Chapter 6 - The Answers
The test answers changed everything.
Not because cheating was worse than bullying.
Because it created a motive.
Kayla met with Rebecca Sloan the next afternoon.
Her parents attended.
Emily was not present.
She learned the details later.
Six months earlier, Brooke had obtained photographs of an advanced-placement chemistry exam before the test.
Kayla used them too.
Jenna refused.
Afterward, Jenna threatened to tell the teacher.
Brooke responded by threatening to post an embarrassing video recorded at a party.
Jenna reported the threat.
Dean Park handled the complaint.
No academic cheating investigation followed.
Jenna transferred weeks later.
Kayla had remained silent.
“Why now?” Emily asked when Sloan summarized what Kayla had authorized them to know.
“Because the restroom video changes her exposure.”
Sarah’s mouth tightened.
“So she’s protecting herself.”
“Partly.”
“Then why trust her?”
“We don’t trust. We verify.”
Emily was becoming tired of that word.
Verify.
But she also understood its importance.
The school’s independent investigator requested exam access logs.
Chemistry teacher Aaron Miles disclosed that printed copies of the exam had been kept in his locked desk.
No evidence showed Brooke accessed the desk.
Then IT found something else.
A file containing the exam had been opened from an administrative office computer eleven days before the test.
Dean Park’s office.
Emily stared when Sofia told her.
“That can’t mean Park gave it to Brooke.”
“No.”
Sofia pointed at her.
“You’re learning.”
“It means someone opened it there.”
“Correct.”
Sofia scrolled.
“The login belonged to Claire Holloway.”
Emily stopped.
“What?”
Claire served as volunteer coordinator for the Westbridge Education Foundation.
She had limited administrative access for scholarship events.
Her credentials were used to open the exam file.
Claire denied doing it.
She claimed her password had been saved on a shared foundation laptop.
Brooke denied receiving exam answers from her mother.
Kayla said Brooke told her she got them “from someone who could make anything happen.”
That was not proof.
But it was enough to deepen the investigation.
At home, Emily sat with Sarah at the kitchen table.
“Do you think Claire did it?”
“I don’t know.”
“She protects Brooke.”
“That doesn’t mean she gave her test answers.”
Emily sighed.
Sarah smiled slightly.
“You hate uncertainty.”
“I hate people hiding behind it.”
“That’s different.”
Emily looked at her mother.
“Were you ever bullied?”
Sarah paused.
“In middle school.”
“What happened?”
“A girl used to take my lunch money.”
Emily blinked.
“You never told me.”
“It stopped.”
“How?”
“I punched her.”
Emily stared.
Sarah laughed.
“I was thirteen. It was not my finest conflict-resolution strategy.”
“What happened?”
“I got suspended.”
“And her?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Yes.”
“Did Grandma know?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Sarah’s smile disappeared.
“Because I thought telling an adult after I’d already fought back would make everything worse.”
Emily looked down.
Sarah reached across the table.
“When you told me about Brooke the first time, I wanted the school to fix it so badly that when they said there wasn’t enough evidence, I accepted it.”
“You believed them.”
“I wanted to.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“That was easier than believing you were going into school every day scared.”
Emily squeezed her hand.
Neither of them said more.
The next morning, Westbridge announced Teresa would return to work.
The district review found that while recording in student restrooms was normally prohibited, Teresa’s recording had been confined to the entrance and sink area during an ongoing safety incident and was justified by emergency circumstances.
Emily ran to find her.
Teresa was back beside her cleaning cart near the auditorium.
Students had taped handwritten notes onto it.
WELCOME BACK.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING EMILY.
WE SEE YOU TOO.
Teresa looked embarrassed.
“I hate this.”
Emily laughed.
“You deserve it.”
“I deserve people throwing less food on floors.”
Emily hugged her.
Teresa stiffened, then hugged her back.
Later that afternoon, Claire Holloway held a press conference outside her home.
She denied obtaining test answers.
She accused unnamed district employees of using her family as scapegoats for administrative failures.
Then a reporter asked:
“Did you ever ask Dean Park to reduce discipline involving your daughter?”
Claire hesitated.
“No.”
Another reporter raised a document.
“Then can you explain this email?”
Claire’s face changed.
The reporter read:
Dean, Brooke cannot have another formal conduct entry before scholarship review. Please handle this informally. — Claire
Emily watched the video from Sofia’s laptop.
May you like
Claire Holloway stopped speaking.
And for the first time, the woman who always had an explanation had none.
