"Prescription Goggles over to Sweaty Headband Guy!" "He passes it to Anakin Skywalker who drives the lane..." "Come on, ref!" "How can you not see that?" "!" "What happened?" " Skywalker got fouled." "No call." " His name's Josh." "What's the matter, ref?" "Are you blind?" "!" "My god." "Jules, I'm so sorry." " I didn't mean..." " It's OK." "Dad, this is." "Miss Sinclair, my social studies teacher." "Mr. Shade, please forgive me." "I get overexcited when we play Hartwell." "In the three years I've been teaching here, we've never won against them." "I can see why." "These guys are good." "Are you here to support Liam, Jules?" "Not just Liam." "How's he doing, Dad?" "Good job, guys, good job." "Let's go!" "His effort is off the charts, honey." " Mr. Shade." " Principal Frame!" "Nice to see you again." " Can we speak in private?" " Sure..." " Jules, you'll be OK?" " Yeah, yeah." "Come on, ref!" "He's traveling!" "Yeah, ref." "Even I could see that!" "Please take a seat." "Only back at school an hour and already called in to the principal's office." "Ha ha!" "I understand you're now a private investigator." "A situation has come to my attention that requires a great deal of discretion." "Happy to help." "Especially if it means lower tuition for Jules." "Ha!" "I received this anonymous email this afternoon." "Studentstud2000! "Miss S"," ""I can't stop thinking about last night."" ""That was just the beginning." "Next time"" ""we're alone, I'm gonna teach you how to..." Wow!" "It goes on in some detail." "The message indicates this event took place last Thursday." "Wait, is..." "this between a student and a teacher?" "Who's Mary?" "Mary Sinclair." "She teaches social studies." " Jules' teacher?" "From the game?" " She's highly respected." "And a close friend." "She would never do anything like this." "Protocol dictates that I should report this to the Ellard board immediately, but I can't do that to Mary." "An allegation like this..." "Even a false one..." "Can ruin a teacher's career." "And destroy a school's reputation." "I need you to prove that this is a prank, in poor taste, before it turns into a scandal." "But you'll need to act quickly, and quietly." "Alright, I'm on it, Ms. Frame." "And don't worry, my partner and I will be in and out before this thing explodes in your face." "That came out wrong." "All I said was Liam played a respectable game." "Yeah, and I can tell when you're fakeliking Liam." "You do that thing where you laugh while you're talking." " I don't do that!" " Welcome home, kiddo." " Grandpa!" " How was school?" "Good." "Dad got sent to the principal's office." "That takes me back." "What happened?" "Principal Frame just wants me to speak to some of the students." "About what?" "Success." "Chasing your dreams." "Aiming for the moon, so when you miss you'll land amongst the stars." " Please don't embarrass me." " I'm sure it'll be brief." " Dinner's on the table, sweetie." " Thanks." " Speak to the students?" "Really?" " What?" "It could happen." "OK, fine." "Principal Frame hired me and Angie" " to look into something for her." " You don't think she'll realize something's up when you and Angie start poking around?" "It involves her favourite teacher." "I just don't want anything to ruin how much she loves that place." "Then just don't be the one that does the ruining." " Dad, I got this." " OK." "Yeah, I'm up." "See you in 5, Shade." "Whoever you are... stand up slowly with your hands in the air." " Zoe?" " My god, it's you." "I thought for sure I was about to get shot." " What are you doing here?" " I... work for you." "Today's my first day." " I didn't expect you so early." " I wanted to get a head start on things." "I was taking inventory of your kitchen." "Did you know you're using the wrong coffee filters?" "Figures." "Shade's job." "Also, I restocked your desk with new supplies." "And I thought later," "I would take a stab at organizing your office." " That will not be necessary." " You sure?" "There's a method to my madness." "Listen," "Shade and I are going to be out a lot over the next few days, so just sit tight and leave things as they are." "Got it." "No changing things." "Except," "Shade emailed me the new case details." "Wow!" "Hey, are you uptodate on new social media sites?" "Yeah." "It's not Facebook, Twitter, Insta, Snap, Tumblr," "JDate or Ameechee." "They don't use a purple background." "Morning, partner." "We gotta get to Ellard." "Hey Zoe." "Any lingering "todo list" items I can scratch off" " while you two are out?" " You know what?" "The door to Angie's office sticks a little." "You could try to tackle that." "Don't worry about it, it's been that way forever." "Which makes the perfect thing for our new employee to fix." "Or to leave alone and stick to filing today." "Or not!" "Come on, we gotta jet." "Copy that." "No." "It's just... weird knowing there's someone in the office when we're not." "Kind of comes along with the territory when you hire someone." "I'm just used to things a certain way." "Come on, this is a good thing." "Now that we've got help, we can kick this business into high gear." "Did you get those design ideas I sent you?" "We're not redesigning the office." "Do you want to land the big cases or not?" "How about we focus on this case?" "Fine." "All we have to go on is Mary's conversation with "Studentstud2000" from last Thursday." "We find him, we can put an end to this character assassination attempt." "Unless it really happened." "You think she actually did this?" "It wouldn't be the first time that a teacher hooked up" " with a student." " Ellard is a prestigious institution." "Students are there hitting the books, not hitting... you know." "She's young, attractive, and human." "Some of her students are eighteen and, like it or not, teenagers have sex." "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." "Hold on." "Here you go." " What's this?" " Frame told me one of the gym teachers is out sick this week," " so you're filling in." " You want me to go undercover as a sub?" " Yeah." " Subs are the mall cops of the teaching world." "Nobody takes them seriously." "Well, you go undercover all the time!" "And I can't do it, I'm too famous." "Celebrity can be a curse, you know." "I go undercover to blend in, not teach a high school class." "What am I supposed to say to a group of hormonal teenagers?" "It's gym!" "Make 'em play dodgeball or something." "How does that help the case?" "It's gonna give you time to suss out the mysterious purple website and look for signs of social media villainy." "And in the meantime, I'll talk to Mary and send you some names." "Next time, I come up with the plan." "Wow." "Wish my hockey coaches looked like that." "I sense that wouldn't have helped your career any." "OK." "Frame's on her way." "All we gotta do now is keep a low profile, try to fit in." " Mr. Shade?" " I'm sorry, you are?" "Brie, from the column "Briefly with Brie"." "I write for "The Ellard Voice"." "And you must be the new gym teacher." "How do you know so much about us?" "Ear to the ground, finger on the pulse..." " How about a quote for my readers?" " Sure..." ""If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up someplace else."" "Great, thank you." "So much for keeping a low profile, Yogi Berra." "Principal Frame, this is Angie, my partner, and your new gym teacher." " Thank you for coming." " Which way to the gym?" " Athletics building." " Your gym has its own building?" "Do you have your own restaurant, too?" "Yes." "There's a map in there, plus a list of your students." "You're in classroom 212, down the hall." "Classroom?" "I..." "I thought we were playing dodgeball." "The current unit is sexual education." "Don't worry, Angie's a pro;" "It'll be the best hour those kids ever had." "Ahem!" "That came out wrong." " Sex Ed?" "!" " I know," "I'm way more qualified to teach that." "Stop it." "Seriously, what am I supposed to do?" "You're a sub!" "Show 'em a video." "Good morning, class." "I... am your substitute, Miss Everett." "Today, for... sex ed, we're gonna watch a video." "Does anyone know how to set up the DVD player?" "OK!" "Miss Sinclair." "Mr. Shade." "What are you doing here?" "Principal Frame asked me to stop by and talk to some of the students that are falling behind." "That's kind of you." "People give up too easily on kids these days." "I know what it feels like to lose your way." " We're all just human." " According to Jules, you're superhuman." "She's a really big fan." " Is she doing OK in your class?" " Absolutely." "Jules is a great student." "She's inquisitive," " perceptive and engaged." " I only asked because she stopped by your office last Thursday for some extra help." "Last Thursday..." "I had a doctor's appointment." "Gotcha." "Well, good to know she's not failing." "Far from it." "Please tell her I'm sorry I missed her." "I will, thanks." "Anyone I should look out for?" " I'm sorry?" " My talk, this afternoon." "Standing up there in front of all the kids," "I'm sure I'm gonna get eaten alive." "Marty Austin." "Class clown." "He likes to make his friends laugh by embarrassing adults." " Look for the Bieber hair." " Gotcha." "Thanks." "What happens if you wait until you're married and then you have sex for the first time and discover you don't like it?" "You know, there's gotta be great communication and understanding." " Hey!" " Hey, how's it going?" "Well, the room smells like bubble gum and Axe body spray." " Where are you on the suspect?" " Marty Austin." "See if he's in your class." "Mary says he's always on her case." "Got him." " Might not be that great." " I find it's hard to talk about sex." "It is very..." "Marty, no texting in class." "Can I have that, please?" "Only if you put your number in there." "Ha ha ha." "Grow two feet and add fifteen years and I'll turn you down properly." "We are really united with someone," " does that have to happen?" " The advice I'd give could be, not to only focus your relationship on that because that's not what it's all about." "Miss Everett?" " Yeah?" " The movie's done." "It was quick." "It happens." "O..." "K, well..." "Does... anyone have any... questions about sex?" "Dear..." "How can teenagers still have so many questions about sex?" "!" "Haven't they heard of the internet?" " Have you been on the internet?" " I've looked through Marty's phone and I found an app called PeriWink." " Never heard of it." " Basically a private version of Facebook." "You can create an alias and send secure messages to other users." "And it's purple." "Look." "Did you find "Studentstud2000"?" "That's the problem, it's members only." "I can't join unless I'm invited by an existing user." "You want my PeriWink login?" "Why?" "I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, honey." "Important like sending Angie undercover" " as the hot sex ed teacher?" " You know about that?" "Yeah, you're trending." "Hashtag "hoteverett"." "Dad, what's going on?" "I know you're not here as a guest speaker." "We're working a case I couldn't tell you about." "We have to keep it quiet." "So you lied and now you want a favour?" "All we can say is that someone you care about" " at the school is in trouble." " OK." "Just sent you an invite." " Thanks, honey." " Yeah." "OK..." "StudentStud's profile is mostly blank;" "No photo, no personal information." "If you're a teenager on social media, isn't the point" " to be seen and known?" " Yeah, absolutely." " It's like a selfie freeforall." " Look, he only has one friend." "Mary Sinclair." "Wait a minute, that's not right." " Mary was set up." " The message you were sent is a fake." "It's from an app called PeriWink." "Mary's account, and the account for Studentstud2000 were both created within minutes of each other on the same day they allegedly slept together." "And, Mary's personal information is all wrong." "It says she's been teaching here for five years instead of three." "You think one person created both accounts and manufactured the conversation between them." "Exactly." "You're not smiling." " Why aren't you smiling?" " Because as much as I'd like to believe you, the situation has escalated." " Who's that?" " Josh Remar, captain of the basketball team." "And he just told me he was seduced by Mary." "Is this your idea of a prestigious institution?" "He's a teenager." "You'll be hearing from my lawyer." "Let's go, son." "That went about as well as I expected." "I don't understand." "How can Josh be "Studentstud2000"" "when the accounts are clearly fabricated?" "That's for the police to sort out." " You're involving the police?" " Josh is sixteen." "Age of consent with a person of authority is eighteen." "Are you saying Mary could be charged?" "I never wanted it to come to this." "But now that I have an allegation from a living, breathing student, I have no choice but to follow protocol." "That means informing the police and the board of directors." "What, so just when we uncover that the online messages are fake, this kid comes forward with an accusation?" "You got to admit," " the timing's a little suspect." " I agree." "But the only thing that will exonerate Mary at this point" " is evidence." " We'll find it." "Well you better do it quickly." "Once the board hears of this, they'll call an emergency meeting, at which point" "I'll be asked to explain why I didn't report this incident immediately." "After that," "I suspect I won't be principal anymore." "No, no, no, stop right there." "I can't tell you anything." "You don't even know what we're gonna ask ya!" "The Ellard kid, right?" "Getting the horizontal history" " lesson from his teacher?" " Just wanna know what he said!" "Can't help you." "It's not my case." "His statement was recorded, right?" "We just wanna see the footage." "Angie, he's a minor, for cryin' out loud." "Excuse me." "He's also a liar." "That teacher he accused, she might lose her job." "Not to mention her reputation" " is gonna be destroyed." " OK, you know what?" "I found his story seemed a little fishy, but... what can I do?" "My hands are tied." " Zoe's gonna be so disappointed." " Yeah." " Zoe?" " Yeah!" "The crazy girl from the Beach." "We hired her as an office assistant." " You hired her?" " She remembered how helpful you were and suggested we come down here." " She is going to feel so bad..." " Yeah... when I tell her that it didn't work out." "OK, you wanna see the video?" "I'm gonna need some intel." "Pet names, phobias, astrology, yay or nay." "I'll give you favourite Starbucks drink, favourite movie, and any allergies." "Take it or leave it." "Door." "OK now, if anybody catches you in here, you broke in." " We get arrested for that?" " Absolutely." "Hey, Gail!" "How you doin'?" "Just relax." "Tell me what you remember about the incident." "We met at this motel on Cawthra." "I made the room romantic." "Tea lights, rose petals." "Orangescented chocolate." "Miss Sinclair met me at five PM." "She wore a silver..." ""negligee"." "Come on." "This kid doesn't even know what a "negliG" is." " This is clearly rehearsed." " Wait, five PM..." "Mary told me she was at the doctor that day after school." "We confirm that alibi and she's off the hook." "What?" "Do you have any idea how damaging an allegation like this is?" "It sticks to your record whether it's true or not." " Don't give up yet." " But I tried for years to get hired at that school." "I loved working there so much, and now it's just all gone." "Wait, why would Josh say those things about me?" "We need to hear your side of the story." "Your appointment, last Thursday." "Give us the doctor's name and we'll take that back to Frame." "I didn't go to the doctor's." "So, where were you?" "At a protest." "Against Pelican Foods." " The packaged food company?" " Why didn't you say so?" "They built Ellard's gymnasium." "They fund the annual European trip for the graduating class." "If anyone knew that I was protesting against their genetically modified foods, I'd be in big trouble." "Bigger trouble than you're in now?" "The irony is not lost on me." "Can anyone confirm you were at the protest?" "Someone we can speak to?" "Mary, if we can prove you were somewhere other than a motel with Josh, this can end." "Cooper Houser." "He saw me there." " Is he another protester?" " No." "He's the Chief Communications Officer for Pelican Foods." "Cooper Houser?" "I... respect whatever religion you are, but no thank you." "We're private investigators." "Do you have a minute?" " Cooper, what's going on?" " Nothing." "I'll be right in, Renee." "Do you know this woman?" "She says she was at a protest against your company last Thursday." "Yes, I recognize her." "Her name's Mary Sinclair." "You know the names of all your protesters?" "Miss Sinclair has been very vocal against my company for the past year and a half." "She communicates with me" " when she's organizing protests." " That sounds civil!" "Everyone has a right to free speech." "Remember what time the protest ended?" " About 6:30." " Did you see this kid there?" "Nope." "Never seen him before." "Thanks." "The protest ended at 6:30, Josh said he met Mary at 5;" "Slam dunk." "The kid's story doesn't hold water." "They could have met up after the protest." "Josh did say" " they were up all night." " Come on." "That kid doesn't have that kind of stamina." "We need more proof than a wonky timeline to get Frame" " and Mary off the hook." " What about Josh's statement to the police?" "You said yourself it sounded rehearsed." "Maybe somebody's pulling his strings." "Making a false statement is no joke." "I mean, Whoever it is would need to have something big on him." "Maybe they do." "Hey, Jules!" "I got ice cream from Ed's!" "Jeez!" "I left my phone in the car." "Can you go?" " Sure." " Never mind," " it's... it's right here." " OK." "Well, check your pocket before you hit the panic button" " next time." " Sorry." "Hey, Liam." "Evening, Mr. Shade." "Is that a... is that a new coat?" "Looks... it looks sharp." " You always have sharp coats..." " Stop saying coats, Liam" " and help me scoop ice cream." " OK!" "Yep." " Hi." "Ahem!" " Hey." "Where's your grandpa?" "He went to bed." "I thought you and Angie" " were still working the case." " That's actually why we're here." "We need to talk to you." "About Miss Sinclair." "Yeah, the story is all over school." "There's even an article in The Ellard Voice." "Sorry about that." "We tried to stop that from happening." "Now I get why you couldn't tell me." "Maybe you can help us, honey." "What can you tell me about Josh?" "Well, I mean, no one believes it actually happened." " Then why is he saying it did?" " Thank you." "Could someone be threatening Josh with something?" "Losing his athletic scholarship maybe?" "He literally lives and breathes basketball." "When you're on scholarship, you have to keep grades up, right?" "How are Josh's?" "Calculus is his kryptonite." "He was super worked up over the midterm a few weeks ago." "But then he scored, like, a high eighty." " What?" " When I was Josh's age," "I knew a guy named..." "Mark." "And Mark wasn't very good at math." " Mark's whole life was..." " Hockey?" "No..." "Football!" "Or something..." "Anyway, they wouldn't let you play if you had crappy grades, so Mark..." "Bought an old test from a former student" " to pass his class." " Mark is such a cheater!" "Hey, Mark was young." "Don't judge him." "If Josh did the same thing and someone found out about it..." "They could use that information as leverage" " to get him to lie about Mary." " We just need to prove that Josh bought a test online." "Hey Zoe." "Can you go online and figure out where someone could buy an Ellard midterm?" " Yep, I can try." " Great." "How's the filing going?" "I filed the crap out of those files." "Yep..." " You're off your game tonight." " Who are you?" " Hey, Miss Everett." " Come on." " He wasn't even in your class!" " What can I say, I'm trending." "I bet you're being scouted by some pretty" " serious universities?" " Sure am." "Why?" "Shame to throw it all away over one stupid mistake." "What's that?" "A copy of your calculus midterm." "Well, not yours exactly, the one you bought online from a former Ellard student to cheat off." "Exact same answers." "Both right and wrong." "Time to tell the truth about Miss Sinclair, Josh." "No!" "They said if I did this, they wouldn't say" " anything about the test!" " They?" "Did someone threaten you?" "They hacked my PeriWink account." "They found out I cheated.." "And blackmailed you into claiming you slept with Mary." "I'll deny anything you say about me." "They'll get me expelled if I don't." "Who?" "You need to tell us." "The ones who control everything at this school!" "The Ellard Eight!" "The Ellard Eight?" "Is this a joke?" " Who are the Ellard Eight?" " An urban legend." "Back when Ellard was first founded, the eight students with the highest social standing supposedly... formed an elite club." "The idea was to bond them for life as they went on to become captains of industry." "But the group doesn't actually exist." "Josh thinks it does." "He said he was contacted by their leader, who threatened to expose his cheating" " unless he accused Mary." " Well, he's plenty exposed now." "Is he prepared to recant his statement?" "He's scared to." "Then there's nothing I can do." "The board meets tomorrow." "I've run out of time." "Ms. Frame..." " You can't give up." " It's alright, Mr. Shade." "I've had a good run as principal." "I'll land on my feet." "Good day." "We can't let her and Mary take the fall for this." "How do you find a group that doesn't exist?" "Maybe they do and Frame doesn't know it." "OK, well, they're a student club..." "How about we ask the students?" "Hey, Zoe," "I think you accidentally locked the door to my office" " last night." "I couldn't get in." " Sorry." "I will look into it." "The Ellard Eight?" "No way!" "I've always wanted to be a member." " So, they're real?" " Of course they're real, they just don't want anyone to know they're real." " Who runs the group?" " I don't know." "But their leader is called "Number One"." "Just like the Skull and Bones." "No, not like the Skull and Bones, Dad." " It's a glorified fraternity." " You know what else" " is a fraternity?" " What?" " Don't..." " The Illuminati." "I'll send you some literature." "It'll blow your mind!" "Why would The Ellard Eight target Miss Sinclair?" " What kind of a threat is she?" " Maybe we can find out if we know where they meet." "Any idea where that is?" "No." "But I do know someone who was in consideration to join them..." "Mr. Shade!" "Thanks for inviting me onto the team." "You're not on the..." "Thrilled to have you here, buddy." " Did you bring the letter?" " Yes." "The Ellard Eight left this in my locker last term." "I followed all of the instructions on it, but I..." "I couldn't find it," " so I wasn't let into the group." " "Into the deepest darkness."" "Tunnel through to find the light."" "There are some service tunnels under the school but I got lost in them." "They're this way." "It's pitch black in there." "I couldn't find my way through." "Look." "Let's divide and conquer." "Jules, you come with me." "Actually, can I go with Angie?" "Sure." "That means it's you and me then, Mr. Shade!" "Fantastic." "So, how's school?" "You like it here?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "It was easier when I was staying at my Dad's." "It's a long commute from Mom's place, and she's always running late." "I'm... pretty sure your Dad would be willing to pick you up sometimes." "Yeah, but then Mom would get mad, and..." "you know." "You alright, sir?" "You know, we can rest if you want." "I'm a former professional athlete, Liam." "Let's keep moving." "So, I guess you have to do a lot of..." "research" " when you go undercover?" " Yeah, I celebrate the day Wikipedia was born." "I've never really liked the dark, I'll be honest." "But it's not like I think there's monsters or anything..." "There aren't any monsters, Liam." " I know." " Like when you went undercover as a sex ed teacher... did you... practice?" "Teaching?" " Sex." " Um..." "I mean, do you... know about sex..." "Do you know about teaching sex?" "Where is this going, Jules?" "How do you know if it's the right time?" " Boy." " If anything, this place would have serial killers or crazy hobos." "If a crazy hobo serial killer comes after us," "I'll let him kill me first, OK?" " That's nice of you." " Last time I said the "s" word in front of Dad, he pretended to hear rats in the attic and spent two hours fakesearching for them to avoid the conversation." "I bet Jules isn't afraid." "You know she isn't afraid of anything." "She says that comes from you." " Really?" " Yeah." "Whenever she's scared, she just thinks about what you would do, and it calms her down." "It's not easy being a teenager." "I remember." "You want everything right away and it's all... it's all right there, in front of you, so there's no reason why you shouldn't have it, but..." "You don't have to rush." "Trust me." "Life'll still be there waiting when the time is right." "Now I see why everyone was so stoked for your class." "Me, I babble." "Like now." "Would you like to hold the flashlight, Liam?" " Yes, please." " Is that your hand on my neck?" " No." " Something's on me!" "I broke the flashlight." "So it happened." "My phone's in the car." "OK, you do realize I'm blind, right?" "I'm used to not being able to see." "I'll lead the way." "Wait, there's air coming out of this wall." "I think there's a door here." "Shade!" "I think we found it!" "Follow my voice!" "Alright, I hear you." "We're comin'!" "So the Ellard Eight do exist." "Yet they seem about as threatening as One Direction." "Check it out." "These are all pictures of..." "Number Ones." "Nothing for this year." "Shade." "Isn't that...?" "Cooper Houser." "CCO of Pelican Foods." "Mary was protesting against a former Number One." "Hey, how are you doin'?" "Is Angie around?" " You're that cop." " I am cop, yeah, sure." " She's not here." " It's too bad!" "Yeah, that barista made an extra one of these by mistake." "Say, you wouldn't want it, would you?" "It's a doublesweet, Venti, caramel macchiato," " with extra foam." " Are you kidding me?" " I can't stand that sweet stuff." " Are you sure?" "You're not actually a fan of the films of JeanClaude Van Damme either, are you?" "Yeah, OK." "Well..." "I'm gonna kill her." "Can you keep a secret?" "I think so, yeah." "I mean, do you have a secret that you wanna tell me?" "I'd love to hear it." "OK, what is happening right now?" "Where are you taking me?" "What the hell happened in there?" "Angie's door sticks." "She told me not to fix it, but you can't tell me stuff like that." "Opening the door made a hole in the wall." "When I spackled over it, I had to paint, so I moved the light sconce, which revealed faulty wiring, which revealed two light switches that don't actually turn anything on." "Hey!" "It's OK." "We can figure this out." " You know about repairs?" " No." "I didn't..." " I didn't mean that." " What am I going to do?" "I need to figure something out before they come back." "You know what?" "My cousin's a contractor." "I'm on it." " My God." " Yeah." "Tell him, I will do anything." "I will owe him one forever." "You'll owe him one forever?" "I'm sure, he'll be thrilled to hear that." "You really think this is gonna work?" "Frame's meeting with the Ellard board in a few hours." "So, if Cooper's using the influence of The Ellard Eight to attack Mary, we need to rattle his cage before it's too late." "Here he comes." "My goodness!" " I'm so sorry!" " I've warned him" " about walking and texting." " She has." "She says I'm gonna walk right into traffic." "You're the investigators." " Matt Shade." "Small world." " How is the case going?" "With, Miss Sinclair?" "We've had a breakthrough, actually." "We believe someone's trying to frame her." "Have you ever" " heard of The Ellard Eight?" " Can't say I have." "Really?" "'Cause you're an Ellard alumnus, and your wife" " sits on the board." " We googled you." "You know," "I was wondering." "What's a communications officer even" " doing at a protest rally?" " We want the public to feel free to communicate with Pelican, even if we don't" " agree with the message." " Very noble." "Not unlike The Ellard Eight." "A secret student society at Ellard's, going back generations." "Rumour is their clubhouse is hidden in the service tunnels under the school." "We find it, we'll find the person responsible for this." "Sounds like a wild goose chase." "If that goose fabricated a sex scandal to slander a teacher's character, then yes, that's exactly what this is." "And when we find out who's behind it their goose is cooked." "Well, I... wish you two the best." ""Their goose is cooked"?" "Yeah, I'm sorry, it just popped out." "Besides, looks like it worked." "He's lit up about something." "Let me ask you something, what's goin' on" " with you and Jules?" " What do you mean?" "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad it's you and not of one of Becca's friends, but..." "What?" "I just get the feeling she talks to you about things she won't say to me." "What kind of things are you worried she's talking to me about?" "I don't know." "Things." " Personal things." " She's growing up, Shade." "There's gonna be things that she doesn't wanna talk about with her Dad." " Like what?" " He's pulling over." "Look!" "It's Mary?" "What's she doing here?" "Maybe she figured out he's behind all this." "That doesn't look good." "No." "Cooper's wife's gonna have questions if she comes home" " and Mary's inside." " She's probably already at Ellard." "The board meeting's in less than an hour," " we're cutting it close." " Should we call the cops?" "I wouldn't do that just yet." " Didn't see that coming." " No." "How long have you been seeing each other?" "We met during a protest about a year and a half ago." "When Cooper found out I was a teacher at Ellard, he wanted to know why I was against Pelican." "After a few glasses of wine, we found a connection much deeper." " Does your wife know?" " Yes." "She's... she's known" " for some time." " Any chance she could be" " behind this?" " Renee isn't vindictive like that." "We're getting a divorce, she just... doesn't want to hurt the family with the news" " until it's finalized." " You two were together after the protest." "That's the real reason you can't admit where you were last Thursday." "Either I admit to sleeping with Josh, which didn't happen, or I expose that Cooper has been sleeping with a protestor against the company." "It's his job or mine." "Talk about a rock and a hard place." "I'm not proud of my mistakes." "But, I love that school, and I would never do what I'm being accused of." " We believe you." " So the Ellard Eight" " isn't behind this?" " The Ellard Eight is just a kids' club." "An excuse to give a few students a false sense of power." "I haven't spoken to anybody" " in that club for years." " So, we're right back at square one and the board is assembling at Ellard right now." "Mary, I'm sorry." "Shade..." "Why do you have framed articles from the Ellard paper?" "My daughter wrote them." "She goes to Ellard." " Miss Everett." "Mr. Shade." " Miss Sinclair was set up by The Ellard Eight's leader." "We just didn't know why until now." " Again with The Ellard Eight." " They exist." "We found their clubhouse." " You have the one responsible?" " We will in about ten minutes." " It's a delicate situation." " It's too late." " I'm prepared for the board's decision." " Is that your resignation?" "Better to resign gracefully than trigger an unnecessary war." " Just give us the time we need." " Ten minutes." "Good, you're here." "The Ellard Eight were behind all of this?" "Just the current Number One." "We texted her on the PeriWink app." "She should be arriving any minute." "She?" "Daddy?" "Brie, what's going on?" "They're saying you made up this story about Mary." "Honey, why?" "She's been your favourite teacher for years!" "I'm not stupid, Dad." "I know what's going on." "I saw your texts to her." "How could you do this to Mom?" " God." " How could you" " do this to my family?" " Hey, it's not her fault, Brie." "It's mine." "Your mom and I, we..." " we didn't..." " Does Mom know?" "Yes." "We didn't know how to tell you." "We were waiting for you to graduate." "I just thought that... maybe if she was out of your life... you and Mom would stay together." "It was stupid!" "I'm so sorry, honey." "We should've told you." "Mr. Houser and his wife explained everything to the board, including his relationship with Mary." "The police are dropping the investigation and Mary" " is staying at the school." " What about your resignation?" " I didn't offer it." " Good for you." "What's gonna happen to Josh and Brie?" "Josh cheated on his exam, and Brie blackmailed him for it, then led a smear campaign against one of my teachers." "Not exactly model students." " But Mary asked me to go easy on them." " That sounds like her." "They'll be suspended, but... officially, this was an act of The Ellard Eight." "And as we all know, they don't exist." "Let me know if you'd like to sub again, Miss Everett." "I know the kids would be thrilled." "Um, I..." "I could speak to the students too if you'd like." "That won't be necessary, but..." " Thank you for your help." " Yeah." " How is she doing?" " She'll be OK." " What did you say to her?" " I talked about what I went through with you and Mom." "When a family breaks apart, you have to look at the big picture." "Sometimes, you gain as much as you lose." "She slipped me this." "Looks like the Ellard Eight is gonna need a new." " Number One next year." " Just you," " not Liam, right?" " Maybe I'll" " make him my Number Two!" " Just like Shade is to me." "Very funny." " Listen, about Jules..." " It's OK." "I'm glad she feels like she can talk to you." "I don't wanna get in the way of that." "As long as you're comfortable with it." "Well, it surprised me too, but, also," " it's pretty cool." " And I'm not promising it won't bother me, but then, I won't ask." " I would expect nothing less." " And you gotta promise to tell me if I should be worried about something." "You've nothing to worry about, Shade." "You did a good job with her." "What are you still doing here?" "Go home." " Zoe..." " I can explain." "You fixed the door." " It doesn't stick anymore." " No." "No, it doesn't." "I like things the way they are, even if they're broken." "Especially if they're broken." "But I must say... an unstuck door isn't that bad." "My God, I totally thought you were gonna fire me!" "You know Shade's been on my case to redesign this place." "Maybe it's worth considering." "Do not tell him that I said that." "Your secret is safe with me." "So honey, I was thinking about Brie and her dad." "Is that how you felt when me and your mom split up?" "It's weird." "I guess..." "I appreciate it, you know." "Like I see... you and Mom are better apart." "And I think the experience made me stronger." "You're the strongest person I know, sweetie." "I'm turning on the TV." "Do your thing." "Extra Long Shorts passes the ball the Buck Tooth." "Buck Tooth heads down the court." "He passes it to Long Shorts for the lay up." "No wait, he fakes it." "He's gonna dunk." "Buck Tooth scores!" "Woo!"