3: 3

The findings came back fast.

Veronica's academic misconduct was confirmed.

Her award revoked, her paper retracted, a formal reprimand entered on her record.

She'd come close to being expelled.

The day the notice went up, the whole department blew up.

The same people who had cheered Veronica on in their feeds quietly deleted their comments, pretending nothing had happened.

Lowell ran into me in the stairwell, his face flushed red, head down, trying to slip past.

I stopped him. "Lowell."

He froze, unable to look at me.

"Margie."

"From now on, do your own work. Someone else's results are never going to be yours."

His head dropped even lower. "I'm sorry, Margie."

I said nothing more and walked on.

That night, Leslie called from a number I didn't recognize.

His voice was hoarse.

"Margie, are you satisfied now?"

"I only took back what was mine."

"You destroyed her! Do you have any idea what this means to her? She's completely fallen apart!"

Every word carried his ache for Veronica and his blame for me.

Suddenly the whole thing struck me as absurd.

"Leslie, did you call just to stand up for her?"

The line went quiet.

"I thought you'd at least ask how I'm doing."

He lowered his voice. "The company suspended me. This looks too bad."

"Oh."

Flat. Nothing more.

"That's it? Just 'oh'?"

His voice rose.

"Margery, I'm a victim too! Veronica tricked me! I thought she was really in trouble. I only wanted to help her!"

"So you helped her by stealing from me?"

"I didn't steal anything! I just let her look at your weekly reports. I never thought she'd use them outright!"

"Leslie, you're stupid, but don't treat me like an idiot too."

I hung up.

A few days later, Leslie's mother showed up again, marching straight into my lab.

She grabbed my arm, her eyes bloodshot.

"Margery, you jinx! You ruined Vera, and now you're out to ruin my son too! What are you really after?"

Everyone in the lab turned to look.

I tried to pull free of her grip.

"Please let go of me, Mrs. Dickerson."

"I won't! Today you're coming with me to apologize to Vera! Or I'm not finished with you!"

She was strong, her nails digging in until it hurt.

Professor Finch heard the noise and came over, frowning.

"Ma'am, please calm down. This is a laboratory."

"I can't calm down! My son lost his job because of her! Is this how your school teaches its students? Turning out a woman with a heart like a viper!"

She launched into a full scene, her voice climbing higher and higher.

I looked at her face, twisted with rage, and spoke.

"Do you know something, Mrs. Dickerson? Leslie said I was stupid."

She stopped short.

"He said, 'She's too stupid to catch anything.' Those were his exact words, with his arm around Veronica."

The color rushed in and out of her face.

"You're lying!"

"Whether I'm lying, you can go home and ask that fine son of yours."

I pried her fingers off my arm one by one.

"And don't come looking for me again. Next time, I go straight to the police."

She stared at me, opened her mouth, and in the end said nothing, slinking away.

4: 4

Life seemed to be back on track.

Professor Finch handed me a new project and gave me full independence to run it.

I threw myself into the lab, running experiments day and night, watching the data build up bit by bit, and that pure kind of joy left me satisfied.

It felt like I hadn't thought about Leslie in a long time.

Until the night I stayed in the lab past midnight to finish a data run.

I walked out of the building and only then realized it was pouring outside.

I stood under the eaves, debating whether to just make a run for it.

An umbrella appeared over my head out of nowhere.

I turned and saw Leslie.

He'd lost a lot of weight.

He held the umbrella up, the rain soaking through one shoulder of his shirt.

"Let me drive you home."

His voice was low.

I took a step back, putting space between us.

"No need."

"Margie, the rain's too heavy. You won't get a car."

He stubbornly nudged the umbrella closer to my side.

"That's not your problem."

I took out my phone to call a car.

His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.

"Margie, let's talk."

His hand was cold, damp from the rain.

I frowned and tried to yank free, but he only gripped tighter.

"Let go!"

"I won't!"

He almost shouted it. "Margery, do you really have to treat me like this? I've already got nothing left!"

"You did that to yourself."

"Yes, I did it to myself!"

His eyes were red as he stared at me. "I was wrong, I really know I was wrong. Veronica and I are completely done, she's nothing but a liar! I must have been out of my mind to ever believe her!"

The rain was loud, and his voice came through it in broken pieces.

"Margie, forgive me, please? Let's start over. We still have ten years—"

"Leslie."

I cut him off, my voice very calm.

"We don't have ten years anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean those ten years died the moment you decided to help Veronica steal my data."

He froze, and his grip loosened a little.

I took the chance to pull my hand back and stepped away.

A car stopped in front of us, the window rolling down. It was Professor Finch's doctoral student, Hubert Chavez.

"Margery, still not home this late? Get in, I'll drive you."

"Sure, thanks."

I opened the door and got in.

The car pulled away, and in the side mirror I saw Leslie still standing there, rain mixed with something else sliding down his face.

He looked pitiful.

But what did that have to do with me?