Chapter 42: Under the Spotlight
It was supposed to be harmless.
Just another event in a long list of forgettable school functions—a fundraiser masquerading as a celebration, hosted in the gym with student volunteers, a photo booth, and plastic cups filled with flat soda.
The Founders’ Day Festival.
Named for the original board members who’d established Hawthorne Academy decades ago.
But as Evelyn stood near the punch table, she saw it for what it really was:
A reunion for the Society’s present-day founders.
Mr. Caldwell stood near the back, speaking quietly with Principal Devereux. Nathaniel, in a pressed navy suit, moved effortlessly through the crowd, all charm and handshakes. Mia Langston stood beside her mother, both offering carefully sculpted smiles to the scholarship donors.
They were all here.
Every known member of the Hall’s inner circle.
All in one place.
And no one else seemed to notice.
Or care.
Except her.
Clara leaned in. “We’re surrounded.”
“I know,” Evelyn murmured, eyes scanning the exits. “But so are they.”
Liam joined them, handing Evelyn a phone with a map of the gym’s emergency access panel.
“I got the blueprints from Ezra,” he whispered. “There’s a hidden access closet under the bleachers. If we tap into the building’s comm relay, we might catch encrypted communication between Caldwell and the headmaster.”
Evelyn nodded. “Perfect.”
She turned to Clara. “You still have the audio relay from the surveillance room?”
Clara patted her coat pocket. “Ready and recording.”
“Then this is our moment.”
They split up, each slipping into their roles like threads in a quiet rebellion.
Clara circled toward the back office, where admin staff hovered near laptops and projection screens. She pretended to search for the restroom, slipped inside when the hallway cleared, and placed a small USB bug on the staff computer.
Liam made his way under the bleachers, moving casually with a clipboard like a volunteer. He crouched beside a broken vending machine and used a tiny screwdriver to unscrew the access panel.
Inside, a series of fiber optic cables glowed faintly.
He clipped on the signal tap.
Then waited.
Evelyn, meanwhile, stayed visible.
She let her presence be known.
Greeted staff. Took photos. Sipped from a cup she didn’t trust. Laughed at jokes that left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Because being seen was its own kind of distraction.
If they were watching her, they weren’t watching Liam.
Weren’t watching Clara.
Then she felt it.
A shift in the air.
Nathaniel.
She didn’t need to turn around.
She could feel his presence behind her like static.
“You clean up nicely,” he said smoothly.
Evelyn turned, smile sharp.
“You always did love a good mask.”
His smile didn’t falter. “And yet yours keeps slipping.”
“Maybe because I don’t wear mine for power.”
“Is that what you think this is?” he asked. “Power?”
“I think it’s desperation pretending to be tradition.”
He leaned in, lowering his voice. “You don’t have much time left.”
“Neither do you.”
She walked away before he could respond.
Fifteen minutes later, they regrouped near the side exit.
Liam handed her a flash drive.
“Encrypted comms,” he said. “They were sending real-time updates to a remote server labeled 'S1-Restorative'. Clara’s bug caught audio of Caldwell and Devereux discussing ‘containment options’ and an ‘alternate ending’ for the Gala.”
Clara added, “They’ve been preparing a counter-narrative. If we leak our files, they’re planning to announce a false cyber-attack. Say we were manipulated. Frame us as victims, not whistleblowers.”
“They’re scared,” Evelyn said. “They’re building a lie in case our truth spreads.”
Liam nodded. “But now we have their lie on tape.”
They didn’t stay for the rest of the event.
They didn’t need to.
They had what they came for.
As they left the gym and slipped into the cold night air, Evelyn paused, staring up at the school’s façade.
“I used to think this place was where my future began,” she said.
Liam stepped beside her.
“Now it’s where their empire ends.”