Page 59 of Crew Princess
I skewered him with a look.
He had to get it, and he was playing dumb right now.
Mr. Broghers might’ve been tentative when he’d first replaced Principal Neeon, but he’d come long strides over the last few months. I saw the calculation in his depths.
Production teams meant attention. I didn’t care who they talked to; if they came to Roussou, there’d be comments and statements about the crew system. It was inevitable, and what then? More attention.
I didn’t know what the cameras would pick up, how it’d be edited, but I did know there was already an audience waiting. The ESPN program had been national. Would this be too?
Having a national spotlight on us was not good, not at all.
“Bren?” he prompted.
A different thought came to mind, and I sat up straight. “Did you do it?”
His mouth dipped down, just a bit.
I scooted to the edge of my seat. My hands curled around his desk. “That documentary was about my brother’s friends. This, Roussou, has nothing to do with them. Did you do it?”
He swallowed.
“Did you ask them to come do another series on Roussou specifically?”
The dots were starting to connect now.
The school had used cameras last semester to shut down the crew system. Not much had happened, but we worried they were going to target us. Nothing came of it.
Now this. The production team. Me being forced to help them, one of only two girls in a crew…
Maybe I was jumping to conclusions, getting ahead of myself. Maybe it had nothing to do with the crews at all.
“I don’t know, Bren.” Mr. Broghers’ face was devoid of expression, giving nothing away. “I can just tell you you’ll be meeting Miss Sallaway in a moment, because youwillbe helping her team, and we both know it.”
“Who’s Miss Sallaway?”
Someone knocked on his office door just as he stood up.
“She’s one of the producers you’ll be assigned to,” he said. “She’ll be your go-to for instructions on how to help, and a word of advice?” He went around the desk to the door, but paused before answering. “I would be very helpful to her. If she’s not happy, I’m not happy. You need me happy considering you needmeto sign off on your probation papers. I believe the wording in your documents is that you must ‘fulfill all hours to the expectations of your school supervisor,’ and since Ms. Bagirianni has signed off, that person is now me.”
He opened the door, and all I could think was that it was official.
I needed to stab this principal too.
I was kidding.
Kinda.
“And no time like the present,” Mr. Bro said.
I’d started to stand, and hearing the smugness in his voice sent a chill down my spine. I went slowly, but I knew I had to play ball. Courts and juvie were not things I wanted to deal with during the rest of my year.
“Is this a bad time, Kenneth?”
Kenneth.
I turned to see a woman shakingKenneth’shand. She looked young, but I’d guess she was five years older than me? My height, slender, sleek auburn hair. Her roots were more red than the regular mane, so it looked like she dyed it darker.
She was dressed in jeans and a white shirt, with a blue infinity scarf wrapped loosely around her neck.
