- Deposit checks
- Thursday 2pm Marsden
Marsden.I remembered the strange look on Lila’s face during initiations when Professor DuPont had handed her the envelope with that name on it.
I tried the bottom drawer. Inside were at least a hundred file folders with familiar last names.St. Clair, Ling, Miller, Jones—members of Greystone.
Inside the one with my last name was a picture of me, the same one that was used for my Princeton ID, and scanning down, I saw that it had all my information, the address where I grew up, my mother’s and father’s years of birth…and death. And—I gasped—a photo of them. I stared at the photo—it must have been taken around the time my father died—and felt dizzy. How did Professor DuPont have this?
I opened another folder labeledBain.In Alex Bain’s file was a photo of him and his mother along with a note:Senator Bain to invest 5M.
I was sliding it back in when something else caught my eye: the edge of what looked like a photo. Tugging on it, I found it was not one photo but many. There was a picture of Daisy and me from the lingerie party, and another of Kai, Cecily, and Daisy doing lines with Alex Bain. All from Daisy’s camera.
—
Later that morning,I knocked hard on Daisy’s door. When she opened it, I flew past her. “Did you know about this?”
I took out my phone and showed her the pictures. “There were files on all of us.”
Daisy scrolled through my phone, her face turning paler and paler as she did. “Shit.”
“Did you lose your camera?”
Daisy sighed. Shook her head.
“Then why does he have these?”
Daisy hesitated. Then she said, quietly, “We just wanted to get Alex kicked out of Sterling, and DuPont had said—pointedly—that he couldn’t do that without evidence. We were just trying to take some incriminating photos…” She shook her head. “But after you left…Alex got really messed up, and we had to take him to the hospital…” Her voice drifted off.
“Oh shit.” I stared at her.This was bad.“Is he okay?”
She nodded. “He’s suspended for now. But he might get expelled. Professor DuPont is on the review board.”
My legs felt numb beneath me. I sank down onto the couch. Now that she’d said it, I realized that I hadn’t seen Alex since that night in mid-December.
Daisy sat down beside me, lowering her voice. “Look, Maya. I know this is new to you, but this is how this world works…A lot of people here are extremely connected. Sons and daughters of some of the most powerful people in the world. Sometimes our alumni need things, and we find ways to help them.”
“So you knew about this?” My voice rose. I couldn’t help but be angry with her for not telling me what that party was really for. “There was something else in the file too—a note about Senator Bain investing five million dollars? Do you know what that’s about?”
Daisy sighed. “It’s a new investment fund, opened by a Greystone alum, one of Professor DuPont’s friends. Only the mega-rich are invited to join…I think there’s some kind of five-million-dollar minimum and guaranteed return of fifteen percent. I’m pretty sure both Kai’s and Cecily’s parents invest. It’s probably a bribe to get Matthew to sway the review board into letting Alex stay.”
I dropped my face into my hands. It felt like my whole world was collapsing. “Jesus Christ. This is so wrong.”
“I don’t know, lots of people open investment funds…I mean, really, how do you think the club can afford all of this? Surely you don’t think it’s all sitting in a savings account somewhere—it’s all invested.”
“So DuPont is okay with his students doing drugs to get someone expelled, helping friends pay their kid’s way into the school, backchanneling for investment funds, probably sleeping with at least one student…I mean, Daisy, you realize that these photos are essentially blackmail, right? And not just for Alex, for you and Cecily and Kai too.”
Suddenly it felt as if the whole room had turned on its side. I did wonder how we seemed to have endless resources. “There must have been a hundred files in his desk.”And thanks to the Calum situation, I know exactly what blackmail Matthew will be saving in my file…
Daisy shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
—
The following Thursday,I waited outside Professor DuPont’s classroom, checking the clock on the wall every ten minutes.Where is he?It was almost two o’clock and if he didn’t leave now, he’d be late for his meeting with Marsden. My anxiety rose as the minute hand ticked closer to the hour.
As I was about to give up, Professor DuPont came rushing out of the classroom. He brushed right past me, almost knocking my coat from my hands, but he didn’t seem to notice.
I gathered my things and followed close behind as he cut across campus. His long legs carried him fast, and I practically had to run to keep up, until finally, he disappeared into Nassau Hall.
