ve expected: sterile, minimalist, and cold. White walls, stainless steel cabinets, a single abstract pai

e remained rooted in the hallway

er voice flat. The idea of being enclosed in that s

sed Sebastian's eyes. "Don't

s this I hear about an

a perpetually worried expression who was now bustling down the h

hen I saw Ms. Pennington running. Mr. Stone and his friends were in pursuit. I intervened and found this at the scene

looked at Alison with profound disappointme

weren't even pretending to conduct a

oing to Sarah Foster?" Alison'

avoiding her gaze. He adjusted his glasses. "His father is a major donor to the ne

s it. That was the moment som

the word dripping with ve

principal to the stone-faced doctor. "And you.

s take a step back. "You didn't see a girl being bullied. You didn't see four boys co

, but there was a new intensity in his ga

ay in the shadows of this school," she continued, taking a step closer to him. "The kind of violence that doesn't leave a mark fo

p and precise, aimed not at his

"Alison! Apologize to

y on the man in front of her. She reached

of pure instinct, the reaction of a man trained for s

nt, then threw them down on the tiled floor. They landed wi

Sebastian's. "A souvenir. To remind you

principal. "Fix your school. Or the next person Broc

r word, she turned and walked away down the lon

wake. Dr. Hayes was mutterin

ad stood, her words-bystander in a lab coat-reverberating i

e. For the first time since she had run into him, he saw her not as a case fil