When Tom got to school on Monday morning, there was a near-riot going on in the corridor. A crowd of kids and staff members had gathered around, and as he got closer, Tom saw Alex, Eddie and the Principal were at the centre of it.
"This is bull, man!" Eddie shouted at the principal.
"If you don't moderate your behaviour and your language, you will find yourself in hot water too!" The principal said crossly. "This is a very serious matter Ms Tyler."
"I didn't do it!" Alex shouted back.
"What's going on?" Tom demanded.
"Tom," Alex looked at him, a mixture of fear and hope in her eyes.
"They're trying to pin this virus thing on Alex," Eddie said. All trance of good humour had left him, and his voice was filled with anger and disgust.
Tom heard a cry from behind the principal, and for the first time he noticed Mr Marsh, face flushed in fury, jabbing a finger in the air. "She did it!" He was shouting.
"I caught her red-handed," he continued.
"No," Alex replied, her voice cracking, revealing traces of raw emotion.
Mr Marsh came to wave his finger in her face, shouting; "You've done it this time, Tyler. I always knew you were a good-for-nothing!"
"That's enough!" Tom bellowed, stepping in between them.
"Mr Marsh," the principal said, clearly trying to calm the man. "Let's take a step back and talk about this rationally."
"What's to talk about?" Mr Marsh shouted.
Tom did not move from his protective position in front of Alex, and he felt he hands creep up to clutch his waist. He could hear she had started to cry.
"You are such a loser!" Eddie shouted at Mr Marsh. "You come out here, shouting accusations, upsetting everyone, claiming you got proof. Well what damn proof!"
"I found her in the lab on Friday afternoon," Mr Marsh said with a sneer. "Took her to the principal."
"Yes," the principal confirmed.
"When I went to look at the computers this morning there was a virus in the system."
"I don't know if you noticed," Eddie said. "But it's been like that for a while now!"
"No it hasn't," Mr Marsh continued. "Because I fixed them on Friday. They were fine before she went in there."
He was lying. It hit Tom like a thunder bolt.
"You're lying," he spoke it for everyone to hear.
"Excuse me?" Mr Marsh sneered.
"I was there that afternoon," Tom said. "I saw what state those computers were in, you saw it too."
"Idiot boy," Mr Marsh replied dismissively.
"Why are you lying? Why are you trying to blame Alex? What do you have to hide Mr Marsh?"
"This is outrageous," Mr Marsh shouted, but Tom recognised a guilty look when he saw one.
"Do you really think people will take your word over mine?" Mr Marsh said.
"I love this part," Tom shot back with a smirk, as he reached for his badge.