I hope you will both accept my apology for the trouble Friday regarding the geology midterm. I have learned my lesson and I will not hang around with people like that anymore.

I hope we can all go on as if nothing happened.

Sincerely,
Daniel Brand

Sarah

How did Mr. Principal even know I was in class? Do the faculty have buzzers under their desks? Walkie-talkies to alert him? Someone must’ve sounded the alarm, because the second I sat down, his voice broke into class, telling me to report to the office.

Every head turned to look at me.

There

are

no

secrets

here.

It felt much different walking to the office today than it felt on Friday. It’s amazing, really, how quickly I got used to being the girl who gets called down by the principal.

When I got to the office, Ms. Gold, the secwetawy, smiled a sad smile at me and waved me into Mr. Chen’s office.

The girls’ guidance counselor, Ms. Divan, was already in there. She smiled the exact same sad smile that Ms. Gold had. I know Katie thinks Ms. Divan is divine, but to tell the truth, I don’t see why.

“I’m glad to see you’ve decided to return to school, Sarah,” Mr. Principal began. “But you forgot to stop by here before reporting to class.”

I said I didn’t know I had to.

So he said, “I thought the conditions of your return were spelled out clearly enough. That we simply must have the name of whoever supplied you with last year’s exam before we can allow you back in class.”

Ms. Divan spoke up using her understanding voice. “Sarah, dear,” she said. “We are fully aware of the awkwardness of your situation, but please trust that the right thing to do is to tell us what you know.”

“And why is that the right thing to do?” I asked. I may have asked it in a snotty way, but it was a reasonable question. No one yet had said why tattling was suddenly okay.

Mr. Principal bristled. “As I’ve told you before, Sarah, this sort of business must be stopped before it takes hold. I simply will not tolerate it! Not at my school.”

“Mr. Chen, sir,” I said. “This was not a business transaction. It was a personal favor.”

“Some favor!” he sneered.

“Well, it was meant as a favor,” I said. “And anyone can see that it was not a great business scheme. We were caught. It failed.”

“We can do without the attitude,” he said, and I sighed.

Ms. Divan spoke up. “Don’t try to protect anyone, Sarah, dear. Obviously this person does not feel the same kind of loyalty toward you.”

She waited for that to sink in, or for me to say something, but I didn’t.

We

both

waited.