CHAPTER SEVEN

For a second, I wanted to duck into the cafeteria and pretend I hadn’t seen the news crew. I like being behind the camera, not in front of it. Besides, the whole situation was starting to get out of control. But Vince pushed me toward the reporter.

“Don’t let them tell just her side of the story. You’ve gotta talk to them too.”

Ms. Opal’s eyes narrowed as we approached. The reporter turned to see who she was glaring at.

“Are you Kai Tamura?” he asked. He sounded like he’d just won a prize. “The student who took this photo?”

The reporter waved his printout in my face like a flag. He also turned my way, leaving Ms. Opal out of the picture. She started to say something, but I cut in first.

“Yes, I’m Kai Tamura, and I took that photo and posted it to our school newspaper’s website.”

The reporter beamed. “You’ve made some serious allegations about your teacher, Kai. Do you stand by those charges?”

I reminded myself to look at the camera as I spoke into the mike. “Absolutely. I know what I saw.”

“Why do you think Ms. Opal committed this alleged act of cheating?”

“You’ll have to ask her that. Like I wrote in the article, my guess is that she wanted to make sure she would get a good performance review. And a good raise.”

“And why do you think the administration removed your article and photos from the website?”

“I don’t know, maybe they’re afraid of the truth coming out?” I said. “And maybe they don’t want people talking about whether it’s fair to give teachers raises based on students’ test scores.”

“Kai, tell us how you ended up taking those photos in the first place.”

Uh-oh. I should have been prepared for a question like this, but I wasn’t.

“Well,” I began, stalling for time. “I was in the classroom because—”

A voice cut in from down the hallway. “Stop! Stop filming immediately!”

It was Principal Juarez, a man I’d never been happy to see until that moment. He charged down the hall toward the cameraman, waving his arms like it was a national crisis.

“This is an educational institution! It is not open to reporters during the school day.”

I wondered if that was true. Schools are public places, right? But I guess the administration can keep you out if you don’t have official business there.

The reporter jumped on his chance. “Principal Juarez, would you care to comment on—”

Juarez reached the camera and put his hand over the lens. “You will vacate these premises immediately.” He looked around, his voice jumping up an octave. “Security!”

The reporter seemed to know that his opportunity had passed. “Of course, sir. No problem. We’ll be on our way.” He told the cameraman to pack it up.

Juarez relaxed. “Kai, please join me in my office.”

The reporter raised his eyebrows, looking intrigued, but Juarez told him not to push his luck. Then he turned to me again. “Now, Kai,” he said, as if I was somehow stalling.

I glanced back at Vince as I followed the principal. His expression mirrored what I felt exactly:

Oh, crap.