Of course, Hayes' voice cooled. Maya, universities are communities. Communities survive when people know when to deescalate. Maya thought of Ryan's hand on the brass key. Chase's shadow rising behind her.
30 silent people. I was calm. I didn't say you weren't. You're asking the only person who was threatened to make the problem smaller. Hayes leaned back.
I'm asking a 20-year-old student to think carefully about whether beginning her first semester with a high-profile disciplinary battle is in her best interest. The sentence sounded almost kind. That made it worse. Maya looked at the folder again. "What happens if I don't sign?"
Hayes closed it. The investigation continues. And? "And campus life can become unpleasant when conflict becomes public." There it was.
Not a threat. Not technically. Something smoother. Maya stood. "I'm not asking for Ryan to be destroyed."
Hayes looked up at her. "I'm asking for the truth to be recorded accurately." Maya. And if that makes the university uncomfortable, that isn't the same thing as making me wrong. For the first time, Catherine Hayes' face hardened.
Only for a second. Then the professional smile returned. "You're very much your father's daughter." Maya picked up her bag. "I'll take that as a compliment."
The hallway outside felt colder than the office. Her first class was worse. When she left, Maya was just enough. A seat beside a woman she had spoken with twice was suddenly covered by a backpack. Another student who had previously asked Maya to join a study group looked at the floor.
Maya sat alone near the middle. Halfway through lecture, her phone vibrated inside her bag. Then again. Then again. She ignored it.
After class, she checked. Seven anonymous messages. You think you run this place now? Transfer. Your dad won't be president forever.
One simply read, Watch your back. Maya took screenshots. Saved the timestamps. Put the phone away. In the hallway, Chase was waiting.
He leaned against a row of lockers with two other students nearby. Maya kept walking. As she passed, Chase stepped forward and struck the edge of the books in her arms with his hand. They fell. Three books hit the tile.
Loose papers scattered across the corridor. Students stopped. A professor standing near the classroom door saw everything. Maya looked at Chase. He smiled.
"Careful." She said nothing. Wouldn't want anybody accusing me of something. The professor looked down at his attendance sheet. The students around them remained quiet.
Again, that same silence. Maya crouched. One page at a time, she began collecting her notes. Chase waited for anger. She gave him none.
A shoe stopped beside one of the papers. For a moment, Maya thought someone had come to help. Instead, the students stepped around it. Maya picked it up herself. Her hands were steady.