Private School Playboys novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Hearing

The committee room had a long table, six chairs, and a portrait of a dead founder with disapproving eyebrows.

I sat on one side of the table alone.

On the other side sat the headmaster, two teachers, a woman from the board who knitted when she was bored, and the board chair.

He sat in the middle.

He did not look at me.

It was Monday, December first, nine o'clock.

Outside the door, I knew, Roisin was pacing the hall.

I had told her to wait there and not to touch anything.

"Miss Whittredge," the headmaster said. "This review concerns a complaint of conduct unbecoming a scholar."

"Who filed it?" I asked.

A short silence.

"A fellow student."

"Which student?"

"The identity of the complainant is confidential," the board chair said.

"Is it Sheridan Ashworth?"

The knitting woman looked up.

"Miss Whittredge, this isn't the forum."

"Then what is the forum?"

I put my folder on the table and opened it.

"I have a four-point-oh average," I said. "I have the highest score in the junior class on the state exam."

"I work in the library twelve hours a week. I have no disciplinary marks in three and a half years."

"Your conduct on Founders' Night," the board chair began.

"I poured punch on a boy who cheated on me."

One of the teachers coughed into her hand.

"It was a lot of punch," I said. "I apologize to the housekeeping staff. I've already cleaned the floor myself."

The headmaster's mouth did something complicated.

"You also disrupted a chapel assembly," the board chair said.

"The headmaster opened the floor. I used it."

"And you've been seen publicly with a student of questionable reputation."

"With a student who has a B average and no marks this term."

The board chair leaned forward.

"Miss Whittredge. Scholarships at Hollis are a privilege. The board has the right to withdraw them for any reason it sees fit."

"Then I have a question about the board."

I looked directly at him.

"Sir, your daughter was involved in the incident on Founders' Night."

"She's the reason the complaint exists. She's the other party in the whole matter."

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