Free The Witchfinder Wars by K.G. McAbee Page A

she was in shock because of the
message behind me. Or because I had dared to answer her.
    It turned out her surprise was from
neither.
    "You come with me at once, young lady! Out
of all the students here, I never would have suspected I would
catch you defacing school property!"
    Wait...what?
    I followed her, no doubt with the same look
of disbelief on my face she had on hers only moments before. We
entered the administrative office and I saw Michael Pitts sitting
in his mother's desk chair, flipping through a magazine as he
waited for her to finish her secretary duties for the day so he
could go home. A grin crossed his face as we passed into Principal
Fisher's office, and as the door shut behind me, I could hear the
sound of his chair scraping across the floor as he moved it
closer.
    "Good afternoon, Ms. Lofton. Anya."
Principal Fisher nodded to both of us as he gestured to the seats
in front of his desk. "I'm surprised to see you in here, Anya. I
wasn't going to call you in until tomorrow."
    "What?" I unhooked my bookbag from my
shoulder and dropped it on the floor beside the chair before I sat
down. "Why would you need to speak with me?"
    Ms. Lofton took the chair next to me, but
she may as well have disappeared. My shock over her reaction was
nothing compared to what hit me when the Principal began to
speak.
    "Anya, we've received several reports you've
been cheating in your classes during your time here at Cothran.
Now, I know you are going to deny this. That your exemplary grades
are nothing but a product of your hard work. But we must
investigate these complaints."
    "They are a product of my hard work."
I spoke slowly, wondering just where all this was coming from. I'd
always been at the top of my classes at Cothran. In fact, I was
slated to be the valedictorian for the upcoming graduation in May.
How, why, was anyone questioning it now? I watched as he glanced
over to Ms. Lofton, who nodded, before he walked around the desk
and sat on the edge of it.
    "Can we ask you something, off the record,
Anya? And will you be honest?"
    "Off the record. Sure, why not? I don't have
any reason not to talk to you."
    Principal Fisher smiled, and I got the
feeling it was the same one he gave to all the students he
questioned when they had been sent into his office. His thick hands
clasped in his lap and he nodded.
    "Good. Now, Anya, you know the rumors about
your family. Did...well, did you ever call upon the Devil to help
you with your grades?"
    I was afraid I was going to start laughing.
Turns out, I couldn't help myself. It came out so suddenly I almost
missed the blush spreading across his shiny bald head. I leaned
down to snag my bookbag, moving to stand, before I responded.
    "Even off the record you can't ask me that,
Principal Fisher. Separation of church and state and all that. You
know, all those messy constitutional rights we have. I'm sorry, but
I'm not going to justify such a question with a
response."
    I had almost made it to the door before Ms.
Lofton spoke up from behind me. "There is still the matter of the
locker, Ms. Blanchett."
    "What matter? I didn't do anything
wrong."
    She filled Principal Fisher in on how she
had walked up on me drawing on my own locker, marking out the
numbers and replacing them. He nodded, listening to her before
turning back to me.
    "Is this true, Anya?"
    I clenched my teeth as I shifted the weight
of my books on my back. "Yes. I did mark through those stupid
numbers. But I didn't put the drawing there in the first place. Nor
did I write my own death threats."
    "Very well. But since you were the one seen
drawing on school property, you will be the one to suffer the
consequences. Starting tomorrow, you will have two weeks of
detention. And your first day will be spent scrubbing the markings
off."
    "You can't be serious."
    "I am very serious. I will come by tomorrow
after school myself to ensure you are there."
    I walked out of the room before I responded
the way I wanted to. As I crossed the