9:28 PM. Two minutes until Mateo's presentation. Maya and Zoe sat in tense silence, staring at their phones.
Then Zoe's phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number with a video attachment.
"What is that?" Maya asked.
Zoe opened it. The video showed cheer practice from earlier that day. Madison leading the squad through a routine on the quad.
Then it happened.
Mid-flip, Madison's shoe flew off. Not just slipped off. Launched across the quad like it had been catapulted. She landed awkwardly, stumbled, fell flat on her face in front of the entire squad and about fifty students who'd been watching.
The video captured everything. Madison's shocked expression. Her squad trying not to laugh. Students in the background losing it completely. Someone had even added slow-motion replay.
"Oh my god," Maya said. "What happened?"
"That," Zoe said, grinning wickedly, "was phase one. The harmless prank to test our methods and make Madison paranoid."
"You sabotaged her shoe?"
