I grabbed the handle and yanked. It wouldn’t budge.
“Looking for this?” a voice asked through the heavy wood.
I froze. I slowly backed away from the door.
“I checked the security logs, Maya,” Vance’s voice came clearly through the door, muffled but perfectly audible. “When my master card swiped into this office three minutes ago, I knew exactly where you were.”
“Let me out,” I demanded, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.
“You’ve made a terrible mistake,” Vance replied smoothly. “You should have just gone home. Now, I have a student who has not only committed violent assault, but has also broken into the principal's private office to steal confidential files.”
I looked around the room frantically. The windows were heavy, double-paned glass that didn't open. There was no other exit.
“The board review is starting in twenty minutes,” Vance continued, his voice dripping with condescension. “Chloe is preparing her slides right now. You are going to sit in that room until she is finished. Then, I am going to call the police, and I am going to have you arrested for burglary.”
“I have the emails, Vance!” I shouted, pressing my hands against the door. “I know about Harrington’s bankruptcy! I know you gave Chloe the keycard to destroy my project! If you call the police, I’ll show them everything!”
There was a long pause on the other side of the door.
When Vance spoke again, his voice had lost its smooth, practiced edge. It was low and venomous.
“Who is going to believe a delinquent girl from the slums over the principal of Oakridge Academy? I will say you fabricated them. I will say you are having a violent mental breakdown because you couldn't handle the pressure of the scholarship.”
I heard the sound of his footsteps moving away down the hall.
“Enjoy the quiet, Maya,” he called back. “Your future is officially over.”
CHAPTER 4
The silence in the office was deafening.
I stood in the center of the room, my breathing shallow and fast. The smell of the dried green paint on my clothes was suffocating. I looked at the heavy oak door. I pulled the master keycard from my pocket and tapped it frantically against the interior reader. The light stayed red. Vance had remotely deactivated the card from his phone or another terminal.
I was trapped.
I walked over to the windows. They overlooked the front courtyard of the school. I could see the polished black cars of the Sterling Grant committee members parked in the VIP spots near the auditorium. The review was beginning. Chloe was probably standing on the stage right now, presenting her flawlessly formatted slides, playing the role of the perfect, untroubled scholar.
I imagined my mother’s face when Vance made the phone call. I imagined her crying in the hospital breakroom, realizing all those double shifts were for nothing.
A cold, hard knot of absolute defiance settled in my stomach.
I was not going to let them win. I was not going to let a corrupt administrator and a cruel, entitled bully steal my life.
I turned away from the window and scanned the office. The door was solid oak. I couldn't break it. The windows were reinforced glass.
But I didn't need to break the door. I just needed the electronic lock to disengage.