Page 136 of The Broken Note

I slam Sol’s cell phone on the desk. A pen rattles in the metal cup next to the picture frame of Harris with a golf club.

Maintaining eye contact, I press play.

Harris’s voice fills the room as he coaches Sol into shutting up.

I watch his face intently but, what I see there, sends shivers up my spine. Harris doesn’t look scared at all.

In fact, he laughs.

“That’s it? Do you think that’ll make a difference, Miss Cooper?” He rises and looks down his nose at me.

“You know exactly what you did?”

“Which is what? Encourage a vulnerable student to stay in school and get a good education?” He pushes his glasses up his nose. The light from the window catches on the lens and makes them glint. “This is why we shouldn’t open our doors to people like you.”

My back stiffens.

I grit my teeth.

“Don’t think I’ve been blind to all the trouble you’ve caused since you’ve arrived here at Redwood Prep. Mulliez and Jamieson fought for you. Jarod Cross covered for you. If so many people put their necks on the block, you should know enough to at least be grateful for the opportunities you’re given.”

Sol launches forward, but I stick out a hand.

I don’t need anyone saving me.

“This recording alone probably won’t damage you enough. But this…” I turn my cracked phone around and press play.

The video of Sol leaving the music room fills the screen.

Sol’s eyes widen.

Harris points in shock. “H-how did you get this?”

“Principal of Redwood Covers Up Arsonist’. Sol came to you to admit his crime and you threw an innocent person under the bus, for what? The fun of it? Scholarship kids are all replaceable cogs in the Redwood machine. Unless our last name is Cross or Miller or something attached to dollar signs, you don’t give a damn.”

“Miss Cooper!”

“Don’t you dare bring that lawsuit against Serena. Bring her back to Redwoodnow.”

His eyes double in size. I guess I wasn’t supposed to know about the lawsuit.

I scoop up both cell phones. “I suggest you waive her work service and give her a heartfelt apology. That’s the least you can do. If she doesn’t sue you for libel and emotional damage.”

Harris inhales deeply. After a beat, he seems to regain his composure. When he lifts his eyes again, he’s smiling.

“Go ahead. Let it out.”

My jaw slackens.

He frowns at me. “You want to throw one of your little friends under the bus to protect the other? Have at it. All I did in that recording,” he points to Sol’s phone, “was do what the police told me. I had no idea Sol was the culprit. Neither did the cops. Everything I did was by the books. However,” Principal Harris adjusts his ill-fitting suit jacket, “ now that you’ve pissed me off, any hope of you and your little culprit,” he nods at Sol, “remaining in Redwood are null and void.”

Rage simmers in my veins.

I launch forward. “You prick!”

“Cadence!” Sol pounces on me.

I fight him like a banshee.