Emily felt the adrenaline leaving her body.
Her hands were steady, but her stomach wasn’t.
She hated crowds after confrontations.
She hated the way everyone’s eyes changed once they discovered she could fight.
Some people looked impressed.
Some looked afraid.
Neither reaction felt like
being seen.
She wanted her phone back and she wanted to call her mother.
Dr.
Mercer held out his hand to Brad.
“Emily’s phone.”
Brad folded his arms.
“I don’t have it.”
Emily looked at him.
“Yes, you do.”
“Prove it.”
Jake closed his eyes.
It was a tiny reaction, but Emily noticed.
So did Dr.
Mercer.
“Jake?”
Jake said nothing.
“Where is her phone?”
Brad turned toward him.
“Don’t.”
Jake swallowed.
Then he pointed toward Kyle.
Kyle immediately protested.
“Why are you pointing at me?”
“Because Brad gave it to you.”
Every head turned.
Kyle’s face drained of color.
Dr.
Mercer held out his hand again.
“Phone.
Now.”
Kyle reached into his backpack and produced Emily’s phone.
The screen was cracked near one corner.
Emily’s expression finally broke.
Not because of the damage.
Because the phone contained a saved voicemail from her father, recorded before he died three years earlier.
It was one of the few things she never allowed herself to lose.
Brad saw her face and mistook emotion for weakness.
“It’s just a phone,” he said.
Emily looked at him.
“No.
It isn’t.”
Dr.
Mercer took the device from Kyle and handed it to her.
“Were you responsible for this damage?”
Kyle shook his head quickly.
“Brad dropped it yesterday.”
Brad spun toward him.
“You liar.”
“You did!”
The alliance was collapsing in real time.
Jake spoke next.
“He told us to surround her today.”
Brad stared at him.
“Seriously?”
“I didn’t know you were going to grab her.”
“You were recording!”
“Because you told me to!”
Dr.
Mercer closed his eyes for a moment, then pointed toward the cafeteria doors.
“All four of you are coming to my office.
Emily too.
Ms.
Reyes, please come with us.”
Brad started protesting immediately.
Emily simply put her phone into her backpack.
As they walked through the hallway, students stepped aside.
Emily could hear whispers following them.
“State champion.”
“She dropped Brad in one move.”
“Did you see his face?”
Emily wished nobody had seen anything.
In the office, Dr.
Mercer separated them.
Emily sat with Ms.
Reyes while the school contacted parents and reviewed the videos.
Emily’s mother arrived first.
Rachel Harris entered wearing navy hospital scrubs and an expression Emily knew immediately.
Fear before anger.
“Emily?”
Emily stood.
“I’m okay.”
Her mother checked her face, arms, and hands as though searching for an injury.
“Did you fight?”