Chapter 76 Too Convenient
The hallway never fully settled after Pamela was taken away. Even in class, the noise didn’t disappear. It just lowered into whispers, passed from desk to desk, phone to phone.
Lenora didn’t try to follow it. She already knew what it would sound like.
Half-truths. Guesses. Names mixed together.
By the time the final bell rang, the story had changed at least five times.
Pamela cut herself on broken glass.
Pamela found something in the lab.
Pamela was looking for files.
Pamela said someone pushed her.
No one agreed.
Everyone talked.
Lenora stepped out of class and headed straight toward the science wing again.
Kylen caught up with her halfway down the corridor.
“You’re going back there?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“They closed it off.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
He didn’t argue further.
Lilibeth joined them near the stairwell.
“You’re both predictable,” she said.
Lenora didn’t respond.
Lilibeth walked beside them anyway.
The lab area was quieter now.
Tape across the door.
A staff member standing nearby.
Watching.
Kylen slowed slightly. “We’re not getting past that.”
Lenora looked at the door. “We don’t need to go inside.”
The floor had been cleaned.
Too clean.
Lilibeth noticed it too. “That’s fast.”
Kylen nodded. “Too fast.”
The staff member stepped forward slightly.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said.
Lenora met her gaze. “We’re not going in.”
“That’s not the point.”
Silence.
Then footsteps approached from behind.
Lilibeth’s boyfriend.
Hands in pockets again.
Watching everything like he always did.
“They moved quickly,” he said.
Kylen glanced at him. “You saw it earlier?”
“I saw enough,” he replied.
Lenora looked at the door again.
“The blood didn’t spread that far,” she said.
Kylen frowned. “What?”
She pointed slightly. “It stopped near the frame. That means it started close to the entrance.”
Lilibeth followed her line of sight.
“So she didn’t walk out bleeding,” she said. “It happened right there.”
Kylen exhaled slowly. “Which means she wasn’t moving much before she fell.”
The staff member shifted uncomfortably. “You shouldn’t be discussing this.”
Lenora looked at her. “Then give a clear explanation.”
No answer.
Lilibeth stepped closer to the tape.
“She said she didn’t take anything,” she said.
Kylen nodded once. “Yeah.”
Lilibeth looked at Lenora.
“That wasn’t random,” she said.
Lenora didn’t disagree.
From down the hall, the boy appeared again.
He didn’t rush this time.
Just walked up and stopped beside them.
“I checked something,” he said.
Kylen looked at him. “You always do.”
The boy ignored that.
“Pamela signed out lab access earlier today,” he said.
That shifted everything.
Lilibeth turned immediately. “So she did go inside.”
“Yes,” he replied.
Lenora stayed still.
“Then why say she didn’t?” she asked.
The boy shrugged slightly. “Either she panicked or she’s hiding something.”
Kylen added, “Or someone told her to say that.”
That possibility sat heavier.
Lilibeth looked at the staff member again.
“You knew she had access,” she said.
The staff member didn’t respond.
That was enough.
Lenora stepped back slightly from the door.
“This is too clean,” she said.
Kylen looked at her. “Meaning?”
“Meaning it happened fast, got handled fast, and now nobody wants to explain it properly.”
Lilibeth nodded once. “And it just happens to pull attention away from everything else.”
Silence.
Kylen looked between them.
“You think this was staged?”
Lenora shook her head slightly.
“No. I think something happened,” she said. “But I don’t think we’re getting the real version of it.”
The boy added, “And the timing lines up too well.”
Lilibeth looked at Lenora.
“Your name spreads this morning,” she said. “Then this happens before the day ends.”
Lenora met her gaze.
“Exactly.”
The staff member stepped forward again.
“You all need to leave,” she said.
This time, Kylen didn’t argue.
“Fine,” he said.
They stepped away from the tape.
Walked down the hallway together.
No one spoke for a few seconds.
Then Lilibeth broke it.
“Two things are happening at once,” she said.
Kylen nodded. “And people are choosing which one to focus on.”
Lenora kept walking.
“Let them choose,” she said.
The boy glanced at her. “You’re not worried about being pushed aside?”
Lenora shook her head.
“No,” she replied. “Because it won’t stay separate.”
That was the part they all understood.
Whatever happened in that lab…
And whatever was tied to Lenora’s file…
They were already crossing into each other.
And next time, it wouldn’t be subtle.