Hacker Read Online Free

in that. Mum and Dad will never know that Miss Hiff’s signature was on the back of the original.’
    ‘There speaks an expert,’ I said sourly.
    Now, usually I would have told Gib where to go after making a suggestion like that. I’ve got a lot more common sense than he has, but he’s only a boy so what do you expect? But at that moment all I could think about was getting suspended from school and how Dad would be disappointed and how Mum would get upset, especially when she wasn’t supposed to. So I thought, if only I knew what the letter said then I could prepare them – and me – for the worst.
    Gib handed the letter back to me and I held it gingerly, staring down at it. It was as if the envelope was burning my fingers and it wouldn’t stop burning my fingers until I knew what Miss Hiff had written about me.
    ‘I … I don’t know …’ I said, doubtfully.
    ‘Go on. I won’t tell. I promise,’ Gib urged.
    I took a deep breath. Before I could change my mind, I tore off the left-hand piece of sticky tape and stuck my finger under the flap. I pulled it up. I told myself I couldn’t get into any worse trouble, but deep down I knew I could. It still didn’t stop me.
    ‘What does it say? What does it say?’ Gib said eagerly. He pulled my arm over to him.
    I pulled back indignantly. ‘I think I should read it first, don’t you?’
    ‘Then read it to me,’ Gib said impatiently.
    I didn’t really want to, but I didn’t see how it could make much difference now. Besides, Gib might tell Mum and Dad what I’d done if I didn’t tell him what was in the letter. He wasn’t usually a snitch but he could be a real pig when he didn’t get his own way.
    Dear Mr and Mrs Gibson
,
    I deeply
…
    I didn’t get any further. Gib’s head was in my way where he’d moved in for a closer look.
    ‘You make a better door than a window,’ I said sarcastically. ‘Move your fat head!’
    He glowered at me but he did move. I carried on reading.
    I deeply regret to inform you that today your daughter, Victoria, was caught cheating in her end-of-term maths exam. Mrs Bracken, your daughter’s maths teacher, prepared the exam on her personal computer. Yesterday morning, when Mrs Bracken returned to her PC, she found an unseemly message – signed by ‘Hacker Supreme’ – which had been left at the top of the file containing the maths exam answers
.
    Today, when confronted, your daughter admitted to using her programming skills to get into this file and read the answers. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that this is a very serious matter indeed and it could well lead to Victoria’s expulsion. I am at a loss to understand what made her do it as Victoria has been, to date, an exemplary pupil. Please could you phone me or my secretary, Mrs Goater, to arrange a mutually convenient meeting at the beginning of next week
.
    Best wishes
,
    Miss Julia Hiff
    ‘Wow! Double wow!’ Gib breathed. ‘I thought you said you used your programmable calculator.’
    ‘I
did
,’ I squeaked.
    I re-read the letter again and a third time. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was addressed to Mr and Mrs Gibson, I would have been sure that Miss Hiff had given me the wrong letter.
    ‘Well, when you were talking about your calculator, they were obviously talking about Mrs Bracken’s PC,’ Gib said, re-reading the letter himself.
    ‘What am I going to do?’ I said. ‘I can’t show this to Mum and Dad.’
    ‘So you’re not the person who left that message for Mrs Bracken on her PC?’ Gib asked.
    ‘Of course not!’ That was the closest I’d ever got to wanting to hit him. ‘I wouldn’t do something like that. I didn’t know anything about it until a minute ago.’
    ‘If you didn’t do it, I wonder who did?’ Gib mused.
    ‘That’s not the burning issue at the moment,’ I snapped. ‘What am I going to do?’
    ‘No problem. Just tell Mum and Dad that you misunderstood what Miss Hiff was talking about and vice versa,’ Gib