Parker - Stacy’s senior year

"Hello?" It was Ashley, her friend from school. Careful to disguise her inner turmoil (Ashley, like all of the other girls in their particular clique, could smell weakness the way a shark smells blood; any hint of a problem and it would be all over the group by the end of the next school day, threatening Stacy’s position), Stacy fell easily into the standard school banter of gossip, innuendo and casual put-downs of other students. Stacy was good at this, and Ashley sensed nothing out of place.

After a while, Neil’s name came up, and Stacy happily recounted the events of yesterday’s math test. Ashley had almost certainly heard about it by now, but the combination of a first-hand account together with Stacy’s particular style of sarcastic humour made the story well worth hearing for a second time. The two girls were soon laughing together at what had happened.

"Well," Ashley laughed at the end of the story, "It does sound as if they made absolute assholes of themselves, alright. And that threat of summer school must have scared the shit out of them from what I heard."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard that Neil has got ahold of some of some of the exam papers coming up. I guess he wants to bring up his overall marks so Edgar can’t fail him or something like that."

Stacy felt her heart jump a beat as her breath caught in her chest. Neil had copies of future exams? "Where did you hear that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice casual. Evidently she had succeeded, as Ashley failed to detect the change of mood.

"Laura told me," she answered, "I think she heard it from Sharon, although why she was talking to that cow, I don’t know. You remember Sharon? She was the one…" Ashley started to drone on about Sharon, who was definitely not a part of their exclusive clique, but Stacy wasn’t listening. Neil had copies of some upcoming tests.

AND HE WAS IN HER ENGLISH CLASS!

After a while, Ashley wound down, and Stacy let the conversation die a natural death. While she was careful not to mention Neil and the exam papers again, it was never far from her mind. Finally, the two girls said goodbye and Stacy hung up the phone.

Thoughtful, she walked back to her desk and looked the pile of unread English books. Cheating was a serious matter at Greenwood (it had taken her a long time to screw up her courage enough to do it during the math test), but stealing exam papers was something else altogether. She remembered a guy who had been caught with a stolen paper about four years ago, when she was in her first year at the high school. He had not only been expelled, but the school had prosecuted him for breaking and entering and theft (they succeeded on the first count, but failed on the second). It had been all over the papers in Bakersville. She shuddered at the thought of that happening to her, but what was the alternative?

Besides, she thought, making up her mind, she wasn’t going to get caught; she was too smart for that.

It was all too easy!

Stacy had approached him the next day - just as Gary had predicted - and, in the guise of sympathizing with him over his humiliation in Edgar’s math class a couple of days ago, she had sounded him out about the papers for the upcoming exams. As Gary had instructed him, Neil pretended to be suffering from a bad cold and sore throat, and lowered his voice to a rasp. Stacy didn’t seem notice; either she didn’t care, or couldn’t remember what he normally sounded like. Probably both.

Enjoying the experience of Stacy being friendly to him (although aware that Stacy had skilfully manipulated the circumstances of their "accidental" meeting in such a way as to locate it in the Study Hall, which was usually deserted), Neil drew the encounter out, repeatedly side-stepping her indirect attempts to get him to admit to having the papers.

Finally, she was forced to ask him directly: did he have copies of the upcoming exam papers? Seemingly reluctant, Neil eventually admitted that "yes" he happened to have some copies of future exam papers, and "yes", in particular, he did have copy of next week’s English exam.

"Why do you want to know?"

Stacy looked down and flushed. When she looked like that, Neil was almost willing to feel sorry for her. Almost. All he had to do to push back any feelings of affection was remember the bitchy way in she had rejected him last year and then gotten him beaten up. He knew what she was like.

"I want a copy of that exam," she admitted finally, "I need it for this weekend."

Neil pretended to be shocked. "Stacy, you mean you want a copy of a stolen exam paper so you can cheat on next Monday’s English test?"

Stacy swallowed back an angry retort. Couldn’t he be a little more subtle? Idiot! Still, there wasn’t much she could do about it. "Yes," she admitted, "I need it to pass the exam."

Neil just stared at her, not saying anything.

"I’ll pay money," she added, "How about $100?"

Still nothing. She was almost frantic.

"Please?"

"Alright," Neil relented, as if making up his mind, "I’ll sell you the stolen exam paper for $100." Stacy almost collapsed with relief. Everything was going to work out!

"Will that be all, Stacy, or do you want any more exams? I can probably get whatever you want."

Stacy looked up, excited. This would solve all of her problems with the schoolwork. "That sounds great," she told him enthusiastically, "I’ll buy whatever you can get for the classes I’m in. $100 a paper."

"It’s a deal." Neil could barely repress a grin of triumph. They had her! Now, only one more thing… "Meet me tomorrow after school in the woodworking shop. It should be deserted on Friday afternoon."

"Fine," Stacy agreed, "I’ll be there." She turned to go.

"Don’t forget the money," he reminded her, but by then she was gone.

"Remember," Gary repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time, "keep your back to the wall and face slightly away from the closet. Make sure that Stacy is always facing you so that we get a good angle from where Sharon will be filming." Gary and Sharon had cleared out one of the storage closets in the workshop, and Sharon was set up inside with her video camera filming through a knot-hole. Gary was set up with a still camera in the upper storage area across the room. In order to cover the noise of the camera, he had turned on the rotation fans which were fastened from the ceiling; the resulting hum was more than sufficient to mask any noise he might make.

Satisfied at last that everything was in order and Neil knew what to do, Gary climbed the short ladder to the storage area and concealed himself behind a stack of wood. Neil watched him disappear from view. After a quick glance to make certain the closet door was properly closed, he sat back in a chair and waited for Stacy.

Stacy arrived ten minutes late, looking a little uncertain, but determined to carry through. She crossed the room as Neil watched in appreciation. She was wearing tight jeans and a white blouse which left her tanned arms bear past the shoulder. Bakersville was having an unusually long Indian Summer, and her clothing reflected the fact of this unseasonable warmth. Neil got hard imagining what lay beneath the blouse. Soon, he told himself as Stacy approached him, soon he wouldn’t have to imagine. He stood up as she approached.

"Well," she asked as she got to where he was standing, "Do you have it?" She was more her usual bitchy self today, now that she was getting what she wanted.

Perfect, Neil noted silently. She’s standing exactly where Gary wanted her to stand. "I’ve got it," he told her in the same gruff voice he had used the day before, "One stolen English exam paper for Stacy Richards." He held up the computer printout. "And my money?"