Cheat

by Kristin Butcher

  It wasn’t long before Sean showed. He crammed his books into his locker and took off. I followed him to the exit and watched as he jogged across the field toward his house. All I had to do was wait. Once he was out of sight, I’d follow. There were bushes near his house where I could hide and spy on anyone who paid him a visit.

  As I went to push open the door, a hand gripped my arm.

  It was Jack.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” he sneered.

  “It’s none of your business,” I snapped. “And let go of me.” I yanked my arm free.

  “You’re following Sean,” he said. “I’ve been watching you.” He didn’t look amused. “You’re a crappy detective, Laurel. The only one getting caught is you.”

  I glared at him and reached for the door again, but again he grabbed my arm. This time it hurt.

  “I mean it, Laurel,” he said through gritted teeth. “Back off. Sean is my friend. I’m not going to let you drag him through the mud just so you can get a stupid newspaper story.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, but he cut me off.

  “All you’re doing is looking for glory. You don’t give a rip about the people you’re hurting.”

  “So you admit Sean’s guilty,” I sneered.

  It was like Jack was a blow-up doll, and I’d just stuck him with a pin. His shoulders sagged, and his head drooped. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m asking you to leave this alone.” Then he let go of my arm and walked away.

  All afternoon I thought about what Jack had said. Part of me wanted to do what he asked. But the reporter in me couldn’t let it go. If Sean was guilty, he’d done it to himself. If he wasn’t guilty, great. Either way, there was a story here, and it needed to be told.

  After school I decided to make another visit to Mr. Draper’s classroom. If Sean—or whoever the Scantron Scammer was—didn’t have the answer key yet, he might try again today.

  This time the classroom wasn’t empty. Mr. Draper was there. At least, I assumed it was Mr. Draper. When I peeked through the window of the door, I saw a dumpy bald guy with glasses sitting behind the desk. He didn’t spot me, but seeing him there almost gave me a heart attack! I spun away and waited for the blood to stop pounding in my ears.

  I peeked through the window again. If Mr. Draper was making up the answer key, the crook couldn’t have stolen it yet. At first I couldn’t tell what Draper was working on. But when he dropped his pencil and bent over to pick it up, I saw the Scantron sheet on his desk.

  I felt like I’d just made the discovery of the century. My stomach started doing the same crazy dance it does when I wash a dill pickle down with orange juice.

  I needed to think, but not here in the hall where Mr. Draper might see me. I needed privacy. So I tore into the girls’ washroom across the hall. Jeez! The way I was panicking, you’d think I had done something wrong. I took a deep breath to calm down.

  Okay. So what should I do?

  The obvious option was to walk across the hall and tell Mr. Draper everything. Then the problem would be in his lap, and I could wash my hands of the whole thing. And lose my story, I reminded myself. Besides, if I told Draper everything, he would report it to the office. Then Mr. Wiens would know I’d lied to get students’ marks.

  Okay, forget that option.

  What other choices did I have? I could always do nothing. I could walk away and let whatever was going to happen, happen. Yeah, right. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t do that. I needed this story.

  I sighed. It looked like I had only one real choice after all. I had to catch the crook in the act. But time was running out. If the thief was going to steal the answer key, it had to be soon.

  I glanced at my watch. I didn’t know how long I’d been in the washroom, but it must have been a while. It was way past four o’clock. Mr. Draper might even be gone.

  I pulled the bathroom door open a crack. I didn’t have much of a view— I could only see down the hall one way. But walking toward me—no, make that walking toward Mr. Draper’s classroom—was Sean Leger.

  I started to ease the door shut, but the sound of another door closing made me freeze. Sean stopped too.

  “Sean,” a jovial voice called. I figured it must be Mr. Draper. “What brings you this way?”

  Sean shrugged and smiled— nervously, I thought. “Hi, Mr. Draper. I came to see if you needed me to do anything in the biology room?”

  Mr. Draper came into my line of vision and put a hand on Sean’s shoulder. “Thanks for asking, Sean, but I think we’re good for a few days. There are some heavy labs next week, and I’m going to need a hand setting them up. Come back and see me then. In the meantime, you have a big math test to get ready for. I don’t want to cut into your studying time.” Then he chuckled. “You can walk me to my car and pick my brain about what’s on it.”

  I watched them walk away. I was still staring through the crack in the door long after they’d disappeared down another hallway.

  I was afraid to leave the washroom. I was afraid they’d come back. At least, I was afraid Sean would come back. When Mr. Draper had left his classroom, the only thing he was carrying was his coat. That meant he’d left the answer key in his office. It was the perfect time for Sean to steal it.

  Chapter Ten

  I stayed in the girls’ bathroom another half hour, but Sean never returned, and I was getting tired of being trapped there. Bathrooms are okay places to do your business, but otherwise they’re kind of gross. I’d already been in this one way too long.

  It was getting late. Mom was probably wondering where I was. I dug around in my backpack for my phone, and with one eye on the hallway, I dialed home.

  Jack answered.

  “It’s me,” I said, hoping I sounded normal. I still felt tense from our run-in at lunch. “Is Mom there?”

  “She’s at the store. Where are you?” He sounded normal.

  “At school,” I replied. I prayed he wouldn’t put two and two together.

  No such luck. “What are you doing there?” he asked suspiciously. “School let out over an hour ago.”

  I heard a voice in the background. “Hey, man, get your sorry butt out here! Or are ya afraid I’m gonna kick it?”

  “Hang on to your gitch, you wiener,” Jack laughed.

  “Who was that?”

  “Leger.” He laughed some more. “The guy’s a moron. He thinks he’s gonna beat me one on one.”

  I stopped breathing for a second. If Sean was playing basketball with Jack, he obviously wasn’t coming back to the school.

  Suddenly I couldn’t get off the phone fast enough. “Well, anyway, I’m just leaving,” I said in a rush. “Tell Mom I’m on my way.” Before Jack could say anything else, I hung up.

  Stuffing the phone back in my pack, I started for the exit. But after a couple of steps, I did a one-eighty and headed for the newspaper office instead. I needed to pick up the intro for my article so I could work on it over the weekend.

  As I opened the door, I saw an envelope lying on the floor. I picked it up and turned it over. It was addressed to me. Was my informant sending me another clue?

  The note inside was short and to the point. If you don’t stop snooping around, you’re going to be sorry! There was no signature. I flipped the paper over, but there was nothing more. I refolded the sheet and tapped it on my chin as I thought.

  The threat was meant to scare me. The thing is, it didn’t. It said I’d be sorry if I didn’t stop snooping. Sorry about what? Sorry I stopped a thief ? Hardly. Sorry kids were going to have to study for tests? Nope. I couldn’t think of anything I might be sorry for—except maybe getting beat up or having my locker trashed. Somehow I couldn’t imagine that happening.

  Sean had written the note. I would have bet money on it. Jack probably told him about the article, and this was a big bluff to make me back off. But I wasn’t falling for it. Sean might be dishonest, but he wasn’t violent.

  Of course, if someone else wrote the note, it co
uld be a different story. Jack said a lot of kids at school were mad at me—everyone who was paying for cheat sheets, probably. How many did Liz say there were? An image of an angry mob chasing me through the halls filled my mind, and a shiver rippled down my spine.

  Okay, so maybe I was a little scared, but not enough to stop, not when I was so close to getting my story.

  If the crook didn’t steal the answer key Monday, he wouldn’t have another chance before the test. But if he did try to steal it, I was ready for him.

  I hardly slept Sunday night. I kept imagining how things were going to unfold. I didn’t think the scammer would strike at lunch hour. There were too many bodies roaming the school.

  I holed up in the washroom across from Draper’s math room at lunch anyway. Girls kept wandering in and out, so it was hard to keep a lookout. Not that it mattered. The thief never showed. I’d spent another hour in that disgusting hole for nothing.

  By the time 3:30 rolled around, I was so antsy, I could have screamed. Every nerve in my body tingled.

  As soon as the bell rang, I bolted for the washroom. I didn’t even stop at my locker. The biology lab and math room were both empty. So was the glassed-in office between them.

  For the first fifteen minutes, the washroom was busy with girls coming and going. I couldn’t keep a close eye on Draper’s room, but I wasn’t worried. The thief wouldn’t make his move until the traffic died down.

  Around ten to four, things got quiet. I settled in at my post and got my phone ready to snap incriminating photos.

  I didn’t have to wait long. Within minutes, the crook showed up. He came from the other direction, so I didn’t see him arrive. I only heard him. I wanted to open the door wider, but I didn’t dare. I had to settle for listening. The sounds were the same as before—desk opening, keys jingling, filing cabinet drawer rolling open.

  And then silence. What was happening? The suspense was killing me. I knew I was taking a big risk, but I had to find out. I stuck my head out the door and looked across the hall.

  The thief was there—in the little glass office. He was rummaging through the filing cabinet. Finally he pulled out a paper—no, a Scantron sheet. It was the answer key, I was sure.

  Instead of photographing it like I thought he would, he pulled a manila envelope out of his backpack and took another Scantron sheet out of it.

  Even though I’d been imagining this moment for days, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He was switching the sheets.

  I didn’t wait for him to finish. I couldn’t. He might see me. I pulled my head back into the washroom, shut the door and waited for him to leave.

  I looked down at the phone in my hand. I hadn’t taken a single picture. I’d been too stunned. Jack had been right. Sean wasn’t the thief.

  Jack was.

  Chapter Eleven

  There had to be a mistake. My brother was not the Scantron Scammer. He couldn’t be. Jack would never steal!

  But he had. I’d seen him with my own eyes. He had broken into Mr. Draper’s office and switched the answer keys. But why? He wasn’t even in any of Draper’s classes. And even if he was, Jack didn’t need to cheat. He was a brain!

  Had he done it for the money? That didn’t make sense either. Our family wasn’t rich, but we weren’t poor. And Jack had a part-time job. He didn’t need the money, unless—

  Could my brother be doing drugs? I pushed the thought away before I finished thinking it. Jack was too into health and fitness to poison his body with chemicals. Besides, he wouldn’t risk his basketball future.

  I started to shake. Shock was setting in. The idea that Jack was a thief was almost more than I could stand. But he was still my brother! He might have done a bad thing, but he wasn’t a bad person. I couldn’t rat on him.

  Then I heard something—not much, but enough to make me open the door a crack.

  Someone was going into the room across the hall. Mr. Draper? The custodian? Maybe it was Jack again.

  Maybe he’d had second thoughts and was returning the answer key.

  I waited for the sound of the filing cabinet drawer rolling open. Then I poked my head out the door and looked toward the little office.

  Someone was there. But it wasn’t Jack. It wasn’t Mr. Draper or the custodian either.

  It was Sean.

  He pulled the answer key out of its folder, placed it faceup on the desk, and took a photo of it with his phone. Then he slipped it inside the folder again and shut the filing cabinet.

  I ducked back into the washroom, but kept my ear to the door. When I couldn’t hear any more noises, I let myself into the hall.

  Sean was gone.

  Relief washed over me—for about three seconds.

  What was going on? First my brother snuck into Draper’s office and switched the answer keys. Then Sean broke in and photographed the one Jack left behind.

  Were Jack and Sean both crooks? Did they know about each other? Were they part of the same scam?

  I couldn’t figure it out. If they were working together, why hadn’t Sean taken a picture of the answer key before Jack made the switch? And why had Jack switched answer keys anyway? During the walk home, I kept trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, but nothing seemed to fit.

  As I turned onto my street, I slowed down, which was really stupid, considering it was pouring rain. I hardly noticed. I was more worried about facing my brother than I was about getting soaked.

  What was I going to do? Was I going to tell him that I’d seen him in Mr. Draper’s classroom? Was I going to demand an explanation? Would I threaten to turn him in? What if he refused to confess, even when I confronted him with the facts?

  I had no idea what I was going to do. Maybe nothing—at least not right away. I needed time to think. I’d seen Jack in Draper’s office, but he hadn’t seen me. He had no idea I was on to him. If I could hide my feelings, he wouldn’t suspect a thing. I’m not very good at stifling my emotions, so it would take a miracle to pull that one off. My best bet was to avoid Jack altogether.

  I didn’t get the chance. He was waiting for me in the upstairs hallway. He was slouched in the doorway to his bedroom, and he looked like he’d aged ten years since I’d last seen him.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said.

  “About what?” I mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

  He pushed himself away from the wall and walked into his room. “I think you know.”

  Chapter Twelve

  My brain screamed No!

  I wasn’t ready to face Jack. But my body followed him anyway.

  I hadn’t even closed the door before he started in on me.

  “I’m going to ask you one more time, Laurel. Don’t write this article. I asked you before—for Sean. Now I’m asking you for me.”

  Suddenly I was laughing. But it wasn’t a boy-did-that-ever-tickle-my-funny-bone laugh. It was the kind of laugh you would expect to roll out of a person who was about to become an ax murderer. I was definitely losing it. The look on Jack’s face confirmed it.

  He frowned and—yes—he actually took a step backward. “What’s the matter with you?”

  That brought me back to my senses. “What’s the matter with me?” I repeated in amazement. “The more accurate question is, what’s the matter with you?”

  “What are you talking about? I’m not the one cackling my head off like a crazy person.”

  “And I’m not the one up to my eyebrows in a cheating scam!” I shot back.

  There. I’d said it. The color drained from Jack’s face. I could tell my words had hit home. I wished I could take them back.

  “I saw you in Draper’s office today,” I said. It wasn’t an accusation—just a fact. “I saw you switch the answer keys.”

  I wanted him to deny it, but he just slumped onto the bed and stared at the rug. “It’s complicated.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  He reached over to his desk and picked up a large brown envelope. No doubt it was the one he’d
had in Mr. Draper’s office. He placed it on the bed beside him.

  Then he looked at me. “All I ask is that you hear me out. After that, you can do whatever you want.”

  I nodded.

  “Okay,” he said. “You were right about Sean. He is selling cheat sheets. But it didn’t start out that way,” he added. “Sean’s a good guy, but he’s not a great student, especially not in math. Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’ve studied with him. For Sean, math is a foreign language. He just doesn’t get it.”

  “That doesn’t make it okay for him to cheat.”

  Jack scowled at me. “You said you’d listen.”

  “Sorry.”

  “At the beginning of the school year, Sean got on as Mr. Draper’s biology assistant. I think he was hoping it would give him an edge with his assignments. It also gave him a bit of spending money, which Sean doesn’t have a lot of. Cash is pretty tight around his house.

  “The first time he cheated was at the start of basketball season. There was a big math test, and Sean had to pass it or he’d get booted off the team. He found the answer key by accident when Mr. Draper sent him to get something. And”—Jack shrugged—“the temptation was too much. He photographed it. Then he made himself a cheat sheet with just enough right answers to make it look like a legitimate pass.”

  “So how did it turn into a business?” “I’m getting to that.” Jack cleared his throat and settled back into his story. “I didn’t know about the cheating until the second time. We had a big tournament coming up, and Sean didn’t have the money to go. That’s when he came up with the idea to sell cheat sheets. He had practically a whole class of customers in no time. He knew he couldn’t give everyone the actual answer key. If the whole class aced a test, he’d get caught for sure. But he had no idea how to figure out how many right answers each kid needed to end up with their usual mark.”

  “That’s where you came in.”

  Jack sighed. “When Sean first asked me to help, I freaked out and told him no way. But he said he’d already used the money to pay for the basketball trip. If he didn’t come up with the cheat sheets, he’d be toast. The kids in his class would either rat on him or kill him.”