Two voices behind Jamie are low, casual, almost bored. “Apparently it was from CJ.” The name lands like a stone. Not a random admirer. Someone with reach, someone who “runs half the group chats,” someone who has turned rumors into narrative before.

Midnight at Hawthorne was supposed to mean answers. Instead, Jamie found Mara waiting in the snow, eyes sharp and certain, as if she had been holding her breath for this moment. The message had not been a dare. It had been a leash.

Chapter 6 deepens the tension as Jamie returns from the holiday break to a campus that feels unfamiliar. With anonymous messages escalating and Alex still withholding the truth, Jamie turns to Health Promotion for grounding and support, sets firmer boundaries, and prepares for a midnight meeting at Hawthorne that could finally expose what has been hidden.