Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.
Happily Ever After-Chapter 9
"So what's on the agenda for tomorrow Pumpkin?" Dave asked as he took a bite of chicken. It was the Thursday after the trip to Philadelphia, and Abby was in the middle of her semester finals, while Dave was struggling to overcome some writer's block he was having with his newest manuscript.
She thought for a minute, "My last final is at ten tomorrow morning, so I should be done by eleven-thirty. I want to hang out in the commons to talk with some of my friends, so I should be ready to go by about twelve-thirty." Dave was driving her to school the following day, partly because he knew she was tired from the stress of finals and he didn't want her driving herself, and partly because he wanted to take her out to lunch to celebrate afterwards. JJ had planned on going with them, but she was on a case in Iowa.
"Sounds good, I'll meet you out front at twelve-thirty then," he told her. "What are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"After lunch, I'll come back here and crash for a couple of hours, and then I'm going out with Jack," she said nonchalantly as she stabbed a forkful of salad.
Dave's teenage romance radar went on full alert, "Oh really? What are you two going to do?" He was also trying to sound casual about the whole thing, but he wasn't too nervous since he could tell that the two teenagers weren't romantically involved…yet. He hoped when the time came where they began to get serious about each other, and he knew it was a 'when' and not an 'if,' she would tell them about it.
"I don't know, mug a couple of little old ladies, knock over a convenience store or two, cause general mayhem...you know, the usual Friday night stuff."
"Funny girl," Dave said, with a smile on his face.
"Seriously though, I'm not sure what we're going to do. We'll probably grab a bite to eat and then go see a movie or something." Abby was telling him the truth, but just barely. Jack had asked her if she wanted to go to dinner the following night because he 'wanted to talk to her.' Abby wasn't totally sure what that meant, but she hoped it had to do with the kiss they shared a few weeks ago.
Dave wanted to ask her more about her non-date with Jack, but at that moment JJ called and they put her on speakerphone while they finished their dinner.
xxxxxxxxxx
The next day, Dave was working on his manuscript when his cell phone rang.
"Rossi," he answered.
"Mr. Rossi, this is Mary Jackson calling from Edmund Burke."
Dave's eyebrows knitted together, "What can I do for you Ms. Jackson?"
"I work in the principal's office, Mr. Rossi, and there's been an incident involving your daughter. Principal Greene requests your presence at the school as soon as possible."
"Is she alright?" Dave asked, his voice going up an octave as he thought back to the phone call he received telling him that his daughter had been involved in a diving accident.
"Yes sir, she's fine. When can I tell Principal Greene to expect you?" She asked, not realizing the fear she had instilled in Dave's heart.
He glanced at his watch and it read eleven forty-five. "I can be there by twelve-fifteen."
"All right, I will let her know. Good day."
Twenty-five minutes later, Dave walked into the general office of his daughter's high school and found her sitting on a bench outside of the principal's office. He could tell from across the room that she was absolutely livid. Her body was tense, her lips were tight, she was glaring at the floor and she looked like she was just barely holding on to her temper. Dave swore that if he looked closely enough, he could see sparks shooting off of her. He knew the only thing that was holding her temper in check was the fact she was in school and she knew she had to be respectful; if they had been at home, Dave had no doubt that objects would be flying by this point. He crossed the room and sat down next to her.
Abby looked up when she felt him sit down. "Dad!" She exclaimed, sounding relieved. Finally, someone was there who would be on her side!
"You wanna give me a heads up as to what this is about before we go in there?" He asked, gesturing at the closed office door.
She opened her mouth to speak, but at that moment the door opened and Principal Greene stepped out. "Mr. Rossi?" She asked as Dave stood up and nodded.
"Melinda Greene," she said, extending her hand, which Dave shook. "I'm the principal here at Edmund Burke. Will you please come into my office? You too Abby."
Dave let the two women enter the room first and then stepped in behind them. To his surprise, Abby's Literature teacher was already in the office, seated at the small conference table in the corner of the room. "Mr. Linde," Dave said as he passed by the man to sit in one of the empty seats next to his daughter.
"Mr. Rossi," the teacher nodded back; the two men had met at the last parent/teacher conference and Dave hadn't been impressed by the man.
Principal Greene sat down and began the discussion. "Mr. Rossi, there's been an unfortunate incident involving Abigail. After her Shakespearian Literature exam yesterday, Mr. Linde was tidying up the room and found this on the floor under your daughter's desk." She passed a piece of paper to him, which he examined. It was very clearly a cheat sheet for the exam.
"As you can see, there are detailed notes about the material on the exam. Also, while the font is rather small, it is also a rather unique font, and that type of font is used by only one student in the class, and that student is your daughter," Principal Greene told him. He studied it and also recognized the font; Abby had once told him that it was the easiest font for her to read when was studying with a migraine.
Abby spoke up, "I'm sorry, but isn't it possible that the Microsoft Corporation, in its infinite wisdom, may have put the Courier New font into more Word programs than just mine? Anyone could have used that font!"
"Yes Abby, anyone could have used that font, but when we compare the notes on the cheat sheet to the notes you've turned in during the semester, it becomes pretty obvious that these are your notes!" Principal Greene's voice was becoming steadily louder, but Abby matched her decibel level.
"And I've loaned my notes out to at least four people in that class! Any one of them could have made this sheet, ma'am!" Abby tacked the last part onto the end in hopes that Mrs. Greene and her father would not think she was being disrespectful.
"What else do you have?" Dave asked quietly.
"I'm sorry?" Principal Greene asked him.
"I'm wondering what else makes you think my daughter cheated on this exam, because I know you wouldn't bring me in here and put my daughter through this if you only had font and linguistics to go by." Dave said this calmly, but inside he was in turmoil, he didn't want to believe that his daughter had cheated on the test, but her lack of studying combined with her hatred of the subject made it hard for him to deny the possibility that she may have done it.
Mr. Linde spoke up from his seat, "Two students came to me separately yesterday and told me they had seen Abby use the cheat sheet during the exam."
Both Abby and Dave's jaws dropped simultaneously. Abby had been questioned before they had called her father, but they hadn't revealed this part to her. She quickly recovered her speech. "Was one of the students Daphne Jenkins?" She asked.
"I am not at liberty to say," Mr. Linde told her. "I promised the students complete anonymity."
"I know it was her," Abby said confidently.
"Why does it matter Pumpkin?" Her father asked her.
"It matters because she and I are neck in neck for valedictorian, and she's made it clear that she will do anything to get it," she told him.
"Even if one of the students was Daphne, and I'm not saying it was, there is still the second student who came forward," her teacher told her.
Abby's face fell for a second, "Well…I don't know what to tell you about that, all I can do is tell you that I didn't cheat!"
Principal Greene sighed, it always pained her when one of her good students screwed up, and Abigail Rossi was one of the brightest students she had seen in awhile. She didn't want to believe that the girl had cheated, but the evidence against her was too overwhelming. "Mr. Rossi, since Abigail is one of our best students, and since this is her first offense, we are willing to do something that is unheard of for a school of this caliber."
"I'm listening," Dave said.
"Mr. Linde has a two versions of the exam, one to give to the class and one for the students who miss it due to illness. Both he and I are willing to let Abby take the second version of the test right here and right now in my office. Whatever grade she gets on it will be her official exam grade."
"And if she doesn't take it?" He asked.
"Then I will have no choice but to refer this matter over to our disciplinary committee," the principal told him. "The faculty and students on the committee will be presented with both sides of the issue at a hearing and they will render a decision on the matter. Be advised, if they decide Abby cheated, at the very least she would end up with an F in the class and based on the school's honor code, they could decide to expel her."
"I don't care about the consequences, I'll fight it! I am not a cheater!" Abby said loudly.
"The decision is ultimately yours Mr. Rossi, but you will need to make it quickly. Grades need to be entered into the system by three o'clock this afternoon, so Abigail will need to re-take the test immediately if that's what you decide," Principal Greene told him.
"Would you give us the room for a minute so I can talk to my daughter in private?"
"Of course." The principal and the literature teacher started to leave the room, but before they were completely out, Dave had a question for them. "Out of curiosity, what did she get on the exam?"
"98%," Principal Greene told him. "It was the highest grade in the class." With that, she left the room.
For a minute, Dave and Abby sat in silence. Abby stared at the floor and desperately tried to keep control of her emotions while Dave just stared at her. "Why didn't you come to me or your mother if you were having problems in this class?" He asked quietly, his voice dripping with disappointment. "Either we would have helped you, or we would have found someone else to help you. You didn't have to resort to this."
Her head snapped up, "You don't believe me!" She cried.
"I want to believe you Abby, but-"
"But what? I'm your daughter, you know me! You know I wouldn't cheat!" Her voice was full of anguish now that she realized no one was on her side. It was one of those times when she wished her mother was there. She would have believed her; hell, she would have probably ripped both the principal and teacher new ones for daring to suggest that she would cheat.
A part of Dave knew she was right, she wouldn't cheat, but another part of him remembered her lack of studying during the past semester. He remembered how she didn't crack a book the entire time they were in Philly. He remembered her tirade about the class and how she was sure she wouldn't do well in it, and now she got the highest grade in the class? It didn't add up. "Honey, something like this could keep you out of college."
"I don't care! I didn't cheat, in fact I studied my ass off for this test! I immersed myself in a topic I hate just so I could do well, so I could make you and mom proud and I'll be damned if I'm going to let them call me a cheater!" Her face was flushed and she was shouting and Dave knew she needed to calm down.
"Abigail-" he started warningly, but she was having none of it.
"No dad, it's time for you to choose. Either you believe I'm capable and willing to do something like this, or I'm not. I want to fight this accusation, but I know it's ultimately your decision." She took a shaky breath and continued, "If you tell them that we'll fight, then I'll know you believe me and trust me without question, just like I trust you. But if you make me re-take that test, then I'll know that you think very little of my personal set of values and I'll know that you don't know me well or trust me at all. Not only that, you'll be showing others how little faith you have in me and my abilities. It's your choice." She watched him for the next two minutes as he weighed the options in his head. She fervently prayed that he would make the right choice, that he trusted her as unconditionally as she trusted him. Her stomach clenched when the door to the office opened and Principal Greene walked in.
"I'm sorry, but I need a decision. If you have Abby re-take the exam, then she'll have to do it now so she has sufficient time to take it and Mr. Linde has time to grade it. If she doesn't re-take it, then we'll need to fill out the forms for an incomplete in the course and we'll have to contact the disciplinary committee."
"Give her the test," he said softly.
