“We had to move things around. This is the only chance we’ll have. You know how it goes. Come on, come on. Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you look amazing.”
She turns back to me for just a second, lips parting like she might say something, but she doesn’t. Her lips close just as quickly, eyes turn away, and she follows him down the hallway, heels clicking faster than before.
I watch her go, and the urge is more undeniable than before. It feels like I’m watching an old video, watching myself make the worst mistake of my life, and even with everything I know now, I’m powerless to stop it.
There was a time when I would’ve followed Ralston anywhere. Taken her word over anyone else’s.Everyoneelse’s. I wrote for her. Covered for her. Defended her. Even when she hurt me.
But now? I know why I’m here. Finally. I don’t want redemption. I don’t need her to pay. I just want to stop her from hurting anyone else. And if that means the truth has to come out, then so be it.
If Dani won’t listen, someone else will. Even if I have to make them. I studied Ralston. I know her. If she has any weaknesses, I’ll find them.
Once, she made me run.
This time, I’ll stay until she crumbles.
CHAPTER SIX
I don’t mean to follow the film crew. At least, I’m not aware I’m doing it at first as I leave the building and cross the lawn, trailing behind them as if I just so happen to be heading in the same direction.
Pure coincidence. Curiosity, maybe. Not obsession.
I stay back, but still close enough to hear snatches of chatter. There’s a woman with a silver pixie cut in the center. She’s not wearing any makeup and is dressed in olive green cargo pants and a plain black T-shirt, effortlessly cool. Watching them interact, I assume she’s the director. She’s deep in discussion about lighting and the shot list with the two men carrying cameras and the woman with a boom mic. Off to the side, there’s another man balancing three iced coffees and a clipboard, talking into a headset.
Dani is led along with them by the man who fetched her. I can’t figure out his job yet, perhaps an assistant director or something similar. He’s telling her things aboutframing, and then the director is saying things aboutcutaways.The lighting on this cloudy day is apparently both very important and rapidly changing.
Dani nods, but she looks terrified. She also looks as if she’s just been knighted, taking every word to heart, her responsibility clear.
They turn toward Liza Hall and move at once, like a cloud of power.
I stay a few paces behind, slipping inside when it’s safe. I’ll be fine as long as they think I belong—which, technically, I do. That’s the thing about institutions like Havenport. Once you’ve been absorbed into their history, their lore, you know enough to haunt them forever.
The crew sets up at a rapid pace in the atrium, buzzing with the practiced chaos of people who know exactly what they’re doing. I wonder how they got here. If this was their dream once. A tinge of jealousy paints my vision. Some people get their dream, but I never did.
I linger near a potted plant and pretend to check my phone, but I’m watching as they move. Listening to their every word.
Before they start filming, the man who delivered Dani to set notices me and crosses the room. “Hey—sorry, this building’s closed for filming. Are you faculty?”
My stomach drops. “No.” Even if I wanted to lie, I don’t have the purple lanyard needed to prove my story. And I doubt Dani would cover for me.
He tilts his head. “Alum?”
I hesitate.
“She’s one of Dr. Ralston’s protégés,” someone behind him says.
I look up.
She’s younger and wearing thick headphones. A sound tech, maybe? “The dean gave us a list of the alumni invited to the award ceremony. I recognize you. You’re Lila Parks, right? Dr. Ralston mentored you when you attended Havenport.”
Suddenly, everyone is looking at me. Assessing. Interested.
“I’m Trey. An EP,” the first man says with a grin, holding out his hand for me to shake it. “Executive producer,” he explains, in case I didn’t understand. “You’re not on our shot list. Would you want to be part of the doc? We’re capturing testimonials about Dr. Ralston’s legacy. It would be great to hear from someone who was mentored by her in the past, find out all the great things it led to. You’d be the only Ralston success story on our list.”
Anger and embarrassment bubble in my belly. If only they knew.
“I don’t think so, but thanks.”
“Are you sure? I know it would mean a lot to her. And to us.”
