Chapter 2
Principal Bennett stared at the tablet as though he wished he could erase what it showed.
I tightened my grip on Maya's hand.
"Principal Bennett, who is that person?"
He looked toward the crowd gathering around us.
"Mrs. Carter, we need to discuss this privately."
"No."
My answer came out sharper than I intended.
My daughter was standing beside me in a ruined costume.
My sister had just humiliated her in front of half the school.
I wasn't going to let anyone hide behind polite conversations.
"Someone helped Diane do this," I said. "I deserve to know who."
Principal Bennett lowered his voice.
"And you will. But I need to protect the investigation."
Diane suddenly stepped forward.
"Investigation? Are you people serious?"
Principal Bennett ignored her.
He asked the two staff members to escort Diane to the administrative office while he arranged for security to preserve the evidence.
Diane pulled away.
"Don't touch me!"
Nobody touched her.
The staff simply stood beside her.
Lily followed several steps behind, crying quietly.
My niece looked at Maya.
"Maya, I'm sorry."
Maya didn't answer.
She couldn't.
She was staring at the red paint covering her grandmother's feathers.
I wanted to comfort her.
But I was afraid that if I opened my mouth, I would start screaming again.
Principal Bennett led us to a small conference room beside the auditorium.
A school counselor brought Maya a clean blanket.
I helped her wrap it around her shoulders.
The paint had begun drying.
Her costume felt stiff beneath my fingers.
I wanted to rip it away from her so she wouldn't have to look at it.
But Maya refused.
"Don't take it off, Mom."
"Baby, it's ruined."
"I know."
Her voice cracked.
"But Grandma helped me design it."
I swallowed hard.
Our mother, Eleanor, had been a seamstress for forty years.
Before she died, she gave Maya a sketchbook filled with costume designs.
Maya had used one of those designs as the foundation for her competition entry.
She called it Wings of Tomorrow.
It was supposed to represent a young woman rising above hardship.
The pale-blue fabric symbolized hope.
The white feathers represented freedom.
Maya had embroidered tiny silver stars across the bodice.
Each star marked a year she had spent learning to sew.
And now someone had destroyed all of it out of jealousy.
Principal Bennett placed the tablet on the table.
"Mrs. Carter, I'm going to show you the earlier footage."
I sat beside Maya.
He pressed play.
Diane appeared near the trophy case.
She was carrying a large shopping bag.
A woman approached her from the opposite hallway.
She wore a burgundy cardigan, black trousers, and a school identification badge.
Her hair was pulled into a tight bun.
I didn't recognize her immediately.
Then she turned.
And I gasped.
"That's Mrs. Collins."
Principal Bennett nodded.
"Vanessa Collins. Our activities coordinator."
I stared at him.
"She's on the competition committee."
"Yes."
"She helped organize the judging?"
"Yes."
I looked back at the screen.
Vanessa handed Diane what appeared to be a folded paper.
Diane opened it.
Then Vanessa pointed toward the costume preparation hallway.
The two women spoke briefly.
There was no audio.
But their movements were clear.
Diane nodded.
Then Vanessa walked away.
Less than five minutes later, my sister attacked Maya.
I looked up.
"She told Diane where Maya would be."
Principal Bennett folded his hands.
"That is one possibility. We cannot establish what they said from the video alone."
Maya suddenly spoke.
"Mrs. Collins told me to wait there."
We both turned.
"What?" I whispered.
Maya stared at the tablet.
"She came into the dressing room about ten minutes before the competition."
My heart started pounding.
"What did she say?"
"She said my costume needed one final inspection."
Principal Bennett leaned forward.
"Did she explain why?"
Maya nodded.
"She said there was a possible safety concern with the feather attachments."
I closed my eyes.
"Then what?"
"She told me to stand beside the lockers until she returned."
My blood turned cold.
Vanessa had separated Maya from the other contestants.
She had placed her alone in that hallway.
And Diane had been waiting.
Principal Bennett wrote something down.
"Did Mrs. Collins return?"
Maya shook her head.
"No. Aunt Diane came instead."
I stared at the tablet.
"This was planned."
Principal Bennett looked troubled.
"We have serious concerns."
I stood.
"Concerns? My sister brought scissors and paint into a school hallway after someone deliberately isolated my daughter!"
He nodded.
"I understand."
"No, I don't think you do."
My voice broke.
"That woman could have cut my daughter's skin. Those scissors were inches from her body."
Maya reached for my hand.
"Mom."
I looked at her.
She was trembling.
I sat down.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
Principal Bennett took a slow breath.
"I have already contacted district administration. Mrs. Collins has been removed from competition duties while we investigate."
"Where is she now?"
"We're trying to locate her."
Something about his answer frightened me.
"What do you mean, locate her?"
"She left the building shortly after the incident."
I stared at him.
"She ran?"
"We don't know why she left."
But I knew what it looked like.
Someone had helped Diane set a trap.
And that person had disappeared when the trap was exposed.
Principal Bennett promised that the competition committee would review Maya's eligibility and the damage to her costume.
I shook my head.
"How can she compete now?"
He looked at Maya.
"We're going to discuss every fair option."
Maya lowered her eyes.
"It doesn't matter."
I turned toward her.
"Baby."
She shook her head.
"Everyone already saw me."
Her voice became tiny.
"They watched me fall on the floor."
I felt my heart breaking all over again.
"Nobody thinks less of you."
She wiped her cheeks.
"You don't know that."
I pulled her against me.
"Listen to me. What happened today says nothing about your worth."
She cried harder.
Before I could say anything else, someone knocked on the conference room door.
A security officer entered.
"Principal Bennett, we found something."
He held a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
"One of the custodians found this near the trophy case."
Principal Bennett opened the bag carefully.
He unfolded the paper.
I watched his face change.
"What is it?" I asked.
He turned it toward me.
It was a printed list of competition contestants.
Maya's name was circled in red.
Beside it, someone had written three words.
REMOVE BEFORE JUDGING.
And beneath that message was a handwritten initial.
V.
Principal Bennett went very still.
I stared at the paper.
Then the security officer spoke again.
"There's something else, sir."
"What?"
"The activities office computer was accessed shortly before the attack."
Principal Bennett frowned.
"And?"
"Someone attempted to change the competition results."
My heart stopped.
Because suddenly, I understood.
May you like
Diane hadn't merely wanted to destroy Maya's costume.
Someone had also been trying to steal her victory.
