The Note, 180 and The Longest Five Minutes
…gazed right at Pam as she approached. She was accompanied by Stacy and Chloe and the rest. They had come after all.
“This is a closed meeting,” Thorne informed them.
“That’s funny,” Chloe corrected. “The last I checked, the woods were college property. Did you reserve them in advance?”
Thorne rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t interfere if I were you,” he warned. “Unless, of course, you’d like to see the repairs on the women’s center forestalled. You see, that’s college property as well. And yet, its been made to be somewhat exclusive. One could raise the argument, therefore, that the cost of fixing the windows should fall not upon the college but upon those students who use it most. One could raise that argument very easily.”
“We won’t interfere,” Pam promised. “We just have something to give to Chris.”
She handed Chris an envelope. He opened it and read the letter within, his eyes straining against the darkness to make out the words. It made no sense in darkness and it would have made no sense in light. Overwhelmed with dizzy gratitude, he passed it on to Chuck to examine.
“Can we get this going?” Matt asked impatiently. “I’m sure we all have some reality TV shows that we’d rather be watching.”
A few people snickered. They had VCRs and had remembered to tape their favorite programs. Heaven forbid they should miss just one.
“I’m entering this into evidence as defense exhibit one,” Chuck declared.
“Approach?” Matt asked.
Thorne nodded.
“What is it?” he whispered to Chuck.
“It’s a note,” Chuck explained, his voice racked with the tension of the unexplained. “Signed by every student in Professor Thorne’s class. It expresses an apology for the walkout and explains that they were told to do so by Matt.”
“No way that’s admissible,” Matt contended. “You can’t just….”
“Let me see that note!” Thorne demanded. Chuck forked it over and watched as the professor removed his mask and scrutinized the note under a flashlight. His expression changed from amused to confused to enraged. He was Othello in search of a Desdemona to avenge himself upon.
“That’s a forgery,” Matt argued. “It has to be!”
“I don’t think so,” Thorne very calmly replied. “You see, I’m a firm believer in in-class essays. Most of my students complain, but they always turn them in. As a result, I’ve had a chance to become acquainted with everyone’s handwriting style. A forgery? Nah. But someone around here IS perpetrating a lie.”
Whilst their deliberations continued on in secretive whispers, Chris found himself breathing easy once more.
“How?” he asked. “How did you do it?”
“It wasn’t easy,” Pam explained. “We had to track people down. A lot of them didn’t want to sign it. But, once we got those first few signatures….it got easier and easier. People are strange like that.”
“Guess what, Chris,” Stacy told him. “You’re finally off the hook.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” he dissented.
Chuck and Matt each returned to their seats and Thorne stood at the podium before them.
“Due to lack of evidence, the charges against Chris Broderick have been dismissed. The same charges are now being made applicable to Matt Tover.”
“No way!” a voice shouted.
“Nobody go anywhere!” Thorne thundered. “No more walkouts, or, so help me God I’ll shut down this school.”
Nobody moved. They all thought he would do it too.
“Now,” he continued. “Does someone want to explain this to me?”
“I will,” Pam said quietly. “If you’ll let me.”
“Tell us your name,” Thorne instructed. “Speak up so everyone can hear you.”
“My name is Pam Dawson. Several weeks ago, Matt Tover assaulted me. He forced me…to…to do things him. He told me not to tell anyone. He said they wouldn’t believe me anyway. I believed him. I didn’t go to the police. But it was too much for me to bear alone. So I reached out to the folks at the women’s center. Just as I was about to tell Chloe, however, someone threw bricks through the women’s center windows. Someone has been inciting rumors that we – me and those who have come to support me – are witches. We think thought this someone was Matt. Chris believed us and agreed to be our spy. When Matt found out, and I don’t know how he found out, he tried to get Chris in trouble. Please…if you are protecting him, stop! He’s just using you like he did me. Like he did all of us.”
Thorne cleared his throat and scratched his chin. “That’s…er…very interesting, Miss Dawson. Matt, do you care to reply?”
“Guys,” Matt said, removing his mask and looking out across the audience. “I shouldn’t have to reply. This is nothing short of ridiculous. Pam will tell you that she and I were together – and could be seen together – on a night a few weeks ago and shed be right. But believe me, that’s ALL that she’s right about. What she won’t tell you is that she was loaded that night. What she won’t tell you as that she offered me a lot more than head and I turned HER down. What she won’t tell you is that this isn’t about any alleged assault, its about jealousy. You know the saying: hell hath no fury greater than a woman scorned? Well…I give you your scorned woman. Look, I’m not going to stand up here and preach morality. Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve had lots of ladies. But ask yourself: does that make me a rapist? Who voted on the SGA resolution approving a Take Back the Night program? That would be me. Who came up with the idea of making sure freshman girls had upperclass escorts at our mixers so they weren’t taken advantage of? That would be me again. I’ve been for you guys for four years now, giving you all the max, and you all includes women. This isn’t a gender thing…this is a crock and you all know it.”
Liar, Chris thought. Liar! He wanted to say as much, but he couldn’t. He had no proof that Matt was lying. All he had were his convictions. And, while he was beyond the point of doubt, he doubted everyone else in the woods had come that far…or would ever come that far.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to Pam in advance.
“For what?” she asked. She was still filled with radiant hope. Chris pitied her.
Gary Thorne appeared at a loss. His ideals of order and process, of doing things right – the American way, had been plucked from him once again. This time, however, the plucker was not necessarily the liberals and the elites, but possibly a student that he had considered to be one of his own.
“Let’s just take a minute,” he urged. “Let’s everyone calm down and take a minute. Think this thing out and we’ll reach a vote. Does that sound fair to everyone?”
“Go ahead,” Matt said. “I’m confident people will do the right thing.”
“Forget it,” Chloe argued. “We’re going to the police.”
“No,” said Pam. “Whatever they decide is fine. I don’t care anymore. I just want it to end.”
“Five minutes,” Thorne said. “Then we vote.”
Chris looked at his watch impatiently. The countdown had begun.

The Ending No One Liked; the Lie They Left Behind
Ryan should have been there. His “I don’t believe it” was sorely needed. He was also the only one who could have made sense of what happened. Chris was mired in the expectancy of defeat. Though not a pessimist by nature, the past weeks had hardened him. He came to expect injustice the way most people come to accept faith. Pam, meanwhile, remained hopeful that people would come to their senses and see her side of it. Chris did not know what fostered this hope. After all, had she not been just as defeated as he was? Matt, for his part, seemed unwaveringly convinced of his own innocence. What was it that George Costanza once made famous? “It’s not a lie if you yourself believe it.”
In the end, no one did believe it. Not entirely, anyway. One by one, they walked away. Thorne yelled at them to stay.
“You can’t just walk out!” he barked. “You have a job to do. A responsibility!”
“Declare a mistrial,” suggested Pat, the pre-law student.
Thorne, disappointed, defeated and disgraced did just that.
“I think it would be best,” he said to those few who remained. “If we keep this under wraps.”
With the exception of Chloe, those who remained seemed to find this amendable.
“This is totally outrageous!” she yelled. “We are going to do something about it. You are NOT getting away with this!”
“You can do what you want,” said Pam. “I’m done.”
“Don’t you want justice?”
“I just wanted to be heard. Everyone knows now. Right Matt?”
He didn’t answer her. He didn’t even look at her. He found himself standing suddenly alone.
“Well,” he said, struggling to sound unphased and not quite succeeding. “SOME people still believe me. Right Chuck?”
“Dude…” he said, scratching his head. “I don’t know what to believe. I don’t know for sure that you did it, but if its all the same, I won’t be going to any more of your mixers.”
Matt forced a chuckle. “You people think you won something here. You haven’t. In a year, I’ll graduate and then I’m going to grad school.”
“If I were you,” Thorne advised. “I’d make that year as quiet as possible. I’d make myself invisible. And I certainly wouldn’t sign up for any history classes. EVER.”
Matt shook his head. “You guys are crazy,” he said, chuckling once more and walking away.
“Well,” Thorne said, trying to regain some manner of dignity. “I think we’re about done here.”
“It’s not your fault, Professor Thorne,” Chloe told. “You were misled. Just like the rest of them.”
“Young lady,” he said sternly. “Don’t presume to lecture me.”
A moment later, he was gone as well.
“We did it!” Stacy exclaimed. “We actually did it. You rock, Chris!”
Chris shrugged. “Hey…you came forward, not me.”
“We couldn’t have done it without you,” said Pam.
“I still think he’s getting away with it,” Chloe protested.
“He won’t,” Chris argued. “He’s finished and he knows it. No one is going to believe him about anything anymore.”
“That’s a shame,” Chuck remarked. “Not what he did. If he did it, he gets what he deserves. It’s just that…Matt was cool, you know. He had all the connections. I wonder who’s going to step up and take his place?”
The girls looked at Chris. Chris looked at Chuck.
“Don’t look at me, dude.”
“Come on, Chris,” Stacy urged. “Don’t you want to be class president? Or head of a frat? Or the guy that everyone turns to?”
Chris thought about it a moment before answering. “You know what…no. Because it sounds great and maybe it starts off great, but then I wake up one day and I’m Matt: the guy who thinks he can get away with anything because people love him. No thanks. Not for me.”
No one questioned his decision. No one, not even Chuck, could claim they wouldn’t have done the same. With their business concluded and their final gathering at an end, the group walked back to the dorms. There would be no more late-night rendezvous, no more propaganda campaigns, no more treachery pitting friend against friend. Things at last seemed poised to go back to normal, and in time they would, but it wasn’t over…yet.

The Missing Ingredient
“Anything?” Stacy asked. She had been working furiously at giving Chris a hand job, but he remained piteously limp.
“No,” he replied disgustedly.
“I don’t get it. It was only supposed to be temporary.”
Chris felt like crying. It was supposed to only be temporary and it was supposed to be over with. He had worn a diaper to bed the night before out of habit. When he woke up, it was wet. He had been as incapable of controlling his bladder or maintaining desire as he was when the curse was first placed upon him.
“I’m sure it’s not permanent,” Stacy assured him as she taped his diaper.
“Wouldn’t you like that?” he grumbled.
“Excuse me?!”
“You LIKE treating me like a baby!”
“Yeah, but I don’t like seeing you unhappy. So…”
“So then help me,” he insisted.
“What more do you want me to do?”
“Go talk to your little inner circle and see if any of them know why I’m still cursed.”
“Chris, you’re not being very fair.”
“Fair?” he asked, patting his diaper. “Try this for two weeks. Is this fair?”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’m going to see if I can find anything out. But in the meantime…you’d better lighten up. I’m NOT going to hang out with you if you’re going to be in a awful mood all weekend. I have better things to do.”
Cowed by her rebuke, he lay despairingly back in bed as she left to began her inquiry. Gradually, he began to conceptualize his curse as a permanent thing. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, he told himself. After all, Stacy would take care of him and…. oh, who was he kidding? It would be horrible!
“Well?” he asked when she returned.
“Well,” she mocked. “Nothing. They don’t know what’s wrong with you. That and Pam’s gone.”
“What do you mean gone?”
“I talked to her roommate. She doesn’t know where she is. Neither does Chloe. Neither does anyone.”
“Maybe she went home for the weekend,” Chris suggested.
“Or not.”
“What do you…. no. No way.”
“Come on, you don’t think Matt had anything to do with this? After she exposed him last night? I’d be ever-so-upset if I were him.”
“Fine. We’ll go talk to Matt. But I doubt this has anything to do with him.”
As anticipated, Matt as less than eager to see them.
“What in gods name do you want?”
“Where’s Pam?” Stacy asked.
“How should I know?”
“She’s missing,” Chris explained.
“Maybe she went home.”
“She didn’t,” Stacy told him.
“So what are you asking me for?”
“Duh…look what you did to her!”
“Listen, you little bitch…”
“Don’t talk to her like that!” Chris snapped.
“Look,” Matt said. “I don’t know where she is. And I don’t care. She can drop off the face of the earth. Maybe some…”
He froze. His skin went pale and his mouth hung wide open.
“What?” Chris asked.
“Oh ,” he said softly.
“What is it?”
“If I tell you, it doesn’t leave this room. We clear?”
“Yeah,” Chris said.
“No way,” Stacy argued. “It’s another trick, Chris. He’s just going to spin some lie and…”
He gently pressed his hand over her mouth. “We’re clear.”
Matt coughed and cleared his throat. He seemed more scared now then when Pam exposed him.
“I hired this guy,” he explained. “To follow her around and take pictures.”
“You mean to intimidate her,” Stacy said.
“To scare her a bit, yeah. I couldn’t have her spreading lies about me.”
“Lies?! You…”
Chris again quieted her. “What’s this guy’s name?”
“I don’t know,” Matt replied. “This guy I met at a bar off campus gave me his number. Said he was a real scary dude. I only talked to him on the phone and I paid him by leaving money in a certain place. We never met face to face. I guess he heard I got outed and decided to do something about it. If I had known he was like that, I never would have hired him.”
“Well that’s really concerting, Matt,” Stacy derided. “Nice to know you have such an ethical concern.”
“Look, I…”
“Some psycho is probably after her because of you and you…”
Chris stepped between them and ushered Stacy out into the hallway.
“You’re not helping things,” he said to Stacy.
“This is entirely his fault and you’re just going to let him get away with it? Who’s side are you on?”
“It’s not about sides!” he roared. “These last two weeks have been like a war because people get caught up in their own bullshit. People like Matt and Thorne and Chloe too. Pam didn’t want a war. All she wanted to do was tell her story. And now she’s missing and Matt is the only person who knows even the slightest bit about it and yelling at him won’t get her back.”
“You’re right,” she said dejectedly. “I’m sorry.”
He then walked back into Matt’s room alone.
“You’re girlfriend has a big mouth,” Matt said. “Maybe you ought to tape it shut.”
“She’s just worried about her friend,” Chris said. “And so am I. So…about this guy you were dealing with…”
“Why should I tell you anything? If she gets hurt, you’re going to make it look like my fault. Besides, if I open my mouth, I might be the one getting hurt.”
“If you don’t open your mouth, she might get hurt because of it. Do you really want that on your conscience? Look, man, whatever you did or didn’t do, she and a lot of other people think you did it. If you want a chance to redeem yourself, then help us find this guy. Let’s end this.”
Matt sighed. “You’ve got balls, Chris. I’ll give you that much. But I’m telling you, you have no idea what you’re getting into.”
“I haven’t had an idea for two weeks and that hasn’t stopped you yet.”
“Fine. I’ll give you his number.”