"Expelled? Like kicked out of the university?"

David nodded urgently. "Yes. I don't agree with them."

They couldn't get me expelled. What would they do? Tell someone on the school's administrative board that I was annoying and didn't deserve an education?

"What are they going to do? They can't do anything."

David shrugged and shook his head sadly. "They're creative. And they do have something."

"What?!" I nearly shrieked the word, my fears taking hold of me. The barista at the counter glanced nervously at our table before returning to wiping down the espresso machine.

"For one, they have a video of you dumping the alcohol on me. They have video evidence."

That was not ideal. After all, I wasn't supposed to be at a party anyway, and definitely not drinking. I couldn't risk that getting out. What would my mom think?

She wasn't too strict, but she definitely preferred me to stay safe. And she had told me not to do anything stupid like go to the frats or hang out at house parties.

"And that's it? How would that get me expelled?" I guess I was breaking some rules but I didn't think that was enough to get expelled. People got wasted all the time and had to be wheeled away to the hospital. The school knew that these parties were happening every weekend. That couldn't be enough evidence to screw me over.

Unless they were going to claim I attacked David. I guess in a way I did - by dumping alcohol on him. But it just seemed ridiculous.

"That's not it. They're also being dumb and making something up."

"Like what?"

"That you cheated on some exam or something. I don't know."

My brain whirred as I tried to think of how they could come up with something like that. Then, I put everything together as I remembered who Keaton was.

I recognized him from my economics class. He sat a few rows in front of me and always wore a clearly overpriced jacket despite the classroom being pretty warm. 

I squinted at David, trying to put all the pieces together. "Okay, so what? Keaton is in my econ class. He can't just go to the professor and tell her that I cheated. I don't think that he would get away with that without any proof."

David shifted in his seat, narrowing his eyes at me. "Are you dumb?"

I slapped my palm on the table. "Oh, shut the hell up. I'm out."

I shoved my chair back, the screech whining across the cafe and promptly grabbed my jacket. If anyone was dumb here it was David for wasting me time with invisible threats.

"You know Keaton has connections, right? His father and Greene were childhood friends or something."

The name Greene was barely ringing a bell. I paused and crossed my arms, now standing above David. "Who's Greene?"

"From the university board. He handles most of the academic integrity cases. Sure, they start with the professors and the teaching assistants but he has the final say. And if a case comes up before him with Keaton's name on it as the accuser, you are screwed. It took them a while to put everything together but as  soon as I found out I felt like I needed to tell you. Because they are lying. I'm fine with holding you accountable for being shitty to me, but I think they're going too far."

I rolled my eyes and puffed out my chest. David was being an absolute dick, per usual. Acting like he was so much better than his friends just because he was actually coming to tell me all of this. I didn't forgive him. And I didn't think he was a good person because of this.

But I was glad for the warning.

"Fine. Thank you for telling me. I'll look into it," I replied curtly. Then, before he could say another word, I stormed out of the coffeeshop.

______________________________

I considered telling Cassidy what happened, but lost the nerve to. She would already be mad that I'd talked to David in the first place.

I didn't know what to do.

I couldn't let Keaton and Paul frame me. I couldn't just not speak up until it was too late. But if I did speak up, what would happen? I would sound crazy. My econ professor, Professor Gracie Pauper, wouldn't be able to do anything about it. She might even think I was coming to her first as a way to clear my name because I had done it. I had no way to prove that Keaton and Paul were wrong when I didn't even know the details of what they were going to accuse me of.

So, whatever they were going to accuse me of, I would be unable to stop it. But I had to trust the process and know that once it came down to it, they lacked evidence. And any evidence they did have, I could find an alibi for. Cassidy would side with me and so would Phoebe.

Plus, I still had all of the screenshots from the dating apps. Those would count for something if I did end up having to defend myself to the school.

After trying to read a book, showering, and getting a bit of homework done, I found myself pacing back and forth in my small apartment room, trying to think of something I could do. I'd already tried taking my mind off things. It hadn't worked. I needed to have a defense in place.

David had texted me shortly after the meeting just reaffirming that he hadn't been lying about anything. It hadn't really helped me feel better.

Evidence. Evidence would be my best friend.

I had to find enough evidence in my defense that there was no way that they could accuse me of cheating. I sat down at my laptop and opened up the course page for Economics 202. Boxes of text yelled at me, telling me not to forget this assignment and reminding me that office hours were every Thursday after class. I scrolled over to my assignments and found a list, specifically stating each of the papers I'd turned in with links to their PDF's.

I clicked on the first one. Assignment one. It had a couple of basic math problems and a few short answer questions. I'd answered all the questions in pen and then scanned the pages before uploading them online. I scrolled through some of my other assignments. Most had already been graded and I'd received between a 90 and a 100 on every single one.

That was good evidence. They couldn't act like I didn't know shit. I did.

I scrolled over to our most recent midterm. It seemed like one thing that they could potentially use to try and get back at me. The midterm had been recent enough that it would be relevant. It hadn't yet been graded. But they couldn't use it. It had already passed.

We had another midterm coming up next week. Perhaps that was their plan.

I'd already begun studying for it. Maybe I could take note of when and where I studied, make sure to make it absolutely clear that I'd put effort into this.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes. My brain hurt and my eyes were strained. I wanted to lie down and cry. But I didn't want to be alone. Cassidy was gone and I wasn't sure when she would be back. She'd been disappearing a lot more recently. She'd briefly explained that her classes had started to get a lot harder and I didn't blame her. Working in the apartment was harder than working at a library on campus.

Outside, I could hear a car alarm going off. The sky was darkening with a few clouds speckling the navy blue. The apartment was absolutely silent. I was alone.

I didn't want to be alone.

Maybe it was wild. Maybe I was desperate. Maybe I just hadn't been able to stop thinking about what she had meant when she'd said that we were dating.

I texted Phoebe.

"Hey. I'm free right now and a bit bored. If you're not busy, would you want to hang out?" The message was simple but pointed. I looked it over a couple times before I sent it, rolling every single word around in my mouth before deciding that I didn't sound ridiculous and I should just ask.

The message hung on my white screen for a few minutes and eventually, I shut my phone off. I waited impatiently, tapping my foot against the leg of my desk. My hair looked messy. If I was going to have Phoebe come over, I should probably shower. Maybe change into something a bit cuter. I was still wearing an oversized sweatshirt and pajama shorts that needed to be replaced. I clearly hadn't put much effort into my presentation for David, as I really didn't care what he thought about how I looked.

I pulled my hair up into a bun and stretched, staring at the window. Then, my phone vibrated,  buzzing on my desk by my laptop. I grabbed it quickly and opened up my messages.

"Yeah, sure. Want me to come over now?"

It didn't take long for me to respond. "Yes."