Outside the heavy walnut door, Serena stood twisting the edge of her plaid skirt nervously in her fingers. Biting her bottom lip, her mind raced trying to fathom what was about to happen to her and if there was anything that should could say or do to get herself out of it.
At 18 years old, she was an abnormally good girl. She had fabulous grades while attending her all girl prep school, the infamous, Weisminster School for Girls. She was never one to cause the usual trouble. She had seen the "wild" girls that are always skiving classes, sneaking out to catch a visit with their boyfriends at the neighboring boys school a half mile away. She didn't smoke, didn't drink, and didn't do drugs. The other students even called her "Little Miss Perfect", mostly behind her back and out of jealousy.
"So why am I outside the headmasters door with this ball of lead feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach?" Serena asks herself for what must be the millionth time in the past 5 minutes.
The door opened so suddenly that she jumped about a foot in the air, before looking up and seeing the very handsome, but very stern looking headmaster glaring down at her. Mr. Logan, the headmaster, was the youngest (and, according to the girls, the most handsome) headmaster this school has ever employed. He was powerfully built, with thick black hair and eyes so green they looked like emeralds. His dark skin always looked like he just came back from a 3 week vacation in the tropics. There wasn't a girl, or woman in the entire school that didn't have a crush on him.
"Come in and sit down, Serena." Mr. Logan said in a voice that normally made you feel like you were enveloped in warm velvet, but this afternoon, sounded stern, angry, and full of disappointment.
"Thank you, Sir." Serena said, hoping her voice didn't give away how very nervous she was. She had never been in the headmasters' office unless it was to deliver a message from one of her instructors so she looked, in awe, around at the furnishings. The solid maple walls and desk looked undeniably masculine. The book collection lining the book cases where an expensive collection of rare books. Tolstoy, Kierkegaard, Chaucer, Shakespeare, all the greats, made the feeling of the room even more intimidating. Her eyes fell on a beautiful carved cabinet in the corner, and she wondered what mysteries it contained. . It was such an elegant room, and hard for her to imagine the things the other girls said happened in here actually taking place.
Her mind wandered and she almost forgot for a moment why she was there when Mr. Logan's voice brought her crashing back down to reality.
Slowly walking around the desk, he sat in his chair and just stared at the young lady sitting in front of him. She was the best student in the whole school, the one that had given him hope that there were more than just heathens that were enrolled here. She was a very pretty, shy looking girl. Her auburn hair, held back in a tortoise shell head band, hung down to the middle of her back in curls. Her hazel eyes had a way of looking at you that just made you want to pick her up and shelter her from all the cruelties of the world. She had a wide-eyed, naturally pouting, innocent look that made what he was about to do even more difficult.
"Do you know why I have asked you to my office this afternoon, Miss Cassidy?" Mr. Taylor asked while averting his eyes and glancing at a page in the Discipline Record book lying before him.
"Umm, no Sir, I-I don't." Serena replied, nervously.
"Are you aware of the school rules and what the consequences are for breaking them, Miss Cassidy?" Mr. Taylor asked finally raising his gaze to stare directly into her eyes.
"I think so, Mr. Logan." Serena's mind was whirling, "What rule could I have broken?" kept repeating itself in her mind over and over again. She couldn't think of anything.
"Well then, please tell me, Miss Cassidy, what are the consequences for a girl who plagiarizes on a term paper?"
Serena's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock. She was speechless, unable to reply to his question. How could he have found out? She knew she shouldn't have done it, but she was just so overloaded with work that she just didn't have time to do the paper on her own. So she got online while in the library and found a site that sold term papers for a small fee. She ordered one, printed it out and thought that she was good to go. What was the chance of anyone else here using the same site and choosing the same paper, after all, she had thought to herself. Though, she had never done it before she had heard some other girls talking and laughing about how they had done it and gotten away with it loads of times, so why not her? And now, look where it had gotten her!. She does it once, and gets caught? It's not fair! Her mind screamed.
"Well, girl, I'm waiting for your answer!" Mr. Logan said raising his voice and slamming his hand down hard down onto his desktop; making her jump in her seat.
"I...uh...I can explain, Sir...I was..." She got no further when Mr. Logan interrupted her.
"I did NOT ask for an explanation right now, girl! I asked what the consequences where for such an action! Though, I can tell by your response that you are admitting guilt! Now for the final time, WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES FOR PLAGIARISM?" Mr. Logan said, beginning to lose his temper and patience. His voice rose louder than she had ever heard it before.
"Uh..umm...Sir, ummm...the c-consequences for plagiarism in this school...is ummm.c-corporal punishment, suspension, expulsion or a c-combination of those th-things, Sir." Serena managed to get out, her heart racing madly. She couldn't afford an expulsion; she was here on a scholarship. She would lose it if she were to be expelled! She couldn't imagine being corporally punished though, either, she had seen some of the girls come streaking out of this room, hands under their skirts and tears pouring out of their eyes as they raced to the nearest lavatory. She would have to make him understand what she was going thru at the time. How overloaded she was on homework. Surely he would see how she hated cheating but felt she had no choice! Maybe he would just let her off with a good scolding and lines. He just had to!
"Well, I'm shocked that you know that, Miss Cassidy, since you have apparently blatantly disregarded that rule when it came time to do your English Literature term paper. Do you deny it?" He said while keeping his voice low, but menacing.
He couldn't believe that his prize student was sitting here in front of him admitting to cheating! He knew what he had to do, and hated having to do it but she left him little room for negotiating. He had to get this school back on track. The students here were running amok, the grade point averages where on a steady decline. He had to set an example, MAKE an example, strike some fear into these students or he would lose his job. What better person to make an example of than the top student of the school? That would show all of them that he meant business and if they didn't start buckling down they would find themselves in the same position that poor Serena now found herself in.
"I'm sorry, Sir, truly sorry. I was over loaded with homework and term papers that had to be done. I was running out of time so I thought, just this once, I would take the easy way out. I'm sorry, Sir! I felt so guilty but I didn't know what else I could do! I have never cheated before and I promise I will never do it again. Please Sir, don't expel me! I will write a thousand lines, do chores, anything but please, PLEASE don't expel me! I'm here on a scholarship. I'll lose it if you expel me, Sir."
Her words came out in a rush, so fast that she didn't give Mr. Logan time to even try to interrupt her. Her tears falling copiously down her face and dripping onto the front of her blouse, she looked at him imploringly, begging him with her eyes to please understand her reasoning. His face remained stoic, as if set in granite. She hadn't a clue what he was thinking or if he even heard anything she had said.
After what seemed like an eternity to her, he finally spoke. She held her breath, praying that her impassioned plea didn't fall on deaf ears.
"Oh, I have no intention of expelling you, Miss Cassidy." Mr. Logan said allowing her to finally take a breath. She let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Mr. Logan, thank you so much! I won't make you regret your decision. I'll work extra hard and never cheat again, I promise!" Serena managed to say while drying her eyes of the tears that had fallen.
"Not so fast, girl, I said I wasn't going to expel you, I did not say you were off the hook. I do not give just lines for plagiarism and cheating. That is two major offenses; no one will get off that easily, even if they had committed only one of them. Did you know you were plagiarizing when you handed that paper in, or did you only know you were cheating?"
"I ...umm....plagiarism, Sir, no, I didn't know. How could it be plagiarism?" She asked her joy of thinking she was off the hook a thing in the past and the chunk of lead that was in her stomach came rushing back, doubling in size.
"Plagiarism, dear girl, because that paper you turned in had been written by someone here, at this very school, months ago. So if you turned in an exact copy without giving that person credit for it, then that is plagiarism. I only see your name on it, not the others. Am I not correct in saying that, Miss Cassidy?" He asked her a sardonic lilt to his voice.