Avery stood.
“What did she want?”
“She said she was calling mother to mother.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“That’s never good.”
Renee looked at Avery.
“She says you are creating an unsafe environment for Brooke.”
Avery stared.
“For Brooke?”
“She suggested transferring you before things escalate.”
Marcus stood.
“That’s a threat.”
Renee shook her head.
“She didn’t say anything threatening.”
“She didn’t have to.”
Renee’s anger collapsed into fear.
“I want you out of Westbridge.”
Avery immediately shook her head.
“Mom.”
“I watched that school take one child.”
Renee’s voice broke.
“I am not volunteering another.”
Avery softened.
“They can’t erase everything now.”
“You don’t know what people like that can do.”
Marcus looked toward Avery.
“How many copies?”
“Four.”
“Cloud?”
“Two.”
“Separate accounts?”
“Yes.”
Renee stared at him.
“You’re helping her?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I’m making sure they cannot do to her what they did to me.”
Three days later, Brooke Carlisle walked across Room 214 and grabbed Avery’s jacket.
The video reached the internet before final bell.
Westbridge issued a statement that evening describing the incident as “a brief interpersonal conflict between students.”
Marcus read the statement twice.
Then laughed.
“Apparently your jacket attacked her.”
Avery smiled despite herself.
Renee did not.
At seven fifteen that evening, an email arrived.
MANDATORY ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE — 8:00 A.M.
Marcus looked at Avery.
“I’m coming.”
Principal Ward tried to stop him outside the conference room.
“This meeting concerns currently enrolled students and legal guardians.”
Marcus looked directly at her.
“You were happy to discuss me with Elaine Carlisle when I was enrolled.”
Ward’s face tightened.
Renee touched Marcus’s arm.
“Wait outside.”
He reluctantly stepped back.
Inside, Brooke sat beside Elaine.
Principal Ward sat at the center of the table.
Assistant Principal Briggs was there.
Mr. Keller sat near the wall.
Avery and Renee took the remaining chairs.
Ward folded her hands.
“We’re here to discuss yesterday’s incident.”
Renee nodded.
“Good.”
“After reviewing the available video and staff accounts, we believe both students contributed to an ongoing pattern of escalation.”
Renee stared at her.
“My daughter was sitting in a chair.”
Elaine spoke calmly.
“After spending weeks targeting Brooke’s family.”
Avery looked toward her.
“Name one thing I did to Brooke before she walked over to my desk.”
Elaine’s expression remained composed.
“You have investigated my family.”
“I requested school records.”
“You contacted former students.”
“Yes.”
“You approached staff about Grant.”
“I approached information about grade changes.”
Elaine leaned forward.
“You transferred into this school and immediately began attempting to damage our reputation.”
Avery unzipped her backpack.
Principal Ward stiffened.
“What are you doing?”
Avery placed Beth Morgan’s document on the table.
“Showing you something.”
Ward looked down.
The color left her face before she could stop it.
Elaine noticed.
“What is that?”
Avery slid the page forward.
“The official report says the flash drive in Marcus’s locker was discovered at 9:42.”
She tapped the second line.
“The electronic record says Mr. Briggs didn’t open the locker area until 10:06.”
Brooke looked at her mother.
Elaine picked up the document.
“This proves nothing.”
“It proves your timeline is impossible.”
Principal Ward cleared her throat.
“This appears to be an unofficial copy.”
“It came from the employee who processed the original paperwork.”
Ward looked sharply at Avery.
“Who?”
Avery smiled slightly.
“That seems to matter to you.”
Renee lowered her head to hide her own reaction.
Elaine pushed the paper away.
“This meeting is about Brooke and Avery.”
“No.”
Avery looked toward Brooke.
“It became about Marcus when Brooke grabbed me and told me to leave her brother alone.”
Elaine turned slowly.
“You said that?”
Brooke’s confidence disappeared.
“She kept asking about Grant.”
Elaine’s voice became colder.
“You mentioned your brother while somebody was recording you?”
Brooke looked confused by the question.
Avery was not.
That was when she understood what Elaine feared.
Not the grabbing.
Not the video.
The connection.
Thousands of people had now heard Brooke connect Avery’s investigation of Marcus’s expulsion directly to Grant Carlisle.
Avery looked at Elaine.
“That’s the part you care about.”
Elaine’s eyes returned to her.
“Excuse me?”
“You’re not afraid people saw Brooke touch me.”
Avery spoke quietly.
“You’re afraid they’ll ask why she thought Marcus’s case had anything to do with Grant.”
Principal Ward ended the meeting within minutes.
Both girls received two days of administrative leave.
Westbridge called it a cooling-off period.
Parents online called it punishment for being assaulted.
Reporters began contacting the district.
Why did Mr. Keller wait before intervening?
Why did Avery receive equal discipline?
What did Grant Carlisle have to do with Marcus Brooks?
The school had spent almost two years keeping those questions inside its own walls.
The video moved them outside.
At 11:16 that night, Avery received a message.
It came from Brooke.
WE NEED TO TALK.
Marcus looked at the phone.
“Block her.”
“She’s scared.”
“Good.”
“Scared people talk.”
Marcus frowned.
“Scared people also do stupid things.”
Avery lifted the phone.
“That worked pretty well for us yesterday.”
They agreed that Avery would meet Brooke the following afternoon in a busy coffee shop.
Marcus sat nearby.
Brooke arrived wearing sweatpants, an oversized Ohio State sweatshirt, and no makeup.
She looked younger without the Westbridge version of herself assembled around her.
She sat across from Avery.
“You embarrassed me.”
Avery stared.
“You grabbed me.”
“I know.”
“Then we’re starting poorly.”
Brooke rubbed her forehead.
“My mother thinks you have old computer records.”
Avery said nothing.
“Do you?”
“Why does she care?”
Brooke looked toward the window.
“She called Grant last night.”
Avery’s attention sharpened.
“What happened?”
“They fought.”
“Who?”
“My mom, my dad, and Grant.”
Marcus stood from the nearby table and approached.
Brooke immediately stiffened.
“You brought him?”
Avery looked at her.
“You physically dragged me from a chair forty-eight hours ago.”
She nodded toward Marcus.
“You got one brother.”
Marcus sat.
“What did Grant say?”
Brooke stared at him.