Online Mob, Real Consequences: Her Story
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Chapter 4

Leaving the exam hall was worse. The group of protesting parents, now joined by a few furious parents whose children were inside trying to take the APUSH exam, surged towards me.

"You messed up my kid's exam!" one red-faced father yelled, his voice cracking. He wasn't one of Karen's group, just an angry parent whose child was collateral damage.

"Cheater!" Karen shrieked through her megaphone, right in my face.

Someone shoved me from behind. I stumbled, my bag flying off my shoulder, contents spilling. My keys, my wallet, a half-eaten apple.

Hands grabbed at me, voices jeered. It was a blur of angry faces and shouting.

Campus security pushed through. "Alright, folks, break it up! Let her through!"

Two officers escorted me, shaken and bruised, to my car. My cheek throbbed where someone' s sign had scraped it.

Back in my apartment, the silence was deafening. I sank onto the couch, trembling.

My phone buzzed. A new post in the PTA group.

It was a video. Karen Thompson had filmed me being harassed, jostled, my things scattered on the ground. The angle made me look small, defeated.

The comments were celebratory.

"Serves her right!"

"Finally, some justice!"

Tears pricked my eyes, hot and angry.

Then, a new comment appeared. Mr. Rodriguez.

"This is ridiculous. Sarah Miller is an excellent teacher. Karen, aren't you just angry because Brittany didn't bother to look at the Calculus review packet Sarah sent to everyone? The one that probably would have helped her score big?"

A pause in the comment storm.

Mr. Rodriguez continued, "And for those of you who don't know, Sarah's AP Physics review packets are legendary. She has an uncanny ability to predict what's on those exams too. Year after year."

He was trying to defend me, to show them the pettiness of Karen's vendetta. He was also, unintentionally, highlighting my "skill" again.

The brief silence in the group chat broke.

                         

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