Can't Stop the Questions

Chapter 21: Cheating Off the Toilet

On Monday morning, while Pablo comes to school to undergo strength training, he comes across Ethan, alongside a few other football teammates:

"Ethan, it's time. On Friday afternoon, you agreed to have our answers to the long questions run by Nadine and her quiz bowler friends on Sunday" Pablo asks the strong safety.

"Nadine forwarded our answers to Gerard, who then told me that you helped Carrie solve these problems!" Ethan is about to scold Pablo. "Why did you help Carrie with these problems?"

"Audrey made me do this, and passed these off as previous years' test items! Audrey and Carrie are both on the basketball team, and Audrey was seemingly the go-to for her to ask for academic help after-hours!" Pablo starts feeling like he's accused of crimes.

"But yes, we have their blessing to put the answers in the toilets" Ethan goes to the library to print three copies of the Algebra II test answers, multiple-choice and long-answer.

After he prints the copies of the test answers, he folds the papers and places one copy each behind a toilet bowl in the boys' bathroom and, later, the disabled's bathroom. Which has a single bowl, complete with all the trappings reserved for disabled's bathrooms.

However, after leaving the disabled's bathroom, Ethan has some concerns in mind. I wonder if Nadine will happily plant a copy of answers into the girls' bathroom, since, even with a hall pass, I can't bank on the girls' bathroom being empty while the test is underway. Nor can I bank on any of my teammates' girlfriends being willing to do so. And Audrey doesn't hit me as someone who would do it, nor would Nadine. Maybe I should just ask my friends in that section to use the disabled's bathroom during the test, regardless of gender.

But then Ethan goes around to ask other footballers in Algebra II on mobile, other than Finn or Pablo. Most of them being in the weight room, Pablo quickly overhears his teammates receiving the request from Ethan for help planting the third copy of the Algebra II test.

"It wasn't enough that you and your girlfriend helped mine review for this stupid Algebra II test! Ethan had the gall to ask for help to plant the answers in the girls' bathroom!" an angry Finn yells at Pablo, with his face turning red, ready to get at his throat.

"Please, stop, you two!" Virginie, a female user of the weight room, implores Finn and Pablo, her left eye on Finn.

Virginie makes Finn realize that he has been disruptive towards other users of the weight room. All three leave the weight room and meet outside that room after putting their regular clothes back.

"OK, I'll stop, but on one condition: if you can please hide this paper in the girls' bathroom..." Finn begs Virginie, hoping that she will accept to hide an exam answer key somewhere inside the girls' bathroom.

"If it's what it takes for you to stop yelling..." Virginie sighs, while yanking the manifest of Algebra II answers away from Finn.

Who is she? It seems like Finn knows her, but she's neither a quiz bowler, nor a basketball player, since I never saw her at basketball games, Pablo ruminates, while wondering who she is, and how Finn came to know her.

"I wonder who she is... probably someone else's girlfriend I never interacted with much" Pablo asks his teammate after the quarrel over planting answers to a test in the bathroom.

"Virginie. Valter's girlfriend, a year older than him" Finn then gives one last set of instructions to his Algebra II friends over social media on mobile about when to go to the bathroom and in which toilet stall.

As the bell rings, and people go to their respective classes, Pablo wonders why is it that Ethan seemingly trusted Nadine for reviewing answers to long-answer math questions over Virginie. My guess is that Virginie is only a little better at math than Carrie. Nadine, while, in quiz bowl, is mostly an arts and literature player, is likely accelerated in math, too, just not in my Algebra II section if she's taking it.