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.”The theory was a leap, but Linda had no problem taking it, and Diane could already see the wheels turning in her friend’s mind.“We need to get a look at her,” Linda said.“Yes.”“We need to see her sometime today.So we’ll know if there’s a change when I go home and burn my copy of the charter.”Diane smiled.She was feeling suddenly hopeful.“In fact, I’m going to call a meeting this afternoon.We need to talk about this.Everyone needs to burn their copies.If it doesn’t work, if nothing happens, that’s fine.But if it does.” Linda nodded to herself.“I have some other ideas, too, other things I want to bring up.”“I want to see her,” Diane said.There was malice in the wish, a desire for revenge.She had no real proof that Greg had died of anything other than a heart attack, and there was certainly no proof that the burning of her charter had in any way harmed the principal, but in her mind they were all connected, and she was energized by the possibility of avenging Greg’s death.The bell rang, signaling the end of break, and groups of gathered students began splitting apart as they headed off to their individual classrooms.Diane looked toward the office.“Let’s take a quick peek,” she said.“Really fast.”Linda nodded, and before either of them could change her mind, they walked down the concrete path to the administration building, ignoring the two pairs of scouts they passed along the way.There were butterflies in Diane’s stomach as they reached their destination and she looked at the tinted glass door in front of them, unable to see anything inside.Linda reached for the door handle, pulled it.They looked in.Jody could have been in her office or in the bathroom or in a conference or somewhere else on campus.The door could have opened upon an empty front counter and a collection of clerks at their desks.But she was standing alone behind the counter staring at them.Linda gasped and let go of the handle, allowing the door to close.Diane gasped, too.Partly because she was surprised, because it appeared as though Jody was waiting for them, because they had been caught.And partly because of Jody’s appearance.Even from here, Diane could see what looked like hardened scar tissue on the principal’s grotesquely swollen cheeks.It made her look like a completely different person, an uglier, meaner person, and Diane’s first thought before the door closed and cut off her view was that this visage was much more in keeping with the true personality of the woman.Could this really have happened because she had burned her copy of the charter?It didn’t seem possible, but then a lot of things didn’t seem possible, and she turned to Linda and said, “What do you think?”The quad was emptying out as students dashed to their classrooms before the bell rang, and although they were both going to be late, neither of them made a move.“I don’t know of anything that could change a person’s face like that between lunch and the end of school.”“Allergic reaction?” Diane speculated.“I don’t think so.”“I don’t either.”The bell rang, and they finally started walking.“It looked like she knew we were coming,” Diane said.“She saw us walking up.We can’t see in through those doors, but the people in the office can see out.”“Do you really think that’s why she was staring at us?”“No,” Linda admitted.“She looked mad.That’s a good sign.”“I think so, too.”“Do you think she was scared?”“I don’t know.” Linda smiled grimly.“But she’d better be.”Every seat at Denny’s was filled with a teacher.If there had been other patrons, they were gone, and Linda stood in the center of the coffee shop and looked around her, feeling strong.Weakness and doubt were still there—they were always there—but she was filled with more hope than she had been for a long time.She looked at Diane, seated next to her, and reached down to give her friend’s hand a reassuring squeeze.“We are gathered here today,” she began, “to fight the charter.”A cheer went up, and she couldn’t help smiling.“Many of you, most of you, probably, have seen or heard about the altered appearance of our fearless leader.”There were titters all around.“There’s no need to play games or tiptoe around this.What we believe caused this to happen is the fact that Diane burned her copy of the charter booklet.I know this sounds crazy, but whatever happened to Jody happened sometime between noon and three yesterday.Steve saw her at lunch; Jackie saw her after school.That’s the same time period when Diane burned her copy of the charter.”“It’s no crazier than anything else!” Alonso called out.“Right.Exactly.So what we want you all to do tonight is go home, find your own copies of the charter and burn them.Every single one.”“Are we trying to kill her?” Lisa asked.“No,” Linda said.Yes, she thought.“But let’s be honest here.If the principal is someone or something that can actually be harmed by our burning documents, then.” She left the thought unfinished.“Are we all agreed?” she asked.“Is there anyone who doesn’t think it’s at least an idea worth trying?” She scanned the restaurant.No one raised a hand or made an effort to speak.“Good.“Now, I have another idea.Also a little wacky, perhaps, but also worth a try.”Diane nodded her encouragement.“Originally, Jody submitted a charter application to the state and the district.The charter was written and we were asked to vote on it, to ratify it
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