His expression became thoughtful. We need something they can't ignore. Mason smiled. Tyler looked at him. Not yet.
Then he turned back to Maya's frozen image. First, we make sure everybody already knows what they're supposed to see. The next incident, Tyler understood, could not look like bullying. It had to look like proof. Two evenings later, Maya left Riverton's library at 8:12.
Rain had returned to Richmond. It struck the upper levels of the parking structure in a steady whisper and ran down the concrete pillars in dark lines. The campus had emptied faster than usual because of the weather. Most of the daytime students were already gone, and the evening crowd moved quickly toward buses, cars, and the covered walkways. Maya adjusted the strap of her black sports bag and checked the time.
8:13. If she moved fast, she could catch the 824 bus toward Jefferson Heights. She had spent the last three hours in the library finishing an accounting assignment and organizing the screenshots Lena had told her to save. The folder on her phone was growing. Posts, messages, the edited video, the student affairs warning.
Maya hated seeing them collected in one place. Together, they made the pattern impossible to dismiss. She pushed through the library doors and entered the west parking corridor. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. Her shoes clicked against the concrete.
Halfway down the corridor, she heard footsteps behind her. She did not turn immediately. Her body noticed before her mind did. Two people, maybe three, one heavier than the others. Maya kept walking.
Ahead, the glass doors leading to the parking deck glowed beneath a yellow security light. Then Tyler Whitmore stepped out from beside a concrete pillar. Maya stopped. For one second, the corridor seemed to shrink. Tyler wore the same calm expression he used in student government meetings.
Leaving already, Mia looked behind her. Mason Cole stood 10 ft away. Evan Reed was beside him, phone in hand. Recording. Maya's heartbeat changed.
Not faster, sharper. She looked toward the exit, then toward the stairwell, then at Tyler. Move. He smiled. You always start conversations like that.
I don't want a conversation. Mason came closer. Evan stayed back, keeping Maya centered in the frame. Tyler folded his arms. We just want to clear something up.
No, you don't even know what I'm going to say. I don't need to. Maya stepped left. Tyler shifted with her. She went right.
He blocked that side, too. The old warning from student affairs flashed through her mind. Any further incident involving threats or physical confrontation may result in temporary suspension. Tyler knew about it. Of course he did.
That was why they were here. Maya turned toward Mason. Let me pass. Mason smiled. Plenty of room.
He did not move. Several students emerged from the stairwell at the far end of the corridor. They slowed. Maya saw them. So did Tyler.