Page 53 of Teaching Roman

Chapter Twenty-Four

The doomsday letterarrived the next day. I found it placed ominously on the bar as soon as I walked into our apartment. Jillian was on the couch, pretending to be absorbed in a psych book. There was no way she was actually reading. Not after seeing the envelope with Student Ethics Committee stamped on it. I picked it up, but my fingers trembled too much for me to open it. Instead I fanned myself with it, leaning back against the counter.

“So I got a letter from the SEC.” I shrugged as though acting casual could dispel the tension in the air.

“I saw.” Jillian slammed her book shut and flashed me a hopeful smile. “Are you going to sit on the board again?”

If only that were a possibility. I loved my best friend for searching for hope in a moment like this. Usually that was my job, but I needed her to provide that service now.

“I wish,” I said in a flat voice, and the fake smile fell off her face. “Nope. This year I thought ‘why sit on the board? They need a challenge. What the hell? Maybe I should have an affair with a teacher, almost get pregnant, and be called up in front of the board.’”

“Interesting plan,” she said in a weak voice. She didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t blame her. Growing up with her mother meant she often had a hard time being comforting, even though she tried to be. But what was she supposed to say?

“And it worked!” I continued in mock enthusiasm, waving the letter.

“Maybe you should open it.”

That was the last thing I wanted to do, but with the proof of Roman’s and mys indiscretion staring me in the face, indignation swelled in me. I was mad at Brett for tattling like we were still in elementary school, and I was mad at Cassie for not stopping me in Mexico, and I was mad at both my best friends for not intervening when I’d clearly lost my mind—and I was livid with Roman for the roller coaster ride he’d abandoned me on halfway through. But mostly, I was angry at myself for being stupid. I’d let Roman distract me from school and my career. I’d left for Mexico knowing exactly what I’d wanted. I’d been so sure when I turned down Brett’s proposal and ran away to refocus on my life. How had I wound up here? The answer was stupidity—the kind that came from listening to my hormones instead of my head. Buoyed by my anger, I ripped open the envelope and skimmed the letter.

“What does it say?” she asked.

“Blah. Blah. Blah. An ethical complaint has been made against you,” I said, adding, “by your douchebag ex-boyfriend. A hearing has been scheduled to determine if disciplinary action should be administered. Due to the serious nature of the claim”—I rolled my eyes—”the committee will also review your place within Olympic State University.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means”—I looked up at her—“they want to kick me out of school.”

Jillian jumped up, dropping her decoy textbook. “They can’t do that!”

“I’m pretty sure they can.” For some reason reading the letter had calmed me, allowing rational Jess to take over. I’d sat on a number of cases involving expulsion. Even when it was considered, hardly any of them ever got that far. In fact, we’d only recommended it in the case of a violent assault between roommates. But we’d never presided over a faculty-student romance case before. It was new territory.

“You need to call Lil,” she said.

“I’m not calling my sister.”

“She’s a lawyer.”

“You don’t bring a lawyer to an SEC hearing,” I said wearily.

“Is it against the rules?” she asked.

“For fuck’s sake, Jills, this isn’t an episode of Law & Order. It’s not even an episode of Judge Judy.” There was no way I was calling Lil in on this one. The more I considered it, the more I knew the committee might recommend disciplinary action or level a fine for poor student conduct, but they wouldn’t kick me out, especially if Roman hadn’t been fired.

“I’ll go with you then.” She lunged for the paper, but I held back the letter so she couldn’t see the hearing date. She and Cassie had been party to my humiliation for far too long. I’d gotten myself into this mess, and I would face the consequences.

“I’m fine. I still have friends on the committee. I bet they’ll laugh it off.” That was a lie. The majority of the committee changed annually to ensure no one went mad with power, as the faculty advisor had informed us. I would be on my own for this.

“Okay.” She sunk back onto the couch, but her eyes narrowed a bit. She didn’t believe me.

“I need to grab a shower before my study group later,” I said, escaping to my room. I didn’t have a study group tonight. All I really wanted was to be alone so I could handle this.

When I emerged later to find Jillian gone and a note on the counter.

Meeting at Garrett’s at 9 for mandatory girls night. No questions asked. No excuses.

Part of me wanted to rip up the note or leave it on the counter and pretend I’d never seen it, but a girls night was too tempting. Along with a lot of utterly ridiculous rules we’d established freshman year, one of the ones that stuck was the no-questions-asked girls’ night. We’d let go of other less-than-genius rules—even Jillian had eventually let go of our boycatching tradition—but we’d kept girls night. It didn’t matter what was going on in our lives, those nights were reserved for being together and being silly. It was exactly what I needed, because otherwise I’d be in my room obsessing over my fate. All I had to do was cancel an imaginary study group and find a way to kill the next three hours.

It wasthe midweek lull at Garrett’s. A handful of guys were sharing a drink at the bar, but even the dinner crowd had come and gone. No doubt Cassie would have already sweet-talked Frank into letting us use the “weekend-only” karaoke machine. It wouldn’t be the first time. I was going to need several drinks first.