Within five seconds, the entire hallway erupted in a cacophony of pinging cell phones, message alerts, and vibrating notifications.
Trent stared at her, his eyes widening in absolute horror as the realization hit him.
Maya hadn't just queued the email to the administration.
She had queued it to the entire student body directory.
Chapter 3: The Climax and Consequence
The hallway dissolved into chaos. Every student, every teammate, every bystander pulled out their phones simultaneously. The glowing screens illuminated their faces in the dim corridor. For three seconds, there was only the sound of reading—the silent, collective processing of digital information.
Then came the whispers.
"Oh my god, look at his grades..."
"He hacked the system? Seriously?"
"Blue Ridge dropped him. He's off the team."
Trent spun around, his frantic eyes darting from face to face. He reached out to Brody, grabbing his teammate's arm. "Brody, don't look at it! It's photoshopped! She faked it!"
Brody looked down at the high-resolution image of the official letter on his screen, then looked back at Trent. The reverence that usually lived in the linebacker’s eyes was completely gone. It was replaced by a mixture of betrayal and disgust.
"It's signed by the Dean, Trent," Brody said, his voice flat. "And there's a timestamp from the school's server showing the unauthorized grade change. You lied to us. You told us you were getting tutored."
"I was! I mean, I am!" Trent stammered, backing away from his own friends. The wall of jocks that had been protecting him suddenly felt like a cage closing in. "Come on, guys, you know me!"
"Yeah," a girl in the crowd called out loudly. "We know you. You're a cheat."
The crowd parted suddenly, parting like a sea for an oncoming ship. The heavy wooden doors at the end of the corridor had swung open, and the heavy, rhythmic thud of boots echoed against the linoleum.
Coach Harris, a massive, broad-shouldered man with a permanent scowl, was marching down the center of the hallway. In his massive hand, his smartphone was gripped so tightly his knuckles were white. Right behind him was Principal Sterling, looking equally furious.