Chapter 1 - THE LOCKED DOOR
Claire Carter was already pounding both fists against the cheerleading equipment closet when Principal Harris came running down the hallway.
“Maya! Mom’s here!”
A muffled sob answered from behind the metal door.
Claire yanked the handle again.
Locked.
“Get this open!”
Principal Harris grabbed the handle with her.
Inside, sixteen-year-old Maya cried:
“Mom! Please!”
Claire looked around wildly, spotted a metal chair beside the trophy case, grabbed it, and slammed it against the door beside the lock.
Once.
Twice.
The frame shifted.
Principal Harris pulled.
The door burst open.
Maya stumbled out in her cheerleading uniform, face soaked with tears.
Claire caught her before she hit the floor and wrapped both arms around her.
“Who locked you in there?”
Maya clung to her so tightly Claire could barely breathe.
Principal Harris looked into the closet.
Nothing dramatic.
Pom-poms.
Megaphones.
Old mats.
Boxes.
A dropped phone charger.
But Maya’s terror was real.
“You’re safe,” Claire whispered. “I’ve got you.”
Maya shook her head violently.
“No.”
Claire pulled back.
“What?”
Maya grabbed her blouse.
“I can’t go back.”
“Go back where?”
“Here.”
Claire froze.
Maya sobbed harder.
“Mom, please. Transfer me to another school.”
Principal Harris’s face changed.
“This is more than one incident.”
Maya looked at him.
Then away.
Claire cupped her daughter’s face.
“Tell me.”
Maya’s lips trembled.
“They’ve been trying to get rid of me.”
“Who?”
“The team.”
Principal Harris said sharply:
“Maya, who locked the closet?”
She did not answer.
Instead she reached into her uniform skirt pocket and pulled out a folded sheet.
Claire opened it.
At the top:
VOLUNTARY CHEER WITHDRAWAL — STUDENT INITIATED.
Maya’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Claire stared.
“Did you sign this?”
“No.”
Principal Harris took the paper.
His face tightened.
“This form was filed with athletics yesterday.”
Maya whispered:
“I found it in Coach Ellis’s office.”
Claire looked at her.
“Why were you in her office?”
Maya swallowed.
“Because I was looking for the other one.”
“What other one?”
Maya’s eyes filled again.
“The paper that says I admitted I’m unstable.”
Claire went still.
May you like
And suddenly the locked closet was not the first thing someone had done to Maya.
It was the first thing Claire had seen.
