Cheat by Kristin Butcher Read Free Book Online

antsy, I could have screamed. Every nerve in my body tingled.
    As soon as the bell rang, I bolted for the washroom. I didn’t even stop at my locker. The biology lab and math room were both empty. So was the glassed-in office between them.
    For the first fifteen minutes, the washroom was busy with girls coming and going. I couldn’t keep a close eye on Draper’s room, but I wasn’t worried. The thief wouldn’t make his move until the traffic died down.
    Around ten to four, things got quiet. I settled in at my post and got my phone ready to snap incriminating photos.
    I didn’t have to wait long. Within minutes, the crook showed up. He came from the other direction, so I didn’t see him arrive. I only heard him. I wanted to open the door wider, but I didn’t dare. I had to settle for listening. The sounds were the same as before—desk opening, keys jingling, filing cabinet drawer rolling open.
    And then silence. What was happening? The suspense was killing me. I knew I was taking a big risk, but I had to find out. I stuck my head out the door and looked across the hall.
    The thief was there—in the little glass office. He was rummaging through the filing cabinet. Finally he pulled out a paper—no, a Scantron sheet. It was the answer key, I was sure.
    Instead of photographing it like I thought he would, he pulled a manila envelope out of his backpack and took another Scantron sheet out of it.
    Even though I’d been imagining this moment for days, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He was switching the sheets.
    I didn’t wait for him to finish. I couldn’t. He might see me. I pulled my head back into the washroom, shut the door and waited for him to leave.
    I looked down at the phone in my hand. I hadn’t taken a single picture. I’d been too stunned. Jack had been right. Sean wasn’t the thief.
    Jack was.

Chapter Eleven
    There had to be a mistake. My brother was not the Scantron Scammer. He couldn’t be. Jack would never steal!
    But he had. I’d seen him with my own eyes. He had broken into Mr. Draper’s office and switched the answer keys. But why? He wasn’t even in any of Draper’s classes. And even if he was, Jack didn’t need to cheat. He was a brain!
    Had he done it for the money? That didn’t make sense either. Our family wasn’t rich, but we weren’t poor. And Jack had a part-time job. He didn’t need the money, unless—
    Could my brother be doing drugs? I pushed the thought away before I finished thinking it. Jack was too into health and fitness to poison his body with chemicals. Besides, he wouldn’t risk his basketball future.
    I started to shake. Shock was setting in. The idea that Jack was a thief was almost more than I could stand. But he was still my brother! He might have done a bad thing, but he wasn’t a bad person. I couldn’t rat on him.
    Then I heard something—not much, but enough to make me open the door a crack.
    Someone was going into the room across the hall. Mr. Draper? The custodian? Maybe it was Jack again.
    Maybe he’d had second thoughts and was returning the answer key.
    I waited for the sound of the filing cabinet drawer rolling open. Then I poked my head out the door and looked toward the little office.
    Someone was there. But it wasn’t Jack. It wasn’t Mr. Draper or the custodian either.
    It was Sean.
    He pulled the answer key out of its folder, placed it faceup on the desk, and took a photo of it with his phone. Then he slipped it inside the folder again and shut the filing cabinet.
    I ducked back into the washroom, but kept my ear to the door. When I couldn’t hear any more noises, I let myself into the hall.
    Sean was gone.
    Relief washed over me—for about three seconds.
    What was going on? First my brother snuck into Draper’s office and switched the answer keys. Then Sean broke in and photographed the one Jack left behind.
    Were