"Three hundred shares in two hours," Kenji says. "Campus Reddit picked it up. There's a thread on the Briarcliff Confessions page asking if anyone has details."
"What's the source?"
"The Whisperer."
"That's an anonymous account with zero verified sourcing." My voice comes out colder than I intend, clean enough to cut. "Who's talking? Where are the court documents? Has anyone actually seen the sealed record, or is this a rumor laundered through repetition until it feels like fact?"
He opens his mouth. Closes it. The silence stretches.
"The Chronicle covers verified information from identified sources." I snap the words out. "We don't amplify anonymous gossip columns because they're trending on Reddit."
"Maya." He leans forward, his elbows on his knees. "I'm not saying we run the claims verbatim. I'm saying we investigate. We've got a student-athlete whose sealed juvenile record is being publicly discussed by an account with fifteen thousand followers. That's a story about privacy, about who has the power to unseal someone's past and why."
"I know what story it is." My fingers curl against the desk. "The meta-story still amplifies the claims. You can't write about the weaponization of Gio Rossi's sealed record without naming Gio Rossi and the sealed record. The piece becomes a delivery system regardless of how carefully you frame it. Sealed means sealed, Kenji. Someone decided that record should be closed. Someone else is prying it open. We are not going to be the crowbar."
Kenji's chin pulls back slightly, a flinch he tries to hide.
"If verifiable evidence drops," he says after a moment, his voice quieter.
"If verifiable evidence drops, we cover it. Named sources, documented proof. That's the job."
Kenji nods once, closes the laptop, and carries it back to his desk like it's fragile.
I lift my hands from the desk and settle them on the keyboard. My fingers stay steady. My pulse doesn't, still beating that uneven rhythm against my sternum, a frantic drum reminding me of everything I'm not saying.
The words I just gave Kenji hang in the air:sealed means sealed. Someone decided that record should be closed.I said them with my hand pressed flat on this desk, my name on this badge staring up at me, while my own sealed record pressed behind my sternum the whole goddamn time.
I killed the story because the sourcing is garbage.
My phone buzzes. The group chat lights up. Clara, Talia, Zoë, Genny.
Clara: Adrian is going to lose it at the game Saturday. He's been watching film for THREE HOURS.
Talia: Declan too. He won't tell me what's wrong but his jaw hasn't unclenched since Tuesday.
Zoë: Gio's been... quiet. He's fine when we're together but the second his phone buzzes he shuts down. If anyone hears anything about the Whisperer stuff, can you let me know?
I read Zoë's message. Then again.
Me: Nothing verified has come through the Chronicle. If it does, I'll handle it. Don't read the Reddit thread.
Clara: There's a REDDIT THREAD?
Me: Don't.
Clara: Too late. Reading now.
Genny: Maya, the Daily is working on something. Heard from a source in their office. Might be worth knowing.
Me: Noted. Thanks.
Genny. A source inside the Daily's office. Direct. Internal. I file it away.
I lock the phone and set it beside the keyboard. The preview is still unfinished. I circleelectrifyingin red and writeefficientin the margin, my hand shaking just enough that the letters come out slanted.
If the Daily runs first, the Chronicle's silence becomes its own headline. Kenji will be back at my desk.
The cursor blinks. I start typing again, forcing each word onto the screen until my hands remember what they're supposed to do.
