I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word. It was too strange and horrible. How the hell was I flunking?
“Just talk it out calmly. Remember how hard you’ve been working and provide all the information you have as evidence in your defense.”
Snorting, I patted Spencer on the shoulder. “Amazing pep talk, buddy.”
He glared at me, hoisting me off the window ledge and setting me on my feet. “You know what I mean. And besides, you’re not in this alone. We’ll help you however we can. Hell,maybe Chase can look into the back end and see exactly when things got away from you.”
“No, no. I’m not pseudo-cheating. I’ll figure this out. Just like you said.”
“If all else fails, I’ll get Chase to hack into the university system and give you straight A’s.”
“Let’s just see if I can handle this the proper way!”
Straightening my shoulders, I packed up what was left of my snack and slung my bag over my shoulder. The meeting was in ten minutes, and I needed to get to the opposite side of the especially wide building.
“All right. I’m off.”
As I began walking, Spencer dropped a hand on my shoulder. “Look, I have to take a piss. I’ll be right there, though, outside the door, waiting, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Just go pee.” I grimaced playfully. “And stop calling it that.”
Spencer just smirked at me, and I headed off to my meeting with my TA, Lyle.
Feeling cautiously optimistic after speaking with Professor McCreevy—if only because I knew I had a pack to help me figure all this out—I headed to the other side of the building, where Professor Gallager’s office was. Given how busy the international finance class was, I knew there was next to no chance I’d be able to actually talk to my professor, but Lyle had been grading my assignments all year, so I had booked an appointment with him.
Walking up to the door, I blew out a long breath and knocked. It opened after only a few seconds.
“Hi, Flora,” Lyle greeted as he gestured inside. “Come on in.”
“I’m guessing you know what this is about,” I said as I tooka seat on the other side of the desk, watching Lyle circle it and sit in the larger office chair.
“The academic probation you’ve been put on?” he asked, raising a brow.
“Yeah.” I winced, flicking my eyes to my lap and then back up. “I don’t know what’s happened. I was on top of all my classes, and then, all of a sudden,apparently, I failed my last several assignments—assignments that IknowI got good scores on. It doesn’t make sense.”
Lyle looked over at the computer screen, his expression carefully neutral. He’d never been a particularly expressive guy, and I found myself watching his finger move as he used the mouse to scroll down.
“I see. Well, I took a look at your grades when you booked this appointment with me. You really haven’t been doing well these last few weeks.”
My heartbeat kicked hard, my stomach clenching at the words. How could that be right? I had the physical copies of my assignments returned to me. I’d seen A’s and B’s on all of them. Why wasn’t the computer saying the same thing? It felt like I was losing my mind, and as my pulse raced, I thought back to how I’d felt when I first opened the letter from the department.
My world was spinning out of control, and I didn’t have a handle on it. Telling Lyle that the computer was wrong sounded like an incredibly stupid idea. Was I supposed to tell him he couldn’t believe his own eyes? Right. Except that was what was happening on my end.
“Now,” Lyle started, forcing me out of my spiraling thoughts, “I don’t want to be too forward, but the computer also states that you’ve recently takenbondingleave. Is that right?”
“Yes, I did,” I confirmed, nodding as I gripped my bag so hard my knuckles turned white. “I only took a few days off, though. Not enough to derail myentireacademic career. In fact, I still studied during the break. I turned in a paper as soon as I got back. I didn’t miss the deadline.”
My voice was pitching higher with each sentence. I was panicking, trying to do anything, say anything, that might convince this man that something had gone wrong and it wasn’t my fault.
Lyle cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry for rambling. I just… I genuinely don’t understand what happened. I know it sounds like I’m making an excuse, but I think something went wrong with the system. Has that ever happened before?”
The TA regarded me, one of his brows cocking up. “It would be a first, as far as I know. And why, precisely, would someone go out of their way to alter your grades? Doing so could get them expelled. Do you think there are many who would take that risk for you?”
I shifted in my chair, swallowing hard. Take a riskfor me? What did Lyle mean bythat? Anxiety roiled through me, making my stomach twist and turn. There was something about how casual Lyle was being that I didn’t like.
“I’m not sure what you mean, but I’m not saying that someonedidthis. Computer glitches happen. That’s what I’m getting at.”
