Bully Yanked The Freshman's Ponytail — Didn’t Know She Was Trained in Krav Maga
Chapter 20
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"It might still," Claire said. "I can't tell you it won't."Sophie looked up. "Then why are you telling me it's okay that I didn't say anything?""I'm not," Claire said. "I'm telling you that being scared is human. What you do next is the part that matters."Sophie was quiet for a long moment. Then she said, "I'll come to the hearing. I'll tell them what I saw." She said it like it cost her something, like she was putting something down on a table and pushing it forward before she could take it back.Claire looked at her roommate. "Thank you," she said. That was all.The hearing was held in the Aldrich conference room on the second floor of the administration building: a long rectangular room with a table at the front for the panel and chairs arranged in rows for parties and witnesses.The panel of five sat behind the long table. Dr. Eleanor Voss was at the far left—small, precise, looking at every person who entered the room with the same careful attention.Derek was already seated when Claire arrived. He had a man in a gray suit beside him, whom Claire understood to be either a lawyer or a very well-dressed advisor. Bryce was in the back row. Tyler was near the window, with his arm held slightly away from his ribs.Derek's father was in the second row. He was a large man, silver-haired—the kind of man who had spent decades being the most significant person in any room he entered. He sat with a stillness that was itself a kind of pressure. He looked at Claire when she came in; she looked back.She sat down. Marsh sat to her left with a single folder in front of him. She put her notebook on the table. Her hands were steady.The panel chair, a man named Dr. Ellison, called the proceedings to order. He outlined the process: Derek had filed a complaint alleging physical assault by Claire Whitfield; Claire had filed a prior complaint alleging harassment and physical aggression by Derek Moss. The panel would hear from both parties and relevant witnesses before deliberating.Derek's advisor spoke first. He was smooth and organized. He described Claire as a student who had repeatedly inserted herself into situations, who had refused reasonable requests to coexist peacefully, and who had ultimately physically assaulted Tyler Greer in a parking structure in what Derek's attorney characterized as an unprovoked attack. He used the word "unprovoked" four times. He mentioned Derek's academic standing, his athletic scholarship, and his family's long relationship with the university. He said this carefully, as if mentioning it in passing—the way you mention something you want people to hear, but do not want to appear to be saying. Then he sat down.Dr. Ellison looked at Claire. "Ms. Whitfield," he said.Claire looked at the panel, all five of them. She had thought about this moment for three days: what her grandmother would say, what Marsh would say, what she herself believed. She decided to say the simplest true thing.