Page 75 of Bend Him, Break Him
“I’m Mrs. Hyman,” the administrator said before introducing the rest of the panel. Isaac didn’t bother wasting the brain cells necessary to store their names. “I don’t wish to mince words with you, Mr. Parker, but these actions are not how we at Clinton University conduct ourselves.”
“Never.” Isaac scoffed. “The University of Clinton Lloyd Institute of Technology takes the code of conduct to the extreme.”
He recalled how many team building trainings he had to attend as an RA the last two years because of incidents similar if not worse than his own claim to fame through online amateur porn. Hell, he recalled the lacrosse team incident his freshman year, which likely explained why the university acted quickly during any type of athletic sex scandal.
“This isn’t a laughing matter or a joke of any sort,” Mrs. Hyman said, flipping through a code of conduct book.
“Of course not,” Isaac replied, ready to be done with the pretense of this bullshit meeting. “Tell me, is it cause our sex tape didn’t include any CLIT merch? Or clits in general? Would you have preferred I railed one of the cheerleaders instead?”
A cacophony of offended noises escaped Mrs. Hyman and a few others.
“I was going to ease us into this discussion, but you’re clearly too hostile for civil conversation,” Mrs. Hyman snapped, eyes furious and locked onto Isaac.
“Oh, no.” Isaac shook his head. “I say pop the hymen, Mrs. Hyman, and just hit me with the bad news.”
“Because of this inappropriate behavior and misconduct, you are being relieved of your position as an RA. Filming sexual involvement is against any code of conduct—”
“I didn’t film it,” Isaac shouted, shouted the way he wanted to when Colton questioned him, when Colton’s paranoia made him doubt Isaac’s earnest devotion to him. “I had nothing to do with the sex tape. A terrible one at that.”
Isaac had watched it, watched every expression on his face, on Colton’s, the words they both grunted throughout, and he wished he could undo that entire night. Maybe he should’ve just rejected Colton’s invitation to go partying. Maybe he should’ve insisted on dragging him back to his dorm instead of the ridiculous afterparty at the apartment. Maybe…
Maybe he shouldn’t have dated Colton to begin with.
“Until you have proof otherwise, we have to assume your role in this incident.” Mrs. Hyman shrugged, a real ‘fuck you’ gesture. “Also, given the scandalous choices you’ve made with a student under your charge, you’ll be removed from your TA position pending an investigation.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Isaac said with bitter disgust rolling off his tongue. Was fucking a student in the class appropriate? Probably not. Was there a rule about it? Nope. He’d read the handbook a dozen times over. And he’d seen enough TAs banging freshmen looking for help in a class to learn that no one gave a fuck who fucked who on campus as long as it didn’t make the front pages.
And his relations had. Not by his doing, though.
“Since you’re no longer an RA, you’ll be required to remove your belongings and vacate the dormitory by the end of theweek. Anything left in the suite will be seized and properly disposed of.”
“Get fucked,” Isaac hissed, then stormed out of the office.
The long trek across campus didn’t assuage his rage; in fact, every step only added to his fury when he got back to his building. Anyone foolish enough to speak to him got a curt ‘fuck off’ comment. When he got to his suite, he started tossing his things into garbage bags as quickly as he could. They were cheaper than suitcases, and he never needed to waste space by storing them when he could buy a new box of bags for any moving needs.
It helped vent his anger, carelessly throwing possessions into keep and trash piles. They’d allotted him a week to collect his stuff and vacate the premises, but he wanted to be out by the end of the day. Every fiber of his being wanted to run away from this campus and never look back, but he didn’t know where to go. He didn’t know if this scandal would follow him, or worse, prevent him from attending a new university.
With a deep breath, Isaac tried to release his hatred for the campus. It wasn’t the school he hated. It was the bureaucracy lotted out by a handful that he despised.
He grabbed his phone and texted Mina about crashing at her place since she was the only friend he had who lived off campus. Well, the only one willing to offer him a couch for who knew how long since he’d lost his job and residency all in one fell swoop.
Mina didn’t require an explanation. She texted back with her address and a time when she’d be home.
Since Isaac still needed to clear his head and had a few hours to kill, he texted Jazz to hang at her place. Was it convenient that she lived in the same apartment complex as Colton? Maybe. Wasthere a chance Isaac would see Colton? Unlikely. Did Isaac want to be nearby just in case the opportunity arose? Definitely.
Jazz didn’t reply, so Isaac decided to be the obnoxious friend who showed up unannounced and knocked on the door.
“Dumpster diving?” a cool voice asked with a laugh.
Isaac turned to see his former friend, William, breaking away from a small group and sauntering over. There was an air of arrogance about him, a confidence, a bravado of excitement as he slinked around Isaac.
“How the mighty have fallen.” William smirked. “To think, you kicked me out of GSA over a scandalous recording that never saw the light of day, and now, ironically—”
“You’re a fucking moron,” Isaac said through clamped teeth. “First off, you don’t know a damn thing about irony, so don’t use pretty words you can’t define.”
Isaac dropped his trash bags of possessions and closed the distance between him and William.
“Second, I didn’t kick you out; we collectively got rid of your sorry ass.”
