The Society

Every high school has certain groups. Van Doren was no different. It was a preppy school to say the least, and their “Groups” were based on social status.

The Society was a group of teenagers from the most affluent families in Whitenburg. Felicia Whitenburg was the leader of this group; she was as brutal as she was beautiful. Everyone feared her, partly because her grandfather built the town, and her family owned practically everything in it, and partly because they were afraid of what she would do if she were crossed. Everyone did what Felicia said.

The school administration knew that there were questionable things going on in their school, however, in this community, everyone was very tight lipped.

The teachers had very little control of the Society club students; they would take cell phone calls in the middle of class, and walk out whenever they felt the need to.

The Teachers would take the cell phones and report the students to the office; however, nothing was ever done to end the problem. Taking the cell phones would only result in angry phone calls from parents.

They knew that Felicia set the tone for the other students, and tried to impress upon her the responsibility of being a leader. For their efforts, Felicia only smiled.

Meetings with the parents of the Society club students left the administration frustrated.
Their pompous attitudes did nothing to instill the basic life skills that every teenager needs to go through life.

The Worst of all the parents was Lawrence Whitenburg. In his eyes, his daughter could do no wrong. She was daddy’s little girl in every sense of the word. He actually had the gall to praise his daughter’s leadership abilities. This outraged the headmaster.

Only one of the parents seemed to be remotely reasonable. Stephanie Whitenburg. Felicia’s mother.

Mr. Preston, the school’s headmaster, decided to try and contact Stephanie to try to put an end to her daughter’s rule over the school. He placed a call to the Whitenburg residence and set up a private meeting with Stephanie Whitenburg.

In The meeting, Mr. Preston voiced all of his concerns to Stephanie Whitenburg. She was horrified to find that her daughter could yield such authority. He realized that he sounded harsh, but drastic measures needed to be taken. He had heard that something was being planned and felt no good would come of it,

When they began discussing options, Stephanie inquired how Mr. Preston planned on obtaining the information that was needed to find out what the big plan was. They discussed several options, and when Mr. Preston mentioned installing listening software on Felicia’s phone. The only thing he needed was parental consent. Stephanie was outraged.

She hit him with a barrage of words, realizing now who Felicia was modeled after. She informed him that she had no intention of giving consent and threatened to have him removed from the school if he persisted in targeting her daughter. She left his office abruptly, slamming the door behind her.

Knowing full well what the ramifications would be, Mr. Preston went ahead with his plan to find out what was about to happen. He felt justified because other students of lesser social standing may be in danger.

After finding and ordering the software through the Internet, he waited for an opportunity. It came the same day as the listening software.

Mr. Preston confiscated Felicia’s cell phone in the corridor and told she could pick it up at the end of the school day. She replied with a cold stare.

He quickly went into his office, locking the door behind him. He told his secretary that he did not want to be disturbed. He went to work installing the software, amazed at how simple it was to do.

At the end of the day, Felicia appeared at the office to retrieve her phone. When Mr. Preston attempted to caution her of the use of cell phones on school property, she turned her back and walked away.

The listening software proved to be a very effective tool. Mr. Preston listened to each call and found out that the big event was a hazing for lower class students, to be held at the quarry.

He informed police, and when the night that the event was to take place came around, all the necessary precautions were in place. The party was broken up, however, no one was arrested.

Mr. Preston was called to the Dean’s office the following day. He was met by the School committee, The Dean, and Lawrence Whitenburg.

The committee felt that his actions were excessive and that the matter should have been handled internally with no police involvement. He was promptly dismissed from his position.

As he was getting into his car, Lawrence Whitenburg approached him.

“What is the name of this town?” he asked smugly. “It surprises me that a man of your stature would not at least take into consideration that I would be informed of anything that may take place.” He turned and stepped into the limo that was waiting for him.