Read Cheat for Free Online Page A

alone.” Then he let go of my arm and walked away.
    All afternoon I thought about what Jack had said. Part of me wanted to do what he asked. But the reporter in me couldn’t let it go. If Sean was guilty, he’d done it to himself. If he wasn’t guilty, great. Either way, there was a story here, and it needed to be told.
    After school I decided to make another visit to Mr. Draper’s classroom. If Sean—or whoever the Scantron Scammer was—didn’t have the answer key yet, he might try again today.
    This time the classroom wasn’t empty. Mr. Draper was there. At least, I assumed it was Mr. Draper. When I peeked through the window of the door, I saw a dumpy bald guy with glasses sitting behind the desk. He didn’t spot me, but seeing him there almost gave me a heart attack! I spun away and waited for the blood to stop pounding in my ears.
    I peeked through the window again. If Mr. Draper was making up the answer key, the crook couldn’t have stolen it yet. At first I couldn’t tell what Draper was working on. But when he dropped his pencil and bent over to pick it up, I saw the Scantron sheet on his desk.
    I felt like I’d just made the discovery of the century. My stomach started doing the same crazy dance it does when I wash a dill pickle down with orange juice.
    I needed to think, but not here in the hall where Mr. Draper might see me. I needed privacy. So I tore into the girls’ washroom across the hall. Jeez! The way I was panicking, you’d think I had done something wrong. I took a deep breath to calm down.
    Okay. So what should I do?
    The obvious option was to walk across the hall and tell Mr. Draper everything. Then the problem would be in his lap, and I could wash my hands of the whole thing. And lose my story, I reminded myself. Besides, if I told Draper everything, he would report it to the office. Then Mr. Wiens would know I’d lied to get students’ marks.
    Okay, forget that option.
    What other choices did I have? I could always do nothing. I could walk away and let whatever was going to happen, happen. Yeah, right. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t do that. I needed this story.
    I sighed. It looked like I had only one real choice after all. I had to catch the crook in the act. But time was running out. If the thief was going to steal the answer key, it had to be soon.
    I glanced at my watch. I didn’t know how long I’d been in the washroom, but it must have been a while. It was way past four o’clock. Mr. Draper might even be gone.
    I pulled the bathroom door open a crack. I didn’t have much of a view— I could only see down the hall one way. But walking toward me—no, make that walking toward Mr. Draper’s classroom—was Sean Leger.
    I started to ease the door shut, but the sound of another door closing made me freeze. Sean stopped too.
    â€œSean,” a jovial voice called. I figured it must be Mr. Draper. “What brings you this way?”
    Sean shrugged and smiled— nervously, I thought. “Hi, Mr. Draper. I came to see if you needed me to do anything in the biology room?”
    Mr. Draper came into my line of vision and put a hand on Sean’s shoulder. “Thanks for asking, Sean, but I think we’re good for a few days. There are some heavy labs next week, and I’m going to need a hand setting them up. Come back and see me then. In the meantime, you have a big math test to get ready for. I don’t want to cut into your studying time.” Then he chuckled. “You can walk me to my car and pick my brain about what’s on it.”
    I watched them walk away. I was still staring through the crack in the door long after they’d disappeared down another hallway.
    I was afraid to leave the washroom. I was afraid they’d come back. At least, I was afraid Sean would come back. When Mr. Draper had left his classroom, the only thing he was carrying was his coat. That meant