Enrique turned, shifted in his seat, his expression shocked. “What did you do?”
Sneer Girl laughed. “I told the president that Dr. Finch likes sexual favors. That grades are based on whether students performthatexam well.”
My eyes widened, and my stomach churned at her innuendo. She planned to ruin Jamieson’s career because he’d called her out in class, shaming her.
“I must give magnificent head,” Enrique muttered. “Because I received an A-minus in the class. Had nothing to do with all the work I put into the course or the study groups Libby offered.”
Around us, other students shifted and grumbled, but I sat in stunned silence. Sneer Girl was correct—her accusation could destroy Jamieson’s career.
Hudson gurgled as he shoved the satin into his mouth. Sneer Girl had taken this victory from me. I glanced back at her self-satisfied smirk. It was as much to destroy my moment as it was to hurt Jamieson’s career.
I couldn’t grasp that level of pettiness.
Enrique bounced out of his seat and looked at the rest of us. “Well, come on. We have to set this shit straight before it impacts Dr. Finch’s position.”
“Oh, it’s definitely impacted,” Sneer Girl said with a smirk. “I have a lawyer suing the school.”
“You really are a stupid, stupid woman,” Enrique muttered. “Jose? Laura? Jules? Y’all coming to vouch for Dr. Finch?”
“Absolutely,” Jules said. Sneer Girl’s smirk faltered as fourteen other students—the ones who’d been at my house most of last week—rose and began to walk toward the stage.
Enrique glanced back at me. “Libby?
I held Hudson closer, trying to calculate if me saying something would help or hinder. I glanced up on the stage to see the president hissing in Jamieson’s ear. He glanced down at us, his gaze skimming to Sneer Girl, landing, eyes narrowing, before they came back to rest on me.
He gave me a smile that said:trust me. I wanted to. No, Ineededto. So, I pushed past Enrique and led the other students forward.
“…to my office,” Jamieson said to the president and the other faculty who’d gathered around him. “I can clear this up.”
“How do you plan to do that?” the president asked, clearly flustered. “She said she has proof.”
“As in a video of each student interaction? Because that’s what I catalog.”
“Why would you do such a thing?” another administrator asked.
Jamieson spread out his hands and encompassed the group of us standing at the edge of the stage. “For this very reason.”
“It’s in his syllabus,” Enrique called up to the university brass. “At the bottom of the page. There’s an asterisk and a footnote that says you will be videoed during every lecture and every time you go to office hours.”
I’d read that, too. I thought he’d meant in the lecture hall, but Jamieson had been more prepared for this type of accusation than most professors, which set off a whole new set of concerns cascading through my mind.
Because he needed to be?
CHAPTER10
Jamieson
Libby’sdetermined expression eased some of my worries, but a sick weight remained in my belly. I wanted this ridiculous charade over. I wanted to hold Hudson and Libby in my arms.
Instead, a group of us—at least thirty now—tromped from the ceremony site across campus toward my office. I wanted to glance back at Libby, but now wasn’t the time to express my interest in a student.
Definitelynot now.
Thank goodness I’d never been interested in one before Libby.
Still, her quiet presence bolstered me against the unfair charges.
Aspen’s accusation forced me to prove my innocence. I hated that one person’s viciousness had such a potential impact on a career. The administration had doubts in their eyes. The worry about lawsuits. But the students at my back were my supporters. Enrique’s voice lifted over the rest, his comment of “Dr. Finch would never take advantage of a student,” warming my chest. He was a good young man, better than I’d given him credit for when I saw him as a rival for Libby’s affections.
