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He shrugged, easing into his chair. “He can try, but I am sure the postal service and the city would love to know how you forged documents and used the postal service to assist your fallacy. Anything else, Miss Dryer?”

Bell couldn’t believe what she saw. Rooted in her spot, she stared at Laney and Mr. Ames, unable to speak. She shook her head. “N-no, sir.”

“Perfect. Moving on to your pledges. You submitted an idea, using another college’s model. While I don’t appreciate another school’s methods introduced into our school, this time, I believe it is appropriate to look at the model.”

Bell took a deep breath, settling herself. The hardest part was over. Now, all she had to do was convince Dean Ames a Co-Ed house would work for them and how it could help the students of TSU. “Victor Lorenz approached me, Dean Ames, with a fantastic idea. I had noticed for a few days we attracted a certain sect of students—”

“Losers more like it,” Reagan snorted.

The dean tapped his gavel on the table. “Quiet. Reagan, there is no talking during these hearings unless you are called upon to speak. If I have to tell you again, I will have you removed from this room. Do you understand?” About the only thing she was doing anyway was making it harder on Laney. Bell would have laughed if it wouldn’t have interrupted the proceedings.

“Yes,” Reagan snarked.

“Good.” Dean Ames folded his hands. “Go on, Bell.”

“Anyway. Maybe we are losers. I don’t know and I don’t care. But I opened my house to all those who need a place to call home, and it feels pretty damn good.” She covered her mouth. “Sorry, sir.”

He chuckled. “It’s all right. Continue.”

“So, when Victor came to me with his idea, I immediately liked it. Hayden, my Vice-President, was present also at the meeting, and she, too, agreed.”

“Hayden?” He glanced at her cousin. “Is this true?”

“Yes, sir. Bell and I both noticed how we’d become a beacon of sorts for students. It made sense to us right away when he explained the co-op house.” Hayden shrugged. “Our family motto has always been to help those who need it the most. To take care of those who might not have family or friends, and to protect the sick and injured. Our fathers and uncles would be ashamed of us, if we turned our back on someone who might need help.”

Bell took her cousin’s hand. “We thought if we could change our policies and allow a place to stay for male and female students who didn’t feel welcomed in other houses, we’d be impacting student relations. Just think, Dean Ames, a house where a loner and a preppy person could live together and become friends. A place where a gay student could come out, and be himself or herself—or even theirself. We want to be known as a bastion of hope to all those who feel like they don’t matter. Some may call us misfits in a derogatory way.” Bell cut her gaze to Laney. “However, we wear it with honor because we don’t want to fit into society’s crazy molds.”

He scrubbed his chin with his fingers while studying their proposal. “You understand your house isn’t big enough for this type of venture, correct?”

“Yes. We hoped, with some fund-raising and a little ingenuity, we could either add on to our present house or move to a bigger location. Some of our members would have to stay in their dorms until it’s possible for us to accommodate them.” She hated the idea of them not all being together, but sometimes, they had to do what they had to do.

He nodded. “There’s three acres of land available near your current residence. If you’d like to use it, you must do the following. Submit a proposal for the site and submit a set of blueprints for the remodeling of your house or a new one. The third and fourth year architectural students are at your disposal, so is the blueprint printer. I have a list of candidates I believe will be the best to help you out in this situation. Plus, I’ll need a budget and a completion time frame. You’ll have three weeks to turn it in.”

“You can’t do that!” Laney shouted. “That’s my land for my house.”

“I can and I just did, Miss River.” Dean Ames stared at her.

Bell couldn’t believe what she’d heard. “Wait, so you’re saying yes?”

“I’m saying yes with the contingency that you build a bigger house,” he replied. “If, as you say, you’ve made significant upgrades over the last few weeks, this shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish either.”

Her vision went fuzzy, and her blood whooshed in her ears. She won. Her heart pounded as excitement and nervous energy mixed. “Holy cow.” She covered her mouth as she giggled. “I will have the proposal to you in the allotted time. I already know a good construction company.” She couldn’t wait to tell her father.

“Do you have enough pledges, Bell?” the Dean asked. “Before we can go any farther, I have to know.”

“Yes. Of course.” One by one, they stood. “This is all of them.” She motioned to the gallery where everyone watched the proceedings.

“Thank you,” Dean Ames said. “I appreciate your dedication. I’m sorry you had to experience this much malice. Hopefully, everything will go back to normal now.”

“We hope so too.” Bell grinned. “Thank you, Dean Ames.”

“If there’s nothing else?” Dean Ames glanced around the room. “Excellent. This meeting is adjourned.” He smacked the gavel against the table’s wooden surface. “Congratulations, Ms. Dryer, and good work.”

She shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”

Finally.

No more being worried sick. No more three a.m. anxiety attacks on what she’d do next. No more having to fight with Laney. For the first time since the semester began, the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. She could breathe. The rush of winning her case left her wanting to cry and laugh, then puke because of the nervousness still churning in her belly.