Accused of cheating, without anyone witnessing it? During a 3 hour midterm, my phone was confiscated because I had it on my person, when we weren't suppose to have the phone with us. My phone was on the chair in between my legs, but I was not using it.

Before the exam started I was reading a forum on my phone (forum for that course) and then I put my phone in my bag. The first hour and a half of the exam (approximately) the prof failed to put up the time. I was extremely worried about my time and I was not wearing a watch. I quickly took out my phone, checked the time and then left the phone on my lap. I checked the time twice and then I realized that the time was on display.

When I was done with my answers, I then realized how bad it is that I have my phone on me. I was about to put my phone back in my bag when I noticed that a TA was watching me. She probably suspected there was something going on because I was jittery and I was moving a lot. Before the exam was done, the TA asked to give up my phone and I did and I told her I just checked the time. Which was the truth. She asked me to open my phone and show it to her and I did. She only looked at the homepage and didn't go through my phone. She put the phone on my desk and I continued checking my exam. 

A week later I got a letter that I had to attend a meeting with the department because I was cheating during the exam. 
What are my options here? How are they possibly going to accuse me of cheating when it never happened? I've been thinking of witnesses, asking the girl who sat beside me or the girl who was sitting behind me. Do professors or the head of the departments actually believe what anyone would tell them the truth? What if the girl feels the need to lie that I was cheating?
The other thing that worries me is that I usually answer questions very nicely and sometimes word for word. That's just how I memorize things sometimes. Can that work against me?! can they tell me that the answers are too close to what was on the slides and that could count as cheating?!
I am in good academic standing in my program. The lowest grade I've ha din the last year was a B. I don't want this stupid mistake to mess up my future.
I appreciate your insight.
You admit that you knew that phones were not allowed in the testing room (being realistic, that they were not allowed on your person/in-plain-sight) during the exam. Yet the fact of the matter is that you had your phone out in-plain-sight, in the testing room, during the exam. 

The short answer here is that there's isn't much you can do -- it's your word against the TA's, and unfortunately the evidence is not in your favor. I believe that you're being honest -- but I'm a random individual on the internet. And even if your professor/instructor/department believes that you're being honest, they can still fault you for having your phone out, period.

So the only advice I have: be honest, acknowledge that you made a poor decision but deny that you were actively cheating, buy a cheap $10 watch, and accept that there isn't much you can do here. Best-case scenario is that you get a stern warning; I can't tell you if that's likely or not. There's a variety of worst-case scenarios -- I'm sure you know that though.

As for the individual questions at the end of your post:


What are my options here? Be honest with your department. Study up on your school's honor code violation policy and be aware of the possible proceedings, as well as your rights as a student.
How are they possibly going to accuse me of cheating when it never happened? You had your phone out during an exam when you knew you shouldn't. That alone might be their motivation. As to "how" -- again, read the honor code violation policy to see what official actions they would have to take.
I've been thinking of witnesses... This may be helpful in an official proceeding, but only if these women can explicitly testify that you weren't cheating. Which, unfortunately, is unlikely if they were focused on their exams. In any event, I wouldn't bring this up in the meeting with your department.
The other thing that worries me is that I usually answer questions very nicely and sometimes word for word. Could go either way. You're not that different from a lot of students most likely -- but they could also cite this as evidence that you were reading the slides on your phone. Unfortunately, not much you can do about that now.


Mistakes happen. If this is your first run-in with the school's honor code, odds of it destroying your future are slim -- I'm not sure I've heard of someone being suspended or worse on a first offense. But make sure you learn from this experience -- that's about all you can do now.