Chapter 82: The Photo in the Locker

Aveline’s POV

The next morning, I arrived at the school building very early. The long hallways were completely empty. The air was quiet. As I walked down the empty corridor, I felt a strange new clarity in my mind. My thoughts were not messy anymore. My relationship with Kieran was different now. Spending the night at his private apartment changed everything for me. For a long time, I did not know if I could trust him.

I thought he was just another bad guy at Crestwood. But after he saved my life from that terrible car crash, everything changed. I knew exactly where he stood now. He wasn't just helping me to protect Asher's legacy but he was also thinking about my safety, Aveline. Having him on my side gave me a clear mind to face the dangers ahead. I felt strong.

I walked into the sports locker room to prepare for the morning. I went straight over to my specific hockey locker. I needed to grab my ice skates for practice. I pulled my keys out of my pants pocket. I unlocked the grey metal door and swung it open.

My heart stopped for a second.

A printed photograph was taped flat against the inside of the locker door. I reached out with a shaking hand and pulled the paper off the metal. It was a high-resolution, very clear photo. It was taken from the diner the night before. The camera angle was very low, right under the wooden table. The picture clearly showed Kieran’s hand tightly holding Asher's hand. You could see our fingers locked together perfectly under the table.

My eyes dropped to the bottom of the paper. Someone had written a message across the photo in big, dark letters. The message said: “Tonight everyone in Crestwood will see this.”

I stood there staring at the paper for a long time. This was a direct blackmail attempt. The people behind the black car wanted to ruin Kieran. They wanted to expose us to the whole school. If this picture went public, the entire hockey team would see the captain holding hands with Asher. It would create a massive scandal. It would destroy Kieran completely.

But I did not panic. I chose to completely ignore the blackmail photo. Silas and Barrett wanted me to run around scared, but I was done playing their games. My focus was entirely on the folder inside Asher's USB drive. The true answers were in that drive. I needed to find them before the night arrived.

I left the locker room quickly. I found a quiet, empty classroom down the hall. I sat down at a small desk. I pulled my laptop out of my backpack. I plugged the secret USB drive into the side slot. The screen lit up instantly. It showed the main folder structure. I clicked on the next file in the sequence.

A box popped up in the centre of the screen. The next file in the folder required a secondary security key. I tried to type a few basic number combinations. The red error text kept flashing on the screen. It did not work. I leaned back in my chair. I thought deeply about my brother. I realised the password was not a random string of numbers. Asher was a simple boy. The password had to be linked to something Asher loved deeply in his life.

I looked around the room. I started typing everything Asher loved during his time at Crestwood. First, I typed his favourite hockey jersey number. The screen flashed red. Next, I typed his favourite video games. Nothing worked. Then, I tried typing the name of his favourite hockey teams. The red error message appeared every single time. My fingers hovered over the keyboard. I was getting very frustrated.

I stopped typing and closed my eyes. I thought about how much Asher cared about his family. I thought about our childhood together before everything went wrong. With a deep breath, I leaned forward. I typed my own name into the security box: Aveline pressed the enter key.

The file clicked open instantly. The security box disappeared. A large list filled the bright computer screen. It was a complete list of names. My eyes widened as I scanned down the rows. The file revealed a list of names of Crestwood players who were secretly involved in the app. These were the students who were using the illegal app to make money as well.

They were running a secret betting game. Seeing the names written out in black and white made my stomach turn. The list was very long. The conspiracy was much bigger than I originally thought.

The next day, I walked through the main school courtyard. The sun was bright, but I felt completely cold inside. After opening that file and surviving the car crash, I was literally suspecting everyone. I was suspecting everyone because of the car accident. Every student carrying a backpack looked like a potential enemy to me. I could not trust a single face anymore. Anyone could be working for Silas and Barrett.

As I crossed the courtyard, I looked up toward the high balcony of the main building.

I saw Theo standing up there. He was leaning against the metal railing, looking down at the courtyard below.

I stopped walking for a second. I wanted to see if we could still fix our friendship after what happened. I raised my hand to wave at him. I wanted to see his reaction.

Theo saw me raising my hand in the air. His face remained completely blank and cold. He did not wave back at me. Theo ignored me completely. He turned around on his heel and went inside the building through the doors. Seeing his cold reaction made my heart hurt.

His love for Asher had truly turned into something dark and bitter. He was completely distant now. He was acting like a stranger.

Before I could think more about Theo, I heard fast footsteps rushing up behind me on the path.

“Asher! Wait up!” a voice called out.

I turned my body around quickly. It was Daphne. She was running toward me, catching her breath. She looked worried. She reached out her hand and handed me a notebook.

“You left this behind,” Daphne said quickly.

But as she handed me the notebook, her eyes dropped down to my arm. Because of the violent car crash from last night, I sustained a painful injury. My wrist was wrapped tightly in white medical tape. It looked very bad under my sleeve.

Daphne looked at the injury I had sustained from the crash. Her eyes grew wide with shock and fear. She pointed her finger at the white tape on my skin.

“Oh my god, Asher,” Daphne whispered, her voice trembling as she looked at me. “What happened to your wrist?”