Next to it were her pom-poms, crushed and dirty, with distinct muddy cleat prints stamped across the white and gold streamers, Danielle stared at the scene, her face betraying nothing as she took a slow, deep breath. Danielle knelt in the hallway, her face calm despite the knot forming in her stomach. She reached for her crushed pom poms, lifting one to examine the muddy cleat print stamped across the gold and white streamers. The damage was deliberate, meant to send a message. Two giggling students walked past, their conversation dropping to whispers as they noticed her.
They quickened their pace, eyes averted, pretending not to see the mess or her kneeling figure. The hallway fell uncomfortably silent, except for their retreating footsteps. Do you need help with that? Danielle looked up to see Mia Torres, the floor's resident assistant, hovering at the corner of the hallway. Despite her official position, Mia's eyes darted nervously toward the exit, as if calculating her escape route.
"I'm fine," Danielle said, gathering her scattered uniform items methodically. "Not the first mess I've cleaned up." Mia took a half step forward, then stopped. "I should report this," she said, but her voice lacked conviction. "Should you?" Danielle asked without looking up. "I mean I want to, but" Mia trailed off, shifting her weight from one foot to another.
Danielle shoved the last of her belongings into the duffel bag and stood, facing Mia directly. "But what?" "Nothing," Mia said quickly. "Let me know if you need anything." Danielle watched her hurry away, then slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the elevator. She pressed the button for the ground floor, her mind already working through next steps. The resident director's office was mostly dark when she arrived, but a light still shown from the back room.
A sleepy-looking student worker glanced up from his textbook. Can I help you? "I need to see the security footage from the third floor, east wing," Danielle said. "Someone vandalized my property." The student worker's expression shifted almost imperceptibly. "Oh, that section's cameras are down for maintenance.
Started this morning." "Convenient," Danielle said flatly. "You can file a report," he offered, sliding a form across the counter without meeting her eyes. "When will the cameras be working again?" "Hard to say. Technical issues." Danielle took the form, but didn't move. "This happen often?
Cameras going down when they might catch something important?" The student worker glanced toward his supervisor's door, then lowered his voice. "Look, I just work here, but yeah. Especially near certain people's rooms." As Danielle turned to leave, she spotted Mia waiting by the exit, arms wrapped tightly around herself. "It won't help," Mia said quietly as they stepped outside into the cool night air. "The report, I mean.
Because the cameras are broken?" "Because it'll disappear." Mia looked around nervously. "Last year, my roommate filed three complaints against a football player who kept showing up drunk at our door. Each one vanished from the system. Then the dean suggested she might lose her scholarship if she kept making unfounded accusations." Danielle's jaw tightened. "So, everyone just accepts this?" "What choice do we have?
Tyler's family donated the new business building. His uncle sits on the board. The Graysons basically own half this place. "Nobody owns me," Danielle said. Back in her room, Danielle locked the door and pulled out her phone.
Her aunt Regina answered on the third ring. "It's late, baby. Everything okay?" "Not exactly." Danielle explained what had happened, from the field incident to her ruined pom-poms. Regina was quiet for a moment. "You controlled yourself when he grabbed you.
That's good. "I wanted to break his wrist," Danielle admitted. "But you didn't. That's restraint. That's strength." Regina's voice grew firmer.