Teaching Roman (17 page)

“Seriously stop with the fucking lists already!” Cassie snapped.

“It’s how my mind works.” My words were a combination of apology and annoyance. Sometimes it felt like even Cassie and Jills didn’t understand that. Only one person had ever really understood why I processed information the way I did. My stomach flipped over and I forced myself to smile to lighten the mood. If I wasn’t careful I’d be in tears, which would certainly ruin the mascara Cassie had carefully applied.

“How does my make-up look?” I asked, eager to change the subject.

“You don’t look sickly and you don’t look like a prostitute. I would call that a win.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. Trust Cassie to use such colorful polar opposites. She shoved me out the bathroom door then took each shoulder firmly in one hand and marched me in the direction of the living room. Jills jumped off the couch, but Cassie blocked her exit.

“Nope,” she said. “You two will talk.” Cassie planted her hands on her hips, taking up as much space in the doorway as she could. Her size would never land her a job as a bouncer, but her attitude might.

“Look, Jill—”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted in a rush. “I know it was a bitch move to call your sister, but I couldn’t let you get kicked out of school. I need you next year more than ever.”

There was true regret in her eyes, but it mixed with fear, the effect of which made the tears I’d been holding back pool in my eyes.

“You are my rock,” she continued as her own tears escaped.

I knew then that Liam’s extension visa hadn’t been approved. I’d been so caught up with my own shit for the last week that I had forgotten to ask, and even now Jillian was trying hard not to bring it up. Closing the space between us, I wrapped my arms around her and we both cried until our throats hurt. When I looked up, Cassie was watching us, doing her best to look unmoved as she said, “Look at that mascara.
Now
you look like a prostitute.”

Once my raccoon eyes were cleaned up, we started toward the student union, arms linked. I’d tried to talk them out of coming with me. After all, this could get ugly fast, especially if Brett showed up, but they wouldn’t back down. Secretly it made me feel better to know the three of us were still a package deal.

The student union, a mid-century brick and glass building, had never seemed imposing. It was far from the most ornate building on campus and despite its size, it wasn't the biggest either. But today it loomed in front of me like an evil castle in a fairytale. Students darted in and out of the front entrance, many lounged on the steps, and everyone seemed oblivious to the girl walking the green mile of grass to her doom.

Liam met us at the door, opening it wide so we could stroll through.

"You didn't have to come," I said as he reached out and gave me an awkward hug. Awkward since neither Cassie or Jillian let go of me for it.

"Like hell," he said. "Family, right?"

His eyes darted to Jills, who nodded, but I spotted the tiny twitch along her jawline. She was going to lose it again, and I couldn't blame her. Jillian had managed to find one of the good ones.

"Shall we go tell these jerks where to stick it?" Cassie jumped in, breaking the tension surrounding us.

Taking a deep breath, I let them lead me downstairs to the bowels of the union where the Student Ethics Committee convened. They called it their courtroom, but it was nothing more than a glorified meeting room reserved for their use, although the university had given them a fancy, engraved plaque to hang on the door.

The committee was already inside, but I had to wait outside to be called in for my hearing. As far as I could tell from the nearly empty chairs outside the "courtroom," they had a fairly light docket for the day.

"Miss Stone?" a chipper young girl squeaked from the door.

I stood up, doing my best not to glare at her. It was nearly the end of the academic year, so the SEC would be training the new batch of students selected to sit on the board next year. Undoubtedly she was one of the newly elected. She didn't show any of the weariness I'd felt at the end of my term. Hearing about assaults, theft, and basically all the screwed up things my fellow students did to one another, really brought you down. By the time I was finished, I was grateful for the resume spot and little else. I'd only applied for the position because I had briefly considered law school over medical school. It took less than a month of being on the board before I realized I wasn't meant for a real courtroom.

Jillian and Cassie stood to come in with me, but the new girl shook her head. "Due to the delicate nature of this situation, only the parties and their representation are allowed inside."

I wanted to wring her delicate neck, but I clamped my mouth shut. Giving each of them a quick kiss on the cheek, I turned on my heel to follow the girl inside, but before I could enter, Lil pushed past my group of supporters.

"I'm her representation," she announced. Lil gripped my elbow and steered me past the intern, who stared at Lil like she was a rockstar. The SEC was full of wannabe lawyers, and while they allowed students to bring in their own representation, no one ever did. From the way the girl's eyes lit up, I could tell she was looking forward to seeing a professional in action. Hopefully, Lil would wow the rest of the committee, too.

The board was seated at a long table, doing their best to look judicious and upright.

"Miss Stone," the girl at the center of the table greeted me, and I realized with dread that it was Lauren Buckley, one of the students I had trained to replace the outgoing board last semester. Lauren had taken her training very seriously, too seriously if you asked most of us, and now she was the one presiding over my case.

This wasn't going to end well.

Brett stared at me from the other podium, but I did my best to ignore him, lest my head actually explode from fury.

"All are present?" she asked the boy to her right.

"The defendant and her representative seem to be present," he answered. I caught the slight twitch of his lower lip. He wasn't taken this nearly as seriously as Lauren. Most people didn't at this point in the year.

“All parties are present?" she asked.

“They're here." The boy tilted his head toward the side of the meeting room.

As hard as I tried to keep from looking, my head swiveled against my will to confirm my worst nightmare. Roman was here, in the corner. His eyes were trained on me, but he made no friendly gesture. He didn't even smile at me.

"Why is he here?" I blurted out. Lil's fingers dug into the fleshy back of my arm, warning me to keep a lid on it. But I had to know why Roman was here. He wasn't an undergraduate, and Roman had told me himself that he'd already been censured by the communications department.

"He has been called as a witness to corroborate the testimony received from Mr. Brett—"

"He's here to witness for Brett?" The question flew from my lips and Lil's fingers dug deeper. I was pretty sure she would have thrown a hand over my mouth if she thought it would get me to shut up.

"What my client is trying to say," Lil said, stepping in, "is that we were not informed that there would be a need for witnesses."

"Yeah, I have witnesses I could call," I said.

This time Lil stepped on my foot, which caused me to gasp out loud, raising more than a few eyebrows. Through the slight pain, I realized asking Cassie or Jillian to witness about my relationship with Roman would be a horrible idea. Jillian wouldn't know what to say and Cassie would probably get cited for an ethical violation for dropping the f-bomb.

"That probably won't be necessary," Lauren said. "If you're prepared, we can begin."

We stood in front of the committee because there were no chairs or desks allotted for our use. Since most cases were determined in less than ten minutes, no one saw the need for it. But standing here in front of everyone set me on edge. I wanted to sit down where I could hide the nervous tap of my foot. Standing up made me feel like I was actually on trial. It didn't help that I could feel Roman's eyes boring into my back. Having him here made it look like I was already guilty.

"Miss Stone, you're here because a fellow student submitted a complaint that you engaged with a faculty member in an inappropriate manner." Lauren paused as if I might admit my guilt and throw myself at her mercy. I stared her down instead.

"My client did not engage in a relationship with a faculty member." It felt strange to have Lil call me her client. Something about the term sounded criminal, and the fact that it was my sister saying it made it even worse.

"She didn't?" Lauren asked. A few of the board members straightened in their seats at the hostility present in those two small words.

"She did not," Lil said slowly. "Mr. Markson is not a member of the faculty at present. He is a graduate student, completing his PhD. I assume that romances between two students are permissible at Olympic State. Otherwise you might have a few more students on your docket today.”

Lauren's eyes narrowed. "My notes say Mr. Markson completed his doctoral program two weeks ago."

“I presume there are a number of seniors graduating next week in relationships with juniors and sophomores. Will you be citing them all as well? Nevertheless, he was a student during the time of their relationship," Lil said. It was such an obvious argument and yet coming from my sister's lips it sounded brave and confident.

"But while he was a student he taught classes, one of which your
client
—"Lauren said the word with disdain—"was enrolled in."

Lil didn't miss a beat. "Miss Stone was not involved with him romantically during that time."

"Brett Andrews is not so certain of that." Lauren tapped the folder in front of her.

"Brett only made a complaint because I broke up with him," I said. Lil stiffened next to me, but she didn't inflict any physical pain on me this time.

"Did you break up with him for Mr. Markson?"

"No," I said. "I broke up with him before anything happened between Roman, err, Mr. Markson and I."

"Then why is he making a complaint?" Lauren asked. The question was as vacant as I assumed her head was. Good luck getting into law school with such amazing powers of deduction, I thought.

"Obviously," Lil answered for me, probably realizing I was bound to answer that question with more snark than was appropriate for a hearing, "Mr. Andrews has a vendetta against my client. It strikes me that a counter-allegation could be made against him for harassment."

Brett blanched at this, but Lauren waved it off. "You are free to pursue complaints after the hearing."

"I'll remember that." Lil's eyes traveled from the board and landed on Brett. He knew my sister meant business and he clamped his mouth shut.

"Mr. Markson do you have anything to add concerning this matter?" Lauren asked.

Roman stepped forward, his eyes darting to mine, before he faced the committee. "My own department has been apprised of the situation and found no ethical violation to be concerned with. You're free to contact Dean Howard for his official position on the matter."

"We're not concerned with the inner politics of the communications department," Lauren said.

The boy next to her leaned onto the table and shook his head. "It seems to me that if the Dean of Communications decided the relationship was kosher, it probably is."

"This is a question of ethics, Brad," Lauren snapped.

"Yeah, and there might be a real moral dilemma if Mr. Markson was 65 and abusing his tenure." Brad turned to Roman. "How old are you, man?"

Lauren's eyes looked like they might bug out of her skull but Roman only smiled. "I'm 26."

"And you?" Brad asked me.

"22."

"Seriously?" Brad looked at the rest of the committee. "Why are we even here? If they had met four years ago, they'd have been undergrads. This sounds like two consenting adults to me.”

Heads bobbed across the panel, agreeing with him.

I had no memory of who Brad was. He couldn't have been terribly exceptional if I couldn't recall training him, but right now I wanted to kiss him.

"I suppose that Mr. Andrews’ complaint is found to be without merit," Lauren said through gritted teeth as though the words pained her to say.

"Talk about a case of sour grapes," Brad added, shooting Brad a dirty look. "If you want to file a counter-allegation—"

"No!" I held my hand. "I don't."

Brett might deserve it for being a douchecanoe, but to me it felt like I'd snagged a get out of jail free card. Not only was Brett's complaint being dismissed, I’d dodged a bullet—one headed straight for my heart. If I'd never gone to Mexico with Cassie, I might be engaged to Brett right now and who knows when he would have finally shown me his true colors. It could have been after I'd married him, I realized with a sickening turn of the stomach.

"You're dismissed," Lauren said. She didn't bother to look up from the notes she was making in her folder. She was too busy recording the outcome of the hearing.

Lil steered me out the door, past both Brett and Roman. I snuck a quick glance at Brett, who was glued to the wall, still glowering. It struck me that he might have actually wanted to see me expelled from school, which was all the proof I needed that he had never really loved me.

I couldn't bring myself to look in Roman's direction. Even though this had been decided in our favor, my last exchange with him still tugged at my heart, threatening to break the healing organ all over again.

Outside the door my friends were waiting and as soon as we were through I winked at them. Jillian screamed and threw herself on me.

"I couldn't have lived without you," she whispered in my ear. She embraced me for a long time and I tried to draw strength from her. Now that I was in the clear, the reality of my relationship with Roman was setting in. It had never been inappropriate or wrong, but we'd been too caught up in what others felt about it to see that. Now it was too late.

When Jillian finally dropped her vice grip on me, Liam drew her back into his arms and nodded to someone behind me.