Apparently, the answer was a lot of damage.

"Vera Devenish - A Liar Exposed!" was splashed across the school website, and the atmosphere in the house was tense beyond belief. Vera herself was nowhere to be found that morning, and talk of the public trial Victor had insisted on was all anyone could talk about.

"Mara," Kira breathed, reading over the article for probably the hundredth time the next morning at breakfast, "you actually posted it?"

"Posted it?" Fabian replied, his voice steeped in concern. "Mara, I can't believe you wrote it to begin with."

"Wrote what?" Amber asked, out of the loop, and Fabian passed off his phone to her so she could read it too.

"What if they shut down the website over this?" Fabian asked, and Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Chill, man," he snapped, coming to Mara's defense. "The story was off the chain; it had to come out!"

Mara looked at the rest of her housemates incredulously, hurt by their lack of support, and while Kira thought the whole thing had been a terrible idea, she wasn't going to let her best friend think she stood alone. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently.

"Shocked face!" Amber exclaimed once she'd finished skimming the piece. "Mara, you destroyed her."

Mara shook off Kira's arm and stood up, slamming her palms down on the table. "I stand by everything I wrote, and I'm going to prove it."

Eddie grinned and pumped the air with his fist. "You go, girl!" he cheered, and Kira shot him a withering look.

Mara turned to leave but was frozen under Victor's furious stare as he strode into the room. "There is to be a hearing today," he said, boiling rage just under the surface, "to ascertain the legitimacy or otherwise of a story which appeared on the school website. I'm instructing all Anubis House students to attend and hear the truth."

He and Mara held each other's gaze, unwavering for several moments, but it was enough to cow the rest of them. They shrunk away until finally, Victor turned and breezed off.

"Sorry, Mara," Amber murmured, rubbing her friend's arm gently.

"Why a hearing, anyway?" Eddie asked.

"We're all behind you," Kira reassured her, prompting nods from around the table. "It'll be okay."

—

Patricia, Joy, and Kira sat together at the hearing, with Nina, Fabian, and Amber directly behind them. Jerome and Alfie were on the opposite side of the room, but for all his claims about standing by mara, Eddie was nowhere in sight. The student lounge had gone through yet another transformation that term, and with several folding tables pushed together in a half-circle, it did resemble a courtroom of sorts.

Mr. Sweet sat front and center, looking supremely uncomfortable, and not for the first time since the trial had been announced Kira wondered why her father was holding one at all. Usually, these sorts of things were dealt with privately, weren't they? And if it was truly all lies, then Mara would just have to print a retraction.

Maybe they do things differently in England, she mused, quietly gnawing at the inside of her cheek.

Mr. Sweet let the gavel fall, and a hush fell over the room as people found their seats. The trial was about to begin.

"This hearing has been called to determine the accuracy of an article, written by Mara Jaffray, about Vera Devenish. We shall begin momentarily," he announced.

Mara and Vera glared at each other across the room, challenging glints in both of their eyes. Inexplicably, Kira's roommates along with Fabian, Alfie, and Patricia decided to make a break for the exits, but Mr. Sweet stopped them with a raised hand.

"Please be seated," he said and gestured for them to sit back down. "This is an official hearing. Could someone please close the doors?"

Victor jumped up eagerly. "Allow me, Mr. Sweet," he said, glaring pointedly at Nina. He left the room, shutting the door behind him, which was rather odd considering he'd seemed so gung-ho about the hearing in the first place.

"We could be solving the task," Fabian whispered behind Kira, and she was about to turn around and ask what he was talking about when Mr. Sweet banged the gavel again.

"Quiet, please," he said, turning expectantly toward the defendant. "Mara, could you please present your case first?"

Nina let out a gasp of pain behind Kira, and she turned around as she clutched at her shoulder. "What's wrong?" she and Fabian asked at the same time.

Nina tried to smile, but her eyes betrayed her worry. "I don't know. It's nothing," she assured them but shot Fabian a look that was certainly significant somehow. Deciding not to probe further, Kira nodded and returned her attention to the hearing, giving Mara a little thumbs-up as she began her case.

"Ms. Devenish," Mara began, "you worked as a cook at Beacon Grove School nine years ago, is that right?"

"I wouldn't have put it on my resume if it weren't," Vera replied with a sweet, passive-aggressive smile.

"Can you explain why you were not in this photo," Mara said, tapping a button on her laptop and displaying the article of the cooks she'd shown Joy and Kira two days ago up on the projector, "of the entire kitchen team when they won the award for excellence that year?"

"I arrived at the beginning of the academic year, which starts in September," she explained, gesturing to the article on the screen. "What is the date of that article, Mara?"

Mara blanched, scrolling down on the article, and her face pinched up. "April 20th," she admitted after a long silence.

Vera smiled at her. "Five months before I arrived."

The room erupted in groans, and Kira sucked in a deep breath. It was unlike Mara to be so careless, but it wasn't the only proof she had. It was a blow, definitely, but the metaphorical boat hadn't begun to sink quite yet.

Mr. Sweet banged his gavel rapidly, trying to bring the court to order. "Please, settle down, everyone," he ordered, and allowed Mara a moment to regroup.

"I'd like to call Jasper Choudhary to the stand," she said, clearing her throat sharply. Jasper stood up, and Kira noticed his hands were badly shaking as he approached Vera's table, even if his face appeared calm. "You recommended Vera for the job, but you told me you barely knew her."

"She was a friend of a friend," Jasper replied with an at-ease smile. "I was happy to make the recommendation."

"Do you think it's strange that Vera was the only applicant?" Mara retorted.

Jasper cleared his throat. "I wouldn't know about that."

"Mara, I'm confused," Vera interjected. "Are you questioning Mr. Choudhary's character now too? Do you have any scruples at all about whose reputation you tarnish?"

Kira bit her lip to keep from calling bullshit on that and noticed that across the room Jerome was doing much the same thing.

Mara didn't take the bait, though. "I'm trying to establish how you came to get the job here and why," she answered evenly.

"Mr. Sweet hired me," Vera scoffed. "Perhaps you'd like to interrogate him next."

This time, Mara did falter, trapped in a minefield of her own design. She couldn't very well start questioning their headmaster and stand-in judge without coming across as desperate or being in contempt of the court. "I just want to know the truth," Mara bit out stiffly.

Kira winced at such a weak reply; Mara was floundering.

"In which case, I'm even more confused," Vera laughed breathily, her frustration evident, "since you were claiming to already know the truth.\ when you wrote that article."

The boat was taking on water now, and Kira could only watch as it began to sink. "No," Mara said, then backtracked. "Well, yes, I did, but—"

"Let's stick to the facts, shall we?" Mr. Sweet said, voice grim. "Or rather, the lack of them. Mara, please move on."

Mara took a deep, shaking breath, but composed herself nicely, clicking to her next slide of evidence. "Your last job was as a housekeeper at Dewsbery Manor three years ago," she said. "Mr. Hendry was your employer. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Vera answered impatiently.

"I spoke to a man there who told me Mr. Hendry died over twenty years ago," she said, and a ripple passed over the crowd.

Vera stood up sharply, walking around her side of the table. "Mr. Sweet, I'd like to introduce someone who can put an end to this nonsense once and for all, if I may." Everyone craned their necks as she walked to the doors at the back and threw them open, revealing an old man in a wheelchair. She helped him to his feet and addressed the crowd smugly. "This is Mr. Hendry, and I think you will find he is very much alive."

"You?" Mara gasped from the front of the room as Vera led him to the seat beside her.

"Permission for Mr. Hendry to speak?" Vera asked Mr. Sweet.

He hummed gravely, looking at Mara with extreme disappointment in his eyes, and Kira knew the boat had sunk. "Permission granted," he replied.

"Well, where do I begin?" the supposed Mr. Hendry said once he'd settled in. "Vera was with us for many years. She was a wonderful cook and her chocolate cake." He shut his eyes and moaned. "Out of this world."

"B-But you told me Mr. Hendry was dead!" Mara spluttered, unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

Mr. Hendry smiled awkwardly at her. "I'm sorry, my dear," he said, "but I've never seen you before in my life."

"I came to see you!" she insisted, voice pitching up in desperation. "Don't you remember?"

The old man raised his eyebrows thoughtfully. "Possibly," he replied. "My memory is not as good as it used to be, but I can assure you I do remember my own name," he chuckled, and Vera joined in.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Hendry," Mr. Sweet dismissed him, and Mr. Hendry nodded, shakily rising to his feet.

"M-Mr. Sweet, I honestly—"

"Enough, Mara," the headmaster said sharply.

"But I did go to her room one time, and—"

"Silence!"

Things were not looking good for Mara in the slightest, and frankly, it really did appear that she'd gotten it wrong. Kira knew it wasn't a malicious attempt at libel, but rather, her friend had not double-checked all her facts before going public.

And why had she gone public exactly? Surely Eddie hadn't—

Something popped up on the screen behind the makeshift courtroom on top of the website and country music began blaring through the speakers. There, plain as day, was Mr. Sweet line dancing in a cowboy costume...  and getting really into it, as well.

Kira slapped a hand over her mouth to hide a shocked snort of laughter, while the rest of the room erupted into hysterics. "Nice moves, Mr. Sweet!" Alfie laughed.

From beside her, Joy threw back her head and howled out a long, "Yeehaw!"

Mr. Sweet did a double-take, eyes widening in horror and he leaped to his feet, trying everything he could to turn it off. "Daphne, help me!" he cried over the peels of laughter from the student body, and together they managed to kill the video.

Her father's eyes swept the crowd, and Kira could see the fury behind them. Suddenly it wasn't very funny anymore. "We will take a short break," he snapped, retreating with the last of his dignity.

Immediately, Kira, Joy, and Patricia got up and rushed over to Mara. "She's pulverizing you!" Patricia exclaimed tactlessly, scanning Mara's sheet of defenses while Kira rubbed her distressed friend's back soothingly. "You should have checked your facts before you stuck them on the website."

"I did!" Mara shrieked. "Or I thought I did." She rubbed her temples. "Maybe if Eddie hadn't gone on and on about it—"

"What?" Patricia cried, and Kira pursed her lips in quiet anger. She'd been afraid of that answer and suspected that the journey to the Wild West they'd just witnessed was his doing as well.

Mara winced. "Yeah... he basically called me a chicken."

"I'm going to kill that weasel!" Patricia snarled, jumping to her feet and storming off to probably make good on her threat.

Kira got up too. "Wait for me!" she called after her. To Mara, she said, "I will be back in a second, I promise, everything's going to be alright."

Patricia was a good few feet ahead of her, and Kira practically had to sprint to catch up as she bobbed and weaved through the halls.

"Don't try to stop me," Patricia warned as they turned a corner.

Kira shook her head frantically. "I wasn't planning on it," she replied. She knew what this was about, and Kira suspected she and Patricia were both somewhat to blame for Eddie feeling the need to act out and drag Mara down with him. Kira shook her head; no, it wasn't anyone's fault but his own.

They arrived at the computer lab, where Mr. Sweet was already yelling at Eddie. "Do you have any idea how much damage your little stunt today has done in undermining my authority?" he seethed.

Kira cursed under her breath the moment she realized Eddie had seen them in the doorway. He was going to put on a show for Patricia and make sure he demonstrated to his sister how little he cared about trying to make amends with their father. "What authority is that, Eric?" he snarked.

"As soon as this hearing is over, I want to see you in my office. Do I make myself understood?" Eddie scoffed in his face, and their father's jaw set in barely restrained anger. "DO I MAKE MYSELF UNDERSTOOD?" he bellowed, and for the first time since they'd arrived in England, Kira saw the cracks in Eddie's bad-boy facade, revealing the frightened and hurting child underneath.

"Yes," Eddie bit out through gritted teeth, and Patricia yanked Kira out of sight as Mr. Sweet made to leave the room. But Eddie wasn't quite done yet, tacking on a flippant: "Loud and clear, cowboy."

Their father stopped short in the doorway, tamping down his frustration and rage, and continued down the hall. The moment he turned the corner, Patricia stalked in, followed swiftly by Kira.

"Who's the teacher's pet now?" Eddie said, and it occurred to Kira he had no idea the damage he'd caused because instead of going to the trial to support the girl he'd coerced into publishing the article in the first place, he'd instead been uploading videos of their father's hobbies.

Patricia didn't take the bait, eyes ablaze. "You just riled Sweetie up worse than ever, and sent him straight back to Mara's hearing," she shouted. "Nice work, Eddison. Especially as you apparently put Mara up to this in the first place."

Eddie spluttered incredulously, and Patricia rolled her eyes, not waiting for a reply as she stomped off. "Hey!" he called after her. "You're the one who started this! We're in this together, Yacker!"

"Sit down and shut up," Kira snapped. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "So what? I uploaded Eric's stupid line dancing. It's funny."

"No, Eddie, it's not funny. Mara is getting obliterated by Vera out there, and Dad's right about to decide what he's going to do to her. He was already mad, but that put him right over the edge." Eddie towered over her, but she nonetheless squared up to her full height. "You jeopardized Mara's hearing for what? A cheap laugh? To impress Patricia? Newsflash, dickhead, I don't think it worked."

"Jesus Christ, you don't understand anything!" he said. "I'm just letting him know that I won't let him walk all over me like you do."

Kira scoffed. "So you'll let him walk all over Mara, is that it? Was that your brilliant fucking plan, Eddie? To set Mara up and piss off Dad just to teach him a lesson? Teach me a lesson?"

"You don't know anything," Eddie repeated.

"I know enough to say this: you're pathetic, Eddison. You can't help but destroy everything you touch, and you know what? I'm done trying to fix it." She poked her twin hard in the chest, fighting back tears of frustration. "I'm not cleaning up your messes anymore; you can fix this yourself." Kira shook her head, stepping back and away toward the door. "Or don't. Fuck, I don't care anymore. See you at the hearing."

—

"I have listened to everything here today, and have found no weight whatsoever to any of the claims against Vera," Mr. Sweet announced to the "court".

Victor had reappeared again and now took the time to speak up. "Quite right," he said, "and I hope you deal severely with Miss Jaffray. Her claims were nothing more than the fabrications of a spiteful girl."

Mrs. Andrews looked at him aghast, but it was Mr. Sweet who spoke. "Quiet, Victor, I am in charge here!" Victor blinked, and when he was deemed suitably silent, the headmaster continued. "The behavior of the students in this school has reached an all-time low." His gaze was trained on someone in the back of the room, and Kira didn't have to turn around to know exactly who Mr. Sweet was looking at. "I will not stand for it one moment longer; it is time for it to stop. Mara, you have attempted to ruin the reputation of one who wants only to look after you." He sighed deeply, regrettably. "Your transgression leaves me little option."

The top of the metaphorical boat sunk below the waves as Mr. Sweet announced the sentence no one had dared entertain:

"Mara Jaffray, you are expelled."