Ms. Harrow went still.
For a moment, Clara thought she had asked the wrong question.
Then the teacher closed the folder in front of her.
“Someone did,” she said. “A long time ago, when I was teaching at another school.”
“Was it a child?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Ms. Harrow looked toward the window.
“A student submitted a story about a family member who had died. The story was copied from a website, and the child insisted it was true. I challenged him in front of the class because I thought he needed to learn that dishonesty had consequences.”
Clara listened.
“Was he lying?”
“No,” Ms. Harrow said. “The story was his older brother’s. The boy had copied it because he didn’t know how to explain what had happened.”
Clara’s eyes widened.
“What happened after?”
“I found out too late. His family moved away before I could apologize properly.”
The classroom was quiet except for the hum of the ventilation system.
“I told myself I was being careful after that,” Ms. Harrow continued. “But I became suspicious instead. I thought if I questioned everything, I would never make that mistake again.”
Clara looked at her.
“But you made a different mistake.”
“Yes.”
“Because you didn’t ask.”
Ms. Harrow nodded.
“Because I didn’t ask.”
