Chapter 1 - The Girl Everyone Blamed
Six days earlier, Jasmine Cole stood at the edge of a condemned quarry and watched the ground collapse beneath Daniel Reyes.
He had been three steps ahead of her when the mud gave way.
One moment, Daniel was arguing that they had taken the wrong turn.
The next, his right leg disappeared into the earth.
Jasmine dropped her backpack and lunged toward him.
“Don’t move!”
Daniel clawed at the wet ground as stones rolled into the darkness below. Jasmine flattened herself against the trail, caught his wrist, and pulled with both hands.
Behind her, eleven students shouted at once.
Mr. Park ordered everyone away from the edge.
The forest smelled of rain, exposed soil, and rusted machinery. Through the trees, Jasmine could see the abandoned quarry cranes standing like skeletons against the gray sky.
This area was not part of their approved research route.
She knew that with absolute certainty.
Jasmine had designed the route herself.
For three weeks, she had studied elevation maps, satellite records, flood patterns, bridge inspections, and emergency access points. She had walked most of the trail with Mr. Park the previous Sunday.
The team should have been at Willow Creek.
They should have been collecting water samples beside observation point four.
They should not have been anywhere near the quarry.
With Mr. Park’s help, Jasmine dragged Daniel onto stable ground. His jeans were torn, and his ankle was swelling, but he was alive.
“What happened to the path?” Mr. Park demanded.
Jasmine pulled the school tablet from her bag.
The map on the screen showed their blue route line passing directly through the quarry.
“That isn’t my map.”
Victoria Hale stood beneath a cedar tree, perfectly dry beneath a large navy umbrella.
“What do you mean, it isn’t your map?” she asked.
Jasmine enlarged the route.
“My route turns east at the old bridge. This one turns north.”
Victoria gave a short, humorless laugh.
“Your account name is at the top.”
Several students looked at Jasmine.
The file did display her name.
JASMINE.COLE.
Route coordinator.
Last updated Friday at 6:18 a.m.
Jasmine stared at the timestamp.
She had been asleep at 6:18.
At least, she thought she had been.
The rain strengthened.
Mr. Park attempted to call the school, but there was no signal. The landslide had blocked the path behind them, and Daniel could not walk.
Jasmine forced herself to think.
“There’s an emergency service road west of the quarry,” she said. “It isn’t on this map, but I saw it in an older county survey.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“You already led us here. Why should anyone follow you again?”
“Because the slope is still moving.”
As if answering her, a deep crack sounded through the trees.
Everyone looked uphill.
Mud slid between the roots.
Mr. Park made the decision.
They followed Jasmine west.
For forty-three minutes, she guided the group through heavy rain, over a collapsed drainage channel, and around the quarry fence. She used the direction of the stream and the old maintenance poles to locate the emergency road.
An ambulance reached them at 11:06.
Daniel was transported to the hospital with a fractured ankle.
The others returned to Westbridge Academy in two emergency buses.
By the time Jasmine stepped off the bus, parents and reporters had gathered outside the school.
Victoria’s mother, school-board president Celeste Hale, stood at the front of the crowd.
She wore a cream coat and an expression of controlled horror.
“Which student created the route?” a reporter called.
Before Mr. Park could answer, Victoria pointed at Jasmine.
“She did.”
Every camera turned.
Jasmine’s wet hair clung to her face. Mud covered her gray hoodie. Her hands were still shaking from pulling Daniel away from the quarry.
Celeste approached her slowly.
“Did you ignore the safety warnings?”
“No.”
“Did you upload the route?”
“I uploaded a different route.”
Victoria held up the tablet.
“Her name is right here.”
The cameras moved closer.
Jasmine searched for Dr. Mercer, but the principal was speaking to emergency officials near the second bus.
“Someone changed the file,” Jasmine said.
Celeste’s eyes sharpened.
“Are you accusing the school?”
“I’m saying that isn’t the map I submitted.”
Victoria looked directly at the nearest camera.
“She told us it was safe.”
“That’s not true.”
“She refused to turn back.”
“The trail collapsed behind us.”
“She almost got Daniel killed.”
Jasmine saw the story take shape before anyone investigated it.
The scholarship student.
The missing father.
The troubled family.
The dangerous mistake.
Celeste placed one hand on Victoria’s shoulder.
“We should allow the school to examine the evidence,” she said with careful sympathy. “But until then, Jasmine must accept responsibility for the harm she caused.”
A reporter asked whether Jasmine would be expelled.
Another asked whether criminal charges were possible.
Jasmine looked at the tablet again.
Beneath her username was a small black symbol she had never added to the map.
A circle crossed by three silver roads.
Her breath stopped.
She had seen it before.
May you like
Seven years ago.
On the compass recovered from her father’s empty car.
