جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Maya’s ankle snapped—sharp and ugly, like a dry branch breaking in a storm.One moment, she was flying. The next, the world spun out from under her. The bright lights in Northwood Arena smeared into white streaks. She hit the ice hard, sliding across the frozen sheet like a rag doll, only stopping when she slammed into the boards at the rink’s edge.The music kept playing, some cheerful violin piece that sounded like a sick joke.Maya tried to catch her breath, but her lungs refused to work. She stared down at her left skate. Her foot bent the wrong way, twisted and wrong. Heat and pain shot up her leg, loud and relentless."Maya!" her coach shouted, running toward her.Up in the stands, Maya caught sight of her mom getting to her feet. She didn’t look worried. She looked pissed off. She checked her stopwatch, shook her head, and glared. For her, this wasn’t a disaster—just a wasted performance.Maya’s hands shook as she tried to push herself up. "I can finish," she gasped. "I just… I

Maya’s mom didn’t waste a second. She snatched Maya off the ice so fast, Maya barely kept her balance. The metal gate slammed behind them—a sound that felt way too much like a prison cell.“Get in the car,” her mom hissed, face burning red, eyes narrowed with fury. “Now, Maya. Don’t make me lose my temper in front of all these people.”Julian stepped off the ice with a heavy thud, his hockey boots pounding the floor. He moved between Maya and her mom, blocking out the overhead lights. “She’s not finished,” he said. “We have an agreement with the school.”Bianca just laughed—sharp and mean. She waved her phone in the air. “The deal was for doctor stuff, Julian. Not midnight dates. I already sent this video to the whole school chat. By tomorrow, everyone’s gonna know the Ice Princess is dating a criminal.”The world tilted under Maya’s feet. Her reputation was the last thing she had left. If the school saw her as just another rule-breaker, there went her scholarship. She glanced at Bian

Maya didn’t wait for sunlight. She couldn’t sleep anyway. Every time she closed her eyes, she pictured that scrap of black hockey jersey on her floor. She kept replaying those nasty comments on the school website. Her secret letter to her dad—now everyone knew about it. It was like the whole world peered straight into her soul and decided to laugh.She moved quietly through the dark. Her room was dead silent, but inside her head, it was chaos. She grabbed her thickest sweater and shoved her old tablet into her pocket. No crutches tonight. She leaned on the wall, hopped along on her good foot, jaw clenched tight because her ankle throbbed with every step.At the window, the broken lock rattled. She eased it open and climbed out, careful not to fall. Her heart hammered against her ribs, wild and trapped. When she landed in the wet grass, her ankle screamed—sharp and hot, like a needle—but she just kept going.“I have to know,” she muttered, voice barely a breath. “I have to know if he l

Red lights started flashing in the office. The siren wailed—sharp and relentless. Beep. Beep. Beep. It was so loud, Maya thought it might split her head open.“Julian, look out!” she yelled.Something heavy and black smashed through the glass. Tear-gas canister. Smoke poured in, stinging Maya’s eyes and clawing at her throat. She coughed, barely able to breathe. The whole room vanished behind a blinding white cloud.“Get down!” Julian shouted. He dove over the desk and yanked Maya to the floor.Bianca was screaming. She dropped the trophy and hid her face behind her hands. “I can’t see! I can’t breathe! Help me!”Julian didn’t stop to think, not even for a second. Even after everything Bianca had done to him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her close. “Hold onto my belt, Bianca! Maya, stay with me. We have to move—now, before they come in.”Maya clutched the black book tight against her chest. Her ankle throbbed with every heartbeat, sharp and raw, but the terror outside that door pushe

The red “On Air” sign glared at Maya—a hot, watchful eye. Across the newsroom, TV screens lined the wall. On one, she spotted her father, stuck in that dark computer room. Some thug pressed a metal weapon to the back of his head.“Ten seconds, Maya,” her uncle’s voice blared over the speakers. “Nine... eight...”Her hand trembled on the desk. She glanced at the black book, then at Julian. Tell the truth, and they’d kill her father with poison gas. Lie, and the bad guys walked away clean. Julian would still be a criminal to the city.“Seven... six...”Julian leaned in, his voice barely a breath. “Maya, watch the screen. Look at your father’s hand.”She squinted at the TV. Her father’s hands were up, but his right hovered near a red wire on the wall. He tapped his fingers—tap. Tap-tap. Tap.“It’s a code,” Maya whispered. Her father, always the engineer, never just stood around. He was trying to send them something.“Five... four...”“He’s telling us the gas isn’t real,” Julian whispered