Two-Faced #2

by Lin Oliver

  “I love you, Sammie,” I said. “Nothing will ever change that.”

  “I love you, too, Charlie. I just don’t love what you did.”

  “I’m so sorry I hurt you,” I said, reaching for her and pulling that stupid sweatshirt out from between us.

  “You got carried away with your new friends, Charlie. I hope you see what they got you into.”

  “I’m going to make it right. You’ll see.”

  “I hope so,” she said, throwing her arms around my neck.

  Before I knew it, all the other Truth Tellers had left the acceptance circle and formed a tight little one around us. It was a pretty classic group hug. I looked through my tears at the smiling faces of Etta and Devon and Will and Sara and Alicia—kids I had barely known until a few minutes before. And now I felt a real connection to them.

  “It’s amazing what telling the truth can do,” Ms. Carew said as she watched everyone cluster around Sammie and me.

  And I think there were a few tears in her eyes, too.

  Chapter 12

  “On behalf of the student body of Beachside Middle School, and as the selected chairperson of our committee, I hereby call this special meeting of the Honor Board to order,” Phoebe Lee said, pounding the small wooden gavel down on the table.

  It was the next morning, and the clock on the wall of the counselor’s conference room said 8:32. Sammie and I were sitting on one side of a long, shiny oak meeting table. Ms. King was at one end and Principal Pfeiffer was at the other. In front of him on the table, he had a yellow pad and a pen, ready to write down every terrible thing about me. Resting on the pad was the crumpled-up note with the green arrow that the General had written to me. Each time the big hand on the clock ticked forward, Principal Pfeiffer looked at his watch impatiently and smoothed his hair with his fingers, which was not actually necessary since he was bald. It must have been a nervous habit left over from when he had hair.

  Across from us, seated in brown leather chairs, were the members of the Honor Board. When Sammie and I started at Beachside, we had to attend an orientation that explains the Honor Code at our school. It says that every student is expected to practice honesty in all academic and social endeavors. Any violations are brought before the Honor Board, which consists of five student representatives selected by the faculty.

  One of the brown chairs was empty, which meant only four Honor Board members were present. I wondered who was missing.

  “It is the responsibility of the Honor Board to hear specific cases in which the school’s Honor System may have been violated,” Phoebe was saying. “The board has been asked by Principal Pfeiffer to hear the case of Samantha and Charlotte Diamond. Principal Pfeiffer, would you like to begin?”

  “You go ahead, Phoebe,” he said. “I’m going to let the board handle this. The Honor System belongs to the students. We trust that your ruling will be fair.”

  He ran his fingers over his bald head and picked up his pen. He started tapping it on the yellow pad without even looking down, so his pen made a cluster of random little ink marks here and there. I had a feeling Principal Pfeiffer had filled a lot of yellow sheets of paper with those random dots. No one else seemed to notice, but to me, each little tap of his pen sounded like a mini explosion. I was going to have to concentrate on putting that sound out of my head.

  “Okay,” Phoebe said. “We’ll begin. The members of the board will introduce themselves to Sammie and Charlie. I’m Phoebe Lee, seventh-grade representative and chairperson.”

  “I’m Lily March, also representing the seventh grade.”

  I had been surprised to see Lily sitting there when I came in. She had never mentioned to me that she was on the Honor Board, but I think kids who are on it aren’t really supposed to talk about it. She’s probably who Lauren was referring to when she said we had friends on the Honor Board. When Sammie and I were first ushered in, Lily didn’t look at me, and I could tell she was having trouble now. I couldn’t blame her, I was embarrassed, too. You don’t want to ever be in a position where you have to judge a friend.

  “I’m Justin Hawkins, representing the eighth grade.”

  Justin was a tall guy who I recognized as being one of Ryan’s buddies from the volleyball team. I didn’t know much about him, only that he was a straight-A student, and the guys on the team called him Bounce.

  “I’m Olivia Feldman, representing the eighth grade.”

  I didn’t know her, but figured she must be Ben’s older sister. Funny, it was her brother’s invitation that started all this, and now here she was to decide my fate. I’m sure she could never have known how much trouble her family’s party had made for me. Okay, you’re right. I made the trouble for myself, but my point was, it all started with Ben’s invitation. Olivia wore glasses like Ben’s and was wearing a fringed leather top that I had seen in the window of my favorite store on the Third Street Promenade. I remember looking at it and wondering who had the money to buy such an expensive thing. Now I knew. I had never seen Olivia at the Sporty Forty, so I guessed that even though her parents could afford to be members, she wasn’t the beach type.

  Phoebe looked up at the clock. It was 8:36. I prayed that this hearing would start soon. I was so nervous I felt like there was an egg beater inside my stomach. Sammie looked pale and scared. Neither of us had slept all night. GoGo kept trying to get us to play Scrabble with her, but we told her that we were exhausted and needed to go to bed early. Luckily, our dad wasn’t there to poke his nose into things. GoGo said he’d been called up to the Santa Barbara Racquet Club to substitute for an official that got food poisoning and had to stay overnight. Ryan had been acting weird all evening, telling lame knock-knock jokes in his Kermit voice, but I didn’t think it was because he knew anything was up with us. I think he just acts weird to amuse himself.

  “Should we begin, Principal Pfeiffer?” Phoebe asked. “One of our members doesn’t seem to be showing up, and I don’t know how long you . . .”

  Before she could finish the sentence, the door to the counseling office burst open. It was the fifth member of the Honor Board, full of apologies for being late. I knew that voice. I closed my eyes and wished on everything I had ever wished on. Shooting stars. Rainbows. Birthday candles. Dandelions. A fallen eyelash.

  Please, I wished. Please don’t let that be who I think it is. Please. Please.

  But wishes don’t always come true, and in this case, mine didn’t. It was Spencer Ballard, he of the great abs and adorable dimple, apologizing like crazy for being late.

  “Sorry, folks. My dad couldn’t find the clicker for the garage door, and it turned out that our dog had hidden it in . . .”

  He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Sammie and me. To say he was surprised would be the understatement of the year. His mouth dropped open, and his eyes furrowed so deep it looked like he had a unibrow.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  I couldn’t look at him. I put my hands to my face and covered my eyes.

  “Sammie and Charlie have been accused of violating the Honor Code,” Phoebe said. “They’re here to tell us their side of the story.”

  Spencer looked really confused as he took his place in one of the brown chairs.

  “Charlie?” he said softly. “Is that true?”

  I wanted to run as far away as possible. To Outer Mongolia. Or Timbuktu. I don’t even know where those places are, but they sounded like they were the right distance from Beachside Middle School.

  Phoebe cleared her throat.

  “Here are the facts of the case,” she said, sounding a little too much like a TV lawyer for my taste. “The gardener, Luz Enriquez, reported to the principal that he saw someone matching your descriptions, dressed in a tennis outfit, entering the teachers’ lounge last Friday. Principal Pfeiffer has reason to suspect one of you went in there and took a c
opy of Mr. Newhart’s history exam for the purpose of cheating. How do you answer these accusations?”

  I could see Sammie’s hands shaking in her lap. I had told her not to worry, that I would do the right thing, but she seemed like she was going to cry at any minute. It was the most nerve-wracking thing either of us had ever faced—much worse than the tiebreaker at the all-state tennis finals, which was off the charts on the stress scale. We both knew that our very existence at Beachside was at stake. In twenty minutes, we could be expelled.

  “I’d like to speak first,” I said. I didn’t look at Spencer, but I could tell his eyes were focused on me. Instead, I looked right into Bounce’s eyes. He was the most neutral person there. I tried to ignore the tap-tap-tapping of Principal Pfeiffer’s pen and focus on what I had planned to say. It wasn’t easy.

  “I’d like to request that you let my sister leave this hearing right now,” I began. “She had nothing to do with this. I was the one who went into the teachers’ lounge. I was the one the gardener saw. Sammie did nothing wrong. She just has the bad luck to look exactly like me.”

  “That’s not such bad luck, if you ask me,” Bounce said.

  “This isn’t a joking matter, Mr. Hawkins,” Principal Pfeiffer said.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I was just trying to lighten things up.”

  Principal Pfeiffer put down his pen and shook his head.

  “Inappropriate,” was all he said. “Ms. Diamond, go on.”

  “This whole incident has caused my sister a lot of pain,” I continued. “She is the last person in the world that I would ever want to hurt. So I apologize to her in front of all of you and ask that you let her go on to class.”

  “Does anyone want to ask Sammie anything?” Phoebe asked the group.

  “If she wasn’t there, then there’s no reason to,” Olivia said.

  Lily, who has been nervously twisting her finger around her curly black hair, spoke up. “Madam Chairperson, I think we should take a vote.”

  “All in favor of dismissing any accusations against Sammie Diamond, raise your hand,” Phoebe said.

  All five hands went up in the air. Actually, six hands went up in the air, because Ms. King voted, too. I saw Principal Pfeiffer whisper to her that the adults were nonvoting members of the board, and she put her hand down. I could tell she wanted to vote, though. Everyone says she’s a big fan of the students and always on our side.

  Phoebe picked up the wooden gavel and banged it on the table.

  “It’s unanimous,” she said. “Sammie, the board has cleared you of any accusations. You may go to class.”

  “I’d like to stay here, if it’s okay with you guys,” she said in a shaky voice. “To support my sister.”

  “I think that’s a lovely thing to do, Sammie.” Ms. King nodded.

  I wanted Sammie to stay for selfish reasons, so I’d have a friendly face to look to for the rest of the hearing. But for her sake, I wanted her to go. She had been through enough because of me and what was about to follow wasn’t going to be pleasant.

  “I’m okay, Sams,” I whispered to her. “Really. You can go.”

  “I’m staying, Charlie. End of discussion.”

  Principal Pfeiffer was dotting up a storm on his yellow pad. You could just tell that he was bursting with things to say and it was hard for him to let the students run the meeting. He had a little breakdown and temporarily took charge.

  “Ms. Diamond,” he said. “I believe you owe the board an explanation of what you were doing in the teachers’ lounge. Your behavior in there is at the heart of this serious matter.”

  I saw Spencer move up to the edge of his chair. The moment was here, the question I had to face. How was I going to say this? What would Spencer think of me afterward? He already looked so sad and disappointed. I tried to speak, but the words didn’t come and I sat there for a long minute. My mind wandered to a far-off time, when Sammie and I were four years old, and we had run behind the counter in King Pin Doughnut Shop. When our mom wasn’t looking, we lifted two doughnut holes from the tray and popped them into our mouths. We couldn’t even lie about having stolen them, because the chocolate sprinkles were all over our lips.

  “I’m so disappointed in you girls,” our mom had said. “You know better than to steal.”

  We promised we’d never do it again.

  Sammie’s voice brought me back to the reality of the hearing.

  “Just tell the truth, Charlie,” she whispered to me. “I know it’s hard, but it won’t be once you get started. Ms. Carew always says the truth will set you free.”

  All eyes in the room were on me. It was silent except for the persistent tapping of Principal Pfeiffer’s pen. Everyone was waiting. I had no choice. I was trapped. So I took a deep breath and plunged in. The truth came out in one big uncontrollable gush.

  “I went into the teachers’ lounge because I knew that a copy of our history test was in Mr. Newhart’s file cabinet. When no one was looking, I opened the file cabinet and took a copy of the test. I stole it.”

  Olivia gasped. Bounce’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Phoebe shook her head disapprovingly. Ms. King covered her eyes with her hand. And Lily’s chin trembled like she was holding back tears. I couldn’t bear to look at Spencer.

  “You didn’t really do that,” he said softly.

  Then I looked at him, square in the eye.

  “Yes, I did.”

  A hush fell over the room. Lily and Spencer looked so sad and uncomfortable. Olivia looked shocked. Phoebe just continued to shake her head disapprovingly. At last, Bounce spoke up.

  “So what you’re telling us is that you looked up the answers and cheated on the midterm?” he said.

  “No, I didn’t. I was wrong to steal the test. Very wrong. And I am so sorry that I did. But I did not look at it. The good grade that I got on that midterm was because I studied. It was all my work. I swear that to you.”

  “I remember you studying last weekend,” Spencer said. “You had your book at the tournament. And you told me your grandma was quizzing you.”

  “I stole, but I didn’t cheat,” I repeated. “I know that sounds weird, but it’s the truth.”

  “So why’d you do it?” Olivia asked. “Why’d you take the test?”

  That was the really hard question, the one I’d been dreading. I closed my eyes and tried to be brave. I reached inside myself and pulled up every ounce of courage I had. And I remembered GoGo’s words. A promise between friends is sacred. Whatever else I was, I was not a two-faced friend. I would keep my promise. When I opened my mouth to answer, I was surprised at how strong my voice sounded.

  “I did it for a friend,” I said. “But I swore that I would never reveal any more than that. If you want to ask me any further questions about that part of it, I’m afraid I can’t answer them.”

  “Ms. Diamond,” Principal Pfeiffer said, tossing his pen down on the table. “This is outrageous.”

  “I’m sorry, Principal Pfeiffer. I don’t mean to disrespect you. But if I broke a promise, I would disrespect myself.”

  He stood up in his place as if he were going to do something, then sat back down. We all watched as he rubbed his gray goatee with his hand in great frustration. He had more hair on his chin than he did on his head. Finally, he spoke in a quiet, controlled voice.

  “If you tell us who the other students involved are, Ms. Diamond, the Honor Board may see fit to lighten your punishment. You understand that you will have to pay for what you did.”

  “I made a promise, Principal Pfeiffer. And a promise between friends is sacred.”

  “That’s all very well and good, Ms. Diamond,” he said. “Very noble indeed. Nonetheless, I think you should reconsider your decision.”

  “I have considered it carefully, sir. More than you know.”

/>   “You’re being foolish,” he snapped, rising to his feet.

  “She’s being loyal,” Ms. King said. “And true to her word.” She put an arm on him and gently pulled him back into a sitting position. “That’s a rare quality these days.”

  Principal Pfeiffer picked up his pen and began tapping on his yellow pad. He was definitely not happy with me. It was really tense in there. Sammie reached out and took my hand. I was so glad she was there. I know I’ve said before that people think twins have all the same emotions and that it’s not true. But I can promise you this: At that moment, Sammie was feeling everything I was feeling. We were truly two halves of the same circle.

  “Well, then, is that all you have to say for yourself?” Principal Pfeiffer said at last. “Do you want to leave us with any last words in your defense?”

  I stood up. I’m not sure where I got the courage to do that, but something inside made me rise to my feet. I wanted to stand tall, chin out and shoulders back.

  “What I would like to say to the Honor Board is that I am so sorry for what I did. It was wrong and I learned a huge lesson. Our grandmother has explained to me that we all make mistakes. She says that’s what it means to be alive. But she also has taught me that the most important thing is that we learn from our mistakes. That’s what it means to be human.”

  Principal Pfeiffer stopped tapping his pencil.

  “I will have to live with whatever punishment the board hands out,” I said. “I understand that. But I promise everyone here that I will never repeat the mistake I made. And I think you know, as you’ve seen today, I keep my promises.”

  The room was totally quiet. I looked into the face of each member of the Honor Board and for the life of me, I couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

  Chapter 13

  “Before the board begins its deliberation, I want to remind you, Ms. Diamond, that what you have admitted is a serious offense,” Principal Pfeiffer said.