Chapter 28

Kayla had barely caught her breath before the second bucket was empty. Water ran down her face and soaked through her clothes. It had all happened too fast for her to do anything about it.

Students across the field began moving closer. They kept a little distance, watching and murmuring among themselves. Elise and Nora stood in front of her, looking entirely too pleased with the result.

Elise knew she had thrown away their backpacks.

That realization came a moment late. But how had she found out? Kayla hadn't left any evidence.

Logan stood nearby with the boys who had just been playing basketball. His hands rested on his hips, his brow faintly furrowed as he tried to understand what was happening.

A few girls Kayla had bullied before folded their arms and watched with open delight.

“Look at her. She had that coming.”

“She thought nobody in this class could stand up to her. Bet she didn't expect Elise.”

“Elise is fearless. I wouldn't have dared. What if it ended up in front of a teacher?”

“Is it weird that I'm starting to become a fan?”

“Same. That felt so good.”

Kayla wiped the water off her face. Shame and anger made her voice rise as she pointed at Elise and Nora.

“You think having a few brothers to back you up means you can bully people at school? You can do whatever you like because you're rich?”

Her voice began to tremble. “Is this because I objected when Mr. Wallace gave you special treatment? If you have a problem with me, say it to my face. If I've done something wrong, I can apologize. You didn't have to pour water all over me.”

By the end, she sounded close to tears. Anyone coming upon her now would have thought she was pitiful.

A few of her friends joined in.

“Exactly. This is way out of line.”

“Kayla can be a little blunt, but she doesn't mean any harm. You didn't need to do this.”

Most people still looked confused. Some, after listening to the girls defend her, were starting to look angry on Kayla's behalf.

Did being rich really give someone the right to bully other people?

Vivian had remained farther away. When the class left for PE, Kayla had made an excuse about fetching something and stayed behind until everyone else was gone. Vivian hadn't known what she was doing then. So she'd been throwing away Elise and Nora's backpacks.

Vivian pressed her lips together. Kayla had done the job and still let herself get caught. How useless could she be?

After all Vivian's hints and encouragement, this was what she had managed?

Nora pointed at Kayla, furious, but couldn't get a word out. She hadn't known anybody could lie so shamelessly. Worse, anger always did this to her: the more urgently she wanted to speak, the harder the words were to find. She never did well in arguments.

Her face went red. Still nothing came out.

Elise watched the changing expressions around them. She was about to speak when the PE teacher pushed through the crowd.

He took in Kayla's drenched appearance and the two buckets sitting nearby.

“What's all this shouting? What happened?”

Several students answered at once.

Nora caught Elise's sleeve. Having a teacher involved frightened her much more than Kayla did.

“Elise, the teacher's here. What do we do?”

“It's okay.” Elise gave her a reassuring look.

Nora barely dared approach teachers on an ordinary day. A trip to their office was enough to make her legs shake.

The PE teacher listened, frowning harder. Each side seemed to have its own version, and the students talking over one another weren't helping.

He waved them toward the building. “All of you. Student affairs office. Now.”

Adrian was playing a game on his phone when an incoming voice call covered part of the screen. He was about to reject it. Then he noticed Ms. Parker's name.

He answered without even closing the game.

“Hello, is this Elise's parent?” Her tone was polite and courteous.

Adrian straightened immediately. “Yes! That's me.”

Who else would it be? Julian?

“I tried calling Mr. Whitmore, but he didn't pick up. He may be busy. Something has happened with Elise at school. Could you come in now, if you're available?”

Adrian frowned. Something had happened to his sister?

“What happened?”

Ms. Parker hesitated. “She and another student have had a small disagreement. Please don't worry. Classmates don't always get along. These little squabbles happen.”

“Little squabbles?”

Did she take him for an idiot? If it were such a little thing, why would they need a parent at school?

“Tell me what actually happened.”

“A student threw Elise's belongings in the trash. Elise was angry and poured water over that student in front of everyone. But please don't jump to conclusions. We haven't established that the other student really was responsible.”

No proof? Then why would his gentle, well-behaved sister get angry enough to throw water at someone?

He didn't believe it.

Somebody must have provoked her. As far as he was concerned, even if Elise had done something wrong, someone else would have started it.

He got to his feet, picked up his jacket with his free hand, and headed out with the phone still at his ear.

“What exactly did they throw away?”

His voice sounded perfectly calm. Ms. Parker nevertheless felt a chill at the tone.

“Her backpack.”

Adrian stopped walking.

“Say that again.”

In the student affairs office, the students faced one another from opposite sides.

Kayla's clothes had been soaked through. Vivian had found a spare uniform for her to change into, but her hair was still half wet. She had been brought here before she could put herself properly back together.

Elise stood with Nora. Across from them, Vivian rested a hand on Kayla's shoulder.

Mr. Dawson, the head of student affairs, was a bearded man in middle age. Ms. Parker sat nearby, looking so grim that the classroom ruler in her hand seemed especially threatening. It was easy to imagine it suddenly coming down on somebody.

“I've spoken to your parents,” Ms. Parker told them. “They'll be here shortly.”

Elise frowned. Her parents?

Her birth parents had died. Who was coming for her?

Daniel had probably handled her registration. Would it be him?

Mr. Dawson surveyed the students sternly. “All right. Tell me what happened.”

They went through their accounts again.

Vivian had accompanied Kayla. Now she spoke up.

“Sir, Elise is my sister, but if we're going to be fair, there are things I have to say. I know she doesn't like Kayla. In Mr. Wallace's class, Kayla objected to the special consideration he was giving Elise. My sister was upset about that.”

She spoke with conviction. “If there's a disagreement, they should talk about it. Pouring water on someone is wrong. If everyone deliberately retaliates like this, what happens to the atmosphere at our school?”

Teachers liked this sort of thing. Vivian knew that. She made herself sound as though the welfare of the school and the class mattered more to her than anything else.

Mr. Dawson nodded appreciatively. A sensible student. She had put her finger on every concern he had.

Even Ms. Parker looked a little less severe. At least one of these children was thinking clearly.

Worry filled Vivian's eyes. “Besides, Elise has no evidence that Kayla did it. But everyone saw her pour the water. When you're wrong, you should admit it. I'll apologize to Kayla on my sister's behalf.”

Kayla was delighted. Vivian had turned things around in a few sentences.

She made a show of waving off the apology. “You don't have to apologize. You didn't pour water on me. She's the one who should say sorry.”

The two educators exchanged a look. They couldn't yet settle the question of evidence. But these girls were sisters, and the younger one had come forward to point out the older one's mistake.

Had Elise really been settling a personal score?

Vivian approached Elise with an air of helpless concern.

“If you admit you were wrong and show you're sorry, the school will go easier on you. You've only just transferred here. What will you do if you have to leave again?”

Her solicitous tone almost made Elise laugh.

“Have you finished?”

Vivian faltered. “What?”

“Have you finished, too?” Elise asked Kayla.

Kayla stared at her.

“If you've both finished, it's my turn.” Her voice was steady. “First, I have evidence.”

She looked at Nora.

Nora was ready. Still red-faced, she gathered her courage and handed over Elise's backpack and Kayla's notebook from the English memory exercises.

“You can compare the handwriting,” Elise told the teachers. “There's ‘stupid’ on page three, line eight. ‘You’ is on page eleven, line two. You won't find ‘bitch’ in the classwork, for obvious reasons. And ‘get out’ is on page eighteen, line eleven.”

Surprised, they opened the notebook and checked each place she named.

Kayla's face had drained of color the moment Nora produced it.

When had they taken her notebook?

She hadn't intended to write anything on the backpack. Then she'd remembered Logan going red in front of Elise. The words had been a way to let out her anger.

When she'd done things like this before, people in class had kept quiet even if they knew she was responsible. If somebody did complain, what was one insult? A teacher might tell her off a few times. Nothing that hurt.

Who would have thought Elise would go through the handwriting, then get the teachers involved?

Vivian shot Kayla a furious look. Was she an idiot? Why write on the bag? She had handed Elise something to use against her.

Vivian was beginning to regret speaking up. How was she supposed to know Kayla had gone beyond throwing the backpacks away and left a message as well?

The teachers finished comparing the writing. The letter shapes, the direction of the strokes, the way the pen started and finished each mark all matched the message on the backpack.

They looked at Kayla in disbelief. She really had done it.

Ms. Parker, however, was distracted by a different question.

“You remembered which page and which line?”

What an astonishing memory. Wasn't Elise meant to be a poor student?

Mr. Dawson's face went livid. He had nearly believed Vivian and Kayla. Children these days could put on quite a performance, even in front of their teachers.

“Now we have evidence,” he said heavily. “Are you going to admit you were wrong?”

Vivian wished she could go back a few minutes. She would never have stood up for Kayla if she'd known how stupid she'd been. Now she was implicated, too.

“I shouldn't have guessed without finding out what really happened,” she said meekly. “I'm sorry.”

Ms. Parker frowned deeply. These were sisters, weren't they? Vivian had always seemed cheerful and well behaved. Her grades were good. She had never given a teacher any cause for concern.

Why would she take an outsider's side against her own sister without finding out the truth first?

It was very odd.

Kayla's face stayed white. She couldn't keep denying it now. Silently cursing Elise, she curled her fingers tightly and lowered her head.

“I... I just thought their backpacks were so nice. I couldn't help myself. I didn't mean it. I'll apologize to both Elise and Nora, write a reflection, and buy them new backpacks and textbooks.”

Then she added, as if it had only just occurred to her, “But they poured water on me, too. They've already got me back...”

She sniffed and bowed her head. A few damp strands slipped forward, making her look all the more miserable.

Mr. Dawson and Ms. Parker softened. That was true. Elise had vented her anger, and Kayla had received some punishment already. In the end, this was still a quarrel among students.

Kayla had offered to pay for the books and bags, too.

Perhaps it was time to put it behind them.

Elise noticed their expressions changing. They were going to brush this aside?

“Let's go through the order of events,” she said coolly.

Mr. Dawson hadn't expected that. “What?”

She looked at Kayla. “You threw away our backpacks first. We poured water on you afterward. Vivian said pouring water on someone was wrong and set a bad example. Does that mean throwing away somebody's books and backpack is right?”

Ms. Parker looked serious. “Pouring water on someone is wrong. Throwing away someone's books and backpack is wrong, too.”

“Exactly. Northbridge High has excellent teachers and high academic standards. Helping students improve is its first priority. Kayla could have damaged anything. She chose textbooks. Why?”

Ms. Parker looked puzzled. Mr. Dawson stroked his beard and offered, “For... revenge?”

Elise's usually soft voice rang out with sudden force.

“It's more than revenge. Textbooks are precious to students. They contain knowledge. Our futures depend on what we learn from them. She wasn't just getting back at us. She was preventing us from studying, holding back the class, holding back the school. She wanted to step on someone else so she could climb higher.”

Kayla stared. “Huh?”

The two adults considered that with furrowed brows. Northbridge High used midterm placement assessments each semester to review its course groups. Its system was more demanding than those at many other schools. It encouraged competition, even if indirectly, and helped account for the intensity with which its students studied.

Elise pressed on. “Kayla has no interest in making progress together. What if everybody spent their time thinking of ways to stop someone else from studying? That's destructive competition. Unfair competition. It holds everyone back. A student doing that is a tumor in this school's development.”

“Yes,” Ms. Parker said, her expression growing markedly graver.

What mattered most at Northbridge High? Learning. Without good academic results, everything else was empty talk. Other schools would have overtaken them long ago if their average scores and the overall quality of their students weren't so high.

“If we let this go lightly,” Elise asked, “if ruining someone else's textbooks costs nothing, or almost nothing, what happens next?”

Ms. Parker answered soberly. “Students start thinking textbooks don't need to be valued. That destroying them is acceptable. Some might even deliberately ruin another student's books to pull them down the rankings.”

Now that Ms. Parker understood, Elise continued.

“That's why I don't think the water was enough. Give her a proper lesson. Put a formal mark on her record. Have her write a reflection. Make this a warning to every student at Northbridge High, so nobody dares casually destroy someone else's textbooks or compete this way again.”

Her voice was clear and emphatic. “This could be a milestone for Northbridge High. A lesson for the whole school, and an example other schools will want to follow.”

Mr. Dawson slapped his thigh and sprang up, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.

“Excellent! Well said!”

She was right. Textbooks mattered. Call it a prank if you liked, but it showed contempt for the very materials they learned from. Could a student who had no respect for her books have a good attitude toward learning?

At some point, Ms. Parker had sat up straight. Elise sounded so righteous, so impassioned. There seemed to be a flaw in the logic somewhere, yet every point made sense as she heard it.

Were textbooks important? Nothing could be more important. Should destroying them be punished? Certainly. And severely.

Nora's eyes were wide. She seemed to emerge from the speech only now.

“Elise, you're... really good at this.”

The quiet, gentle girl beside her had become someone else for a moment. She'd sounded as if she were delivering a public address.

With a few arguments, Elise had transformed Kayla's petty revenge into an obstacle to learning for the entire school. Judging by the teachers' faces, they now saw a small incident that might have terrible consequences if they tolerated it.

Elise smiled faintly. In her previous life, a friend at college had dragged her into the university's public-speaking club. She had picked up a little there.

Vivian and Kayla stared at her, too stunned to respond.

Kayla couldn't follow it. She'd thrown away a backpack and some books. How had she become a tumor obstructing everybody's education?

Ms. Parker composed herself and gave Kayla a cold look.

“This is a serious matter. When your parents arrive, we'll discuss a formal disciplinary mark or whatever other action is appropriate.”

Kayla went deathly pale. She'd already said she'd pay. The teachers had been ready to let the matter drop. A few words from Elise, and now they were talking about a formal mark?

That would stay in her school record. She could forget being selected for class honors. The school's outstanding-graduate recommendation would be out of her reach, too.

A familiar voice sounded outside the door. Her eyes brightened at once.

A middle-aged couple came in. The woman was dressed with great care, her hands and neck glittering with jewelry. At the sight of Kayla's bedraggled state, she exclaimed in dismay and pulled her daughter into her arms.

“Who did this? Oh, my God!”

“My daughter comes here to study! She doesn't come here to be bullied!”

Mr. Dawson felt a headache coming on. These were the parents he dreaded: they adored their children, and whatever happened was always somebody else's fault. Their own child couldn't possibly be to blame.

The man surveyed the office with a hard stare.

“What happened? We expect an explanation.”

Mr. Dawson pulled out chairs and had them sit. Kayla nestled against her mother while he explained everything with a practiced smile. He made sure to stress the evidence proving that Kayla had thrown Elise's backpack away first.

“Damaging textbooks has serious consequences,” he said firmly. “Your daughter will receive a formal disciplinary mark.”

The father was Richard Morris. His wife was Monica.

They looked at each other, both incredulous. A backpack and some textbooks had been thrown away. How had that become so serious?

Mr. Dawson went over the implications Elise had raised, putting them into his own words.

Richard listened in silence, his lips tightly pressed together. He didn't think throwing away a backpack warranted this, but Mr. Dawson clearly regarded the mark as settled.

Monica had no answer to the director's argument. Her resentment remained. She turned to Elise.

“My daughter did something wrong, and I'll apologize to you for her. But those are separate issues. You poured water on my daughter. Shouldn't you apologize to her?”

It was only a backpack. Now her daughter was getting a formal mark over it. All because of Elise. Monica meant to get some satisfaction for Kayla.

Beside her, Kayla raised her head, triumph in her eyes. She had her parents behind her. Elise was just a high-school student. How could she stand up to them?

She'd been so pleased with herself a moment ago. Now she'd have to apologize after all.

Elise raised an eyebrow. The woman who had arrived wailing over her daughter could suddenly make a very orderly argument.