Chapter #4Parental Plagarism? by: Alistair   If the door had swung open to reveal the devil himself, you would have preferred that over the person who strolled in to the room, her heels clacking on the hardwood floor with each step matching your own rising heart rate.
Penelope Graham, the dean of the college and your worst nightmare was joining this meeting? Her presence only made you wonder what you had been called down here for. Was it a trap? Or was there a genuine reason why a meeting about your daughter would require the person in charge of the entirety of Weston to be present?
Who am I kidding, of course it’s a trap. You thought bitterly to yourself, not seeing any potential escape routes that Penelope couldn’t cut off easily. So you elected to bide your time and make a break for it when the opportunity arose, and listen to her explain whatever evil plan she had concocted in the meantime.
“Good Morning, Mr Jacobs,” Penelope wore a friendly smile on her face, but you could see the malice behind her eyes. “I’m sure you’re wondering why you’ve been called down for this meeting today, and why my presence is required.”
“Well… yeah, I guess that would be my first set of questions,” you replied coldly, making your distaste over speaking to Penelope abundantly clear.
“Now, now, Mr Jacobs,” Penelope tutted. “I know you and I have our history, but that’s all in the past. I’m here to discuss the future. Specifically, your daughter, Juliana’s future at this institution…”
Her words were laced with threatening undertones, and you knew what she was about to announce was not a good thing.
“You see, here at Weston, we treat plagiarism with the utmost seriousness…” She paused, likely for dramatic effect, and smirked as she saw confusion grow on your expression. “… and it seem, I’m afraid, that Juliana has been plagiarising material in her assessments.”
“What? Juli would nev-“ You began to protest, before Penelope held a hand up to silence you.
“I know it’s difficult to take in, but please let me finish,” Penelope feigned empathy, an emotion that you already knew she was incapable of experiencing, as she continued. “You see, it’s become standard practice here at Weston for our faculty to run assessments turned in by students through a program that compares their work to all of the archived assessments of previous students, and it seems that Juliana’s latest exam paper contains shockingly similar grammar use, phrasing and specific language used to one particular alumni of ours… you.”
“M-me?” You stammered, shocked that your daughter’s work would even be compared to yours in the first place, considering that you both studied subjects that were completely different to one another.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Professor Larsen interjected. “I ran the program on Juli’s assessment, and then reran it to ensure there were no mistakes made, and got the same result.”
“…and then she passed it on to me, and I ran it, and my third attempt also came to the same conclusion,” Penelope allowed a predatory smile to shine through her mask of civility. “That you helped your daughter cheat on an exam.”
“No! I’d never do that, Juli would never need my help on any of her exams!” You protested.
“I’m sorry to say it Matthew, but I think you are lying to me,” Penelope replied, her smile betraying that she most definitely wasn’t sorry to say it. “And in the interest of ensuring that Weston maintains its zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism, I am going to have to expel Juliana…”
You wracked your brain for a way to prevent Penelope from taking out whatever grudge she had against you on your daughter, but your train of thought was interrupted as Penelope dropped another bombshell on you.
“…and I will have to revoke your degree also.”
It took several seconds for what Penelope had said to you to sink in. If your degree was revoked, anything that you had worked on at Small Wonders would likely come under harsh scrutiny, and patents could probably be pulled because of it! Penelope wasn’t just coming after your family, but any good your work as an engineer could possibly do!
Before you could even formulate a response, Penelope continued.
“But, in the interest of now creating a scandal, I’m here to offer you a deal,” the demonic dean grinned, eying you like a predator that had cornered its prey.
“A-a deal?” You repeated, a sinking feeling in your gut telling you that whatever Penelope was about to ask of you was the whole reason Juli’s assessments were put under such intense scrutiny.
“Yes, and in the interest of kindness, I’m going to give you two options here. You only need to pick one, but I need an agreement here and now. No discussions with Marisol! No time to think about it. Now. Nod if you understand,” Penelope smirked as you nodded on command.“Good…”
You listened intently, knowing that whatever offers Penelope made would likely make you miserable, but saw no other options…
1) “…Option One: You will sign this usage license that will designate you as property of Weston University for the duration of Juliana’s time here, to ensure that she cannot use you to cheat on an exam again. During the period of usage, you will fulfil whatever needs the faculty have for you, with myself having final say on what uses you will fulfil.”
2) “…Option Two: I need you to convince your sister to endorse my campaign for state senator of Oakland. If you fail to do so, you will default to Option One.”
3) After being told both options, you tell Penelope to go screw herself, leading to Juli’s expulsion, and your degree being revoked…  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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