The principal cleared his throat – an irritating nervous habit he had – and called for order, his amplified voice booming off the surrounding buildings.
‘See the guy with the moustache,’ said Tal to Jennie. ‘He works for Mum’s boss. His name’s Joe Villabona.’
‘What’s he doing here?’
‘No idea.’
‘Quiet!’ commanded a teacher.
The principal rocked forward on his toes and launched into his prepared speech, reading the words projected onto a transparent screen in front of him.
‘As you must all be aware, yesterday a disturbing incident occurred. One of Braidworth’s students, Richard Lawrence, precipitated a violent altercation with another student. He was removed from the grounds by the police and taken to a secure medical facility where his physical and mental health will be assessed. In the meantime, Richard Lawrence has been suspended from school until such time as he is judged no longer a threat to others.’
He paused, and David took the opportunity to say to Allyx, ‘It’s not fair to blame Rick.’ He glowered at the back of Maryann Dodd’s head, two rows in front of them. ‘Maryann’s the one who should be suspended. She set him up.’
‘She did more than that,’ said Allyx. ‘Did you hear her tell the cops that Rick had psychiatric problems? And Constanza confirmed that Rick’s had treatment in the past. That’s what landed him in the mental ward.’
‘Shhhh!’ hissed Ms Ingram, glaring at them.
The principal coughed, then noisily cleared his throat. ‘Events such as the violence yesterday make it imperative that we, both students and staff, are prepared well in advance to cope with potentially serious situations. Of course, Braidworth High has always had detailed disaster plans in place, but these need to be periodically updated to reflect changes in our society and in the nature of the emergencies we may face in the future. I am arranging for every parent and student to receive copies of the new contingency plans. Comments and suggestions will be welcomed.’
He stopped to look gravely around the quadrangle, as if expecting comments or suggestions to instantly materialise.
‘Any idea how long before Rick gets out?’ David asked Allyx.
‘My dad says it’ll take two or three days. They’ll keep Rick under close observation and the doctors will do a psychiatric evaluation. When Rick checks out okay, he’ll be allowed to go home.’
‘David Segal! Quiet, please!’ came Ms Ingram’s sharp voice.
‘Bloody Ingram,’ he muttered to himself.
‘Ms Ingram’s nice,’ said Allyx.
‘And you, too, Allyx. Stop talking!’
‘Bloody Ingram,’ said Allyx with a grin.
Principal Constanza cleared his throat for the third time. ‘And now I’m pleased to announce an enhancement to Braidworth High’s already excellent student counselling services, which are always fully available to you all.’
‘What a great way to get out of class,’ scoffed David. ‘I should have tried it ages ago.’
The principal continued. ‘As you and your parents have been advised, tomorrow the eminent psychologist Dr Carter Renfrew is scheduled to speak to the school about the pressures and demands of today’s world. Dr Renfrew will also be describing his exciting new research project, funded by Farront International. In addition, Dr Renfrew and his equally distinguished colleague, Dr Howard Unwin, will be running small group discussions for selected students, where there will be opportunities to learn more about Dr Renfrew’s current project. As parental permission is required for those ultimately chosen as research subjects, comprehensive details are going out to parents this morning. Please also refer to the Braidworth website for further information on recruitment and payment scales.’
He paused to indicate Joe Villabona, then went on. ‘Mr Villabona of Farront International has kindly agreed to speak with students interested in joining Dr Renfrew’s research project. Please go to the hall at the beginning of lunch. Mr Villabona will also be at the school tomorrow to answer any further questions you may have and to walk you through the application process.’
David noticed Ms Ingram whispering furiously to Mr Babbage, who nodded as she spoke, his face set in a scowl. David nudged Allyx. ‘Take a look at Babbage and Ingram. What do you think’s going on?’
‘Probably something to do with Dr Renfrew. You know Babbage can’t stand him.’
‘Babbage dislikes everyone,’ said David. ‘He probably even dislikes Babbage.’
Petra was called out of maths class later that morning to go to the principal’s office. She was mortified to find her mother and father there, both impeccably dressed and wearing identical expressions of pained patience.
‘Ah, Petra,’ said Mr Constanza, ushering her to a chair. ‘Your parents have been telling me about the cyber bullying you’ve had to endure. It’s unconscionable, of course, that any Braidworth student should be attacked in this manner.’
‘What’s unconscionable is that nothing’s been done about it,’ said Petra’s father. He was a slightly built man with a soft voice, but he projected a don’t-mess-with-me aura that commanded respect.
Mr Constanza spread his hands. ‘Mr Koslowsky, there’s very little I can do. Cyber bullying has become a regrettable fact of life. Even teachers, myself included, have been targeted. Fortunately, although these attacks are distressing at the time, they soon die a natural death.’
‘Not good enough,’ snapped Petra’s father, leaning forward in his chair. ‘My time is valuable, Principal Constanza. I expect at least one concrete suggestion from you before I leave for my next appointment.’
‘I’ve already mentioned my suspicions about Lois Dodd’s daughter, Maryann,’ said Petra’s mother.
Petra’s heart sank. ‘Mum,’ she hissed, ‘please!’
Mr Constanza’s soft face grew anguished. ‘Lois Dodd is one of the most valued benefactors to the school. Her fundraising activities are invaluable. I can’t accuse her daughter with no hard evidence.’
Petra’s father stood. ‘Then I suggest you find the evidence.’ He put out his hand and gave the principal’s pudgy fingers a hard shake. ‘I’m afraid I must leave. Please inform my wife of the further steps you intend to take.’
When Mr Constanza had seen him out the door, Petra’s mother said, ‘We received notification that Dr Renfrew will be speaking at the school tomorrow.’
‘Indeed, yes,’ said the principal, rubbing his hands together and beaming. ‘We are privileged to have a man of his stature visit Braidworth. He’ll be accompanied by the renowned Dr Howard Unwin.’
‘Your high opinion of Dr Renfrew is not shared by everyone, Mr Constanza. Perhaps you’ve seen critical items on the web about Renfrew and his theories. A group calling itself BrainSave is particularly persuasive. Its site posts original documents from researchers and health professionals who hold very unfavourable views of Renfrew’s work. They see him as a pseudo-scientist, a threat to young minds.’
The principal’s smile disappeared.
‘I don’t want my daughter involved in any way with Renfrew’s visit to the school.’
‘Mum, I’m not a little kid.’
Her mother silenced her with a look, then switched her attention back to the principal. ‘Well?’
He ducked his head up and down, saying ‘of course, of course’ in a placatory tone. He cleared his throat, then added lamely, ‘There is often controversy in the scientific field.’
Her voice frosty, Petra’s mother said, ‘My husband and I would normally support innovative research, but Renfrew’s spurious experiments treat young people like lab rats. I’m surprised and concerned that you are permitting Renfrew to recruit subjects at Braidworth High.’
‘Not exactly recruit,’ he spluttered. ‘I’d categorise it as alerting students to a valuable opportunity. They will be well paid for their time and trouble.’
‘With money from Farront International – a company, incidentally, that you mention in laudatory terms on the sc
hool website. This is tantamount to stealth advertising.’
Meeting her formidable glare, Constanza said hastily, ‘These are hard times for education. Braidworth needs considerable funds to allow us to continue with our special enhancement programs. Dr Renfrew has arranged for Farront to make a very generous donation to the school.’
‘I see,’ she said dismissively. ‘I have another matter that concerns me, Mr Constanza. I wish to speak with Ms Ingram, Petra’s English teacher. I’m not at all happy with the grade Petra received for her last assignment.’
Petra shot her an agonised look. ‘Mum, don’t.’
Obviously relieved at the change of subject, the principal examined the interactive timetable displayed on a screen set into his desk top. ‘Ms Ingram has a free period. If you give me a moment, I’ll check if she’s available.’ He gave a nervous little cough. ‘I must add that Barbara Ingram is one of our most respected teachers.’
‘I’m not questioning Ms Ingram’s ability, but her judgement in this one case. Petra has consistently received excellent grades in the subject. I can see no reason why she received a poor mark this time.’
‘Mum –’
‘Don’t interrupt, Petra.’
While Mr Constanza made arrangements for Ms Ingram to come to his office, Petra tried again. ‘About that assignment …’
‘Wait until your teacher gets here. Then you can state your case for a higher grade.’
‘But you need to know something.’
Ignoring her, Petra’s mother checked her iZod. ‘Will Ms Ingram be long, Mr Constanza? I have a business meeting it’s imperative I attend.’
‘Any moment –’ He broke off at a knock on the door. ‘I believe this is Barbara now.’
He murmured a few words to the teacher – no doubt, thought Petra, a warning that the parent she was about to encounter could be big-time trouble – then waved her into the room. The principal retreated behind his desk, wearing a worried expression.
The English teacher was slender, with short, curly, copper-coloured hair and an engaging smile. ‘Ms Koslowsky,’ she said, putting out her hand, ‘I’ve not had the opportunity to meet you before.’
Sensing an implied criticism, Petra’s mother raised her elegant eyebrows. ‘As my daughter has to this point received excellent grades in English, I saw no need for us to meet.’
‘I gather your concern is the grade Petra received for her last assignment.’
‘I’m aware it was a philosophical subject. I appreciate that evaluating essays on such topics might present difficulties, but as the standard of my daughter’s work has always been high, I’m at a loss to understand how you could award her such a low grade.’
Quite unfazed, Ms Ingram said, ‘You’ve discussed this with Petra?’
‘Naturally. She had no idea why her essay had been marked down.’
‘Mum, I tried to tell you earlier.’
Petra’s mother glanced at her impatiently. ‘Tell me what?’
‘It wasn’t all my own work.’
Clearly stunned, her mother repeated, ‘Not your own work?’
‘I didn’t have time to finish the assignment.’
‘Why not? We set your homework schedule every week. You had adequate time allotted.’
Knowing her mother would badger her until she came up with the truth, Petra said, ‘I got caught up playing Worldstrider with Tal and the others. We were a team, I couldn’t let them down.’
There was silence while everyone looked at her. Petra went on with a rush, ‘When I realised there was no way I could finish the assignment before it was due, I went to this website where you can buy essays on practically any subject. You pay more than on other essay sites, because this one guarantees plagiarism checking programs won’t work.’
‘Obviously a false guarantee,’ snapped her mother. ‘Who told you about this website?’
‘I don’t remember … I think I found it myself.’
‘How convenient.’ She turned to Ms Ingram. ‘No doubt you’ve had other cases of plagiarism?’
‘Unfortunately, yes, as most teachers have.’ Ms Ingram looked over at Petra. ‘I imagine George Everett steered you to the website, Petra. Other students caught cheating recently have implicated him.’
Petra felt her face burning. It would be hell if George thought she’d dobbed him in. ‘I don’t remember who told me about the site, but it definitely wasn’t George,’ she said as convincingly as she could.
Not convincingly enough. ‘I’ll be speaking to Bruce Everett about his son’s activities,’ said her mother. ‘Ms Ingram, please forgive me for needlessly taking up your valuable time. My daughter’s written apology for her deplorable behaviour will be forthcoming.’
Mr Constanza cleared his throat. Frowning at Ms Ingram, he said, ‘This is the first I’ve heard of Petra’s plagiarism. Such matters should always be brought to my attention. Cheating’s a very serious issue in education today.’
‘It is, Mr Constanza,’ she said, ‘but a fair portion of Petra’s essay was her own work. I felt confident that this was an isolated instance of poor judgement on her part and was unlikely to happen again, so I hesitated to brand her a plagiarist. I extracted a promise from Petra that she wouldn’t do it again, and then I let the matter rest.’
The principal looked stern. ‘We’ll discuss this later, Ms Ingram.’ He switched his attention to Petra. ‘I’m sure, young lady, that your mother is as disappointed in you as I am. This is not the behaviour expected from a student of Braidworth High.’
‘Sorry,’ mumbled Petra, not meeting anyone’s eyes.
‘Rest assured my daughter will be delivering a much more adequate apology to you both.’ Her voice icy, she said to Petra, ‘I’ll see you later at home. Your father and I will discuss a suitable punishment. In the meantime you can tell Mike he’ll have to find another partner for the school dance on Friday.’
‘But, Mum …’
‘And I’m confiscating your communicator.’
This was worse than Petra had anticipated. Without her iZod she’d be just like Rick, cut off from everyone. ‘Can’t you just ground me?’
‘I’m waiting, Petra.’
Unwillingly, Petra passed over her iZod. ‘But if I don’t have it I won’t be able to do any homework,’ she said hopefully.
‘The completion of homework assignments is vitally important,’ the principal put in.
‘Don’t worry, Mr Constanza, I plan to closely supervise my daughter’s use of her communicator for school purposes, and for school purposes only.’
A few uncomfortable moments later, Petra and her furious mother left the principal’s office.
‘Petra, have you any idea how embarrassing this is for me?’ she said tightly as they walked down the hall towards the front of the administration building. ‘Your father and I didn’t raise you to be a cheat.’
‘What about smarts?’ Petra retorted. ‘They’re not legal, but Dad got them for me. Isn’t that cheating? And what about the music video? You know I wouldn’t sound nearly as good without a technician to improve my voice. Isn’t that cheating too?’
Her mother clicked her tongue in irritation. ‘The situation’s quite different. In those instances you are merely enhancing your natural abilities. However, in the case of the English assignment, you were passing off someone else’s work as your own.’
‘I can’t see that they’re different.’
‘We’ll discuss it at home – I can’t waste the time now.’
Watching her mother stalk off to the visitors’ parking area, Petra reached for her iZod to text the others. Wait until they heard what had happened!
She looked at her empty hand. This totally sucked. She might as well be a disconnect.
On her way back to class Petra rehearsed what she would say when her mother had cooled down. Somehow she’d have to persuade her to return the iZod. She heaved a deep sigh. Her dad she might talk around, but changing her mother’s mind was next to impossible.
This was so not good …
FIFTEEN
Tal had hardly seen his mother since Saturday night, as she’d been working overtime on the PR crisis at Farront. But on Wednesday morning he took a break from training and found her in the kitchen drinking black coffee and staring moodily into the screen of her iZod.
‘Hi Mum. What’s up?’
‘The usual – too much to do and not enough time to do it.’
‘Did you know Joe Villabona was at school yesterday morning, and he’s going to be there again today?’
She looked up, surprised. ‘Really?’
‘He’s giving advice about how to volunteer for Dr Renfrew’s research project.’
‘That makes sense. Audrey’s determined to use Carter Renfrew’s high profile to portray Farront as a caring company.’
Tal grinned. ‘Ruth Byrne’s interview last night can’t be much help.’
‘Too true,’ she said with a rueful shake of her head. ‘The kids’ suicide pact was bad enough, but having Ruth in cyberspace, sobbing over Farront’s treatment of her and Barry as disconnects, plus the news that he’s still in a serious condition in hospital, effectively paints the company as just another example of heartless big business. And in the last few days there’s been an inexplicable spike in the number of teenage disconnects, almost all iZod users. You can see why countering negative publicity is an uphill battle.’
‘It isn’t working that Farront is publicly blaming Commdat for the disconnections?’
An odd expression of chagrin crossed her face. ‘That’s a sore point with me.’
‘Why? Tell me.’
‘I can’t. It’s confidential company business.’
‘Oh, come on, Mum! You know I won’t repeat it.’
‘It’s vital that you don’t. It’s only here at home that we’re fully shielded from electronic snoops. Outside, anybody could be listening.’
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