Digital Disaster!

by Rachel Wise

  A silence blanketed the room. Nobody said anything. I heard someone swallow. I could have heard a fly cough it was so quiet.

  Mr. Trigg cleared his throat. He looked a little pale. “Please tell me you were paying attention at the start of the semester when I reminded you to always back up your work. Please tell me we are not going to have to re-create the entire issue from scratch!”

  The layout editor and the section editors admitted that they didn’t have backups.

  “Well, the reporters have backups, right? At least we can load the stories up again. We’ll have to do another layout edit, but it won’t take us that long. Let’s start with the front news section. Ms. Martone, Mr. Lawrence?”

  I tried to speak, but my voice seemed caught in the back of my throat.

  Finally I managed to speak a few tiny, faraway words. “I have very extensive handwritten notes in my notebook. . . .”

  Now Mr. Trigg’s face started turning red, very red. One by one he questioned the entire staff. No one—not a single soul—had backed up their work, except for Susannah, but she had written only a couple of short “filler” articles to fill space.

  “I—I assumed all my writers backed up their own work,” she stammered.

  Mr. Trigg started to pace back and forth and rubbed his chin. He took off his scarf, then put it on again. It looked like he might have a nervous breakdown. “Folks, this issue must launch tomorrow. Mr. Pfeiffer is holding a luncheon with members of the school board of directors, and the highlight of the lunch is supposed to be to present our first online edition. So let’s think, people. Winston Churchill wouldn’t have let this stop him.” Again, silence. Michael nudged me in the arm. “What about what you typed up and e-mailed me?” he whispered.

  “I have it,” I whispered back. “But we made a lot of changes online. I don’t have those.”

  “Okay,” said Michael, now loudly facing everyone. “Let’s not panic. We all e-mailed our latest stories, right?” Everyone nodded, some vigorously, some not so vigorously. “So let’s load those in and update as much as we can and then we’ll all edit online. There are four computers in here. We’ll just split up into teams. If we each take a few stories, we should be able to get through this.”

  I was impressed. Michael was an assertive guy, but I had never seen him take charge like this before. He seemed calm, steady, and I certainly wasn’t the only one who felt relieved someone was taking charge. Mr. Trigg’s face turned back to its normal color. Susannah relaxed and she, with Michael’s help, started getting everyone into groups. The layout team began to re-create the headlines and download each story. The keyboards were clicking and the paper started to come back to life.

  “Now, I feel silly having to say this after everything that’s happened, but please back—”

  “We will back up our work after each story is uploaded, Mr. Trigg,” Susannah said breathlessly. “And forever after!”

  We worked for a few hours; then Mr. Trigg ordered us pizza. Everyone took a break and chowed down. Mr. Trigg came over to Michael with a huge smile of relief on his face and patted him on the back.

  “A brilliant Churchill moment back there, Mr. Lawrence. Thank you.”

  Michael shook it off. “Just wanted to help in whatever way I could,” he said, and I could see a little red spreading over his cheeks. I was so proud of him and only more head over heels with the boy. Yikes.

  As the hours went by, I tried to ignore the fact that when this was done, I had to go back home and study again for the math test. It was going to be a long night, but hopefully it would all be worth it.

  After the reporters had all copyedited their stories, Mr. Trigg added the Dear Know-It-All column and did another preview. No thunder and lightning could stop us now. We were backed up several times over.

  Then the staff crowded around and read the Know-It-All letter. I held my breath, at the same time pretending to be as interested in what it said as everyone else.

  “Wow,” Jeff said. “What a moron!”

  I stopped breathing for a second. Did he mean me or Rock Star? As if he’d read my thoughts, he continued. “I mean the person who wrote in, not Know-It-All.”

  “Yeah,” said Susannah. “Great response.”

  My heart swelled on hearing that much-needed praise. Only Mr. Trigg knew what I had been through to get it right. I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Someone gave my shoulder a little squeeze. At first I thought it might be Michael. I froze and did not dare turn around. Did he know? But then I saw Mr. Trigg walk away from behind me. Okay, my cover wasn’t blown. Onward and upward, as Mr. Trigg liked to say.

  Chapter 11

  The Sam Train Finally Runs Out of Steam

  When Mom drove me home that night it was almost nine. I walked straight into my room and collapsed on my bed. My head was spinning. Everything had been such a whirlwind with the Voice and now I had to buckle down and study! I was officially overwhelmed. I didn’t have any temptation to cheat, of course, but I sure was tempted not to study and just hope I remembered enough from the last time. Mom and Allie were in the den watching a singing contest show, and the faint sound of someone belting out Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” trickled into my room. I so wished I could just collapse on the couch and watch it with them and forget about everything for a little while. The Sam Train Finally Runs Out of Steam.

  There was a soft knock on my door. I knew it was Mom. Allie barely ever knocked, and if she did, it was more like a pound.

  “Hi, sweetie,” Mom said after I called for her to come in. “Are you okay?”

  “Not really.” I was lying flat on my back, staring at the ceiling. There were a few thin wavy cracks on it that looked like a demented smiley face.

  “You must be pretty wiped out.” Mom sat down on the edge of my bed.

  “That’s putting it mildly. I just don’t think I can study for this test again. People who cheat ruin everything,” I said in a low, pouty voice.

  “Oh, honey.” Mom laughed a little. “Maybe so, but you can do this.”

  “How do you know?” I sat up, facing her. “What if I can’t, and then I do badly on the test when I probably did pretty well on the first test? It’s all so unfair!” I flung myself back down, crossing my arms tightly over my chest and let out a groan.

  “Listen to me.” Mom was very serious and looked me dead in the eye. “If you can re-create an entire newspaper in three hours, you can certainly take another hour or two and review your notes. You already know the material. The Sam I know doesn’t give up this easily.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But I just want to go to sleep.” I turned on my side and curled my knees into my chest.

  “Have you ever submitted a newspaper article without revising it?”

  “No,” I murmured.

  “Well, this is kind of like that—a revision. Think of it as a great opportunity. You rarely get a chance to revise actual events in life. Now’s your chance!”

  I sat up again and looked at her. Maybe she was right. I had a feeling I hadn’t done quite as well as I could have the first time around. It was time to look at the half-full aspect of all this. I could get an even better grade out of it.

  “Okay,” I said. “You win.”

  “A bowl of popcorn and some iced tea to help you through?”

  “That would be awesome. Mom,” I called after she got up and was walking out of my room.

  “Yeah?” she turned and asked.

  “You’re a good mom,” I said. Somehow, with all she had to balance, she was always there for me. She was really kind of amazing.

  She smiled. “You make it easy.”

  First thing the next morning I checked the new Voice site. As promised,
Mr. Trigg had posted it at six a.m. and there were already tons of comments listed. I loved being able to have a sense of what people thought about the paper before going to school. I could prepare myself a little more easily. There were lots of comments about the test scandal and, as expected, many different opinions were shared. But that’s what we wanted, a well-rounded but thought-provoking article. Maybe the generation before us wasn’t sure, but ultimately I liked this digital world. I was running late, though, and didn’t have time to read any of the comments on Dear Know-It-All.

  When I got to school, Hailey was waiting for me at my locker. “You’re famous!” she shrieked at me. “Your article is the talk of the town.”

  “Thanks, Hails. I’m glad it actually exists. I haven’t even told you what we went through to get it published on time!” Then I gave her the whole rundown, bit by bit, saving Michael whispering to me in the dark for the very last.

  “Wow. Your life is so much more exciting than mine right now,” she said a little wistfully.

  “Well, if it means anything to you, after today, I’d like it to be a little less exciting.”

  “But tomorrow’s Spring Fling, and that has many possibilities for more excitement,” she said.

  “Okay, after tomorrow.” I smiled. She grabbed my arm and started pretending she was Michael again, saving me on the Ferris wheel.

  “What’s so funny?” Michael said. This time I wasn’t even surprised. All we had to do was mention one word about him and there he was.

  “Nothing,” Hailey and I said in unison, both holding in our giggles.

  “Just us being weirdos as usual!” I announced. I certainly didn’t want Michael to think we were teasing him.

  Michael glanced at me and then at Hailey. “Well, I can’t disagree with that. Listen. I think they might have found the hacker.”

  Our mouths dropped open. “What?” we said in unison again. Sometimes it was like we were one person.

  “I heard something from Frank about a notice being sent home. He heard a teacher talking about it near the main office. Still don’t know if it’s true, though.” Michael looked at me. I wondered if he was thinking what I was thinking.

  “Now the day’s going to go so slowly. I wish I didn’t know that!” I cried.

  “But did you see all the comments posted about our article already?” he said, his face lighting up. “You’re a rock star!” He gave me that secret I-can-read-your-mind look again. I stood still, a little in shock with all the information coming at me. Was he talking about the Dear Know-It-All letter? I decided to ignore it.

  “You mean you’re both rock stars! But not like that dope who wrote in the letter to Know-It-All,” Hailey said. “Maybe Rock Star was the hacker!”

  “All I know is that I’m glad I’m not that kind of rock star. Hopefully, after the hacker gets revealed it will stop anyone who’s thinking of cheating right in their tracks.”

  “Yeah,” said Hailey. “The stupidity of some people astounds me.”

  “But I liked Know-It-All’s response. Rather than just trying to make Rock Star feel like an idiot, which is probably what I would have done, she gave some good, well-thought-out advice,” Michael said.

  She? Did he know? “Okay!” I yelled, and both Hailey and Michael turned to me, startled. “Um, got to go take that wonderful math test again!” Michael always said stuff that made me think he was on to me.

  “Right,” Hailey said sort of slowly, trying to figure out why I was freaking out.

  “Good luck!” Michael called after us.

  We hurried to our classes and only because she was probably feeling nervous for her test, she didn’t grill me about my strange behavior. We wished each other luck and rushed into our classrooms.

  I felt better about this test than the last one, even though a little part of me hated to admit it, since the hacker was the one who’d given me this opportunity. I was more familiar with the concepts (Hailey was right!) and I was able to dive right in. After all the tests were handed in, Mrs. Birnbaum sat on the edge on her desk, took off her black glasses, and addressed the class.

  “So we’ve certainly learned something through this process,” she said. “I’d love you all to take a look at Samantha Martone and Michael Lawrence’s fantastic article covering the story. It really opens up a great discussion about this incident. One you all, I hope, will continue having, so we never find ourselves in this spot again. The Know-It-All letter is also a great one that illustrates the same topic. I think most discussions around these articles will lead to one conclusion: that cheaters always lose.”

  I wanted to jump up with joy. I didn’t, of course, but I couldn’t help beaming. I glanced around and everyone was nodding and calling out things like, “Good job, Sam!” Except for Will Hutchins. As usual, he kept his eyes straight ahead, his face shaded by his hood. I looked at him a little more closely and noticed a small smile on his face. Interesting. I really hoped that what Michael heard was true, that we were actually going to find out what happened!

  I floated through the rest of my day. The paper was out—check. Second math test taken—check. Now all I had to do was get through the rest of the day. Then it would be Spring Fling. During my last class of the day—which also happened to have Michael in it—our teacher reached into her desk and pulled out a pile of papers and asked a student to hand them out. “This is being handed out to all students at the same time,” she said. “Please read it carefully and share it with your parents.” I grabbed mine, my heart in my throat, and my eyes raced over the words.

  Dear students and parents,

  The recent security breach of the math department’s computer files has been traced back to a student at our school. This student has been suspended for three weeks and will begin a mandatory counseling and tutoring program in order to help this person make better academic and ethical decisions in the future. At this time, the school will not be pressing charges. Our systems are now much better protected and should not be vulnerable to any security breaches in the future. Much appreciation goes to the IT consultants who were brought in to resolve the matter, along with all the members of the IT club, led by Will Hutchins, for their assistance in the research and in rebuilding our system. I hope we have learned as a school that no one wins in a situation like this and that we can work together to continue to be honest, upstanding citizens of Cherry Valley Middle School. Please address any further concerns you have about this matter to me.

  Sincerely,

  Principal Pfeiffer

  Michael and I met each other in the hallway, each gripping the notice.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he said.

  “Probably. This means Will didn’t do it,” I said in a low voice. “He’s in the IT club. He was on the good guy team this whole time. Huh. I guess you can’t jump to conclusions until you really know the facts.”

  “Spoken like a true reporter.”

  “Do you think we’ll ever know who it was?” I asked.

  “I guess we will, eventually. It can’t stay a secret forever. People will figure it out. I don’t think anyone I know well was absent today.”

  “Me neither.” I did feel some sympathy for the hacker now that it was all over. He or she was probably pretty scared and confused right now. Hopefully they would get the help they needed. It wasn’t going to be an easy road for them.

  When we walked out of school together, I saw a few people go up to Will and pat him on the back. His hood was off and he looked happier than I had ever seen him. Once again, I learned that things are never exactly how they appear.

  The next day the sun was shining and it was a little warm for spring, perfect amusement park weather. After all that had happened I w
as ready for a day off. It seemed like everyone was, and we were all smiling and joking. Hailey and I walked around, stuffing our faces with cotton candy and soft pretzels and trying out all the wimpy rides. I wasn’t sure if my stomach could handle anything serious after all the junk I had eaten. I was kind of excited about the prospect of the Ferris wheel with Michael. Hailey and I had worked out a plan so we’d all be standing in front of it at the same time.

  But then we saw Michael standing in front of the Triple Terror Roller Coaster. He came over to us with a gleam in his eye.

  “Hey, Paste, want to go on it with me?” he said, pointing behind his back at the monstrous black and red roller coaster, which sped backward, forward, and went upside down. I had never been on anything close. I shook my head.

  “Don’t tell me the girl who’s not afraid to ask anyone anything if it’s for the paper is scared to go on that?”

  I gave Hailey a helpless look. This wasn’t the Ferris wheel plan at all.

  “You go, girl,” Hailey said, a giddy thrill in her voice.

  “What about you?” I asked.

  “Someone needs to take pictures!” She whipped out her digital camera, running over to a nearby bench. Best Friend Abandons Ship! Before I knew what was happening, Michael grabbed my arm and led me up the steps toward the line. This was not what I’d imagined. Well, the arm grabbing was. But not the pulsing fear that was running through my body.

  I held on to Michael’s arm for dear life as we twisted backward, forward, and upside down. I knew I was holding his arm, but I wasn’t holding it and getting a nice warm feeling. I was getting a terrified “oh my goodness what have I done please get me off” feeling. When I got off, my head was really spinning and the color had drained from my face.

  “You okay?” Michael asked, now truly concerned. “Let’s find you a seat. Gosh. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you sick.”