Speak Up Chapter 03
It didn’t end there.
Director Holloway called Wade and me into her office.
“Bianca, the student council submitted a very thorough report. If you contest their findings, you can provide a written statement.”
She pushed a blank sheet of paper in front of me.
“Start by writing down your version of events.”
They hadn’t even bothered to investigate, and they were already asking for a confession.
Wade shifted restlessly beside me.
“Director Holloway, you haven’t even checked the security footage. Why are you making her write a statement?”
“Wade.” Holloway slapped her hand on the desk.
“You haven’t explained your own situation. Jumping nearly four hundred places on a single exam? Who in this school would believe that?”
“If you can prove you didn’t cheat, present your evidence. Otherwise, stop arguing.”
“My evidence is that we weren’t in the same exam room—”
“Different exam rooms don’t mean you couldn’t have gotten the answers. With phones these days, anything is possible.”
Wade’s face turned a deeper shade of red.
“Phones were collected before the exam. We turned them in before we even entered the room.”
Holloway was momentarily stumped, and her expression darkened.
Before she could speak, the office door opened.
Veronica and the student council president, Chris Thorne, walked in.
Holloway turned back to me.
“Bianca, Veronica and Chris have provided complete financial records, along with written testimony from three student council members.”
“This proved that on September twenty-third, you signed for and took eight hundred dollars for the fall dance.”
“You have not returned the money, nor have you submitted any expense records.”
She pulled another document from her drawer.
“Furthermore, given that your conduct has damaged the school’s reputation, the academic office has approved the revocation of your eligibility for the Olympiad.”
“The spot will be transferred to Spencer Sutton.”
“Do you have anything to say?”
I looked at the stack of papers on her desk.
They had been thorough.
“Bianca, if you refuse to speak, I’ll take that as a tacit admission,” Holloway said, her voice laced with impatience.
Veronica jumped in immediately.
“Director Holloway, I think Bianca might need a moment.”
“But I want to clarify that the student council conducted this investigation entirely by the book. We weren’t targeting anyone.”
She looked at me.
“Bianca, if you admit it now, return the money, and write a formal apology, the school might be lenient.”
“You can’t get the Olympiad spot back, but at least you won’t be suspended.”
“With grades like yours, no one wants to see you ruin your future over something like this.”
I met her gaze.
She wasn’t even trying to hide the smugness in her eyes.
Beside me, Wade’s hands were clenched into tight fists.
“She couldn’t have stolen the money. She was in the lab the entire afternoon of September twenty-third.”
“Wade, I’m speaking to Bianca,” Holloway cut him off. “Your own cheating allegation is still unresolved. Stop worrying about other people.”
Wade’s face was red all the way to his ears.
Just then, a burst of footsteps echoed from the hallway.