Fallout - 2016 - Matchmaker Chronicles Vol 1 CG3 8/15
Previously
“I think I know someone that can help set up the IP Nanny-Cam.”
“Who would that be?”
“Another one of your students, James Olsen Junior. His father is very good with computers and JJ has learned a lot from him.”
“Thanks for the suggestion, but he’s on the team. Wouldn’t he warn the other guys?”
With confidence, Hattie replied, “No, he doesn’t like cheaters any more than I do. Besides, he’s on the paper too. He’s a real law and order guy. If there is cheating going on he will want the perpetrators caught.”
“As long as you are sure of him, I’ll trust him.”
“We’ll go talk to him and let you know.”
Hattie and Morgana left and returned to the Wildcat’s Lair office.
When they arrived Jon and JJ were both there.
As they entered, JJ and Jon both looked up from what they were studying and smiled. Hattie and Morgana both smiled back and Hattie said, “JJ, just the person we were looking for.”
“Oh, what’s up, Hattie?”
Morgana jumped in and said, “We need to set up a Nanny-Cam.”
JJ replied, “No problem. I’ve helped my dad set up a few of them.” Teasingly he said, “Aren’t you a little old to have a nanny? Or is it to check on you and not your nanny?”
Morgana gave a sour expression and said, “Poor joke. It isn’t for me or my parents, it’s for Ms. Spargo.”
Surprised, JJ blurted out, “The algebra teacher? I didn’t think she had any kids at home. I have heard of people setting them up to monitor their pets …”
Morgana interrupted him, “This isn’t for her home. It’s for here, at school, her classroom.”
“Whoa, her classroom? Why?”
Hattie stepped in, “Here’s the story. We’ve been looking at the quiz grades and we think there’s something fishy going on. Bud Kyle and his three cronies have all gotten the exact same grade on each of the last 4 quizzes.”
Jon, always one to try to see the best in people suggested, “Maybe they are just studying together. That could explain it.”
Morgana answered, “Maybe, but they are all getting the same questions wrong. That goes beyond simply studying together.”
Nodding, JJ said, “Sounds fishy to me too.”
Morgana pressed, “Then you’ll help out?”
“Sure. I think dad has a spare IP Webcam at the house. I’ll borrow that.”
“That’s wonderful. How soon could you bring it in to set up?”
“I don’t know, Hattie, maybe as early as tomorrow. What does Ms. Spargo want to do with it?”
“She wants to set it up in a concealed location that overlooks her desk. She thinks that someone is copying her answer key. She keeps it in her desk.”
“I think her room is empty during the fifth period tomorrow.”
“That should work. I have a study hall that period and I can just tell the monitor that I’m getting some help from her on an assignment. I can use the school’s Wi-Fi. I’ll just need a power source nearby.”
Morgana supplied, “There’s a poster on her wall that the cam can be hidden behind and there’s a wall outlet below it.”
“Sounds ideal. I’ll set it up tomorrow.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Over the weekend, after dark, Jack, one of Bud’s cronies, snuck onto the school grounds. His destination was a window into the basement that he had used many times before. Opening the window, he crawled through and lowered himself to the floor, silently. He used a mini-flashlight so that he didn’t trip over anything that might be in his path, but he masked it with two fingers leaving only a slim slot for the light to come through. Once he was out of that basement storage room he stealthily made his way to the stairs and ascended them to the second floor. Now that he was in, he wasn’t too worried. There wasn’t a roving guard or anything. Making his way to Ms. Spargo’s room, he let himself in.
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a key that he had made and unlocked her desk. Pulling out the contents, he used his flashlight to examine them. He stuck the base of the flashlight in his mouth so that he could use two hands and his face was illuminated by the backwash of the light reflected from the papers. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled out his cell phone and used the camera to photograph the pages.
Once he was finished, he replaced the papers, as well as he could remember they had been placed, closed and relocked the drawer. Shielding his flashlight once again, he retraced his steps to the storage room and out of the building.
And now
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 08 –
October 2016* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Universal Locator designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 – Prime%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Ms. Spargo was preparing for bed when a buzzer stopped her. The buzz was coming from her computer so she moved over to it and wiggled the mouse to bring it out of screen saver mode.
When the screen resolved there was a window open in the center of the screen and she could see a light moving. She muttered, “I think we are about to catch our fish.”
The light moved to her desk, but she couldn’t make out any features until he put the light in his mouth and then she finally recognized who it was when his features were lit up by the light.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
JJ had told Hattie the IP address of the camera and she had been monitoring it as well. She was sitting at her desk preparing an e-mail to a friend when a window popped up. It took a few seconds for her to realize just what she was seeing, but she had the presence of mind to activate the record function to preserve what she was watching.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Algebra test was scheduled for Tuesday and no one said anything about the break-in.
The grades were posted on Thursday and there were five very surprised students. They were surprised because each of them had received a failing grade!
They were all gathered around the board when the grades were posted and they all made loud exclamations at the results.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That afternoon each of the failing students were called into the principal’s office.
When Bud arrived he found that the football coach was also there.
The principal said, “Come in, Bud, and sit down.”
Once Bud was seated, he asked, “Do you know why you were called in?”
“The Algebra test grade?”
“Right the first time. The Algebra test grade. You failed this test and there is a suspicion that your grades on the previous tests may not be correct.”
“But, I passed all of them.”
“Yes … yes, you did, but there are some doubts. Since there are some doubts, Ms. Spargo is going to re-test you on those concepts. If you pass the make-up, then fine. If not, you will be off the football team. Do I make myself clear?”
With a woebegone expression, Bud replied, “Yeah, I mean, yes, sir.”
“Okay. The make-up exam will be tomorrow.”
“That soon?”
“Yes, that soon. What are you worried about? You’re supposed to know this material already.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Bud left the principal’s office in a dejected mood. As he left he saw the other members of his posse waiting their turn. All he could do was shake his head as he passed by.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After school they got together and compared notes. Each had been told basically the same thing.
Bud asked, “What went wrong? We had a sweet deal going.” He pinned Jack with his eyes and asked, “Are you sure you got the right test?”
“Sure I am. I recognized the questions. I put down the answers we had, but somehow they were wrong.”
Bud, with a sudden flash of insight asked, “Do you think that Spargo found out somehow and we were set up?”
“How could she have gotten wise? I was very careful.” Replied Jack, defensively.
“Well, something sure went wrong, now we have to re-test on all of the quizzes and if we don’t pass we’re off the team.”
Jack got up and as he started to move away said, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m going home to study.”
Bill, echoed his statement, “Me too,” as he got up and moved away.
Watching the rest move away, Bud grumbled, “What’s the use,” got up and headed home.
When he got there, he didn’t even crack a book. He went into his father’s liquor cabinet and reaching into the back, pulled out a bottle of vodka. Taking it into the kitchen he poured a drinking glass full and then ran tap water into the bottle until he had replaced the missing fluid. He replaced the bottle and then took the glass full of liquor went to his room.
He made a sign that said, “Do not disturb – studying” and hung it on his door. Then he locked the door, just in case.
Crossing to his bed he lifted the glass of clear liquid and took a large gulp. The alcohol burned its way down his throat and he grimaced. He looked at the glass in his hand and making up his mind, took another gulp. This time it didn’t burn quite so much, perhaps those taste receptors had been burnt out or just numbed, he didn’t know, or care. It was enough that it didn’t hurt as much the second time so he upended the glass and drained it is a few more gulps.
Grabbing his MP3 player, he stuck the ear-buds in his ears and turned the volume up on his favorite Gangsta Rap music. Then he picked up a hand-held game machine and started blasting away opponents. He opened his window and dug out his stash. He rolled a joint and smoked it as he played.
It wasn’t too long until he was so affected by the alcohol and drugs he had consumed that in his mind he was in the game and really killing people. As he did a death’s head grin appeared on his face.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That afternoon, while Bud and his cronies were being called to the principal’s office, Hattie, Morgana and JJ brought their findings to their editor, Nick Carter. He told them, “Write it up and I’ll edit it. If you get it to me by the end of the day, it will make it into the next edition.”
Hattie was irritated and challenged, “And if we don’t it will be held for another week? In another week it will not be news, it will be history. Look, this is going down NOW! If we can’t get this all written up by the end of the day I would suggest you put a hold on the current issue and put this out as a special. This story is too important to put on hold! This is BIG! Major! Five members of the football team caught cheating! They are being kicked off the squad even as we speak!”
Nick was taken somewhat aback. He was used to Hattie’s intensity by this time, but this was attitude on steroids. All he could do was put up his hands to fend off her wrath and say, “Okay! Work on it. If you can’t finish by the end of the day, we’ll hold the issue, but only a single day. We have to go to press the following day whether the story is ready or not.”
Mollified, Hattie replied, “Don’t worry. We’ll try to have it to you today. If not, first thing in the morning.” Turning to Morgana and JJ, she said, “Let’s get busy. Morgana, you and I will start the write-up. As soon as we have something, we’ll turn it over to JJ for formatting.”
As soon as Hattie finished organizing her team they all got to work. While Hattie and Morgana started the write-up, JJ pulled up the doc prep software and started prepping the format. As soon as the girls had some copy for him all he would need to do is plug the text into the frames.
While he was doing this he could hear Hattie and Morgana discussing how to present the details. There was some little discussion about wording. Eventually, they came to an agreement and started writing it up. Since Morgana was a faster keyboarder, Hattie made comments while Morgana typed the article up. It wasn’t too long until JJ saw that his inbox had a new document.
He opened the document and copied and pasted it into his frame. As he started the formatting he also started editing what the girls had produced. He saw some repeat words and replaced some with synonyms. He spotted some other grammatical errors and corrected them. When he was finished he looked at the time and released a relieved sigh. “Made it, with time to spare.” He hit the send key which sent it to Nick’s inbox, formatted and ready to print.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The headline on the Wildcat’s Lair two days later read,
“EXAM CHEATING SCAM EXPOSED! FIVE MEMBERS OF THE FOOTBALL TEAM BOOTED”
By: Kaplin, Olsen and Winley
“In an exclusive investigation by the Wildcat’s Lair staff in cooperation with the teaching staff it was proven that the answer keys to the tests were being copied and the answers being provided to certain members of the football team. As a result of this investigation, five members of the team have been booted off the squad because they were cheating on the tests. In this sting operation a fake answer sheet, with incorrect answers, was prepared and left in the location normally used by the teacher for her answer key. (Story continues page 2.)”* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The day the paper was distributed, Jon took a copy home so that his parents could see it.
After a close perusal, Lois looked at Clark and said, “Nothing ever changes! How many cheating scandals will there be? You’d think that by this time they’d wise up! Honesty and study are the way to get ahead. There are no real shortcuts.”
“Right, and technology just makes it that much easier to get caught.”
“They thought that they were using technology to get ahead and it only put them behind the eight ball.”
There’s an old saying, ‘It takes a thief to catch a thief.’ In this case it took technology to cancel the technological advantage.”
“Our girl did a good job on this one.”
“She had a lot of help. You know. They make a good team.”
“Who? Hattie and JJ?”
“Well, yeah, but I was talking about Hattie and Morgana. They led the investigation. JJ just helped with the technology.”
“If she keeps going like this, she will be an excellent addition to the Planet.”
“You’ve taught her well. She is really following in your footsteps.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of her if she were my actual daughter.”
“If she keeps it up though, she’s going to need a super-guardian angel.”
Lois turned serious as she said, “I made Mel a promise and I intend to keep it. I’ll do everything in my power to protect her.”
Clark nodded and replied, “We all will.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rumors had started to spread as soon as Bud and his buddies had been seen going into the principal’s office, but the entire story wasn’t known until the Wildcat’s Lair was available.
Once all of the details were known, most of the students were angry that all that had happened was kicking them off the team. General opinion was split two ways. One faction was of the opinion that they should have been expelled. The other faction wondered if they could get away with something of the sort to improve their own grades.
Hattie and her posse refrained from publishing any details of how the deed was done, but all of the teachers were warned about how it was accomplished so that they in turn could take steps to protect their testing materials.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The following week there was a headline on the Wildcat’s Lair that was almost as disturbing:
“QUARTERBACK INJURED!”By: Kaplin, Olsen and Winley
In the Wildcats most recent game against the Woodstock Beavers; the Wildcats quarterback Matt King, was sacked from the blind side in the second quarter and suffered a season ending knee injury.
The good news is that he has already been granted a football scholarship to Villanova in Philadelphia. With proper care he will be able to play in his freshman year for that college.
Second string quarterback, Jon Kent, was able to step in and finish the game. Kent showed great promise in the position. The score had been tied when King was injured and Kent led the team to a 24 to 21 victory. (Details of the game and story continued on page 2)
That had been only the fifth game of the season and the team coalesced around Jon and he was able to lead them to a string of victories, remaining undefeated from that point on. Going into November the school’s stats were an impressive 7 wins against only a single loss.
JJ was really put on his mettle protecting the quarterback. As left tackle, that was his assignment. Jon was right handed, so the left side was his blind side. Matt King had been left handed and the right tackle had let the defenseman through that had sacked him. JJ was especially aggressive because he knew there was a chance that a defenseman tackling Jon could be hurt.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Homecoming game was to be played the weekend before Thanksgiving and as a result there was an election to see just who would be Homecoming Queen.
Since almost all of the most attractive girls in the school were on the pep squad it was no surprise that all of their names were in the election.
It was traditional that the player voted Most Valuable Player in the Homecoming game would be the Homecoming King and would date the Homecoming Queen for the Homecoming Dance and most of the pep squad along with the rest of the team would be the royal court.
Hattie was the one that was most excited about the upcoming celebration. She was a very attractive red head with naturally curly hair. Her figure was better than most, an athlete’s body, well muscled and toned. Everyone could see that her legs were long and lean which was very evident in the short, short tennis skirt that she wore when leading the Lady Cats, which is what the girl’s tennis team was called.
Jon knew from personal experience just how fit she was. They had spent a lot of time together at each other’s dojos working on karate. Jon was learning the softer, kung fu, styles that Hattie had learned and she was learning the ‘harder’, Korean style, which Jon had been schooled in. The spandex workout gear that she wore under her gi (pronounced gee) left hardly anything to the imagination.
By the same token, Hattie almost found herself drooling over Jon’s body. Jon was in the habit of wearing only a pair of spandex bike shorts under his gi which showed off his well muscled chest through the gap in the gi’s front. He wasn’t vain about it, but he had the physique of a bodybuilder and extreme athlete rolled into one.
That physique combined with his personality only served to increase her desire to have more than a sisterly relationship with him. She even fantasized over the possibility of a sexual relationship with him. She knew that fantasy was as far as she would take it because theirs just wasn’t that kind of relationship.
Hattie was disappointed that JJ didn’t share her, Lara and Jon’s interest in karate. JJ preferred to spend his time studying and working on his computer. He was becoming a real whiz with the office package that they all used for typing up their homework assignments. When any of them needed help formatting a paper to make it a better presentation, he was the go to guy. He could take a plain document and dress it up by changing the formatting to make it an eye catching presentation, invariably raising the grade at least one notch.
Morgana was somewhat taller than Hattie. Hattie was five foot two while Morgana was five foot four. Morgana had been a student of kick-boxing in their previous city. Since moving to Metropolis she hadn’t found a kick-boxing class nearby. Hattie had offered to take her as a guest to her dojo and Morgana found out that she liked karate every bit as much as kick-boxing so she had joined a class. Morgana had been impressed by Hattie’s hard toned body when she saw her in her spandex workout gear. However, she hadn’t been envious, because Morgana knew that hers was also a well toned physique having worked hard at kick-boxing and other sports like swimming and tennis.
Since she was now taking karate along with Hattie, Lara and Jon, she also had seen Jon Kent in his workout gear. Seeing him made her want to run her hands over his skin. There was something hauntingly familiar about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it and that only made her interest in him more intense.
The main difference between Morgana and Hattie was the fact that to this time Hattie had only seen a few pictures of Kam-El and they hadn’t been very high quality, while Morgana had seen, with her own eyes, up close and personal, the superhero. She had been in his arms and had actually managed to kiss him.
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