Usually when the last bell of the day rang, Serena remained in class a few extra minutes until the hallways emptied. But today she was the first person out of the room, bumping and elbowing the other students as she fought her way to the library.

Lincoln was waiting at the door. “You sure about this?”

“Positive,” she said. “I told you — I saw them all in the garden. Jackson’s up to something, and he’s somehow got Victor, Rob, and Thom involved. Why else would they be meeting there that early in the morning?”

“Maybe they like flowers.”

“I’m being serious,” she said. “I also asked Mr. James if he noticed anything strange. Turns out, there are a couple of gaps in the videos from Friday night. It’s like the security cameras switched off and on a few times. His master keys to the teachers’ rooms were lying on his desk this morning, not on the pegboard like usual. And the security room door was unlocked.”

“It’s wintertime, Serena. The power always goes out in spurts in January.”

“But what about the keys and the door?”

“This is Mr. James we’re talking about, remember?”

“Okay, fine.” She pulled a folded sheet of paper from her purse. “I called in a favor from one of the student helpers in the guidance office. All those guys have one teacher in common. Mrs. Clark. They must be planning to cheat on her semester exam.”

“How do you know about the exam?” he asked, taking the printouts from her.

“My sister,” she said. “It was the one class that she got a B in.” Serena was probably the only student at Maplewood who hoped Mrs. Clark wouldn’t retire after the school year. She wanted as many chances as she could get to one-up her sister.

Lincoln flipped through the schedules. “You got these from James Brightwell, didn’t you?”

“What? He was happy to print out a few schedules —”

“In return for the Honor Board looking the other way when he ‘accidentally’ writes on the bathroom wall again?”

“I only told him I’d consider his helpfulness the next time he’s in trouble,” she said. “And police use informants all the time. Why can’t we?”

“Um, because we’re not the police.” He passed the printouts back to her. “You really think this is about Mrs. Clark’s exam?”

“It has to be. Remember how they were meeting in the newsroom last week? It’s right down the hallway from Mrs. Clark’s room. They were probably scoping out her classroom and the hallway. Trying to figure out a way past the cameras.”

“Wait — you think they’re going to steal the exam? Like, from her room?”

“I wouldn’t put it past Jackson,” Serena said. “Would you?”

Lincoln let out a long sigh. “If you really think that’s what he’s trying to do — and that’s a big if — we have to go to Dr. Kelsey.”

“No way. Dr. Kelsey could have ended this a long time ago if he’d just brought them before the Honor Board.”

“He didn’t have proof.”

“That’s why I’m going to get it for him,” Serena said. “I didn’t spend all those hours reviewing video just to let Dr. Kelsey swoop in and get all the glory. If Jackson’s really going to steal Mrs. Clark’s exam, I want to be the one to catch him.”

And if I catch Jackson, I’ll be a shoo-in for Honor Board chair next year.

Lincoln frowned at her, then opened the library door. “Okay. Let’s go. He’s already inside.”

He and Serena crossed the library, then stopped at a table in the corner of the room. Keith Sinclair took a bite of his candy bar but didn’t speak. He was sitting right below a sign that read NO EATING.

“Thanks for agreeing to meet,” Lincoln said.

Keith took another bite of the candy bar. “Make it quick, Miller.”

Lincoln and Serena sat down at the table. Last year, when Serena was a sixth grader, she had been enamored with Keith Sinclair. He was a starter on the basketball team and president of the Gamer Club. He seemed like such a leader. Some of her friends had even tried to flirt with him, though all that usually meant was that they went into giggle fits whenever he passed.

But that was a year ago…. Before the Student Council elections.

“We need your help,” Lincoln began.

“You mean, like how you helped me during the election fiasco?” he asked. “No thanks.”

Lincoln glanced at Serena, then started again. “The hard drive to the school security system was stolen a little over a week ago,” he said. “Unfortunately, the school budget doesn’t allow for a replacement.”

“Why don’t you get Gaby and the Student Council to buy one? They’ve already taken all the money from the Gamer Club.”

Serena cleared her throat. “As I understand it, that’s only because you didn’t have enough members to constitute a real student organization.”

Keith turned to Serena. “And who are you?”

“Serena Bianchi. Student Honor Board member. We’re investigating the break-in and —”

“I don’t care,” he said. “Kelsey’s got me working like a grunt, all because my dad won’t give him any more money. You think I’m going to do something to make his life easier? Or yours?”

Serena leaned into the table. “With one small donation, you could be back in study hall, playing games on your phone like everyone else.”

“There’s no way my dad would ever agree to another contribution, not after all the money he … donated to Dr. Kelsey,” Keith said.

Serena took a breath and reminded herself that what she was doing wasn’t wrong. She wasn’t breaking the rules. She was encouraging a fellow student to support the school. His motives didn’t matter, and as long as hers were focused on justice, it was okay.

“A hard drive, while expensive, is certainly within your personal price range,” she said.

He took another bite of his candy bar. “Are we finished here?”

“Think about it this way,” Serena said. “There has to be one other person you dislike more than Dr. Kelsey. Or Gaby de la Cruz.” She pulled out her keys and jingled them against the table. “Isn’t there a reason they call it the Great Greene Heist?”

Keith’s eyebrows twitched. “Jackson?”

“That’s why we need the system. We want to catch him in the act of breaking into the school. We think he’s trying to steal a test.”

Keith wrapped his candy bar and placed it on the table. “Okay, Serena Bianchi. You’ve got my attention.”