THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY

Chapter 4: THE FILE

The school investigation takes three days.

Three days of interviews. Three days of lawyers and police officers asking the same questions over and over. Three days of watching Leo's life fall apart while everyone pretends it's about protecting me.

I'm called into the principal's office on a Tuesday morning.

"Your statement has been very helpful," Principal Mitchell says. She's sitting behind her desk with a file that's gotten thicker. "Leo's suspension is being converted to expulsion pending the police investigation."

"That's not fair."

"I understand you feel strongly about this. But the school has a responsibility to protect our students."

"To what? To destroy him?" I stand up. "I told you exactly what happened. I kissed him. I wanted it. Why doesn't that matter?"

"Because he was in a position of authority. Because you're a minor. Because regardless of what you wanted, he made a choice as an adult."

"He's seventeen."

"He's old enough to know better."

I want to scream. I want to make her understand that the only person in this school who cared about me just got expelled for caring.

"There's something else," Mitchell says. She opens the file. Inside are text messages. Screenshots. Conversations between Leo and another girl. A junior named Sarah. "We discovered these during our investigation."

I read them and my stomach drops.

The messages are from last year. Leo and Sarah. The conversation starts casual and then turns into something more. He's using the exact same lines. The exact same promises. The exact same understanding that he used with me.

"How many?" I ask.

"We've found evidence of three confirmed relationships. There may be more."

I sit down because my legs stop working.

"He did it before," Mitchell says gently. "With multiple students. You're the first one brave enough to tell us what happened."

"I'm not brave. I'm stupid." I look at the messages again. "I'm so stupid."

"You're not. You're a victim. And this helps us understand that Leo has been using his tutoring position to manipulate vulnerable students for at least two years."

Two years. He's been doing this for two years.

I think about everything he said to me. All the ways he made me feel special. The promises. The connection. And apparently, he said the exact same things to Sarah. And to whoever else is in this file.

"I need to leave," I say.

I walk out of her office and I don't go to class. I go to the library. Room B. The place where all of this started.

It's empty now. Just tables and chairs and the ghost of who I thought Leo was.

My phone buzzes. An unknown number.

Don't believe everything they show you.

I stare at it. Another message comes through.

Leo didn't do those things with Sarah. Check the dates. Check the handwriting. Check everything.

Who is this?

Someone who knows the truth. Meet me tonight. Behind the school. Midnight. Bring your phone.

I should ignore this. I should go to the police. I should tell an adult.

Instead, I text back: Okay.

That night, I climb out my window at 11:45 PM. My parents are asleep. My brother is at a friend's house. Nobody knows I'm gone.

The back of the school is dark and empty. I walk toward the forest, my phone flashlight on, trying not to think about how stupid this is.

Someone steps out from behind a tree.

It's a girl. Maybe eighteen. Dark hair. Serious expression. I've seen her around school but never talked to her.

"You came," the girl says.

"Who are you?"

"Someone Leo tried to help. Someone they tried to bury." She pulls out a folder. "Sarah didn't exist. They fabricated those messages. They fabricated all of them."

"Who's they?"

"The administration. Principal Mitchell. The school board. They've known about Leo's potential for years. He was supposed to go to a good university. Supposed to have a career." She opens the folder and shows me documents. "But Leo started asking questions. Started noticing inconsistencies in how the school handles assault cases."

"What kind of inconsistencies?"

"There was a coach. Three years ago. Multiple female students reported him. The school covered it up. Leo found out and he was going to report it to the police." The girl closes the folder. "So they decided to destroy him first. Use you. Make him look like a predator so nobody would believe him when he came forward."

"That's insane."

"It's strategic." She hands me the folder. "Everything is in here. The real investigation files. The real emails. The real proof that they fabricated Sarah's account."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Because Leo took the fall for you. Because if you don't do something, the coach stays teaching. And more girls get hurt." She steps back. "And because you deserve to know the truth before you testify in court that he's a s****l predator."

She walks away before I can ask anything else.

I stand there in the dark with a folder full of evidence that could destroy the school's case against Leo. I open it and start reading. Every email. Every document. Every piece of proof that shows how carefully they orchestrated this entire thing.

And as I read, I realize something else. This isn't just about Leo. This isn't just about one coach or one school. This is bigger. Much bigger. And the moment I walk into that police station with this folder, I'm going to destroy more than just Principal Mitchell's career.

I'm going to expose something that powerful people have spent years building. Something they'll do anything to protect.

My phone vibrates again.

Once you go down this road, there's no turning back. Are you sure you want to do this?

I look at the folder. I look at the school in the distance. I think about Leo sitting in a police station right now, his life falling apart.

I text back, Yes. I'm sure