Cheat Read Online Free Page B

followed, I strained my ears to the limit. Did I hear footsteps walking away? Or was that only what I wanted to hear?
    I tried to be patient, but I was dying. My legs were killing me! I could not stay crouched another second. In one motion I stepped out of the crevice and straightened up. The ache in my legs drained out through my feet. Suddenly the bigger issue became, Was the person gone? That’s when I realized my eyes were still squeezed shut.
    I opened them a crack and peeked through my eyelashes. I was alone in the classroom. I was safe, but I was also majorly curious. I wanted to know who’d just left. I hurried to the door and poked my head into the hall.
    It was empty except for a boy walking away. I clapped a hand over my mouth to stifle a gasp and ducked back into the classroom.
    I’d recognize that back anywhere.

Chapter Seven
    I sagged against the wall. My legs were too exhausted to take any more stress— my knees gave out. I slid to the floor. For a couple of minutes I just sat there, staring at the closed blinds.
    I couldn’t believe it. Sean Leger had been in Mr. Draper’s classroom. Sean, my brother’s best friend.
    Don’t jump to conclusions , I told myself.
    Okay, maybe it wasn’t Sean. After all, I’d only seen the guy’s back. Maybe it was somebody else. A lot of guys probably looked like Sean from behind.
    And walked like him? And wore the exact same clothes? That was too much of a coincidence. Sean was definitely the person I’d seen in the hallway.
    So what if he was? Just because Sean was in Mr. Draper’s classroom didn’t mean he’d done anything wrong.
    I tried to come up with a reason— any reason —for Sean to be rooting around in that filing cabinet. I couldn’t think of a single thing. He’d pulled the keys from the first drawer he opened, so he obviously knew where they were kept. Maybe he’d taken them before.
    The only explanation was that he’d been searching for the answer sheet to the next math test. From the way he’d slammed the filing cabinet drawer, I was betting he hadn’t found it. I glanced up at the notice on the whiteboard. The test was next week.
    I didn’t want Sean to be guilty. I’d known him my whole life. But what other explanation was there?
    Just when I was sure my brain had gone on strike, the answer smacked me in the face. It was so simple. If Sean wasn’t in Mr. Draper’s classes, he wouldn’t have any reason to steal the answer key. That would prove he was innocent.
    I looked down at the folder I was still clutching. One side was totally crumpled. It didn’t even go back into shape when I loosened my grip. The papers inside were crinkled too. I shuffled through them, searching for the lists of math classes.
    Which one was Sean in? Barsky’s? Timmons’s? Walters’s? Draper’s? I skimmed each list. No, no, no…yes.
    Rats!
    I tried to stay optimistic. So Draper was Sean’s math teacher. It didn’t prove anything.
    So why didn’t I believe that?
    Wait a second. The scam was going on in biology too. I riffled through the papers again. Sean and Jack were best buds. Jack took chemistry. Maybe Sean did too. I scanned the chemistry lists. I found Jack, but not Sean.
    Okay, Sean wasn’t in chemistry. Maybe he was a physics student. I checked the physics list—no Sean Leger.
    All grade twelves had to take a science. If Sean wasn’t in chemistry or physics, there was only one other alternative. I flipped through the biology class list. Bingo.
    When I poked my nose into Jack’s bedroom that evening, he had college stuff spread out everywhere. There were forms and brochures—on his desk, on the bed, even on the floor. Finding a place to stand was like playing Twister.
    â€œHaven’t you picked a school yet ?” I asked as I straddled a calendar from Oklahoma State and a brochure from Gonzaga. “That’s