Chapter 4

Things quickly got out of hand.

Paige and I were both called into Ms. Bishop's office.

After hearing both sides of the story, Ms. Bishop turned to me with a grave expression. "Mila, once you'd collected everyone's money for the test-prep materials, you should've brought it straight to me. Why didn't you?"

I pressed my lips together. "The classroom was really noisy between classes, so I couldn't get an accurate count. I counted it twice and got a different total each time. Then the bell rang, so I was going to count it again after gym and bring it to you."

Paige scoffed. "Who would believe that? Mila gets near-perfect scores in math, but she can't even count some money? More like she hid it herself, then remembered I was sitting out of gym and decided to pin it on me."

I stubbornly bit my lip. "I didn't."

More and more students gathered outside the office to watch the drama unfold. Eventually, someone in the crowd accidentally pushed the door open.

Then a voice called out from the hallway, "Mila, even if you and Paige have issues with each other, you can't pull something like this."

"Exactly. Sure, Paige shouldn't pick on you, but you can't use everyone's money to get back at her."

Ms. Bishop's attention immediately snapped toward them. "Mila, Paige, you two have had problems before?"

Everyone started talking at once.

"You don't know the half of it. Paige has a thing for the new transfer student, Dylan. She's made a move on him several times, but he never gave her the time of day."

"But Dylan is always hanging around Mila, so Paige played a few pranks on her."

Ms. Bishop seemed to reach her own conclusion. She looked at me with the solemn expression of someone trying to reason with a difficult child.

"Mila, Paige was wrong to play those inappropriate pranks on you. But that doesn't mean you can use everyone's test-prep money to get back at her. Just tell us where you hid it. If you give it back now, I won't hold it against you."

Paige's father, Andrew Brock, was the CEO of a publicly traded company. As a prominent alumnus, he'd previously donated $150,000 to our school. Because of that, almost none of the teachers or students dared to cross her.

So, this time, Ms. Bishop had clearly decided that I, the poor academic rep, was an easier target. I could've easily replaced the missing money with my allowance.

But this time, I refused to back down. "I'm not admitting to something I didn't do. If we can't figure out who took it, check the security cameras."

Paige answered arrogantly, "Fine. Check them. I'm not scared."

We went to the security office, where the security guard scratched his head awkwardly.

"Sorry. The cameras on your floor are down, and the technician hasn't come out to fix them yet. We can't access any footage right now."

Back in the office, Ms. Bishop saw that neither of us was willing to budge and decided to call our guardians.

Just then, someone knocked sharply on the door. Dylan walked in holding his phone and admitted that he'd recorded the thief.

Phones weren't allowed at our school, but to help me, Dylan voluntarily confessed that he'd brought one anyway.

During gym, he'd gone to the boys' locker room to change.

As he passed our classroom, he happened to see Paige acting suspiciously around my desk.

After watching the video, Ms. Bishop's expression darkened.

Paige, meanwhile, flew into a rage. "Then I'm reporting them for dating! There's no way Dylan would admit to bringing his phone just to help Mila unless something was going on between them! He could get suspended for this!"

Overcome with anger, Paige lunged for Dylan's phone.

He wouldn't let her take it. As they struggled over it, the phone fell to the floor.

The screen suddenly lit up, and there, unmistakably, was my profile as I worked through a problem.

It had been taken without my knowledge.