“Valentine?” I whisper back.
“Yes.” Tori beams.
I’m on the point of asking what Sinclair thinks about that, but I hold my tongue. “That’s—that’s great, Tori.”
“He’s so gorgeous.” She sighs, and I can’t help thinking about the way he spoke to Henry after his accident. Whether or not you like someone, it was downright unnecessary of him. Especiallyas I still don’t quite get what Tori sees in Val. But maybe he’s different when it’s just the two of them. I suppose their family backgrounds and the expectations bound up with them help to bring them together. And I’m glad for Tori if she’s got someone she can talk to about stuff like the responsibility and social pressure her surname puts on her.
“I’m sure Henry will ask you soon,” Tori whispers. “What will you wear?”
“I didn’t even know there was a ball,” I admit.
“Then we’ll have to go dress shopping together.” She sounds properly excited.
“Victoria, Emma, if what you have to tell each other is so interesting, perhaps you could share it with everyone else.”
Tori goes red and lowers her head in embarrassment. Before I get a chance to apologize, the gong goes, and there’s a sudden announcement over the loudspeakers.
“Would Emma Wiley please come to the school office. That’s Emma Wiley, to the school office.”
I freeze, feeling everyone look at me. I’ve never been summoned to the head’s office in my whole school career. Never. I’ve never done anything to get into trouble. Until I got the idea of taking photos of the maths exam paper. But nobody saw that. Or did they? My heart starts to race.
Tori looks inquiringly at me, but I ignore her.
Ms.Barnett appears equally confused as she nods to me, so I’m sure this must be about something else. Maybe Mrs.Sinclair wants to talk to me about Henry. Yes. Yes, that’s what it’ll be. No reason to panic. God, I have to slow my breathing.
My thoughts continue to circle as I walk through the hallways to the office. Maybe I’m driving myself insane for no reason at all. My knees are trembling as I reach the secretary’s office. Mr.Harper is sitting at his desk. He lifts his head. “Go straight through, Emma.”
He sounds friendly. So this has to be something harmless. Or else he doesn’t know what I did.
My panicked heart is pounding right in my throat as I knock and open the door. All my blood rushes to my feet as I see Mr.Ward. And I’m sure of it. I’m busted.
“Emma, thank you for coming.” Mrs.Sinclair isn’t smiling. I feel numb as I shut the door. “Sit down.”
It’s so humiliating. Have they already phoned Mum?
“Emma, do you have any idea why we want to speak to you?” Mrs.Sinclair asks. She sounds calm. Mr.Ward’s face is unreadable.
I don’t know what to do. Deny it? Fess up in the hope that it will make things better?
Will I be expelled?
I don’t want to be expelled. I did it to help Henry. For his future, and now... It was so stupid of me.
“No.” The word is out, so there’s nothing to do. I sit stock-still as Mr.Ward laughs scornfully. He crosses his arms over his chest.
“I saw you in my office, where the maths exam papers were kept. I didn’t want to suspect you of anything, but on marking your exam, it was clear that you were familiar with the questions. You didn’t make a single mistake.”
“What?” I blurt. “I didn’t...”Fuck, think before you speak.“I didn’t see the questions.”
“So it was pure chance that you were in an office where you had no business to be?”
“You told me to meet you there!”
“I told you to see me in the meeting room, 2150.” He says to Mrs.Sinclair, “I always lock my office, but that afternoon, I must have forgotten. But how could I have guessed that a pupil here would do such a thing?”
“I didn’t...” I try again.
“Can you prove it?”
