Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen
“Give me a minute to verify this,” Principal Carter said.
Her voice had lost its earlier authority. She held the tablet closer to her body, angling the screen away from the students gathering around them.
Maya didn't move.
“Verify what?”” she asked.
“It says expulsion request. My name is right there.””
“A request is not a final expulsion.””
“Then why does it have my name on it at eight fourteen in the morning?””
Principal Carter pressed her lips together.
Around them, the cafeteria was slowly returning to noise, but the students nearest the scene were still watching. Their phones hovered at chest height. Every whispered sentence seemed to carry Maya's name.
Vanessa got to her feet.
She brushed the front of her fitted pink sweater, picked up her fallen lunch tray, and set it on a nearby table as though she had merely tripped during an ordinary school day.
Then she stepped closer.
“Wow,” Vanessa said.
“You really got yourself into trouble before lunch.””
Maya turned toward her.
“Don't.””
Vanessa raised both hands in mock innocence.
“What? I'm just saying. Maybe the school finally figured out what kind of person you are.””
“You were the one who attacked Lena.””
“I dropped some milk.””
“On her head.””
“She was being dramatic.””
Lena, sitting at the table with a wad of paper towels pressed against her shirt, lifted her face.
“You said I deserved it,” she said quietly.
Vanessa's smile tightened.
“Nobody asked you, Lena.””
“I heard what you said.””
“Then maybe you should have listened when I told you to stay out of things.””
Maya took one step forward.
Principal Carter immediately raised her free hand.
“Both of you, stop. Right now.””
Vanessa stepped backward, but she kept her eyes on Maya.
“Careful,” she murmured.
“Wouldn't want to give them another reason to expel you.””
Maya felt heat rise behind her ribs.
She wanted to demand an explanation. She wanted to grab the tablet and read every line of the document herself.
Instead, she looked at Principal Carter.
“Did someone submit this request against me?””
“I need to check the record.””
“Who submitted it?””
“I said I need to check.””
The principal's grip tightened around the tablet.
That small movement told Maya something important.
Principal Carter wasn't simply confused.
She was worried about what the screen showed.
Maya glanced at the security camera mounted high above the cafeteria entrance. Its black lens pointed toward the lunch tables, including the place where Vanessa had poured the milk.
“There's a camera,” Maya said.
“You can see what happened.””
“I know where the cameras are.””
“Then watch the footage.””
“Not here. Not with an audience.””
Maya let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“So everybody gets to watch her humiliate Lena, but I have to wait privately to prove I didn't start the fight?””
Principal Carter's eyes sharpened.
“You will get an opportunity to explain yourself.””
“When?””
“In my office.””
“After you've already decided what to do with me?””
A few students murmured.
Principal Carter looked around, noticing the phones again.
“Everyone put your devices away. Lunch is over for the students involved in this incident. Move along.””
Nobody moved quickly enough to satisfy her.
A cafeteria supervisor began directing students toward the opposite side of the room. Chairs scraped. Trays clattered. The crowd loosened, but the phones remained visible.
Vanessa leaned toward one of the girls beside her.
“Make sure you save that video,” she whispered.
Maya heard her.
“So you want the video saved?””
Vanessa turned.
“Of course. Everyone saw you throw me onto the floor.””
“After you swung at me.””
“You're obsessed with that part.””
“Because it happened.””
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Maybe the principal's already seen enough.””
Maya stared at her.
For a moment, Vanessa's confidence slipped. Her eyes flicked toward Principal Carter's tablet, then toward the cafeteria camera.
It was brief.
But Maya caught it.
Principal Carter cleared her throat.
“Vanessa, you will report to my office after I speak with Maya.””
Vanessa's mouth fell open.
“Why me?””
“Because you were involved in this incident.””
“But she—”
“I will not repeat myself.””
Vanessa picked up her backpack from beneath the table.
As she passed Maya, she lowered her voice.
“You have no idea how easy it is to make people believe something about you.””
Maya turned her head.
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa's expression hardened instantly.
“It means you should learn when to keep your mouth shut.””
She walked away before Maya could respond.
Lena watched her go, her glasses still spotted with chocolate milk.
“Maya,” she whispered.
Maya turned toward her.
“Are you okay?””
Lena looked down at the ruined shirt.
“No.””
The answer was so honest that Maya's anger briefly gave way to something heavier.
“I'm sorry,” Maya said.
Lena shook her head.
“You didn't do it.””
“But I couldn't stop her from doing it to you.””
“You tried.””
Maya crouched beside the table and handed Lena a clean stack of napkins from a dispenser.
“Did she say why she did it?””
Lena hesitated.
“She said I was embarrassing her.””
“How?””
“I don't know.”” Lena wiped her cheek.
“Yesterday, she asked me to delete something from my phone. I told her I hadn't shared it with anybody.””
Maya frowned.
“What was it?””
Lena glanced toward Principal Carter.
“I don't want to talk about it here.””
“Okay,” Maya said.
“You don't have to.””
Lena gripped the napkins.
“But I think that's why she did this.””
Before Maya could ask another question, Principal Carter stepped between them.
“Maya, we're going.””
Maya stood.
She looked at Lena one last time.
“Don't let anybody tell you that you deserved this.””
Lena nodded, although her eyes remained frightened.
Maya followed the principal toward the cafeteria doors.
They had barely reached the exit when Principal Carter's tablet chimed again.
The principal stopped so suddenly that Maya nearly walked into her.
“What now?”” Maya asked.
Principal Carter stared at the screen.
Her face had gone pale beneath the bright cafeteria lights.
Maya leaned slightly to see.
The new notification displayed a single line:
*EXPULSION REQUEST STATUS: APPROVED FOR REVIEW*
Beneath it, another field appeared.
*INCIDENT REFERENCE: CAFETERIA ALTERCATION — 12:42 P.M.*
Maya's stomach tightened.
The request had been timestamped at 8:14 a.m.
Yet now it was connected to an incident that had happened after noon.
She looked from the screen to the principal.
“You said this was just a request.””
“It is.””
“Then why does the system already have today's fight attached to it?””
Principal Carter said nothing.
Maya stepped away from the door.
“Someone knew this was going to happen.””
“Don't jump to conclusions.””
“I'm not jumping to anything. I'm reading what's on your screen.””
Principal Carter turned the tablet off.
“Enough. My office.””
This time, Maya followed without arguing.
But as they crossed the threshold, she glanced back at the cafeteria.
Vanessa was standing beside the far lunch tables.
She wasn't talking anymore.
She was staring directly at Maya.
May you like
And when their eyes met, Vanessa silently mouthed three words.
*You should've stayed quiet.*
