The hallway smelled faintly of antiseptic and metal.Jared sat on one of the molded plastic chairs outside the disciplinary office, his back straight despite the ache spreading through his ribs. His jaw throbbed with every heartbeat, the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth where his lip had split. One side of his face felt swollen already. He barely noticed.Across from him, a campus security guard stood with his arms folded, posture rigid, eyes trained somewhere over Jared’s shoulder like he was guarding a crime scene instead of a student.Brad wasn’t there.They’d been separated almost immediately—pulled apart, restrained, marched in opposite directions down branching hallways. Jared hadn’t seen Brad’s face since security dragged him away, but the image of his raised fist, frozen midair, wouldn’t leave his mind.The sound of muffled voices drifted through the closed office door.Jared flexed his fingers slowly, wincing as soreness flared through his knuckles. He hadn’t even

Director Hill did not like surprises.He especially did not like them at night, when the campus had gone quiet and the weight of responsibility settled heavier than usual on his shoulders. The disciplinary reports lay open across his desk, pages spread like evidence at a trial he could already feel slipping out of his control.The cafeteria altercation.The hallway fight.Suspensions.Videos circulating unchecked.Hill removed his glasses and rubbed his temples slowly.Too many incidents. Too much attention. Too many names repeating themselves.A soft chime broke the silence.His computer screen lit up with an incoming secure call.Hill straightened immediately.Only three people had access to that line.He accepted the call.“Director Hill,” came the voice on the other end—calm, measured, unmistakably corporate. “Thank you for taking this so late.”Hill swallowed. “Of course. Is there a problem?”There was a brief pause.“Yes,” the voice said. “There may be.”Hill’s fingers tightened

The announcement came at 9:17 a.m.Across Los Angeles University, screens flickered to life at once—lecture halls, libraries, cafeterias, even the digital boards lining the quad. Conversations stalled mid-sentence. Professors paused in front of whiteboards. Students instinctively reached for their phones as the LAU crest filled every display.Then Director Hill appeared.He stood behind the familiar podium, suit pressed, shoulders squared, expression composed. At first glance, he looked the same as always—but something in his posture felt tighter, more deliberate, as if every word had already been weighed and reweighed before being allowed to exist.“Good morning, students of Los Angeles University,” Hill began. “This is an official campus-wide announcement.”The background hum of campus life faded into silence.“Over the past several days,” Hill continued, “our university has experienced a series of incidents that have raised serious concerns about student conduct, faculty behavior,

The campus had learned how to laugh again.By the next afternoon, the tension from Director Hill’s announcement had thinned into something performative—half caution, half bravado. Students walked with a little more swagger now, voices louder, jokes sharper. The mystery had become entertainment. The danger, hypothetical.Jared felt it the moment he stepped back onto the grounds.He kept his head down, hands in his jacket pockets, moving with purpose across the quad. He wasn’t supposed to be here long—just a brief meeting with administration, escorted in and out. No detours. No unnecessary attention.That was the plan.He saw Sammy Jo before Sammy Jo saw him.Sammy stood near the central fountain, flanked by Brad and two other students, laughing loudly at something on Brad’s phone. Brad’s posture had changed in recent days—shoulders squared, chin lifted, confidence borrowed and worn too eagerly.Jared adjusted his path instinctively, angling toward the library steps.Almost made it.“He