Mrs. Starkey was Michaela McQueen and Amy Barnes's English teacher. In May 2006, Mrs. Starkey informed Michaela that she had won runner-up in an inter-school writing competition, leaving Michaela disappointed as she wanted to win. After Mrs. Starkey revealed that someone else in the class had won, Michaela and Amy suspected another student who they talked poorly of behind their back. However, Mrs. Starkey revealed that Amy had in fact won the competition, but Amy felt guilty as she had stolen the work from her father.
Mrs. Starkey later announced that a prizegiving with parent invitation would be taking place, where would read her essay in front of the audience. Amy panicked and ended up running off.