Deciding to report the news was one thing. Being able to report it was another. Brielle logged into Maya’s Van Ness Media account that night, but when she uploaded what she had of the report, the error messages started again, and it wasn’t long until Maya’s account was kicked out of the program, just like Brielle’s. When Brielle texted what happened, Ash tried to open the Movie Maker app on her phone, but it wouldn’t even load. ACCOUNT ERROR, the screen said. CONTACT NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR.
The girls brought their issues to Ms. Chung first thing the next morning, and Friday, ten minutes before school ended, all three of them were called down to the principal’s office. The last time Ash and Maya were in the principal’s office was in May, right after the video of Coach Kelly had gone viral, and Ash had known a big punishment was coming. The look on Mr. Carver’s face now made it clear that he had not forgotten about what happened last school year, and a punishment might be coming again. Ash didn’t know why he’d be angry with them now, but she still got the heavy feeling through her body that she’d gotten in May. It might have even been worse, because Brielle had warned that they’d get in trouble, and here they were, including Brielle.
“Ms. Chung spoke with someone at Van Ness Media today,” Mr. Carver said. “According to them, all three of your accounts have been”—he glanced at a Post-it note on his desk—“temporarily suspended for violating the terms of service.”
Mr. Carver could have said their accounts had accidentally unleashed an ancient curse, Ash was so shocked and scared. This meant the error messages weren’t just a coincidence, and they weren’t because the files were too big. It had to be what the files contained.
Was it against the rules to use Van Ness Media to say negative things about Van Ness Media? Did it say that in the terms of service? Ash had no idea, because the terms of service document was just as long and incomprehensible as the privacy policy.
“Given your history,” Mr. Carver said sternly, looking at Ash and then Maya, “I would have thought you’d know better than to record inappropriate videos again.”
“We didn’t record anything inappropriate,” Ash promised.
“Then why is our educational media provider saying you violated their rules?”
The three girls looked at one another, and Mr. Carver clearly took that as an admission of guilt. “I know Van Ness programs are fun, but that doesn’t mean there are no rules. Students must adhere to their terms of service.”
“Do you know what the terms of service say,” Ash asked, her reporter instincts taking over, “or who agreed to them?”
“Don’t get smart with me, Miss Simon-Hockheimer.”
“I’m not—I’m just—” Ash didn’t know how to phrase her question without sounding like she was talking back, but she desperately needed to ask it. “Do you know who agreed to the terms of service? Because, um, a friend of mine tried to sign up at home, and an adult had to approve it.”
“I—I don’t know,” the principal said, clearly caught off guard by the question. “Someone from the district headquarters, I suppose. You’d have to talk to North Avenue.” Then he stopped, seeming to remember that he was in charge of this meeting, not Ash. “The point,” he said firmly, “is that you must use the software appropriately. I don’t know what you put in your Van Ness Media accounts, but it must have been pretty serious to warrant this action. We’ve never had this happen before in all the years we’ve been using this software.”
Maya started to cry. Ash took her hand, letting the news sink in.
“So,” Brielle said quietly, “Van Ness Media decided to shut down our accounts because of what we put in them?”
“Correct,” Mr. Carver said. “Ms. Chung will set you up with temporary guest accounts that you can use until this matter is sorted, but you must use them for your school assignments and nothing else. Is that clear?”
Maya was still crying, so Mr. Carver handed her a tissue.
“Van Ness Media knows what we were working on because they’re tracking everything we do!” Ash blurted. “They’re the ones who should be in trouble. They locked us out of our accounts because—”
“Miss Simon-Hockheimer,” the principal said sharply, cutting her off. “You are in sixth grade now. It’s time to start taking responsibility for your own actions. Last year, you tried to blame the incident with Coach Kelly on everyone but yourself. Now you’re trying to blame this on Van Ness Media.”
“They’re selling our information to advertisers!” Ash said desperately, jumping up.
Ash’s team all nodded, but Mr. Carver shook his head. “Van Ness Media software is free of advertising.”
“It’s true,” Brielle pleaded. “If you look at what we were working on, you’ll see.”
“All of your files are under review at Van Ness Media,” the principal replied, “while they decide if you violated the terms of service.”
Maya let out a shaky breath.
“They won’t let you see what we were working on?” Ash asked, slowly lowering herself back into her chair. She could almost laugh, it was so outrageous.
“I’m not sure I want to, to be frank. They don’t think anyone should see what you were ‘working on,’ and I’m sure they have a good reason.”
Yeah, Ash thought. Because they don’t want anyone to know what we know. Especially not school principals.
The bell rang. School was over. Apparently, so was this meeting. Mr. Carver walked to the door and opened it.
“Ms. Chung will have your temporary usernames and passwords tomorrow. If you don’t use them appropriately, you will not only be suspended from Van Ness Media. You could be suspended from school.”