She ignored all of them.
Then her phone rang.
"Hello?"
A man's voice answered.
"Emma?"
She froze.
"Who is this?"
"It's Daniel Carter."
Emma's expression changed.
Her father rarely called.
Not because he didn't care.
Because he was almost never home.
"You saw the video?" Emma asked.
"Everyone saw it."
Emma sighed.
"I didn't start anything."
"I know."
There was silence.
Then Daniel asked:
"Are you okay?"
Emma looked down at the red stain still faintly visible on her sleeve.
"I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine."
"I've had worse days."
Her father went quiet.
Emma knew that sentence had revealed too much.
"What do you mean, worse days?"
"Nothing."
"Emma."
She didn't answer.
Daniel's voice became gentler.
"Whatever happened before Westbridge doesn't have to follow you here."
Emma closed her eyes.
"Maybe it already has."
The next morning, Principal Anderson called Emma into his office.
Madison and Chloe were already there.
Madison sat with her arms crossed.
Her pink hair was perfectly styled.
But the confidence was gone.
Principal Anderson looked at all three students.
"I've reviewed the security footage."
He turned to Madison.
"Your actions started the incident."
Madison looked down.
"Yes, sir."
"Why?"
She hesitated.
"I thought she was disrespecting me."
Emma almost laughed.
Principal Anderson noticed.
"Something funny?"
"No, sir."
Madison looked at Emma.
For a moment, there was anger in her eyes.
Then something else.
Embarrassment.
Principal Anderson continued.
"Both sides are responsible for keeping the situation from escalating. Emma, your response was defensive, but physical contact occurred."
Emma nodded.
"I understand."
"You'll both attend a mediation meeting."
Madison immediately protested.
"Why should I—"
"Because this school isn't a battlefield."
Madison stopped.
The meeting ended.
Emma left first.
As she walked down the hallway, someone called her name.
"Emma!"
She turned.
It was a quiet girl from her English class.
Maya.
"You okay?"
Emma nodded.
"I'm fine."
Maya smiled.
"You always say that."
Emma almost smiled back.
"Maybe I mean it."
Maya hesitated.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why didn't you fight back when she threw the food?"
Emma looked at the cafeteria at the end of the hall.
"Because that's what she wanted."
Maya frowned.
"What?"
"She wanted me angry."
Emma lowered her voice.
"When people can't control you, they try to provoke you."
Maya stared at her.
"How do you know that?"
Emma didn't answer.
Instead, she walked away.
But Maya noticed something.
Emma's hands were shaking.
Just slightly.
The girl everyone thought was fearless wasn't fearless at all.
She had simply learned how to hide fear.
That afternoon, Emma received a message from an unknown number.
You should have stayed quiet.
She stared at it.
Then another arrived.
You don't know what you're getting into.
Emma's heart stopped.
Because there was one detail the sender couldn't possibly know.
The incident at Westbridge wasn't the first time someone had told her to stay quiet.
Three years earlier, Emma's older brother had disappeared.
And the last person to see him alive had been someone connected to Westbridge High.
---
Chapter 4 — The Truth Behind the Jacket
Emma didn't sleep that night.
At 2:17 a.m., she opened an old box beneath her bed.
Inside were photographs.