Chapter 2 - The Campaign of Whispers
By Monday morning, news of the incident at the Founders Family Dinner had spread across Blackwood Academy like wildfire.
Vanessa Whitmore made sure of it.
When Claire walked through the arched stone entry, students stepped back, whispering behind open lockers. Printed flyers—mocking invitations to a "Father-Daughter Charity Hunt"—were stuffed inside Claire’s locker. On the whiteboard in her AP Calculus class, someone had written: 17 ÷ 0 = Claire's Dad.
During second period, Claire was called to the headmaster's office.
Dr. Arthur Vance, a thin man with gold-rimmed spectacles and an unconditional loyalty to Richard Whitmore’s bank account, sat behind his mahogany desk. Richard Whitmore himself was seated in an armchair by the window, sipping coffee.
"Miss Bennett," Dr. Vance began smoothly. "In light of Friday night's public display, the board has raised concerns regarding your family's conduct. Blackwood is an institution built on decorum."
"My conduct?" Claire said, her hands trembling in her lap. "Vanessa humiliated me in front of two hundred people."
"Vanessa was joking," Richard Whitmore said, not looking up from his tablet. "Harmless senior practical jokes. But your mother made implicit threats toward me, and your own outburst disrupted the gala. Financial hardship is no excuse for lack of dignity, Miss Bennett."
"Are you taking away my scholarship?" Claire asked directly.
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"We are reviewing it," Dr. Vance replied. "Unless a formal, written apology is submitted by your mother to the board before the Legacy Gala, your enrollment will be terminated at the end of this semester."
Claire walked out of the office with her head held high, but the moment she reached the quiet alcove behind the library, tears spilled over her eyelashes. She didn't call her mother. She knew Evelyn was working a double shift at the department store, altering evening gowns for women who bought jackets that cost more than their monthly rent.
