Her hands shook slightly as she opened it. Jordan watched the screen wake. Folders appeared. Video files, timestamps, raw footage. Emily looked up.
I was recording the reception for my journalism project. Jordan's chest tightened. She continued, "I didn't just film after Tyler swung." Professor Hayes stepped closer. Emily clicked one file.
The screen filled with West Haven Terrace. Jordan appeared near the doors. Tyler stepped into his path. Chase laughed. Logan raised his phone.
The sound was clear. Jordan heard his own voice. I need to catch my bus. Then Tyler took the portfolio. The pages fell.
The recommendations slid into the rain. Jordan watched himself kneel. Watched nobody help. Watched Tyler kick the paper away. Then the warning.
Don't touch me again. Then the shove. Then the punch. Then chase from behind. Then Logan.
Then Jordan releasing each of them the moment they stopped. The whole thing uncut. Unmistakable. Jordan stared at the screen. For the first time in days, he forgot to breathe.
Emily closed the laptop halfway. Her eyes were wet. I have the original metadata, too. Professor Hayes asked quietly. Has anyone else seen this?
Emily shook her head. No. Jordan looked at her. Why not? Emily's face crumpled slightly. Not from fear, from shame.
Because I froze. The hallway was silent. She forced herself to continue. I watched what they were doing to you and I kept telling myself somebody else would say something. Jordan said nothing.
Emily looked directly at him. Nobody did. She opened the laptop again and turned it toward him. So, I'm saying something now. Jordan stared at the frozen frame.
Tyler's fist had not yet reached him. The truth existed. It had always existed. It had simply been sitting inside a camera while people with more power told their version first. Emily's voice dropped.
I have the part they cut out. Jordan looked from her to Professor Hayes. For the first time since Crownbridge froze his future, helplessness loosened its grip. Not because the fight was over, because now finally the beginning had survived. Emily Collins reopened the laptop.
The hallway outside Professor Hayes's office suddenly felt too bright. Jordan stood beside the bench, watching the raw footage again from the beginning. No edits, no dramatic zooms, no captions, just the truth as it happened. Chase stepping into frame. Tyler blocking the path.
Logan filming. Jordan asking to leave. The portfolio being taken. Pages scattering over wet stone. The recommendation letter sliding into the rain.