Entangled: A Novel Part 20

"I think she felt guilty about being caught in a hotel room with an underage former student."

Allison got to her feet. "Objection! The witness is speculating what the defendant thought."

"Sustained. Continue, Mr. Woodruff."

"So did Miss Spencer ask you to leave?"

"Yes. Eventually."

"And did you leave when she asked you to?"

"Yes, absolutely. To be honest, I really didn't want any part of what was going on there."

Abbey could feel her pulse pounding in her temples. She leaned over to Allison. "This is a bunch of c.r.a.p. She's acting like Mother Teresa up there," she said, loud enough for the entire room to hear her. The hearing room went silent, and all eyes were on Abbey. She wished she could disappear through a trap door into the floor.

Allison touched Abbey's arm to stop her from talking again. She tore off a page from the legal pad and slid it and a pen toward her. "If you have anything you want me to know, write it down," Allison whispered.

Abbey nodded.

"Before you left the hotel room, is that when you took the picture of Miss Spencer and Hayden?"

"No."

"When did you take the picture?"

"When I came back up to the room."

"Why did you go back if Miss Spencer asked you to leave?"

"Because the more I thought about it, the more it felt wrong to leave that girl alone with Miss Spencer and not do anything about it."

Abbey took the piece of paper that Allison gave her and scribbled out a message. She slid it over for Allison to read. "She's lying! That's not why she came back. She came back to spy on us!" Abbey wrote.

Ann continued with her testimony. "When I came down the hall, that's when I saw her and Hayden standing in the doorway kissing."

"And that's when you took the picture?"

"Yes."

"Could what you observed happening between Miss Spencer and Hayden had been nothing more than an innocent kiss goodbye, a just between friends kiss?"

"No. It looked like more than that."

Abbey grabbed the paper back and scribbled another message to Allison and shoved the paper across the table. Allison glanced down, read the note, and nodded. Frustrated with Allison's lack of response, Abbey began writing again. Allison took the pen out of Abbey's hand and wrote on the paper: "Settle down!" Allison took the paper and pen away and stuffed it into her briefcase. Abbey slouched back in her chair with her arms folded across her chest.

Mr. Woodruff continued. "What happened after you took the photo, Professor White?"

"Miss Spencer became irate. She was so angry at being caught that she chased me down the hall."

"Thank you, Professor White. Your witness, Miss Winters."

Allison stood. She gave Abbey a look conveying no further outbursts and walked over to Ann. "Professor White, something tells me you're not telling us the entire truth about your relationship with Miss Spencer."

Ann looked down, avoiding eye contact with Allison.

"Professor White, you said you and Miss Spencer lived together for several years, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"In what capacity did you and Miss Spencer live together?"

"We were housemates," Ann said, looking toward the panel.

"Were you and Miss Spencer ever intimate during the time you lived together?"

"Objection," the prosecutor shouted. "The witness's character isn't in question here."

"Miss Winters, what is the relevance of this questioning?"

"I think it's relevant to establish that Miss Spencer and Professor White's relationship may have been more than platonic."

"Please answer the question, Professor," Mr. Tucci said.

Abbey looked up at Ann. She could see Ann's jaw muscle flick angrily. A sense of satisfaction washed over her. Abbey knew Ann didn't want the details of their life together out there in the open for everyone to see. But Ann did this. She instigated it, and it looked like she wouldn't be walking away from this without a few scars of her own.

"Abbey and I were partners."

"Partners in business?"

"No." Ann hesitated. Abbey was on the edge of her seat wondering if Ann would tell the truth or commit perjury to save her own dignity. "In a relationship."

"A romantic relationship?" Allison asked.

"Yes."

There it was. The one thing Ann feared most. Out in broad daylight. Abbey was sure it would be out in the newspapers, too.

"Professor White, may I ask what prompted you to bring these charges against Miss Spencer?"

"I felt that what Miss Spencer was doing was unethical. I wasn't happy with her behavior, and I needed to put a stop to it."

"Professor White, ethical standards are not intended to make illegal every action that makes somebody unhappy," Allison said. "If that were the case, aren't you guilty of unethical behavior yourself? After all, isn't it true that you and Miss Spencer began your relationship while Miss Spencer was your student at Mercyhurst? Actually, that would be something to look into now, wouldn't it?"

Mr. Woodruff stood. "Objection! The witness is not on trial here."

"I'll allow it," Mr. Tucci said. "Professor White, please answer the question."

Ann looked down and her hands that were knotted in her lap. The room was silent.

"Professor White? Please answer the question," Mr. Tucci repeated.

"Yes, Miss Spencer and I did have an intimate relationship, but it was different because Miss Spencer was eighteen when we met, unlike in this case where Hayden Crissman was still a minor."

"Still, Professor White, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Miss Spencer a student in your literature cla.s.s at the time you began a relationship with her?"

Ann nodded.

"Can you speak your answer for the record please?"

"Yes," Ann answered.

"So in a way, you are just as guilty of what you are accusing Miss Spencer of."

"Objection! Professor White's character isn't on trial here."

Allison looked directly at Ann. "Maybe it should be." Allison turned and walked back to the defense table. "No further questions."

Ann was excused from the witness stand and Mr. Woodruff called Hayden as the next witness. Hayden raised her right hand, and the bailiff administered the oath. Hayden sat stiffly in the wooden witness chair.

Mr. Woodruff approached the stand. "Hayden, can you tell me why we're here today?"

Hayden looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. "Professor White thought Miss Spencer and I did something wrong."

"Do you understand why Professor White would feel that way?"

"Because she doesn't think Miss Spencer and I should be together."

"Hayden, on the night of the incident, did you feel threatened in any way by Miss Spencer?"

"No, sir."

"Did you feel that at anytime you were with Miss Spencer you could stop what was happening, stop Miss Spencer's advances?"

"Yes, sir."

"Did you try to stop Miss Spencer's advances?"

Hayden hesitated. She knew if she lied, Abbey would be in a lot of trouble with the school board, but if she told the truth, she'd be in a lot of trouble with her mother.

"Hayden? I know this is difficult for you, but we need you to answer Mr. Woodruff's question," Mr. Tucci said.

Hayden looked up. She needed a moment to gain her composure. "Can you repeat the question?"

Mr. Woodruff walked closer to the witness stand. "Hayden, did you try to stop Miss Spencer's advances toward you in the hotel room?"

"No, sir."

"Why not?"

"Because I care about Abbey, and it was what I wanted, too."

"Are you saying you encouraged Miss Spencer's advances toward you?"

"Yes, sir. And I think it was wrong of Professor White to intrude like she did. It wasn't any of her business what was going on between Abbey and me." Hayden looked over at Abbey. "I love Abbey. And I wanted to be with her. What's so wrong with that?"

There was a rumble of voices in the hearing room. Hayden looked over at her mother, who looked as shocked as everyone else.

Tears p.r.i.c.ked at Abbey's eyes as she watched Hayden on the witness stand. She felt bad for putting this wonderful girl through this. She certainly didn't deserve it.

"Hayden, you do understand the premise here? You were still underage when this took place. One could say Miss Spencer used her position, as someone you may have once looked up to, into coercing you into committing 'unnatural acts.'"

Allison leapt to her feet. "Objection! What are we living in-the 1950s? It's 2010, for G.o.d's sake. Can we cut out the h.o.m.ophobia?"

"Miss Winters, please show some respect for the clergy in the room," Mr. Tucci said.

Mr. Woodruff returned to his table. "Your witness, Counselor."

Allison walked up to the witness stand. "Hayden, it's quite apparent how you felt about Miss Spencer. When you were alone with her, did you feel as if you were in any danger?"

"No, ma'am."

"If during your encounter with Miss Spencer you felt you needed to stop or leave, do you feel she would have respected your decision?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"What makes you feel so certain?"

"Because she asked me if I was sure this is what I wanted."

"And you told her?"

"I told her yes. I was sure."

"But, Hayden, the law says you were underage, not yet eighteen yet, at the time of the encounter. Supposedly not yet able to make those decisions for yourself. Looking back now, does it change how you feel about your decision of what happened that night?"

"I'm eighteen now, and I don't feel any different than I did last summer. I would have made the same choice today as I did then."

"Nothing further." Allison walked back to the defense table.

Mr. Tucci stood. "We'd like to break for a fifteen-minute recess."

Hayden got up from the witness stand as the hearing room emptied out, leaving her alone with her mother. Her mom extended her hand to her and directed her to sit next to her on one of the benches. Hayden couldn't look at her mom. It was too painful to see the disappointment in her eyes.

"Hayden, don't you think we should talk about this?" her mother asked, her voice soft and gentle.