Chapter 2 - THE BLIND AUDITION
Blind auditions had been Mr. Harrison's idea.
Three years earlier parents complained that solo positions always went to the same students.
Chloe.
Madison.
Students from private voice studios.
Children whose parents funded costumes and travel.
Mr. Harrison denied favoritism.
Then changed the system anyway.
Students performed behind a black curtain.
Numbers instead of names.
Three judges scored independently.
No student captain involvement.
At least, that was the policy.
Elias had auditioned as Number 17.
He didn't expect center.
He only wanted to make the showcase choir.
The announcement stunned everyone.
CENTER FEATURE: NUMBER 17 — ELIAS REED
Chloe came second by less than two points.
She smiled publicly.
Then began the messages.
Now Mr. Harrison opened the digital audition archive.
Assistant principal Dr. Renee Foster joined him.
So did accompanist Mrs. Patel, one of the judges.
Elias waited outside.
Chloe sat twenty feet away.
She refused to look at him.
After fifteen minutes, the office door opened.
Dr. Foster said:
“Elias, Chloe. Inside.”
Three score sheets rested on the table.
Mrs. Patel's.
Mr. Harrison's.
Guest judge Aaron Bell, a district music specialist.
All showed Elias first.
But one file was wrong.
The master spreadsheet showed Elias originally ranked seventh.
Then someone corrected it the morning after auditions.
Mr. Harrison frowned.
“I assumed data-entry error.”
Dr. Foster asked:
“Who enters scores?”
“Student leadership assists with administrative work.”
Everyone looked at Chloe.
She laughed.
“You think I changed scores?”
Mr. Harrison answered:
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Do you have access?”
“Lots of people do.”
“Who?”
“Captains.”
That meant Chloe and two section leaders.
Madison was one.
Trevor the other.
Trevor sat outside holding a phone containing a recording.
Dr. Foster asked for system logs.
District IT began checking.
Chloe became increasingly angry.
“This is insane. Elias got the position anyway.”
Mr. Harrison looked at her.
“That's because I manually reviewed the paper scores after noticing the discrepancy.”
Elias hadn't known.
Chloe apparently hadn't either.
Mr. Harrison continued:
“Had I trusted the spreadsheet, Elias wouldn't be center.”
Silence.
Dr. Foster leaned forward.
“So someone attempted to alter the outcome.”
Chloe said:
“Or someone typed something wrong.”
Possible.
Evidence first.
Then Trevor entered.
He played his backstage recording.
The video began before Elias arrived.
Chloe stood with Madison.
Madison whispered:
“You said Reed was handled.”
Chloe replied:
“His score wasn't supposed to survive Harrison's review.”
Then laughter.
The video continued.
A blue cup sat in Chloe's hand.
Trevor stopped playback.
Nobody spoke.
Chloe looked at Madison.
Madison stared at the floor.
Dr. Foster asked:
“What did you mean?”
Chloe's voice changed.
“I was joking.”
“About an audition score?”
“Yes.”
Mr. Harrison looked devastated.
The choir captain he trusted with administrative access had apparently known about a scoring problem before he did.
Then district IT called.
A login had edited Elias's score.
Username:
CMERCER24
Chloe's account.
She stared at the screen.
“No.”
Dr. Foster said:
“Is that your account?”
“Yes, but—”
“Did you edit it?”
“No.”
“Who has your password?”
“No one.”
Madison suddenly looked terrified.
Chloe noticed.
So did Elias.
Mr. Harrison asked:
“Madison?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know anything.”
But she did.
Everyone could see it.
Dr. Foster suspended rehearsal.
The district showcase was two days away.
Nobody knew who would sing.
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