Novel Palace
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
23. The Hearing
I got released from the hospital earlier than anyone anticipated, leaving a bunch of baffled doctors as I left. Had it not been for the ethical laws of the country that prevented human experimentation, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t have been able to make it out of the hospital anytime soon. They looked like they were dying to put me into a glass box so they could find out what secrets that lay within my body. My finger is still broken, and it will take about a month for it to heal, hence it is in a cast. The bruises on my body are faded, and the ribs are still smarting. I get massive headaches from time to time, and half the medicine allocated to me is painkillers. But I’m upright, and I can walk. That’s healed enough for me. Gerald and Coraline come to take me home from the hospital, and I realize that I still have a long way to go in order to become fully functional as I fall asleep halfway through the trip. I have been given an indefinite leave of absence by the university, none of the lectures or exams I’m missing will affect my coursework, and after I healed and returned, I had plenty of opportunity to catch up. And so I spend the next few days at home sleeping and eating, eating and sleeping. I do nothing, no matter how hard it is.
But it pays off. Soon, I am fit enough to nearly function as I did before.
And that’s when the email comes.
The hearing regarding my physical assault is a closed-off, highly confidential affair, as a result of the university trying to do its best to have some kind of damage control regarding the whole situation. But the secrecy makes it worse, and when I arrive at the campus grounds, there’s a bunch of reported parked outside, interviewing students and lectures, basically hounding everyone that was entering or exiting. From inside the car, Gerald and I watch them.
“Let’s take the back entrance,” I tell Gerald, “I do not fancy sticking my face in the evening news.”
The back entrance, which is one of the seven auxiliary entrances to the King’s College university grounds is the least known, hence we find no reporters there. Our car parks right in front of the
administrative building of the university, where the Dean’s office is situated in, and Gerald and I hastily make our way inside to avoid any sort of attention.
Within the Dean’s office, the whole university board, as well as representatives from the student’s union, the school council, department heads, and professors are all present, and it’s fortunate that the Dean’s office is larger enough to place them all and still have extra space. Everyone’s expression is somber.
At a corner, Stone and his goons stand, looking terrified but doing their best to not let it show. Stone looks no better than he did the last time, but when I look at him I feel no guilt. Serves him right for everything he put me through. At least now he will learn his lesson. Behind the students, their parents stand, and I notice all of them give me death glares before I take my place opposite them.
The hearing commences, and it doesn’t take much time for it to delve into chaos.
“That boy ruined my company!” Stone’s father screams at me, mottled with rage, “he started all of this because he was jealous of my son. He wanted one of my son’s girlfriends, and when the girl refused, he took his revenge on Stone!”
“I did no such thing.” I protested, eyes wide at the blatant lies that were being told, “I wanted nothing to do with your son, your son is the one who bullied me from my first day on campus. He put up Kayla to lure me into a hotel room so they could prank me.”
“Silence, both of you,” the Dean orders, and we purse our lips, “Mr. Jeffreys, we are aware of every altercation that took part between your son and Mr. Greyson over here, and I can assure you that
whatever it is that your son told you happened is not the truth. In fact, we have a video of the distasteful prank he played on Mr. Greyson at hand. That alone is a violation of campus rules. Besides, the girl, Kayla, testified.”
Stone’s eyes widen, “what?!”
“Soon after the assault at the cafeteria, she came forward and told us everything that happened firsthand. After her, a few more students witnessed me. Greyson being bullied came forward as well. That is how. we knew that this issue was going on for so long.”
“But he ruined my company!” Mr. Jeffreys insists, and the Dean inclines his head toward us.
“That is none of the university’s concern,” he notes, “but for clarity’s sake, Mr. Greyson, did you do what he accuses me of?”
I open my mouth to speak, but Gerald beats me to it, “Mr. Greyson is not responsible for what happened. to Mr. Jeffreys company. I was present in the aftermath of this so-called prank, and Mr. Greyson told me to notify his father about what happened so we could work on taking down the live-streamed video. Mr. Greyson’s father, who was a good friend of mine. Jeffrey’s business partner told him about Stone Jeffreys
disgraceful contact. What happened afterward is not the fault of the Greysons.”
I’m kind of miffed at being interrupted by Gerald, but he handled that question so easily that I can’t bring myself to be mad.
“What he said,” I confirm, “I just wanted to give my dad a heads-up.”
I don’t normally resort to such lies, but during my time in my father’s world, I realized that reconstruction of certain facts, or altering them was necessary at times. NôvelDrama.Org content rights.
Stone’s father looks like he wants to end me then and there, but keeps his mouth shut. The hearing continues, and finally, after getting witness statements from everyone, the Dean and the board discuss the best course of action.
“Stone Jeffreys, Phillip Cray, Jean Lee, Dex Slitter,” the Dean announces, “The board and I have reached a decision, and we’ve realized that we cannot overlook your actions, nor can we excuse them. This is not the first time any of you have been caught breaking the rules, and we’ve given you too many chances. So, you are hereby expelled from King’s College university for dishonorable conduct and assault of student Jace Greyson.”