Eileen Cook - The Education of Hailey Kendrick

Also by EILEEN COOK

What Would Emma Do?

Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people,
or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents
are the product of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events
or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

SIMON PULSE

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Simon Pulse hardcover edition January 2011

Copyright 2011 by Eileen Cook

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction
in whole or in part in any form.

SIMON PULSE logo and colophon are registered trademarks

of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases,
please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949
or business@simonandschuster.com.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.
For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers

Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

The text of this book was set in Adobe Garamond.

Manufactured in the United States of America

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cook, Eileen.

The education of Hailey Kendrick / by Eileen Cook.
1st Simon Pulse hardcover ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Dating a popular boy and adhering to every rule ever written,

a high school senior at an elite Vermont boarding school begins to shed

her good-girl identity after an angry incident with her distant father.

ISBN 978-1-4424-1325-2

[1. Self-perceptionFiction. 2. Dating (Social customs)Fiction.
3. Boarding schoolsFiction. 4. SchoolsFiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.C76955Ed 2011

[Fic]dc22

2010025608
ISBN 978-1-4424-1330-6 (eBook)

TO MOM AND DAD,
WHO TAUGHT ME
TO LOVE BOOKS

T here was a matter of life and death to deal with, and instead we were wasting our time discussing Mandy Gallaways crotch. I kept a neutral smile plastered on my face, but my foot bobbed up and down impatiently. More people have seen Mandy Gallaways naked crotch than saw last years Super Bowl. The girls incapable of getting out of a car without flashing the sixty zillion paparazzi that follow her around. The concept of knees together and underwear on isnt that complicated, which leaves me to believe she likes the sensation of flashbulbs lighting up where the sun isnt supposed to shine.

Given that her crotch had been photographed more than most supermodels, I failed to see why one online leaked picture of her standing in her gym shorts and a sports bra was causing this much drama. The situation certainly didnt call for the public flogging and stoning the student body was advocating. All the crowd was missing were some pitchforks and torches, and we could have stormed the town. On the upside, at least people had shown up for our student government meeting, for a change.

The Evesham student body usually had more important things to care about, like planning their next vacation to a private island near the Bahamas, or deciding between another Coach or Louis Vuitton bag. Most of the time the only people who came to our meetings were those of us on the board.

It wasnt clear what had really happened, but the theory was that a female security guard had snapped the photo of the half-dressed Mandy in the locker room and had sold it to the tabloids. A few people had seen a guard doing her rounds of the gym, and shed had her cell phone out. Given who attends Evesham, paparazzi is a common problem, but before this incident theyd tended to hang outside the school gates. No one had ever had a picture leaked from inside. This was officially big news on campus.

We should send her to prison for violating Mandys privacy, Garrett said. His dad is a U.S. Senator; you would think he would have a better idea of how the system works.

Were a student government association, I pointed out. We dont actually have the power to sentence anyone to jail time. I straightened the nameplate on the desk in front of me: HAILEY KENDRICKVICE PRESIDENT. I managed to avoid pointing out that we barely had the authority to hold a bake sale.

Whatever. I want her fired, Mandy said. Like, today. She crossed her arms and stuck her chin up into the air.

We cant have her fired, either. The school employees all belong to a union. The whole thing is outside of the student government domain. Its up to the administration. I considered pulling the copy of the employee union agreement out of my file, but I was pretty sure no one was interested in the details of due process. It wasnt exactly a big pro-union crowd. I didnt know why we bothered to have this issue on the agenda at all, except for the fact that everyone wanted to talk about it.

Really? Mandy raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. If the administration isnt interested in what students think, maybe I should have my parents give them a call.

Mandys parents had more money than most countries. I was pretty sure they could buy up some small onesLuxembourg or the Philippines, for examplewithout even breaking the monthly budget. Her great-grandparents had owned several oil and gas companies and hung out with people like the Vanderbilts. If her parents called the school administration and said jump, people there would start leaping around before even bothering to ask how high.

I looked at the clock. We were going to run out of time. In addition to tackling the safety issue I had hoped to discuss, the council meeting was supposed to be focused on choosing between the two possible themes for our spring formal dance. Any talk of Southern Nights or Old Hollywood had gone out the door when the news about the picture had spread across campus. It was standing room only in the classroom we used for our meetings. No one wanted to miss any hot dirt.

It totally grosses me out that that dyke took my picture. Mandy made a face like she had just bitten into month-old cottage cheese.

Careful, Joel said. As the president of the student council, he was always sure to enforce the respect and dignity clause in the student handbook. Her sexual orientation isnt an issue here.

God, its not a gay thing. I have tons of family friends who are gay, Mandy said. Dyke is just a description.

It was classic Mandy to make a distinction between okay gay people (those who design houses or clothing, work in Hollywood, or write for the New Yorker) and not okay gay people (women who wear flannel shirts from Walmart.) The real issue wasnt the fact that the security guard might be gay, it was that she had a cheap haircut and unshaven legs, and had made a few thousand dollars selling an unflattering photo of Mandy. Even the haircut, flannel, and legs might have been forgiven if the photo hadnt made Mandys thighs look a bit chunky.

Joel clapped his hands together to get everyones attention. Hailey is right. This issue doesnt fall under student government business. The crowd in the room started to grumble and protest, and Joel held up one hand. That doesnt mean we cant make it our business.