I raised my hand to ask a question in class and my teacher had escorted out by security.

“The university acknowledged that serious problems occurred in how my situation was handled.” the lawyer said.

She used the word “failures” multiple times, which Harper later told me was lawyer speak for “we messed up bad and know it.” The lawyer went through a list of things the university was offering.

They would remove all records of the incident from my file like it never happened. They would provide free counseling services for as long as I needed them.

They would move me to a single room in a different dorm right away so I wouldn’t have to see Lily or deal with the awkwardness of living near April and Shiloh. She also mentioned they were taking the complaints about the professor and Lily very seriously and appropriate actions were being taken.

My mom jumped in and asked directly about the professor’s job and whether Lily would face real consequences for what she did. The lawyer got careful with her words and explained that employee matters were private and she couldn’t discuss the professor’s status specifically.

However, she assured us that disciplinary measures were being pursued through proper channels. She said the same thing about Lily and the student conduct process.

Harper asked some pointed questions about timelines and whether these offers were contingent on us agreeing not to take legal action. The lawyer admitted that yes, they were hoping to resolve this internally rather than through the courts.

She said litigation would be expensive and time-consuming for everyone and the university preferred to make things right through direct action. My mom looked at me and I could tell she was trying to figure out if this was enough or if we should push for more.

Reaching a Resolution

Harper suggested we take a day to think about the offer and discuss it privately. The lawyer agreed and gave us her card saying to call whenever we were ready.

We left that meeting and went straight to a diner down the street to talk through everything. Harper said the offer was actually pretty good and showed the university was genuinely worried about liability.

She thought we had leverage to ask for a few more things, but the main points were solid. The next morning, Dean Gonzalez called me directly on my cell phone.

I almost didn’t answer because I didn’t recognize the number, but something made me pick up. She said she wanted to personally apologize for how I was treated and make sure I understood the university was taking this seriously.

She explained they were putting new training in place for all faculty about proper security procedures and student rights. She said my case had exposed problems in their systems and they were committed to fixing them so this couldn’t happen to another student.

She asked how I was doing and if there was anything else she could do to support me. I told her about the lawyer’s offer and she said she thought it was fair and encouraged me to accept it.

She also mentioned that the investigations into the professor and Lily were moving forward and I would be kept informed of any developments. I thanked her for calling and hung up, feeling like maybe this whole nightmare was actually going to end with some kind of justice.

My mom was watching me from across the room and asked what the dean said. I filled her in and she nodded slowly like she was processing everything.

She said she thought we should accept the university’s offer and focus on moving forward rather than dragging this out in court for months or years. We called the university lawyer the next morning and accepted their offer.

She sent over paperwork within 2 hours and we signed everything electronically. The lawyer thanked us for being reasonable and said the university was committed to making this right.

3 days later, I got an email from Dean Gonzalez with the subject line “Student conduct charges filed.” My stomach dropped when I opened it.

The email explained that after reviewing all the evidence Harper and Kevin had compiled, the Office of Student Conduct was officially charging Lily with violating the student code on multiple counts. Filing false accusations against another student, evidence tampering, theft by deception, conspiracy to harm another student’s reputation and standing.

Each charge carried serious penalties, including possible expulsion. The email said Lily had been notified and would have a hearing within 2 weeks.

I read it three times trying to process that this was actually happening. Harper called me an hour later asking if I’d seen the email.

I told her yes and she explained what would happen next. The professor’s faculty hearing was scheduled for the following week and I would need to testify about what happened in the classroom.

She asked how I felt about that and I admitted I was nervous but also angry enough about the whole thing that I wanted to make sure the professor faced real consequences. Harper said my testimony would be crucial because I could describe firsthand how she abused her authority and coordinated with Lily to set me up.

She would help me prepare and make sure I knew what to expect from the process. The next day, Jeremy texted me asking if I’d heard about the charges against Lily.

I said yes and he told me he was organizing something. He’d been talking to other students from our economics class and several of them wanted to submit statements supporting my version of events.

They all thought what the professor did was completely wrong and wanted to help. Over the next few days, Jeremy collected statements from 12 different classmates.

Each one described the classroom incident in detail and talked about how obvious it was that the professor was biased against me. Some mentioned how she refused to call on me even when I was the only one with my hand up.

Others described the weird pause before she called security like she was waiting for something to happen. A few students noted that she seemed to know about the pills before the security guard even found them.

Jeremy compiled everything into a single document and sent it to Harper, who added it to the evidence file. Meanwhile, Kevin from campus security sent me an email with lab results attached.

The pills found in my backpack had been tested and turned out to be over-the-counter caffeine tablets you can buy at any drugstore. Not illegal substances, not prescription medication, just basic caffeine pills that thousands of students use during finals week.

Kevin noted in his report that this supported the planted evidence theory because if someone was actually trying to hide illegal drugs, they wouldn’t use something you could legally purchase anywhere. The whole point was to create the appearance of wrongdoing without actually having illegal materials that could lead to serious criminal charges.

It was calculated and deliberate. My mom helped me move into the new single room the university assigned me in a different dorm across campus.

The room was smaller but private, and I didn’t have to worry about roommates going through my stuff or making up lies about me. We were carrying boxes up the stairs when April appeared in the hallway.

She looked uncomfortable and asked if she could talk to me for a minute. My mom gave me a look asking if I wanted her to stay, but I said it was okay.

April apologized for believing Lily without questioning her story. She said she felt terrible about how everything went down and wanted to make things right.

She offered to testify at Lily’s hearing about the lies and manipulation. She could describe how Lily asked her to lie about checking the security cameras and how Lily had been desperately trying to borrow money from everyone.