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

I thanked her and said that would actually help a lot. Shiloh sent me a long text message that same evening, apologizing and providing a written statement about seeing Lily with my backpack 2 days before the classroom incident.

She said she’d been scared to come forward earlier because Lily was her friend, but she couldn’t stay silent anymore knowing what really happened. She attached a formal statement Harper could use as evidence, describing exactly what she saw and when.

My mom had to leave the next morning to get back to work, but she made me promise to call her twice every day and attend all the counseling sessions the university was providing. She hugged me for a long time before getting in her car and told me she was proud of how I was fighting back instead of just accepting the false accusations.

She said I was stronger than I probably realized and she knew I would get through this. Watching her drive away made me feel lonely again, but also determined to see this through to the end.

The Disciplinary Hearings

Lily’s disciplinary hearing took place in a conference room in the administration building 2 weeks after the charges were filed. I had to sit in the same room with her for the first time since this whole nightmare started.

She was at a table with some lawyer her parents hired, and she wouldn’t make eye contact with me at all, just stared at her hands or whispered to her lawyer. The hearing panel consisted of three administrators including someone from student conduct and a faculty member from a different department.

Harper sat next to me at our table with all our evidence organized in folders. The panel chair explained the process and the charges against Lily.

Her lawyer stood up and tried to argue that Lily was genuinely mistaken rather than malicious. He claimed she really believed I took her money and was just trying to get it back.

He said the Venmo thing was a misunderstanding and the pills were probably already in my bag without Lily knowing. His whole strategy was painting her as confused and stressed rather than calculating and dishonest.

But then the hearing panel started reviewing the evidence. They watched the security footage of Lily entering my room alone and staying for 8 minutes.

They examined the fake Venmo account traced back to our dorm’s IP address. They read witness statements from April about Lily’s lies and from Shiloh about seeing Lily with my backpack.

They reviewed Kevin’s report about the planted caffeine tablets and the timeline of events. Her lawyer tried interrupting and objecting, but the evidence kept piling up.

Phone records showing texts between Lily and the professor coordinating the classroom setup. Financial records proving Lily owed exactly $340 in unpaid fees.

Digital forensics showing she created the fake Venmo account from her laptop. Every argument her lawyer made fell apart under the weight of documented proof.

Finally, Lily started crying and her lawyer asked for a break. When they came back 15 minutes later, Lily was shaking and could barely talk.

The panel chair asked if she had anything to say and she just broke down completely. She admitted she created the fake Venmo account and planted the pills in my backpack.

She said she was desperate for money and panicking about the registration deadline. She claimed she didn’t think it would go this far and just wanted to scare me into giving her money so she could pay her fees and stay enrolled.

She said working with her aunt to set up the classroom thing seemed like a good way to pressure me, but then everything spiraled out of control. She kept saying she was sorry and didn’t mean for it to get so bad.

The panel deliberated for 90 minutes while we waited in the hallway. Harper bought me a coffee from the vending machine and told me it was almost over.

When they called us back in, the panel chair read their decision. They found Lily responsible for all charges: filing false accusations, evidence tampering, theft by deception, and conspiracy to harm another student.

The sanctions were immediate expulsion from the university, effective that day. She was also banned from campus permanently and required to pay restitution for my counseling services and housing relocation costs.

Her lawyer tried to argue for a lesser punishment, but the panel said the calculated nature of her actions and the involvement of a faculty member made this an extremely serious case. Lily started sobbing and her parents, who were sitting in the back of the room, rushed forward to comfort her.

Security escorted them all out and I watched her leave campus for the last time. Two days later, I sat in a conference room on the third floor of the administration building, waiting for Professor Braille’s faculty hearing to start.

Harper sat next to me reviewing her notes and Jeremy was across the hall in another room, ready to testify when they called him. The faculty committee consisted of five professors from different departments who filed in looking serious and professional.

Professor Braille entered with her lawyer and sat at the opposite end of the long table. She wouldn’t look at me at all.

The committee chair explained the charges against her, which included gross misconduct, abuse of authority, and violation of academic ethics. They called me first to testify about what happened in the classroom.

I walked through every detail, starting with raising my hand to answer a question and ending with security guards dragging me out while everyone watched. The committee members took notes and asked questions about the timeline and Professor Braille’s exact words.

Jeremy testified next and showed them the video he recorded on his phone. You could hear everything clearly, including Professor Braille calling security before I did anything disruptive and her telling the class I had illegal items when she had no way of knowing that.

Harper presented documentation of two previous complaints against Professor Braille for showing favoritism to family members and one formal warning about inappropriate use of authority. She laid out a pattern of misconduct spanning three years that the university had failed to address properly.

Eight other students from the economics class submitted written statements describing the classroom incident and confirming I hadn’t been threatening or disruptive in any way. The committee questioned Professor Braille about why she called security before any actual disruption occurred in her classroom.

She kept insisting she felt threatened by my presence and had concerns about classroom safety based on information she received. They asked what specific information and from whom.

She said she heard rumors about theft allegations and felt it was her duty to protect other students. The committee chair pointed out that hearing rumors doesn’t justify calling security on a student who raised their hand to answer a question.

They asked how pills appeared in my backpack during a search she specifically requested. Professor Braille claimed she had no knowledge of any planted evidence and was just as surprised as everyone else when security found something.