Page 95 of Pucking Good Girl

“Yes!” Gen practically yells. “Ask Victor. He’ll confirm this.”

Professor Cantucci looks perplexed. I swear if she weren’t an award-winning historian, publisher, author, artist, and archaeologist, she could have a future in Hollywood.

“You’ll be happy to know that I already had a conversation with Victor. He told me everything about how he’s been helping you cheat for a couple of years. Once he started talking, there was no stopping him. He explained how you paid him to change your grades in several classes, abusing the position of trust he held with me and with other teachers. Victor also explained how he didn’t think it was safe to manipulate your grades once the investigation started after Professor Hartley and I spotted some discrepancies in last year’s classes. He said he had decided to take a break from tampering with grades, but then he caught you cheating by copying Talia’s pop quiz in my class, and he thought he could get something from you.”

Gen is shaking. “These are all lies. I never asked Victor to change my grades. He was already cheating by doctoring his own exam results and altered mine without me knowing. Then he came to me, asking for money. He was blackmailing me, I swear. And then Talia copied from me, and when he caught her, he asked me to have sex with him in exchange for his silence. He said that if I didn’t sleep with him, he would report both of us, even if I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all her fault!” She points her finger at me.

“Unbelievable,” Sam says under her breath. “She totally reversed the story. What a fucking psycho.”

But Professor Cantucci knows the truth. “I’m afraid it’s not exactly the way you remember it, Miss Bergen. And before you start spinning tales, I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. We have a recorded admission from Victor, and the sheriff was able to obtain a full confession and a guilty plea in return for some leniency when he’ll be sentenced.”

I’m still shocked by how quickly Victor was faced with charges.

“That’s why he’s been dismissed as my assistant and expelled from the graduate program he was attending,” the professor continues. “For fixing grades, tampering with the university’s IT systems, and for covering up academic cheating and blackmail. That’s without even mentioning the blackmail. I’m sure the DA will have a very long list of charges.”

Gen’s eyes shift from left to right, as if she were looking for a way out. “But I’m a victim too,” her eyes fill with tears. “He blackmailed me, and I didn’t know what to do. I was so scared.”

I don’t know if there’s anyone left in this room who doesn’t see straight through Gen’s crocodile tears.

“That isn’t true, and you know it,” Professor Cantucci says. “Thanks to Talia, we have Victor on tape saying that you paid him to change your grades last year. And that you were hoping to keep it going this year too, but he was too worried to get caught because of the investigation. When you couldn’t get good grades without studying, you decided to copy from Talia. And when you got caught, you traded sexual favors for Victor’s silence. That hardly sounds like a victim to me, Miss Bergen. So it goes without saying that you’re stripped of the presidency effective immediately.”

“You can’t do that.” Gen snaps.

Professor Cantucci sets the record straight. “As a member of the central chapter, and having irrefutable proof of behavior that goes against every rule of the Zeta Theta Beta code of conduct, I have the power to remove you from office. Expelling you from the sorority, however, should be up to your sisters and put to a vote.”

That isn’t true. Gen is going to be expelled from the university too, so the central chapter could technically revoke her membership. But after hearing how I was kicked out for no reason, Professor Cantucci thought that we should offer Genevieve a dose of her own medicine.

“We’ll vote by show of hands,” Professor Cantucci announces. “Every Zeta sister in favor of Genevieve Bergen’s immediate expulsion from the ranks of our sorority, raise your hands.”

“Wait!” Gen screams. “Don’t I get a chance to defend myself?”

Professor Cantucci looks unimpressed. “The reasons why you’re getting expelled aren’t in question. What could you possibly say to influence this vote?”

“That half of you bitches,” she looks at the sisters around the room. “Are living in my daddy’s apartment complex. On a discounted rate I negotiated because we’re sisters. If that’s no longer true, I’m pretty sure my daddy will be more than happy to rent out those apartments to tenants who pay the full price.”

Our professor takes great pleasure in correcting that assumption. “When’s the last time you spoke to your father, Miss Bergen? I spoke to him this morning to inform him about this regrettable situation, and he was appalled by your conduct. So appalled, in fact, that he asked me to inform you that he would be canceling the emergency credit card you still have use of by the end of today. He guaranteed that your expulsion from Zeta Theta Beta wouldn’t change the status of the rentals he helped us with at the beginning of the academic year. Now, all in favor of Genevieve Bergen’s immediate expulsion from the ranks of our sorority, raise your hands.”

Every hand in the room shoots up in the air except those of Gen’s best friends.

“Really?” Sam rolls her eyes.

Madison raises her hand but keeps her eyes fixed on a spot on the wall opposite her.

Olivia is the last one holding out. She’s the physical carbon copy of Gen; the only difference is that she has platinum blonde hair rather than Gen’s raven colored tresses. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, raising her hand. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Oh, no, sweetie,” Gen says softly. “I could never be mad at you. It’s only fitting that you need someone to follow blindly, since you don’t have two brain cells to rub together.”

“Miss Bergen,” Professor Cantucci’s tone is somber. “You’re hereby expelled from Zeta Theta Beta. Your expulsion from the university is just a formality at this point. The board will see you at the earliest opportunity, but for now, I have to ask you to leave the sorority house.”

Gen’s hands are balled into fists. “What about all my things?”

“When I informed him about the situation, your father reassured me that he’ll send someone to collect all your belongings. Your sisters will elect a new president in a couple of days. In the meantime, Sam and Carissa were kind enough to help empty the presidential suite. What did you do with Miss Bergen’s belongings, girls?”

Carissa flashes a megawatt smile. “We collected everything in trash bags, ma’am. There wasn’t a lot of room in the house, so they’re out back in the shed where the trash cans we use for food composting are. We’ll let Mr. Bergen’s staff know where to find them.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Gen screams. “That’s all designer clothes and accessories. Everything is going to smell like rotten fish if you leave it out there.”

“Aww, that’s unfortunate,” Professor Cantucci’s tone is sympathetic. “I know how much you hate fish, since you wouldn’t even try the garum. This is all, sisters. Today’s meeting is adjourned. Genevieve, you need to leave.” The professor declares.