No name, no signature. It didn't need one. Jordan stared at the screen, then slowly reached for the notebook in his backpack. He wrote down the time, the number, the exact words. Outside the window, Crownbridge disappeared behind him.
But for the first time, Jordan understood something Professor Hayes had been trying to tell him. This wasn't fading. It was organizing itself. And somebody had just decided to push harder. The next morning, Jordan found out what that meant.
He was halfway through reviewing a set of beam load calculations in the engineering commons when a paper cup tipped across the table. Coffee rushed over the corner of his drawings. Jordan jerked the pages upward, but brown liquid had already soaked through two sheets. Oh man. Chase Whitmore stood across from him with one hand raised in fake surprise.
Tyler Bennett leaned against a nearby column. Logan Price had his phone in his hand. Again. Chase looked at the spreading stain. My fault.
His voice said the opposite. Jordan stared at the ruined calculations. 3 hours of work, not destroyed completely, but damaged enough to force him to redraw several sections before Professor Hayes reviewed them. Chase reached for a stack of napkins. Here, let me help.
Jordan took the napkins before Chase could touch the papers. I've got it. See, Chase said to Tyler. Always so serious. Tyler laughed.
Jordan blotted the coffee carefully. Students sat only a few tables away. Nobody spoke. A few watched. One man gathered his laptop and moved to another table.
Jordan noticed that more than the laughter. People were beginning to move away from the conflict as though silence could keep them innocent. He pulled out his notebook. Wednesday, 9:12 a.m. Engineering Commons. Chase Whitmore spilled coffee on capstone drawings.
Logan recording. When Jordan finished writing, Chase looked over. You keeping a diary about us? Jordan closed the notebook. I'm keeping records.
The smile on Chase's face thinned. For the first time, Jordan saw something underneath the amusement. Irritation. He hadn't been giving them what they wanted. No shouting, no threats, no scene.
And now he was documenting them. Chase stepped closer. You think that scares anybody? Jordan slid the damaged plans back into his portfolio. No. Then why do it?
Jordan met his eyes so I don't have to argue about what happened later. Chase stopped smiling. Tyler pushed away from the column. Jordan stood. The engineering commons seemed to shrink around the three of them.
Logan raised his phone slightly. Jordan saw it. Chase saw him see it. That was the game now. Jordan picked up his portfolio.
Move. Tyler stepped aside. Not because Jordan asked, because Chase gave him the smallest nod. Jordan walked out. Behind him, no one laughed.
That silence felt different, less amused, more watchful. By lunch, another incident had been added to the notebook. Jordan was crossing the library corridor, but when Tyler came from the opposite direction, there was plenty of room. Tyler chose not to use it. His shoulder slammed into Jordan's hard.