The good news: the police didn't find any contraband in Ms. Sharon's office.
The bad news: Ms. Sharon still couldn't prove her innocence, and the officers were heading to her house to perform a full search there, too.
Seeing Ms. Sharon being escorted out of the building, Cady rushed over, shouting, "Ms. Sharon is innocent! I can vouch for her!"
But the damage was done. Once an allegation like that is made, a formal investigation has to run its course before anyone's name can be cleared.
"Please do not interfere with an ongoing investigation," the lead officer warned sternly before leading Ms. Sharon away.
"How did this happen?" Cady whispered, her mind spinning as the gravity of the situation sank in.
Janis, the punk girl, noticed Cady's spiraling emotions. She paused, then asked tentatively, "Cady... did you do this?"
"I..." Cady thought about how she was the one who first started the rumor about Ms. Sharon having a "secret stash." She didn't even know how to answer.
"How could you?" Janis asked, her voice dripping with disappointment. "You leaked everyone's secrets just to get back at Regina?"
Janis knew Cady had mentioned Regina's "Burn Book"—the notebook where she kept dirt on everyone in school. She assumed Cady had stolen it and scattered the secrets to finish Regina off.
"No, I didn't hand out those flyers..." Cady protested, realizing her friend totally misunderstood her. Ever since she and Mike started dating, she'd completely lost interest in her revenge plot against Regina.
She explained, "Mike told me once that 'putting someone else down won't make you any bigger.' I was done with Regina. I swear."
As she spoke, Cady glanced over at Mike, who was standing nearby with a dark expression.
In just a few minutes, Mike had collected over twenty flyers with his face on them, and who knew how many more were still floating around. Regina's plan to target Mike had been a massive success.
Even with Regina (the dancer) trying to comfort him, Mike's mood was in the gutter.
But Mike wasn't the only one having a bad day. Mr. Tim, the Dean of Students, was taking it even harder. Listening to the kids whisper about Ms. Sharon and drugs, the thirty-something dean—who had never even had a girlfriend—finally snapped and punched a fire hydrant in the hallway.
The loud clang silenced the students immediately.
"The allegations against Ms. Sharon are unconfirmed! Stop the rumors now!" Mr. Tim roared, his face flushed with anger.
He knew that even if Ms. Sharon was innocent, her reputation was trashed. That's what was eating at him.
Seeing a few younger girls looking terrified by his outburst, Mr. Tim took a breath and suppressed his frustration. "Everyone whose name appeared on those flyers, report to the auditorium immediately. I have something to say to you."
He figured that while these students were victims, the culprit was likely hiding among them. High schoolers have a twisted logic sometimes, and he hoped he could sniff out the truth by getting them all in one room.
---
As the "victims" filed out, Mike said goodbye to Regina (the dancer) and headed to the auditorium with Cady, Karen, and Gretchen. The entire Plastics crew was on the list.
Behind them, the "Queen Bee" Regina followed with a complicated look on her face.
Once the hallway cleared out, Mr. Tim turned to the remaining students. "Until this is settled, I don't want to hear a single word of gossip in this school. Am I clear?"
The Dean's authority still carried some weight; the kids nodded obediently. Keeping a lid on the rumors for now was the best he could do.
Inside the auditorium, over a hundred students were gathered. Aside from Mike, almost everyone was a senior, and about eighty percent were girls—Regina's primary targets for gossip.
Former best friends were now glaring at each other, secrets having turned them into instant enemies. Shouting matches were breaking out all over the room.
Janis, sitting with Mike's group, looked at Karen and Gretchen now that she believed Cady was innocent. In her mind, if anyone had the access to pull this off, it was the Plastics.
Karen and Gretchen caught her drift and immediately shook their heads.
Then, everyone's eyes turned toward the back row, where Regina George sat all by herself.
Through the process of elimination, the culprit was obvious.
Despite the accusatory stares, Regina maintained a mask of cold indifference, acting like she was above it all.
"That little bitch. I knew it was her," Janis hissed, looking ready to jump out of her seat.
"Easy, Janis," Damian, her best friend, whispered, holding her back. "We don't have proof yet..."
He was right. If Janis went after her now, Regina would just deny it and probably find a way to make things even worse for the rest of them.
Janis looked at Cady, who was still drowning in guilt, and softened her tone. "Are we really just gonna let her get away with this?"
"Of course not. We'll find the proof first, then we expose her," Damian promised.
Meanwhile, Mike had cooled down enough to be 100% certain that Regina was behind the attack on him. Thinking about how he had just warned her to back off, his expression grew even grimmer.
As the room buzzed with tension, Mr. Tim walked in carrying a baseball bat.
He set his jacket down, tapped the bat against his palm, and scanned the crowd with a piercing gaze.
Once the room went dead silent, he spoke. "I know some of you are innocent. But here's the reality: whoever did this knows you well. They're probably one of your 'friends.' The person we're looking for is sitting in this room."
His words planted a seed of suspicion that immediately took root. Students started looking at their neighbors with newfound distrust.
"Look, I'm not here to play games," Mr. Tim said, tossing the bat aside to show he wasn't going to get violent. "Whoever did this, just stand up. I promise, what stays in this room, stays in this room."
He was lying, of course. He just wanted to clear Ms. Sharon's name as fast as possible. But Regina wasn't that stupid. She put on a shocked, innocent face and looked around the room like she was trying to help find the culprit, too.
"Nobody?"
Mr. Tim waited, but no one budged. He scoffed, walked to the stage, and sat down in a chair. "Fine. We'll wait. If nobody confesses, nobody leaves. We can stay here all night."
A fresh wave of murmurs broke out, this time tinged with genuine panic.
---