“You still want to publish it, don’t you? A single phone call, and we can reverse that agent’s decision.”
“It was you. You stopped her from signing me.”
“I had lunch with a friend. Your name might’ve come up. She might’ve asked my opinion on you—knowing you’d attended Havenport—and I’m sorry to say I couldn’t give a glowing review.”
“You’re the reason she changed her mind.”
“And I can be the reason she changes it again.”
The room holds its breath collectively as I stare in disbelief. It’s as if I’ve fallen and hit my head. None of this feels real or possible.
Bell had the evidence, but…how? How could she have pulled this off so quickly?
Suddenly, the air changes. Half the crowd boos, though I don’t know if they’re booing her or me. The evidence is still coming. New stories appear with the proof that matches them.
Around me, half the crowd sits eerily still, stunned into silence.
Ralston stops trying to get her mic to work and hurries off the stage. People rise, some attempting to follow her, others looking around for guidance. Explanation.
Someone taps me on the shoulder.
This is it.
I brace myself for whatever part of the angry mob is still looking for me. When my eyes find the faces waiting for me, my heart shatters.
Hayden.
Jade.
Naya.
Professor Bell.
Standing shoulder to shoulder, they smile at me. I rush down my mostly empty row in an effort to get closer to them, and they meet me back away from the crowd.
“You?” I whisper, piecing it together. “How did you do this?”
“I told you. I’m into computers,” Hayden says, before giving Jade a pointed look.
Jade rolls her eyes, looking away, then licks her lips. “I guess I should tell you that when Ralston offered me the job, it was on two conditions. I had to agree to be interviewed for her little documentary, and I also had to install some weird program on your laptop. Spyware.”
An electric jolt passes through my stomach.
“She convinced me it was just so she could get proof you were trying to embarrass her this week. She said she was going to ask the dean to kick you off campus but needed a reason. I knew it wasn’t harmless, but…I also thought you were going to get yourself in trouble. And, well, you know how she is. She made me believe the story she was selling, and Idoneed the job, but it’s no excuse.”
Heat blooms in my cheeks. My skin crawls with the feeling of eyes on me—watching my every move for days now. She’s had access to everything, all my documents, all the typos and thoughts I changed as I sliced open my chest and bled my truth onto the website. The anger is deep and sour, dizzying.
“I’m so sorry, Lila. I didn’t… I still don’t know why I did it. I felt awful about it—feelawful about it. When I saw the website and found out you were gone, I reached out to Hayden. I remembered you’d said her name to me that day we argued. You mentioned she was good with computers, and I wanted to see if there was a way to remove the program from your laptop.”
I close my eyes. My mind flashes back to every time my laptop acted up recently—the glitches, how slowly it was running.
I should’ve seen it. I should’ve suspected something.
My rage has had me too blinded to look. I should be angry at Jade now, for helping this happen rather than telling me the truth that day, but there’s no time. I need every ally I can get on this battlefield.
“There is, by the way,” Hayden says. “A way to remove the program. And I’ll help you do it. Anyway, around the time Jade reached out, Professor Bell sent me the evidence you’d collected from the website. We’ve stayed in touch since I left Havenport, and she told me she trusts you. That I could trust you.”
I cast a glance at Professor Bell, who just gives a small smile. “Hayden put it all together.”
