Page 38 of The Other Side
14
“Has anything come from that conversation you overheard?” Jolene hedged. As we were close to Halloween, she was donning a bright orange sweater featuring white ghost appliques with beady little eyes (literally) sewn to both the front and back.
“No.” I shook my head.
“And you’re certain you don’t know who Claire was speaking with?” She eyed me, definitely suspecting I knew more than I was letting on. “Because if you do, you should report them.”
“I can’t do anything…yet,” I told her. “I can’t go around leveling accusations without more information or any evidence to back up my claim. I still don’t know what they were even talking about.”
“I’m not sure if you need evidence. Let the headmistress dig into it,” she disagreed with my assessment.
But she hadn’t been there. She hadn’t heard what I had. I was still certain it wasn’t any kind of romantic relationship—I would have reported Chance if I suspected it was. That was crossing a line no teacher should ever come close to. Still I worried aboutthe “danger” Chance referenced. I thought maybe if I could get closer to him, maybe I could convince him to tell me, or I’d have more information to figure things out for myself.
Things had been decidedly more cordial between us since he’d extended an olive branch over the weekend, but I was more suspicious of him than ever. I just didn’t know what or why he was hiding things. Basically, I had nothing.
“What happens if you never find any evidence?” she posed. “You’re just going to let her get away with doing whatever shady stuff she’s up to?”
I huffed. “You know it’s not that easy. The wrong kind of accusation could ruin her future.”
She let my words sink in before responding, “Who cares? They’re all rich. They’ll just throw money at it to make it go away.” I couldn’t miss the simmering fury behind her words. She’d worked at Montgomery for just over twenty years and hadn’t come from money either. We had bonded over similar backgrounds and being jaded by the wealth that was flaunted around us.
“Jolene, it’s about integrity.” I shook my head.
I wished I hadn’t told her.
She clicked her tongue in disagreement.
“If I find anything, Iwillturn her in. I’ll do the right thing.”
“Turn who in, Miss Price?” Headmaster Winston had materialized in the hallway behind Jolene’s desk.
I paled, mentally scrambling for a decent lie. “A student turned in an essay that seemed familiar.”
“Oh?” He raised a bushy eyebrow and pursed his lips simultaneously.
“I don’t believe the student would cheat, and I have to go through my records from last year.” The lies continued to unravel before me.
“See that you do; we don’t tolerate cheating of any kind at Montgomery Prep,” he confirmed.
His gaze was wary and I thought he still suspected he was missing the truth of our conversation.
“Yes, Headmaster.” I nodded. “I don’t want to jeopardize the student’s academic future if the similarities are merely coincidental.” I eyed Jolene as I spoke.
A scowl formed on her face.
“Good.” The headmaster seemed to be appeased. “I appreciate your thoroughness and caution with such a delicate matter.”
I blinked and he was already down the hall, closing his office door.
I pointed my finger at Jolene. “Not a word of this to anyone. Not even your cats.”
She sighed in defeat.
I was up in the lounge, just after dinner, finishing grading the last of the midterm tests later that evening, when I heard the sirens off in the distance. I knew immediately they could only be for someone at Montgomery because the campus was so far removed from the closest town and residential homes that I would have never heard them otherwise.
Scrambling down the trapdoor ladder, I threw on a coat and shoes and raced out into the hall. Chance almost ran right into me, exiting his apartment the same moment I passed his door.
“What’s going on?” he asked in a rush, hurriedly following me down the stairs.
