CHAPTER NINE

Collision

By the next day, it didn’t feel like something we could just watch anymore.

That was the difference.

Before, everything had been observation. Noticing patterns. Trying to understand them. Now it felt like waiting too long would make us part of it in a way we couldn’t undo.

Flora found me first.

She didn’t say anything at the start, just stood next to me like that had become normal now. It wasn’t awkward in the same way anymore. Not fixed, not easy, but… aligned.

“We need more than just us,” she said.

I knew what she meant.

Anne was the easiest to bring in.

She didn’t question it much when we asked her to come with us after lesson. She just looked between us, saw something serious enough in both of our expressions, and nodded.

“What’s going on?” she asked once we were out of the main corridor.

“It’s James,” Flora said.

Anne didn’t even hesitate. “Yeah. I thought so.”

That wasn’t reassuring.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Anne crossed her arms slightly. “I mean things haven’t felt right for a while. People keep… changing their minds about things. Or each other. And no one can explain why.”

That matched too closely.

“We saw something yesterday,” I said. “With Warren.”

Anne’s expression shifted. “What kind of something?”

I hesitated.

Flora didn’t.

“He’s controlling him,” she said. “Not in a loud way. But it’s not normal.”

Anne went quiet for a second.

Then, “William’s not going to like hearing that.”

That was when he appeared.

Not dramatically. Just walking into the space at the wrong time, catching the last part of the conversation.

“Not going to like hearing what?” William asked.

Silence.

Flora glanced at me.

I didn’t avoid it.

“James,” I said. “We think something’s wrong with how he’s acting. With Warren.”

William frowned immediately. “You’re overthinking it.”

“That’s what everyone keeps saying,” Flora replied.

“Because you are,” William said, sharper now. “He’s not doing anything. You just don’t like him.”

“That’s not—” Flora started.

“Then what is it?” William cut in.

Anne stepped in before it could escalate. “Can you just listen for a second?”

William hesitated, then nodded once.

So I explained.

Not everything.

Just enough.

What we’d seen. How Warren reacted. The way James spoke to him.

William didn’t interrupt this time.

But he didn’t look convinced either.

“You’re reading into it,” he said after a pause. “That’s just how James talks sometimes.”

“No, it’s not,” Flora said.

“It is,” William insisted. “You’re just—”

“Can you stop defending him for one second?” she snapped.

That landed.

Anne stepped between them slightly. “This isn’t helping.”

William exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “Fine. Say you’re right. What do you want to do about it?”

That was the question.

The one we didn’t fully have an answer to yet.

“Talk to him,” I said.

William let out a short laugh. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“Then what?” Flora asked.

Before he could answer, something else happened.

Voices.

Raised.

Not near us.

Further down the corridor.

We all turned.

Oliver and Ethan.

They weren’t just tense anymore.

They were arguing.

Not loudly enough to draw a crowd yet, but loud enough that you couldn’t ignore it if you were close.

“I didn’t say it like that,” Oliver said.

“That’s not what you meant though, is it?” Ethan replied.

“That’s not what I meant at all.”

“Then what did you mean?”

There it was.

Misinterpretation.

Or something placed just slightly off.

I stepped forward without thinking.

Flora grabbed my arm briefly. “Liam—”

But I’d already moved.

“Ethan,” I said.

Both of them turned.

This time, Ethan didn’t look neutral.

He looked annoyed.

“What?” he said.

I hesitated for half a second.

Then, “This isn’t coming from nowhere,” I said. “You’ve been talking to James.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

I knew it the second it left my mouth.

Ethan’s expression hardened immediately. “So what if I have?”

“He’s messing with things,” I said. “You know he is.”

“No, you think he is,” Ethan shot back. “Because you need everything to be some kind of problem.”

“That’s not—”

“You’ve been in the middle of everything recently,” he continued. “And somehow it always gets worse after you show up.”

That hit.

Because it wasn’t completely wrong.

Oliver looked between us, clearly overwhelmed now. “Can you both just—”

“I’m trying to help,” I said.

“No, you’re not,” Ethan replied. “You’re making it worse.”

Silence.

That was it.

That was the shift.

Oliver stepped back slightly, looking at both of us like he didn’t recognise the situation anymore.

“I don’t want this,” he said quietly.

Neither of us answered.

Because neither of us knew what “this” meant anymore.

Ethan shook his head. “I’m done with this conversation.”

He walked away.

Not angrily.

Just… finished.

Oliver didn’t follow him.

That was the moment it broke.

Not dramatic.

Not loud.

Just over.

“Liam.”

I turned.

Sarah.

She hadn’t been there before.

Or maybe she had.

“How long have you been listening?” Flora asked.

“Long enough,” Sarah said.

Her expression wasn’t just annoyed.

It was worse.

It was overwhelmed.

“You’re making everything worse,” she said, looking straight at me.

“That’s not what’s happening,” I replied.

“It is,” she said. “You’re putting ideas in people’s heads and then acting like you’re fixing something.”

“That’s literally what James is doing,” Flora said.

“No,” Sarah snapped. “He’s not.”

“Yes, he is,” Anne said, quieter but firm.

That made Sarah pause.

Then she looked at all of us.

One by one.

Like she didn’t recognise any of us properly anymore.

“So this is what we’re doing now?” she said. “We’re just… turning on him?”

No one answered.

Because that wasn’t what it felt like.

But it was what it looked like.

Sarah shook her head slightly.

“I’m not doing this,” she said.

Then she turned—

And walked straight towards where James had disappeared earlier.

“That’s bad,” William said immediately.

“Yeah,” I replied.

And for the first time, he didn’t argue.

We didn’t follow straight away.

But we heard it.

Sarah’s voice.

Raised.

Sharp.

Not controlled anymore.

James replying.

Calm.

Of course he was calm.

And then Warren.

Trying to say something.

Failing.

The argument wasn’t fully clear from where we stood.

But we didn’t need to hear every word.

We already knew what it meant.

Everything we’d been trying to keep contained—

Wasn’t contained anymore.

CHAPTER TEN

Break Point

We didn’t mean to follow.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

But none of us left either.

The corridor felt tighter now, like the air had changed, like something had already gone too far to be pulled back. Sarah’s voice carried ahead of us, sharper than I’d ever heard it before.

“You don’t get to act like nothing’s happening anymore.”

That stopped us just before the corner.

We didn’t step into view.

We didn’t need to.

James answered, calm as ever. “I don’t know what you think is happening.”

That tone alone made something twist in my chest.

Controlled. Measured. Like this was just another conversation he already knew how to win.

“Yes, you do,” Sarah snapped. “Everyone’s falling apart and you’re just standing there like it’s not connected.”

“It isn’t,” James said simply.

A pause.

Then, quieter, “You’re listening to the wrong people.”

I felt Flora tense beside me.

There it was.

“Don’t,” Sarah said immediately. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?” James asked.

“That thing where you make it sound like they’re the problem instead of you.”

Another pause.

Then James sighed, like he was dealing with something exhausting rather than serious.

“I think you’re overwhelmed,” he said. “That’s all this is.”

That landed harder than anything else.

Because it sounded reasonable.

That was the worst part.

“I’m not overwhelmed,” Sarah said, but there was a crack in it now. “I’m watching things happen and no one else is saying anything.”

“I am saying something,” James replied. “I’m saying nothing’s wrong.”

Silence.

Heavy.

Unsteady.

Then—

Flora moved.

I didn’t stop her this time.

She stepped around the corner, into view.

“No,” she said. “You’re saying that because it works for you.”

Everything shifted.

James looked at her.

Really looked this time.

Not annoyed.

Not angry.

Just… focused.

“Of course you’d think that,” he said.

There it was again.

Redirection.

Flora didn’t back down. “Because it’s true.”

James tilted his head slightly. “Or because you need it to be.”

Sarah looked between them, tension building again.

“Stop,” she said. “Both of you—”

“Flora’s been against me from the start,” James continued, speaking over her without raising his voice. “You know that.”

“That’s not—” Flora started.

“She doesn’t like how I handle things,” James went on. “So now everything I do is suddenly manipulation.”

“That’s because it is,” Flora snapped.

“No,” James said, still calm. “It’s because she’s looking for it.”

That line landed.

I saw it hit Sarah.

Doubt.

Just for a second.

Flora saw it too.

“Sarah, don’t—” she started.

But James stepped in again, perfectly timed.

“You said it yourself,” he said softly. “Things have been worse since she came back.”

That was enough to destabilise everything again.

Sarah’s expression flickered.

Because that part was true.

And James knew it.

“That doesn’t mean—” Sarah started.

“It means something changed,” James said. “And it wasn’t me.”

That was the moment everything almost slipped back into his control.

I could feel it.

Flora could too.

“Say something,” she said to me under her breath.

But I didn’t get the chance.

Because someone else spoke.

“I didn’t change anything.”

Warren.

We hadn’t even realised he was standing there.

Just behind James.

Quiet.

Still.

But not invisible anymore.

All of us turned.

James didn’t.

Not immediately.

Warren’s voice wasn’t loud.

But it wasn’t uncertain either.

“I didn’t change anything,” he repeated. “You did.”

Silence dropped hard.

James turned slowly.

“What are you talking about?” he said.

Still calm.

Still controlled.

But something had shifted.

Warren didn’t look away this time.

“You keep telling me I’m doing things wrong,” he said. “Even when I’m not.”

“That’s not what I—” James started.

“Yes, it is,” Warren cut in.

That was new.

That had never happened before.

“You say I don’t think,” Warren continued. “That I don’t understand things. That I make things worse.”

James’s expression didn’t change.

But the control wasn’t as clean anymore.

“That’s because sometimes you do,” he said.

And there it was.

Out loud.

No softening.

No reframing.

Just said.

Warren flinched slightly.

Not physically.

Something smaller.

Internal.

“I’m trying,” he said again.

“I know,” James replied.

Same words.

Same tone.

But now everyone heard it properly.

And this time—

It didn’t sound supportive.

It sounded like a verdict.

Sarah’s expression changed.

Not confusion anymore.

Not frustration.

Recognition.

“Wait,” she said quietly.

No one spoke.

She looked at Warren.

Then at James.

Then back again.

“Say that again,” she said.

James frowned slightly. “Say what?”

“What you just said to him.”

A pause.

Then, carefully, “I said he’s trying.”

“No,” Sarah said. “The way you said it.”

James didn’t respond.

For the first time, he hesitated.

That was all it took.

Sarah stepped back slightly, like she needed space to see it properly.

“You’ve been doing that this whole time,” she said. “Haven’t you?”

James’s expression hardened slightly. “You’re overthinking it.”

“No,” she said. “I’m not.”

Her voice steadied now.

Clearer.

Stronger.

“You correct him until he stops arguing,” she continued. “You make him feel like everything he does is wrong, even when it’s not.”

“That’s not true,” James said.

But it didn’t land the same way anymore.

Because now—

There was evidence.

“I heard you,” Sarah said. “Just now. And yesterday. And before that.”

James shook his head slightly. “You’re twisting it.”

“No,” she said again. “I’m finally hearing it properly.”

Silence.

Warren didn’t move.

Didn’t speak.

But he didn’t look away either.

That mattered.

“You don’t help him,” Sarah said, quieter now. “You control him.”

That word settled heavily.

James didn’t deny it immediately.

That was the biggest mistake he’d made so far.

“I’m trying to stop things from falling apart,” he said instead.

That sounded familiar.

Too familiar.

“That’s what you always say,” Sarah replied.

And something in her voice broke slightly.

“While everything does fall apart.”

No one spoke after that.

Because there wasn’t anything left to hide behind.

Not properly.

Not anymore.

When we finally moved, it wasn’t together.

It wasn’t coordinated.

It was just… over.

The argument hadn’t exploded.

It had exposed something.

And that was worse.

Flora exhaled slowly beside me.

“Well,” she said quietly. “That’s done.”

I didn’t answer.

Because I was watching James.

And for the first time—

He didn’t look in control.

Not fully.

Not cleanly.

Just for a second.

But it was enough.