Discovered

Chapter 14: Plan B

As the bell rang for first period, the kids gathered their things and headed off to class, leaving me with Mrs. Jade. She led me by the hand then walked into her office.

A whiff of hairspray invaded my nose. The office was a very small room with a bookshelf, a huge wooden writing desk, and a large window that can easily point out the lawn, parking lot, and cars.

Mrs. Jade patiently took her seat behind the desk and allowed me to sit down on the red chair. As I quietly sat down, Mrs. Jade cleared her throat and asked me a couple of questions.

"Are you a high school student?" she asked. "Yes ma'am," I answered. "I work in New York Times and do articles about recent news." Mrs. Jade folded her hands on the table then stared at me as if I was in trouble.

"Mia," Mrs. Jade asked. "Are you sure you want to do this article?" I swallowed hard and nodded. "It's just that ever since the death of Mr. Porter," she sighed. "The kids treat him as if he was a father to them. I just worry that your interview will make them uncomfortable."

I bit my lip then rubbed my forehead. She is right about the article that I am doing, but there is no turning back now. "I know," I sighed. "But in order to release an article about the late principal, I need the students' and the teachers' side of the story."

Mrs. Jade tilted her head sideways, but didn't shook her head. Just then, a thought occurred to me. "Can you tell me something about the murder?" I asked. At first, she seemed reluctant, but then she saw the determination in my eyes and decided to do it.

"Of course," she answered. "What can you tell me about the principal?" I asked. "Not very much," she admitted. "Principal Porter has had a rough life, I think." I squinted my eyebrows at this. "But you just said-" I began. "Yes, Principal Porter is the kindest man." Mrs. Jade interrupted. "However, I hear some rumors about him."

Rumors? "Principal Porter has been very ignorant of what is going on around him," she continued. "Because of this, he lets students do anything they want and never took the teacher's side of the story. Some people, but mostly the school board wanted him expelled from his job?"

"But did he get expelled?" I asked. Mrs. Jade shook her head. This is starting to get confusing. "Why wasn't he fired?" I asked. "I never knew," Mrs. Jade shrugged. "The school board stopped threatening Principal Porter about last saturday before the murder."

Weird, I thought.  Maybe, I could get the teachers' side of the story. "Thank you for your time," I answered, standing up from the seat and leaving the office. After closing the door behind me, I saw some female classmates, clutching onto their textbooks and whispering about something.

They all wore plaid clothes, glasses, and have their long hair tied into a ponytail. Curious, I walked over to them. "Hello," I greeted. The girls stopped chatting then gazed at me.

"I am a journalist," I continued. "And I want to do an article about the recent death of Principal Porter." One of the girls brushed the creases on her shirt then nodded. "Everyone is still talking about it," she said. "From the moment that he walked out of KFC restaurant, someone shot him."

The two girls nodded in agreement. "That Wallace Gerald kid, must have something to do with it." "How so?" I asked. That's when another girl spoke up: "I heard that there was a gun just lying on the sidewalk, and Wallace picked it up."

I stared at her in disbelief. There was a gun on the ground and someone happened to pick it up? "Does the police know whose gun is it?" I asked. The three girls all shrug their shoulders. "But did anyone see a guy in a school hoodie?" I asked.

The other girl just snorted at my response. "I'm pretty sure Wallace just made that one up." Sighing, I thanked them for interview then walked out of the school. As I stood on the doorstep, I dialed Uncle Seth's phone number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey," Uncle Seth greeted. "Hi," I greeted back. "Can you do me a favor and get me Wallace's school records?" "How come?" he asked. "I interviewed the new principal and the classmates," I began. "So far, Grandpa is slacker, but the school board didn't fire him."

"What about the teachers?" Uncle Seth asked. "They wanted to ruin Grandpa's life as well," I added. "I think Grandpa has some dirt on the school board members. It could be the only reason why Grandpa stayed as a principal."

"Why do you want Wallace's records?" Uncle Seth asked. "There were rumors regarding to what Wallace said to me at the police station," I explained. "Rumors like he found a gun, lying on the sidewalk and Wallace just happened to pick it up."

"Okay, why was the gun on the floor in the first place?" Uncle Seth asked. "Shouldn't the police get involved with this?" I told him that I don't know. "I'll give you a copy of Wallace's school records, but for now, just stay out of trouble."

"Got it," I muttered. "Bye!" Uncle Seth beamed. "If you need anything, just call me." I hung up my phone, stuffed it in my bag, and headed back to the school.

In order to find more information about my grandfather, I need to get my hands on his papers, files, or even a journal. But with the kids and staff in classrooms, it would be harder to get it.

Just as the bell rang, everyone left the classrooms in a hurry and started getting their supplies for their subjects. I sucked in my cheeks and scooted out of the kids' paths.

As much as I wanted to ask people more questions, I thought it would be better if I make a better plan on how to uncover Grandpa's secrets as well as helping Wallace.

While I was trying to get back outside of the school, I tripped on something and fell on the floor. "Ouch," I muttered, pressing my hand against my sore kneecap. Suddenly, someone pulled me up to my feet.

It was a young, lanky boy around my age, flashing me an apologetic look. "Sorry about that," he apologized. I shook my head then told him I was okay. "You're Mia, the journalist, right?" I nodded. "

What's yours?" I asked. The boy took a deep breath then reluctantly answered. "My name is Justin Gerald," he introduced. "Wallace's older brother."