Chapter 22

I was waiting outside the classroom when the bell rang for the end of fifth period. Mr. Walker had let me out a few minutes early. The door opened. Allie was the first one out. Her face looked horrible, worse than Peter's yesterday. Her makeup had streaked and run down her face. Her face was puffy and her eyes red.

She saw me and ran straight toward me, ignoring the looks she was getting from other kids streaming into the hall. She grabbed hold and buried her face in my chest. I could feel her sobbing.

I laid my arm across her shoulders and pulled her to the side of the hall and out of the river of humanity. "What's wrong?"

Allie just kept squeezing me and sobbing.

Luke came out of the classroom and saw us. He drew an F in the air and shrugged.

An F? How could she get an F? She knew this stuff.

I put my hands on Allie's shoulders and gently pried her off me, pushing her back far enough that I could look at her face. "You got an F," I told her. She stared straight past me. "What happened? Did you choke?"

Allie barely shook her head. "I... he... he said I cheated."

Cheated? She didn't need to cheat. She knew this stuff. Had she gotten scared?

"Allie, did you... ?" I couldn't finish.

"I didn't. I swear, I didn't."

Confusion. Mass confusion.

"So why does Mr. Singara think you cheated?"

Allie sniffled. "Because I got a good grade."

I was amazed. I thought I had teachers as a species figured out. The man thought she cheated, and gave her an F, because she got too good a grade? Why the hell were we here? Why do they tell us to study?

"Singara thinks you cheated because you got a good grade on a test?"

Allie sniffled again and nodded.

Now what?

"Do me a favor."

"I'm still mad at you for missing practice and rehearsal. Why would I do you a favor?" Robbie asked.

"'Cause I'm cute."

"Huh!"

"'Cause I'm cuddly."

"Huh!"

"And 'cause you're a great friend."

"What?"

"Come with me for a couple of minutes and make sure I don't get suspended."

Robbie's eyebrows shot up, but she nodded.

"Mr. Singara, could I talk to you a minute?"

He looked up from the papers on his desk.

"I'm Tony Sims." I didn't introduce Robbie who was standing behind me.

"Yes, Mr. Sims. You're not one of my students?"

"No, sir." See, I can be polite when I want to. "But it's about one of your students. Allie Smidt."

"What about Miss Smidt?"

"Well, you..." there was no delicate way to say it. "Accused her of cheating."

Behind me, I heard a small gasp.

"I think that's between her and me," Singara said.

"I understand, and I didn't want you to talk about one of your students to me."

"Then what is this about?"

"I hoped you'd listen to me talk about one of your students to you. I don't think Allie cheated."

"Unfortunately, this isn't about what you think. It's about what I think."

I wondered if he was related to Mr. Parker.

"I have a reason for what I think. You see, this last week, I spent almost ten hours with Allie, working on her math."

There was another small gasp behind me.

"I'm sure that was very nice of you. But that doesn't change the fact that she cheated." Singara stood and started gathering his papers into a briefcase. "She's getting a F on her test and I'm meeting with her parents in ten minutes."

"She didn't cheat!"

He smiled condescendingly. "It's good to be loyal to your friends." He closed his briefcase and snapped the locks.

"She..."

Robbie put her hand on my shoulder. "Tony, we have to get to practice."

"In a minute."

"Now!" she said and squeezed. It may not have been the Vulcan death-grip, but it got my attention.

I nodded to the teacher and followed Robbie out of the classroom.

"We don't have practice today," I said when we were in the hall.

"You're not suspended."

"Thanks for that."

"It would have given you an excuse to miss more rehearsals."

"I'm very disappointed, young lady," a shrill voice declared.

Mr. Parker's door opened. Allie rushed out, and, for the second time that day, into my arms. Her mom and dad followed.

"Tony!" she wailed.

"She didn't do anything," I said.

"Mr. Singara said..."

"Mr. Singara is an idiot."

"Mr. Sims, that's enough." Just what I needed. Parker to get into the act.

"The fact is, Allie's only crime is to study hard and do good on a test. She didn't cheat."

"Mr. Sims, this has nothing to do with you."

"That's where you're wrong, Mr. Parker. This has everything to do with me, because I spent the time teaching her the math. Something someone else was paid to do. And I know that Allie knew the material. I know she passed the test on her own. No cheating.

"What Mr. Singara knows," I continued. "Is that one of his students improved. Because she improved, he decided she cheated." I looked at Allie's dad. "You know your daughter. Do you think she cheated? What's more, are you willing to accept she cheated based on the fact her grade went up?"

Mr. Smidt looked at Allie, who had spent this whole time sobbing against my chest, then at Mr. Parker, then back at Allie. "Honey?" he said finally. Allie didn't look up, but I could feel her tense a little. "Allie, did you pass this test on your own?"