Kendal said nothing.
“He told my parents he could get me into conservatory.”
Jordan looked around at the other students.
“He told me if I admitted anything, I would destroy his career and ruin the family.”
A percussionist scoffed.
“So you let him destroy Kendal instead?”
Jordan flinched.
“Yes.”
The answer stunned the room.
Jordan looked at Kendal.
“Yes,” he said again. “I did.”
Kendal’s jaw tightened.
Jordan opened his clarinet case.
He removed a silver-plated instrument and placed it carefully on an empty chair.
“I’m not asking for second chair.”
He closed the case.
“I’m not asking for any chair.”
He looked toward Samuel.
“I came to tell the truth.”
Samuel studied him.
“Have you told the investigators?”
Jordan nodded.
“Yesterday.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“Including the altered score sheets?”
Jordan hesitated.
Then he reached into his backpack.
He pulled out a flash drive.
“My uncle kept copies at home.”
The room went completely still.
“My parents told me not to touch them,” Jordan said. “I copied the folder anyway.”
Samuel looked toward the district administrator stationed near the back.
“Take him to Dr. Holloway.”
The administrator stepped forward.
Jordan picked up his bag.
Before leaving, he looked at Kendal.
“I’m sorry.”
Kendal’s expression remained unreadable.
Jordan waited.
She did not tell him it was okay.
Because it was not.
She did not tell him she forgave him.
Because she was not sure she did.
Instead, she said, “Tell them everything.”
Jordan nodded.
“I will.”
He left.
Samuel waited until the doors closed.
Then he looked at Kendal.
“You all right?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
The students watched them.
Samuel leaned on his cane.
“People think doing the right thing erases the wrong thing they did before.”
He looked toward the closed door.
“It doesn’t.”
Nobody spoke.
“But telling the truth still matters.”
He lifted his baton.
“Measure sixty-seven.”
The investigation widened.
Jordan’s flash drive contained audition spreadsheets, private emails, recommendation drafts, and score sheets from six years of regional competitions.
Investigators found dozens of changes.
Some were small.
One point here.
Two points there.
Others were large enough to alter rankings entirely.
Students whose families donated to the booster organization repeatedly gained positions.