Carolina Wren

Chapter 25

My heart is racing. This doesn't sound like drugs; it sounds like the guy is paying her to do his schoolwork. There's no way Mr. Blackbourne is going to believe that I've stumbled onto a paid cheating ring, not on the heels of overhearing the Friday Fall crap. At least with that one, the boys had managed to overhear things as well. He'd sooner believe that there was a drug deal taking place in the middle of the library, right under his perfect nose. I didn't even have my phone with me to call him so he could hear what I was hearing or text Silas to come out into the hall.

The guy swears again and one of them must have slammed a fist against a locker, because the sound makes me jump. "I'll get back to you before Friday," he all but snarls and I hear footsteps moving away. Thinking quickly, I push the bathroom door open farther than I had before, making it squeal and quickly pull it shut behind me with a loud thud. I hurry into the hall with my head down so it looks like I'm just trying to hurry back to class before I get in trouble.

The girl breezes past me and I catch sight of her long blonde hair swinging behind her and her white shirt with flowers all over it. I don't look up, though. I don't want her to see my face and remember that I'm part of the boys' group.

I hurry back to class and Mrs. Watson is glaring at me for how long I took. I mutter an apology as I give her the pass back and make my way to my desk. Silas is giving me a concerned look, trying to figure out why I'm acting weird. I force a smile but he doesn't seem convinced.

"Are you alright?" he whispers and I hastily nod.

"I'm fine. Just overheard a weird conversation," I reply and although he doesn't look like he believes me, he sinks back into his seat.

All through Japanese, my mind is split in two. Part of it is paying attention to the lesson that Dr. Green is teaching and the other half focused on trying to reason out the best way to tell the guys about what I heard in the hall. They're here to improve things in the school, shouldn't they know that there's clear cheating going on? But I don't really have much to give them.

Running to them with half information last time hadn't gone well, but it's not like this dumb cheating ring is dangerous. It's more of a school code, ethics type thing versus a student safety issue. I could wait to tell them until I know more information and make it seem like I was hiding it from them or trying to do their job on my own, or I could tell them now and risk Mr. Blackbourne being annoyed that I'm reading too far into something.

Finally, with only five minutes left in class, I decide that it's best to tell them now. This has to fall under the umbrella of reasons why they're here. For all I know, they already know about the issue and this might be old news to them or I could be giving them information they need to help the school.

Pulling out my phone, I hastily sent a text to Dr. Green.

Wren: Dr. Green, during last period I overheard some students talking about something that I think might be a cheating ring. It was a boy and a girl discussing his payment to her for something that sounded like grades. They mentioned other people being involved.

I hit send and watched Dr. Green's face where he sat behind his desk. He picked up his phone and my heart missed a beat at the smile that lit up his face when he read his screen. Was he smiling because I had texted him? The joy quickly slipped away as his eyebrows raised up and then he schooled his features. He typed quickly and then my phone buzzed.

Dr. Green: Stay here after the bell rings, act like you need to ask a question about the homework. Victor is staying also.

The next two minutes were agonizing but when the bell rang, I gathered the papers from my desk and headed towards Dr. Green, followed by Victor. Dr. Green was talking to another student, so we both stood back while he laughed, patted them on the shoulder, and then turned to us while that student left.