Chapter 32 #3
The deeper you get in lies, the worse it will be.
“Emma?”
I swallow with an effort. “Yes.”
My voice is quiet, but they heard. There’s a hint of triumph flickering in Mr. Ward’s face. Mrs. Sinclair looks stunned. “But I came out again the moment I saw that nobody was there.”
“She must have taken photos,” Mr. Ward interrupts me. “She must have had her phone with her. All you have to do is check . . .”
“That’s enough, Mr. Ward.” Mrs. Sinclair’s voice is sharp. When she continues, her words sound gentler. “Emma, we can’t check your phone without your permission. But if you allow us to, it might prove you innocent.”
The pictures were deleted. There’s no chat to prove I sent them to Henry. There’s nothing. Bluetooth doesn’t leave a trail, does it? If they don’t find anything on my phone, Mr. Ward has no proof.
Slowly, I nod. I reach for my phone, which I’d picked up again as I was leaving the classroom. The display immediately shows a series of messages from Mum. I just glance at them, but it’s enough to reveal that Mrs. Sinclair has already told her.
I’m about to give it to her when there’s a knock at the door. Before Mrs. Sinclair can say anything, it’s opening.
It’s Henry, his face expressionless. His eyes meet mine, my heart skips a beat. He seems to have put two and two together as he sees Mr. Ward and the phone in my hand.
“It was me,” he says.
What is he doing?
I jump up as Henry closes the door and comes in. He’s walking tall, his shoulders tense.
“Henry, you can’t just—”
“No, you don’t understand,” he interrupts Mrs. Sinclair. “I heard the announcement. This is about the maths mock, right?”
“We’re talking to Ms. Wiley here,” snarls Mr. Ward, but Henry doesn’t bat an eyelid. I try to implore him with my eyes, but he just stares past me.
“Emma saw me in Mr. Ward’s office. She was on her way to her appointment with him. I was worried about the exam, and I made a mistake. I’m sorry.”
“He’s lying!” I turn to Mrs. Sinclair. “It’s not true, he didn’t do anything.
It was me who photographed the papers. I was in the room, and the papers were on the desk.
I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t mean to, but I was thinking about Henry, and I wanted to do something to help him.
I only wanted to help. It was wrong, I regret it, but he didn’t do anything.
” I don’t know when I start crying. All I know is that I can’t contain myself anymore.
“It was her,” repeats Mr. Ward.
“Quiet!” Mrs. Sinclair rubs her temples. “Oh, God, this can’t be true.” She looks from Henry to me.
My blood runs cold as Henry pulls his phone out of his bag, unlocks it, and lays it on the desk. I whirl around to him as I see the photos. Why does he still have them? Is he out of his mind?
He shakes his head as Mrs. Sinclair and Mr. Ward bend over his phone.
“I’m sorry,” he repeats, and I can’t breathe.
Henry
I knew what had happened as I sat there in Latin, hearing Emma summoned to the head. It was like I was on autopilot. I stopped thinking. I stood up and Ms. Barnett let me leave early.
I couldn’t run because my bloody shoulder still hurts, but I can’t feel a thing now anyway.
There’s just blankness as Emma just stared at me aghast while I put my phone on the desk.
My phone with the photos, which I’d deleted but left in the trash.
Because I’d had a hunch that we might still need them.
They’re proof, but teachers aren’t allowed to go through my phone without my permission.
Everyone’s known it since there was that business a couple of years ago with Colette in the second form, and Mr. Ward, who ignored the rule.
But now they’re looking because I want them to.
Because I’ve been at this school for so many years now and have never been in any trouble.
Because I’m school captain, and I’ve just lost my sister, for fuck’s sake.
Because if they’re going to go easy on anyone, it’ll be me.
But not Emma, who’s only been here a couple of months.
She wouldn’t understand that, and maybe I didn’t completely think this through, but I had to do it.
The way she did something for me even though I didn’t ask her to.
Her lips are soundlessly forming my name, but I shake my head mutely.
“I’m sorry,” I say as Mrs. Sinclair looks from my phone to me.
I see the disappointment in her eyes, and I know that it’s worked. She believes me.
“Henry,” she says slowly.
“It’s not true,” Emma insists again. She has to stop crying, I can’t bear it. “Please, I . . . It wasn’t like he says.”
“Emma, your phone please,” insists Mrs. Sinclair calmly.
Emma bites her lip as she hands it to them. Her eyes are desperate, and I can’t look at them.
“Nothing,” murmurs Mrs. Sinclair to Mr. Ward.
“She put him up to it then, for all I know.” His eyes are blazing.
“I thought you saw Emma coming out of your office?”
“She was standing outside it,” says Mr. Ward.
“And Henry? Was he there too?”
“No . . .” Mr. Ward hesitates.
“I got out in time,” I say. I never knew I was such a good liar. “I heard your voice just as I got around the corner. I was relieved that nobody had seen me but . . . It was wrong.”
“Henry,” Emma pleads quietly.
I suppress the urge to clench my fists. Don’t show any emotion.
“Fine.” Mrs. Sinclair hands Emma her phone. “Emma, please go back to class.”
“What?” she blurts. “No, I . . .”
Mrs. Sinclair presses a button on her phone. “Could you come and show Ms. Wiley out, please?”
Emma looks blankly from one to another as Mr. Harper enters the room.
“What’s going to happen? I mean . . .”
“Emma, you don’t have to worry about it. I will inform your mother that it was a false alarm and that there’s no need for her to come over.”
For a moment, Emma looks as though she’s going to argue. But she knows as well as I do that there’s nothing she can do.
I avoid her eyes as she follows Mr. Harper out.
“Sit down, please, Henry.” Mrs. Sinclair points at the chair in front of her desk. Then she looks at Mr. Ward. “You may leave too now.” He opens his mouth, but she cuts him off. “Please.”
I withstand his dark glare as he walks past me. He wanted to cause trouble for Emma, for whatever reason. I’m sure of that as I sit down.
“Henry, I don’t know what to say.” Mrs. Sinclair walks up and down on the other side of her desk. The way she often does when we have something to discuss. As head teacher and school captain. But now I’ve broken the rules, and it’s her job to punish me. “How did those photos get onto your phone?”
“I took them.”
She eyes me, waits a second or two, as if she wants to give me one last chance to put everything right. I say nothing.
“Why, for God’s sake?”
“I was scared. I’ve missed so many lessons. I didn’t want to fail maths too. I know I’m borderline on the grades. And there’s the uni application.”
“Yes, there is, Henry.” Mrs. Sinclair sounds firm as she rests both hands on her desk and leans forward slightly.
“This is about your future, about university places. And I will have to make note of your deception. Worse than that, I’ve only just had to give you a warning. Do you understand what that means?”
I can only nod.
“And I would be prepared to overlook a minor incident, but cheating will not be tolerated at this school. This is breaking my heart, Henry, but I’m afraid you’ve left me no choice.”
I break out into a cold sweat.
I’m school captain. I’m her son’s best friend. I’ve lost my sister.
Surely she can’t . . .
But Henry, what were you thinking? That you could get away with anything? That the rules don’t apply to you?
Mrs. Sinclair eyes me, shakes her head in disbelief, and straightens up.
“Henry, I have to suspend you from classes at Dunbridge Academy until further notice.”