Chapter 3 - THE FRIEND WHO CHOSE THE TEAM
Tessa Monroe had been Maya’s closest friend since seventh grade.
When Harris interviewed her, she admitted telling Brooke that Maya planned to look for paperwork.
“Why?” Harris asked.
Tessa cried.
“Because Brooke said Maya was trying to destroy the team.”
Claire sat beside Maya during the meeting.
Maya stared straight ahead.
Tessa continued.
“Brooke said if Maya took confidential files, the whole team could be suspended from competition.”
“That is not how school records work,” Harris said.
“I know that now.”
“Did you lock Maya in the closet?”
“No.”
“Did you know someone would?”
Tessa looked down.
“I knew they wanted to scare her.”
Maya’s breathing changed.
Claire squeezed her hand.
“Who is they?” Harris asked.
Tessa swallowed.
“Brooke. Kayla. Jenna.”
Three senior cheerleaders.
“Coach Ellis?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t know.”
That distinction mattered.
Then Harris asked about Trust Week.
Tessa explained that captains used peer ratings, loyalty scores, and a Red List that led to fewer stunts, worse travel treatment, and social exclusion.
Harris learned the Red List predated Maya by years, passed down from earlier captains.
The system had not been invented for her.
That made it more dangerous.
Then Tessa admitted something else.
Team captains submitted “peer readiness notes” to Coach Ellis.
Coach sometimes used them when setting competition lineups.
Claire asked:
“Do those notes become school records?”
Harris answered carefully.
“Not necessarily. Unless attached to official evaluations.”
Tessa looked up.
“They are.”
Everyone turned.
Coach Ellis kept a folder.
Peer notes.
Behavior notes.
Medical availability.
Attendance.
Maya’s folder was thicker than anyone else’s.
Brooke had been filing reports weekly.
When Harris obtained the binder, Maya’s section was thirty-seven pages.
Principal Harris opened it.
Inside:
lineup evaluations,
trainer notes,
team concerns,
parent contact summaries,
and one form titled:
STUDENT SELF-REPORT — PERFORMANCE ANXIETY.
Maya stared.
“I never filled that out.”
The handwriting looked like hers.
Claire’s skin prickled.
Harris compared it with schoolwork.
Close.
Too close.
Then the assistant principal noticed the date.
The form was signed during a day Maya had been home sick with influenza.
Principal Harris looked at Coach Ellis.
“Who submitted this?”
Coach Ellis went pale.
“I don’t know.”
“You maintain the binder.”
“Yes.”
“So who adds documents?”
“My assistant captain liaison sometimes organizes paperwork.”
“Who is that?”
Coach Ellis answered:
“Brooke.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Then Harris found a sticky note attached to the back.
In adult handwriting:
USE IF MOTHER CHALLENGES REMOVAL.
Coach Ellis stared at it.
“That is not mine.”
Harris looked at Claire.
May you like
Now someone was not only documenting Maya.
They were planning for Claire’s reaction too.
