Rise Like The Sun

CHAPTER THIRTY

MADISON

"Cheating?" Maria exclaims, aghast. "You think we were cheating on the maths exam?"

Mrs Miller drums her fingers against the wood of the desk and says, "Miss Garcia, if you would sit down."

Her gaze flickers over Madison briefly before the rest of her friends, her lips pressing into a thin and taut line. Maria is pacing angrily, while Lula looks ready to burst into tears, Audrey hovering beside her with a packet of tissues ready. Elliot simply looks stunned as though he cannot quite believe what the headteacher is telling them.

For her part, Madison is starving.

She's so hungry that she can barely see, her mind still flitting over with worried thoughts of the maths exam, and she's dizzy with thinking about everything that she has to do. When Mr Khan had brought them into the office, Madison had seated herself immediately because she thought she might actually faint, her fingers clenching into a fist so tight that her nails dug into the flesh of her palm. The pain of it all jolted her into reality.

Mrs Miller is still speaking.

"...gotten some information that a few students thought to use a coding program, to hack into the school's website and copy the answers to the exams." The headteacher looks stricter than Madison has ever seen her. "Now, you must understand that these allegations against you are quite serious. Miss Sutton, are you listening to me? This may lead to suspension, at the very least."

"Coding? Hacking?" Lula repeats, her eyes wide. "Do I look smart enough for that?"

She promptly bursts into tears and Audrey quietly clucks over her, with trembling fingers. Both Lula and Audrey are shooting Madison panicked looks, but Madison can't hear anything over the rushing in her ears and the gaping pit in her stomach. She swallows tightly, her mind a blur, before attempting to straighten herself in her seat.

"This is ridiculous," Elliot is saying. "I want my lawyer!"

"I wasn't even in the exam," Maria says, and her ridiculous excuse breaks the dam, letting the rest of her friends pipe up in defence.

"I bet you it was that Diana bitch –,"

"Language, Miss Tallulah –,"

"I don't even know how to work a computer! It's all iPhones now, you dinosaur!"

"– scholarship girl's had it out for us –,"

"What even is a coding program?"

"– ugly shoes and ugly hair –,"

"Enough!" Mrs Miller says angrily, and they all fall silent. "That is quite enough. Regardless of your personal feelings towards students, I will not tolerate such language within my school. None of you are taking this matter seriously. Cheating is an offence and the lightest punishment for it is suspension. I understand that your parents will be very disappointed with you. Especially you, Mr Bradford." 

Elliot's sharp inhale makes Madison look up. Her head is pounding painfully, and she's so empty she wants to sink into her bed. Instead, she forces herself to take notice of what's happening.

Mrs Miller is looking at her, eyeing her quizzically.

"Miss Sutton, you have quite the reputation within the school," she says calmly. "To have it marred by such a foolish mistake –,"

"You forget," Madison says, her voice even and almost insultingly polite as her friends sigh in relief, "that you have no proof of our so-called 'cheating', Mrs Miller."