Freshman Just Wanted Dinner — Until Three Bullies Made a Mistake That Cost Them Everything
Chapter 34
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When she finished, Dean Hargrove said he needed to briefly recess the panel for consultation. The panel stepped into the adjoining room.Tyler sat at his table. His lawyer was speaking to him quietly; Tyler was not responding, looking at the table in front of him.Brandon Cole was still sitting along the side wall. He had watched everything in silence. Now he got up, walked to the respondent's table, and sat down across from Claire. He looked at her directly."I want to say something," he said, "on the record when the panel comes back.""Okay," Claire said."I need you to know that I didn't know about the other students," he said. "Rachel and the others. I didn't know it had happened before. I knew Tyler went after people sometimes; I thought it was just him being Tyler. I didn't understand it was organized." He stopped. "That's not an excuse," he said. "I was there Friday night. I didn't stop it. I didn't say anything. That's on me."Claire looked at him. "Why are you telling me this now?" she said."Because I grew up with a guy named Kevin Morrison," he said. "We were in the same dorm freshman year. He was on scholarship. He was going to be a doctor. He was the kind of person who made everyone around him better just by being there." He paused. "He left second semester of last year—withdrew. Just gone. I asked Tyler about it, and Tyler said Kevin had some personal issues and it was better that he left. I believed him."He looked at his hands. "Devin Harris... that's Kevin's middle name. He used it when he transferred, to start fresh somewhere."The room was very quiet."I looked it up last night," Brandon said. "He transferred to a state school. He is still pre-med. He had to start over; he lost eighteen months." His voice was steady, just barely. "Tyler did that to him. My uncle helped. And I sat next to Tyler at dinner Friday night and didn't say a word."He looked at Claire. "I would like to testify," he said. "Whatever that means here. Whatever the right process is. I want to say everything I know."Claire looked at him for a long moment. She thought about what it meant to do the right thing late: it was not the same as doing it on time; it didn't fix what had already happened; it didn't give Kevin Morrison his eighteen months back; it didn't erase the fact that Brandon had been in that booth on Friday night and had let Tyler do what Tyler did. It didn't do any of that.But it was something. It was the thing that was still possible to do."Tell Carol Whitfield," Claire said. "She'll make sure it's part of the record."Brandon nodded. He got up and went to find Carol.