Kendra’s eyes widened. “No!” she said. “Nothing like what you’re thinking.”
Ashanti pressed her hand to her stomach as relief swept through her. “Then what, Kendra? And I want the truth this time.”
“Mr. Williamson didn’t kick me off the magazine.” She sucked in a shaky breath, then said, “He’s been selling grades.”
Ashanti’s head snapped back. “What?”
“You remember Michelle Miles, right? She’s on the cheerleading squad with me.” Ashanti nodded. “She was put on academic probation at the end of last year because of her grade in English. She almost lost her place on the squad. So, during cheer camp over the summer, I offered to tutor her.
“Just after the start of this school year, I asked her how things were going in English and if she maybe wanted to study together. She said no, because she already knew she would get a passing grade.” Kendra sniffed and wiped at her nose with her wrist. “That’s when she told me that she paid Mr. Williamson a thousand dollars to cover her grades for the semester.”
Ashanti had to steady herself on the mattress. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
“Are you serious?” she asked.
Kendra nodded. “He has an entire network, Shanti. Nearly everyone who works on the magazine is in on it. They’re selling term papers, taking online tests for people, everything. And not just at our school.”
Ashanti brought both hands to her mouth. She could not believe this. Mr. Williamson had won her over during the very first parent-teacher night during the girls’ freshman year. They’d discussed Kendra’s love of reading and he’d told Ashanti about the literary magazine. She was the one who had encouraged Kendra to join the staff.
“I went straight to Mr. Williamson,” Kendra continued. “I thought Michelle was lying on him, that she was trying to get him in trouble or something.”
“And what did he say?”
“He asked if I wanted to join in on their little cheating circle,” Kendra said, wiping at her eyes with the heels of both hands. “He said that he’d never invited me because he assumed I was too much of a goody two-shoes to come over to the dark side. He laughed, like it was a joke or something.
“When I told him I wouldn’t… it was like… like his face changed before my eyes, Shanti. His eyes were so cold and just… scary. He said he would tell Principal Keller that I was the mastermind behind the whole thing, and he said that everyone who works on the magazine would back him up.”
“That son of a bitch,” Ashanti said.
“I didn’t think they would take Mr. Williamson’s side. These are my friends! Paulina Dugas, Kimberly Jackson—I’veknown them since middle school. But the day after I confronted Mr. Williamson, they cornered me in the restroom and said they would start spreading rumors about me, and you, and Kara if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. Awful rumors,” she said. “Rumors that could ruin your business.”
“Oh, Ken,” Ashanti said.
“So I didn’t say anything, because I couldn’t risk it. But I can’t take it anymore,” she said. “I quit the magazine.”
Ashanti wrapped her arms around her, squeezing tighter than she should but unable to stop herself.
“Baby, I am so, so sorry.”
The words hurt as they pushed past the knot of emotion lodged in Ashanti’s throat. She’d been so frustrated with Kendra’s attitude, and all the while her sister had been facing those little terrorists alone, all for the sake of protecting Ashanti. It should have been the other way around. She was the one who was supposed to protect Kendra.
And Mr. Williamson. That bastard had better be ready, because her wrath would be unlike anything he had ever suffered.
“I will be in Mrs. Keller’s office Monday morning,” Ashanti said.
“No!” Kendra wrestled herself out of Ashanti’s hold. “Shanti, please. It’s not worth it.”
Bullshit.
There was no way she would let that grown-ass man get away with threatening her little sister. He was going down. They all were.
“This can’t be the end of it, Kendra. What they are doing is wrong—it is illegal. Whether or not you want to work onthe magazine is no longer the issue. Mr. Williamson cannot be allowed to continue teaching.”
She took Kendra by the shoulders and held her so that she could look her in the eyes.
“You know this, don’t you? You knew from the moment you decided to tell me the truth that this would be the outcome. Because I willnotlet him get away with this.”
She nodded. “Yes, I knew,” she said. She hiccupped. “I’m just… I’m so hurt, Shanti.”
