All Chapters of My High School's Centennial Exposed My Classmates' True Colors: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

Two nights earlier, at ten o'clock, my former homeroom teacher, Margaret Smith, called me.She could barely contain her excitement. "Clara, our school's centennial celebration is next week. Could you come back for a visit?"That same night, I asked my assistant, Rachel Moore, to arrange the trip.Margaret told me the town was short on funds and that many local schools were badly outdated.The teachers were doing their best, but much of the equipment was falling apart.Margaret had suffered from back problems for years after spending her whole life working tirelessly for her students.With nowhere else to turn, she asked for help in the alumni group chat, "Would any alumni be willing to help us buy new equipment? All I want is to give these kids a better environment to learn."I told Rachel I'd pay for the entire science building and all its equipment. But I wanted to announce it at the celebration.Then Emma suddenly replied in the group chat, "Mrs. Smith, I may only be the admissions

I froze for a second, then rushed over. "Emma! What the hell are you doing to my car?"She clearly hadn't expected me to catch her.Panic flashed across her face, her hand still frozen in midair.After a brief pause, she stammered, "Well, you parked over the line."She even kicked the white line on the ground. "See? You're blocking a public walkway. You took up too much space."I looked her straight in the eye. "Oh! Didn't you tell me this was a reserved parking spot for the school?"You said you'd only let me park here earlier as a favor."I stared her down. "How can there be a reserved parking spot on a public street? The lines are clearly marked. You can't just key someone's car because you feel like it."Emma stuffed the screwdriver into her purse. "Whatever. There's no talking to you."She turned and walked toward the school gates.I caught up with her just as several of our former classmates came over.They looked uncomfortable when they saw me."Well, look who's here. Clara.""W

Theodore asked me a few quick questions over the phone, then said, "Save everything. Don't delete a thing. My team and I are on our way."I ended the call and stared blankly at the red light above the ER doors.It burned into my eyes.Then I heard Peter Smith, Margaret's husband, shout from behind me, "Margaret!"I spun around.Peter was stumbling toward me with a neighbor holding him up. His whole body was shaking.His voice cracked as he asked, "What happened? Weren't you just going to get Margaret's medicine? How did she end up in the ER?"I hurried over and took his arm. "Mr. Smith, please sit down. I'll tell you everything."I told him everything—from Emma keying my car and shoving me to Julian shoving Margaret when she rushed over to help.Peter's lips trembled. "How could they do that to her? Margaret spent her whole life caring about those kids. She never even raised her voice at them."I squeezed his hand, but I had no idea what to say.Just then, the elevator doors opened.Em

No one had expected Daniel and Robert to show up.When I didn't answer, Daniel finally noticed something was wrong. "Oh, right. How is Mrs. Smith?"I collected myself. "She's stable. They're keeping her in the ICU for observation."Daniel pressed a hand to his chest. "Thank goodness. Thank goodness."Then he returned to the reason he'd come. "Is there anything you need from me for the new academic building and the private school funding? The entire district will give this project our full support."Daniel grew more excited as he spoke.Emma and the others, however, stood frozen.They stared at one another in shock.Grace was the first to find her voice. "Mr. Foster, what did you just say? Isn't she some rich man's side piece in the city? What donation? What funding?"Daniel's face darkened. "Nonsense! Clara is a senior partner at one of the country's leading venture capital firms. She manages billions of dollars in investment funds!""What?!" Grace shrieked so loudly my ears rang. "A s