Chapter 11 - Viral
By sunrise, Grace had become a villain to people who had never met her.
Comments filled the video.
Psycho.
Expel her.
Sue her family.
One account found David’s workplace and posted the hospital name.
Another posted their street.
David turned off the porch light before breakfast.
Grace stared at the numbers climbing.
Evelyn took the phone from her.
“Do not fight the internet.”
“They’re lying.”
“I know.”
“Everybody thinks I attacked them.”
“Then we show the full story where it matters.”
At the school board building, reporters waited near the entrance.
Grace stopped on the sidewalk.
David stood beside her.
“You can still leave.”
She shook her head.
Inside, Brittany sat with her father and a lawyer.
Kayla sat beside her mother.
Ms. Crane occupied the administrator table.
Officer Reed was nowhere in sight.
The board chair opened the hearing.
“Grace Morgan, you are accused of assaulting two students during school hours.”
Evelyn stood.
“We object to that characterization.”
Charles Vale smiled faintly.
The school attorney played Brittany’s seven-second clip.
Gasps moved through the room.
Then Brittany testified.
“She scared me. I thought she was going to kill us.”
Grace watched her wipe away a perfect tear.
Kayla repeated the story.
Then Ms. Crane spoke.
“Grace has shown escalating hostility for weeks.”
Grace turned sharply.
That was new.
Evelyn stood.
“Where are the reports documenting that?”
Ms. Crane answered, “Verbal reports.”
“No written records?”
“Not all concerns become paperwork.”
Evelyn smiled without warmth.
“Interesting.”
She connected her laptop to the projector.
Charles Vale stopped smiling.
May you like
Evelyn said, “Then let’s look at the paperwork you did keep.”
The spreadsheet with thirty-seven names appeared on the wall.
