The following afternoon, Mrs. Putyam summoned first Miriam, and then Tilli to her office, where she was waiting with Mrs. Theelnin. Without sitting down, Tilli immediately assured them that she wouldn't divulge Mat's secret. She hoped that if she started this way, the teachers might follow her lead, but she had no such luck.
"I'm very glad to hear that. Of course, we also have to discuss the problem of your letter to Antony. Why don't you have a seat?" Mrs. Putyam gestured to the chair in front of her. Tilli sighed and did as she was told.
Mrs. Putyam folded her hands on her desk. "Now, as I understand, you wrote this letter to get Antony onto the roof, which is out of bounds. Did you have any intention of him actually performing a mindwalk?"
"Of course not. Jo would never have done something like that. That's why we planned it for the day of the art show--so she wouldn't be here to mess up our plan. She's not an idiot. Antony on the other hand--"
Mrs. Putyam interrupted her. "You and Miriam planned it together?"
"Yeah." She folded her arms across her chest and informed both teachers she had no intention of apologizing. Since Antony had lured Mat into breaking the rules, he had deserved to get in trouble the same way.
"I've spoken to Antony already," Mrs. Theelnin said, "he will face consequences. But his actions do not excuse yours." For a moment, Tilli hoped they would expel her. If they did, she would have an excuse to go to art school, especially if she could build up enough of a bad reputation that no one else would take her. She imagined apologizing to her parents. Well, I messed up. I guess I can't be a politician or a lawyer like Sam and Caddie. I'll just have to be an artist. I know it's terrible, but I'm willing to accept my fate.
But when Tilli asked about this probability, Mrs. Theelnin shook her head. "While the roof is out of bounds for good reason, by your own admission, you didn't intend anyone to get hurt. And it seems unlikely someone would have. Usually when a Faraday student makes a mistake, we consider how we might better be able to integrate them into the community. And seeing as I have lost my student aide, we think the best way to do that for you is to help me with some tasks next semester."
Tilli's stomach dropped and she fought to appear nonchalant in front of her teachers. She wondered if this was what Mat had felt like on the first day of school and wondered how a teacher as tiny as Mrs. Theelnin could make her this nervous. "Like what?"
"For starters, you're going to help me re-ward the roof to alert us to the presence of out of bounds students." She gasped as if she had a sudden thought. "And soon we're going to be sending registration letters to students, so you can help me stuff envelopes." Tilli groaned and got the distinct impression that Mrs. Theelnin's smiled widened when she did. "Furthermore, you'll assist me in preparing for the interhouse tournament and other end of year events. Seeing as mid-terms are nearly upon us, this won't begin until next semester. But that will give me plenty of time to determine how best to keep you busy."
"Busy work." Tilli didn't actually say it to Mrs. Putyam and Mrs. Theelnin. She said it to Miriam after she had left the office. "As Mrs. Theelnin's assistant. Doing everything she doesn't want to do herself."
Miriam nodded. "Me too. Mr. Lizaso."
Tilli winced. Mr. Lizaso was head of Liberty House, and she was a little surprised he hadn't convinced Mrs. Putyam to start Miriam right away, even if mid-terms were only a couple of weeks away.
They decided to commiserate over lunch, but as they were entering the cafeteria, Neely spotted them. She strode up quickly, her mouth set in a tight like. "Did you really use me to get to Jo?"
"What?" Tilli had never intended Neely to find out what she was doing and certainly hadn't expected news to reach the other girl so quickly.
"You and your... friend..." she glanced at Miriam, "decided to play some nasty trick on Jo and Antony? For what?"
Tilli's heart skipped a beat. "She didn't tell you?"
"Did she even know?"
"We... wanted them to break up... just like you did." Tilli looked sidelong at Miriam, hoping desperately that the other girl would not call out her lie.
She didn't need to. "I don't believe you," Neely said. Tilli opened her mouth to speak again, but Neely wouldn't let her. "All that time in Providence House was just to spy on them, wasn't it? Did you even actually want to enter the art show?"
"I did. I..."
Neely put up a hand. "I don't need excuses. I just wanted to tell you to find a new partner in Mr. Teershik's class. I don't work with amateurs." Tilli watched Neely walk away. Somehow, this felt worse than anything Mrs. Theelnin could do to her.
