Assassination of a High School President

At St. Donovan's, a Catholic High School in New Jersey, Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) is a less than popular 10th grade sophomore with a dream to get into Northwestern University's summer journalism program. Although Bobby claims he's a great writer, he's never finished an article for St. Donovan's school newspaper. Bobby is known on campus as the Sophomore who was tied to the snowman penis. Bobby was investigating a story around how many of the school homework seem to have the same mistakes, thereby indicating that they all have the same originating source. 22 students is the Spanish class made the exact same mistake on a test the previous week, also indicating that the paper leaked and someone fed the students wrong answers. The editor-in-chief Clara, (Melonie Diaz), refuses to publish Bobby's theories as he has no proof or even a witness. She also refuses to go to the homecoming dance with him. Clara assigns Bobby to do an article on Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor), the student body president, as she knows that Bobby needs to publish something to get extra credits on his application to Northwestern. Bobby attempts to get an interview but is unable to get a story out of Paul and is bullied by Paul's friends. Paul is the star of the basketball team and on a game night, Paul takes a fall and injures his knee. The student council is made of Marlon Piazza who is the Vice President and is also Francesca's step-brother, Matt Mullen (Zach Roerig) is the head hall monitor and noted as one who sexually assaults his dates and Marty Mullen (Josh Caras) class secretary and former child underwear model. The next morning Principal Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis) discovers the SATs have been stolen from a safe in his office. Kirkpatrick rounds up his "usual suspects" of high school misfits along with Bobby to question them. The misfits includes Sam Landis (Tanya Fischer) the school's female rebel. The group is innocent, but Kirkpatrick warns them all to watch their step. Attractive senior Francesca Facchini (Mischa Barton) solicits Bobby's help tracking down the set of stolen SATs, Bobby uncovers a story. Francesca is one of the hottest girls on campus. She is a national merit scholar, the varsity soccer captain, and the President's girlfriend. Francesca says that she had taken the SATs herself and aced it as she was on the zone. He sets on a large-scale investigation and links Paul Moore to the crime. Bobby interviews everyone on campus and learns from Landis that the theft of the papers took place during the basketball game when Paul injured his knee, as she was in the parking lot and she saw flashlights in Kirkpatrick's office. All the folks on the Kirkpatrick list had solid alibis that made it clear that they were not involved in the theft. Bobby learns from Nurse Platt (Kathryn Morris) that Paul was brought into her office after his injury. But then Paul suggested that she should get something to eat and she went out for 20 minutes, and Paul was all alone during that time. Coach Z (Michael Rapaport) reveals that Paul's grades were never great for college, but he was determined to do whatever it takes to get admission. Bobby meets Paul's sister Chrissy (Gabrielle Brennan) who revealed all of Paul's secrets in exchange for a stuffed Unicorn. He writes an article pointing the finger at Paul. The day after the article comes out, Kirkpatrick forces Paul to open his locker and the SATs fall out. Marlon Piazza is appointed as the new student council President. As a result of his sleuthing, Bobby becomes one of the most popular kids at St. Donovan's. Clara decides to submit Bobby's article to Northwestern which earns Bobby a scholarship to the summer program. Bobby wins the respect of everyone from Principal Kirkpatrick to the kid that farts on him in Spanish class and Francesca takes Bobby to the homecoming dance as her date. At the homecoming dance, Francesca tries to seduce Bobby. Marlon had come with his own date, and the duo were getting hot and steamy on the dance floor, prompting Francesca to go and break them up before Kirkpatrick kicked them out. As Bobby's popularity grows so do his suspicions. Paul confronts Bobby, proclaiming his innocence, stating that he got into Cornell but decided to take the test again to see if he could get a better score. Bobby begins to wonder if Paul really stole the SATs or if he's just a pawn in a larger conspiracy. Paul admits to fixing basketball games the previous season as he needed the money, but he says that he turned them down when they approached him in the current season. Paul says a man named Bismark (Adam Pally) approached him. Bobby investigates even deeper into the lives of Paul's shady friends, all members of the Student Council. He discovers their involvement with drug dealing. The Student Council had actually stolen the SATs along with other tests throughout the year, modifying the marks of the best students to make them doubt their test-taking abilities and turn to the Student Council for performance-enhancing Adderrall and other speed-like medications. Bobby says that while Paul wasn't a part of the scam, the group ringleader Marlon Piazza (Luke Grimes) had Paul framed to avoid being caught. Bobby also finds out that Francesca led him along the entire time to keep him from finding out the truth. Francesca and Marlon, step-siblings, are revealed as lovers. Bobby confronts the group in the principal's office. Marlon threatens to have Bobby thrown out the window and frame it as a suicide, but his threat and confession are heard on the school's intercom system. When Bobby entered the room, he secretly turned on the microphone. Bobby's friends save him from being thrown out the window and Kirkpatrick rushes into the office, followed by the student body and Francesca. Francesca attempts to gain Bobby's trust again, only to be shut down and left to deal with Kirkpatrick's punishment. Bobby walks out of the office as Clara congratulates him for busting up this latest conspiracy and tells him that this latest story will be a further stepping stone to his own career as a writer.