"What's with all the hesitation?" Earl stepped forward. "If you make a mistake, you should apologize. David wronged Delilah. A public apology is the least he can do. As a supervisor, he didn’t even bother to properly read his student’s papers, and just dismissed all her achievements without a second thought. Shouldn’t the school do something about that kind of behavior? Honestly, I think he deserves more than just a slap on the wrist. Let this be a lesson to all the faculty. Everyone should put in more effort and care about their students, so no more talented students get overlooked!"

Hadley wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Earl, you make a good point. We’ll handle it as you suggested. Professor Lawson, you don’t have any objections, do you?"

"I apologize," David said, his face as black as thunder. He added, "If Josie wants her data and papers back, I agree. I shouldn’t have ignored her work, and I’ll take whatever punishment the school decides to give me."

Hadley let out a sigh of relief. "Another reason for today’s meeting is to address the selection of entries for the campus competition. Professor Lawson questioned Josie’s abilities and insisted that Professor Wilcourt did all the work on their behalf. He even asked the school to remove their entry from the shortlist. But now that everything has been cleared up and Josie’s abilities are plain for all to see, their entry will remain in the competition. Professor Lawson, you don’t have any objections to that, do you?"

"No objections," David muttered. He was so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear right away. He never imagined that one day, he’d get slapped in the face by the student he’d always overlooked right in front of everyone. He glanced around at the crowd. All these people were there because he hoped they’d gang up on Josie’s team and pick their work apart. But now, he didn’t even make it past the first round. He’d already lost before things even got started.

Hadley rubbed his hands together nervously. "For the sake of fairness, I suggest that both Professor Lawson and Professor Wilcourt step down from the judging panel for the campus competition. Do you both have any objections?"

Delilah shot David a frosty glare. "As long as he quits, I will, too."

David’s face turned beet red as he muttered, "I won’t be judging."

"Then apologize!" Delilah said, blocking his way as he tried to leave. "Josie, go ahead and copy all your experimental data and papers."

Josie nodded, walked up to the front, and took the USB drive that David had brought. Getting these files and papers back was something she’d never even dreamed of. She always thought those papers had been discarded. But now, it seemed that might not be the case. Maybe, with some reorganization, they could actually make a real impact.

David looked at Delilah, but she wasn’t about to move aside. The other teachers looked at each other, not sure what to do. They felt quite unfortunate to be caught in this mess. They were all colleagues, and these two were the real heavyweights. Nobody in their right mind wanted to get on either of their bad sides. David swept his gaze over the room, but everyone suddenly looked away, pretending they hadn’t seen what was going on. But curiosity got the better of them, and they kept sneaking glances anyway. Watching David get embarrassed like this was quite rare.

David muttered, "I’m sorry, Professor Wilcourt. I shouldn’t have accused you before getting all the facts straight. From now on, I’ll watch what I say and do, and make sure I never wrong anyone like this again."

David drew in a long breath, his face stiff. "Happy now?"

"I’ll never be satisfied with your apology. Not now, not ever," Delilah said, stepping aside. She added, "For the record, I have no intention of forgiving you. So go. Don’t mess with me again, or next time, it won’t end with just an apology!"

David tried to keep up appearances, his face still dark as he turned to leave.

Josie quickly caught up to him. "Professor Lawson, here’s your USB drive. If you don’t care for the files I left on it, just go ahead and delete them. I might not be the most capable, but I know how to be a decent person. I’d never break school rules, let alone the law. If you want to keep tabs on me, be my guest."

David didn’t have the guts to say anything else to her. He snatched the USB drive and left without another word.

As soon as he left, Delilah’s face turned cold. She said, "Mr. Rogers, you’d better be fair. Don’t go easy on him just because he’s David. I’m expecting the school to actually punish him. I’ll be watching."