Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 555(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Professor Abrams glanced through the pages I handed her, a thoughtful expression on her face. She handed them to my advisor, who ignored them and pushed them toward the co-chair of the English department. Who also didn’t look at them. Wonderful.
“Victoria’s records are very thorough,” Professor Abrams said. “And she’s right about the drafting process. If she says that Kyle wrote the bulk of the essays while working with her, then I believe her. I believe both of them.”
Finally, the representative from the Athletics Department spoke up. “There’s no evidence that our star slugger cheated.”
It was clear where his priorities were, but I was glad someone else was defending Kyle anyway.
Then Dr. Daniels sighed. “We do have one more piece of evidence.”
I exchanged a quick glance with Kyle. He looked as baffled as I felt. Dr. Daniels pulled his phone out of the pocket of his suit jacket and placed it on the table in front of him. He flipped through several screens and then pushed his phone toward the middle of the table. “We received this from an anonymous source.”
He pressed play, and a staticky sound filled the little room. I heard the babble of low voices faintly, and the sound of glasses clicking together. Was it recorded in a bar?
Then a voice came through, strong and clear. “Yeah, it was easy.”
My heart sank. That was Kyle. Why did they have a recording of him?
“I recorded her while she was telling me how to fix the paper. Then after, I’d play it for the AI, and it would follow her instructions. Then I’d add a few spelling mistakes and show it to her as my next draft. She’s so fucking gullible—she thought she was actually teaching me.”
Kyle sat straight up in his chair, his posture stiff as he stared at the phone.
And as for me… I sat there, frozen. Why had he said that? I knew it wasn’t true. But… had he done that in the beginning, perhaps? I still didn’t see how. And yes, academics weren’t his strength, but I couldn’t picture him doing that.
So why was he saying he did?
The recording was playing background noise, but now it resumed. “Shit, the department should be glad I made the effort. I could’ve just gotten her to write it for me. Girls like her will do anything I tell them. Write my paper, get on their knees… anything I want.”
The recording ended as my heart stopped. I froze, aware that everyone in the room was staring at me.
Except for Kyle. His eyes were glued to the now silent phone, his face completely blank.
My heart resumed pounding with a frantic, irregular beat. Who had he said that to? And why? None of this made sense.
Professor Abrams cleared her throat, not looking at me. “What is the purpose of that recording other than to embarrass my student, a young woman who gladly gave up her time to provide the help that we requested?”
“The purpose is to provide necessary evidence for this disciplinary hearing,” Dr. Daniels said.
Kyle slammed his hand on the table, making all of us jump. “I never said any of that.” He was still staring toward the middle of the table, not meeting anyone’s eye.
Including mine.
And it had been his voice…
The English Department co-chair shoved the papers I’d provided into his briefcase without looking at them. “The committee will be in touch.” That part was directed toward the guy from the Athletics Department.
Kyle finally lifted his head, and he put his hand on my arm. I flinched, pushing my chair back and getting to my feet.
I couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze. So many feelings were fighting for dominance in my mind. Embarrassment. Confusion. Disappointment.
Kyle got to his feet.
But those things he’d said… it wasn’t just the cheating now. It was the other things he’d said. Had that maybe been recorded at the beginning of the semester when he barely knew me? But it had sounded like it had been recorded after he’d already written at least one paper.
If he did write it.
Professor Abrams came to my side. “We’re done here. Why don’t you come back to my office?”
Her voice was full of concern and kindness, but I couldn’t meet her gaze. And I certainly couldn’t look at Kyle. Would his face show the truth? A truth I maybe didn’t want to hear. Just like I wished with all my heart I hadn’t heard that recording.
I fled the room.
38
KYLE
Only Jayden’s car was there when I got back to the house. Well, Tori’s car was there, too, but it wasn’t like she ever drove it. No one was on the first floor, so I went downstairs. Jayden was sitting on his bed scrolling on his phone.
“Did you drive Tori back?” I asked. She was supposed to get a ride home with me but of course she’d taken off after that meeting not that I blamed her.