them.
Principal Reynolds sat behind his desk.
Brielle sat beside her father.
Maya recognized him immediately.
Daniel Hart.
Founder of Hartwell Development.
One of the biggest donors to Westbridge High.
He wore a charcoal suit and spoke softly.
That somehow made him more intimidating.
“I don't want this turned into something bigger than it is,” he said.
Maya looked at him.
“Neither do I.”
“Good.”
His eyes stayed on her.
Too long.
Then his expression changed.
“You're Evelyn Carter's daughter.”
Maya's stomach tightened.
“You knew my mother?”
He leaned back.
“I knew of her.”
That answer was too careful.
Principal Reynolds cleared his throat.
“Both students will receive disciplinary consequences if we can't establish who initiated the physical altercation.”
Maya almost laughed.
She had been humiliated in front of hundreds of students.
Now they were discussing who touched whom first.
Brielle stared at the floor.
She hadn't said much since entering the room.
That bothered Maya more than the fight.
Brielle wasn't afraid of punishment.
She was afraid of her father.
When the meeting ended, Maya walked into the hallway.
Brielle followed.
“Maya.”
Maya kept walking.
“Wait.”
She stopped.
Brielle looked around.
“No phones.”
Maya raised an eyebrow.
“I need to tell you something.”
“You had plenty to say in the cafeteria.”
“I didn't know what you knew.”
“Neither did I.”
Brielle swallowed.
Then she whispered, “The ledger isn't what you think.”
Maya stared at her.
“What ledger?”
Brielle looked toward the office.
Her father was still inside.
“Don't say it out loud.”
Maya stepped closer.
“You brought it up.”
“I was angry.”
“You were scared.”
Brielle's jaw tightened.
“My father doesn't know that I found it.”
“Found what?”
Brielle reached into her jacket.
For a moment Maya thought she was pulling out her phone.
Instead, she handed her a small brass key.
Maya stared at it.
“What's this?”
“Locker 214.”
“That's the old records room.”
“I know.”
“Why are you giving me this?”
“Because you were looking for the wrong thing.”
Brielle stepped backward.
Maya closed her fingers around the key.
“What am I supposed to find?”
Brielle's eyes filled with something Maya hadn't expected.
Regret.
“My mother.”
Then she walked away.
Maya stood alone in the hallway.
Her mother had been dead for six years.
So Brielle's words made no sense.
Until Maya turned the key over.
A number had been scratched into the metal.
214.
And beneath it were two letters.
E.C.
Her mother's initials.