♕ Eve ♕
The person in the mirror staring back at me was someone I didn't recognize.
Her frizzy curls, usually wild and unkept, were straightened and pulled back into a tight braid. Where there was normally black eyeliner and red lipstick, there was now soft nudes. My shirt was light blue, because jury's trusted the color.
It wasn't enough to tell my story. I had to have everything about me changed to make me look like someone trustworthy. Being assaulted wasn't enough, they had to tear apart my image too.
A soft knocking on the door interrupted my thoughts, and I managed a quick "Come in," before turning away from my reflection.
"You look disgusting," Jenny commented, her nose scrunched in emphasis. They had attempted to change how she looked as well, before realizing she already came off as trusting, as believable.
The corners of my mouth turned up at my baby sister, but she must've seen right through the fake smile as her face fell, and she stepped forward to bring me into a hug. I bit my lip to prevent tears as I wrapped my arms around her. I didn't want to be smudging my carefully applied facade.
"It's almost over," she whispered against my hair.
My arms tightened around her as I let out a scoff. "It's barely begun."
Jenny shook her head. "The trial has barely begun. But this nightmare, this seemingly never ending horror-movie, is almost over."
I nodded against Jenny's shoulder, trying to convince myself as well as her. Almost over.
"Alright people look alive! We have to be at the courthouse in 25 minutes!" Kate's voice echoed around the dorm. I sniffled as Jenny pulled away from the hug, and carefully used my fingers to dry my mascara before it bled all over my face.
She put her hands on my shoulders, and stared at me with a serious expression, eyebrows pulled together and lips tight. "Let's go kick this bastard's ass."
♕♕♕
Kicking the bastard's ass was a lot more tedious and far less action-packed than we had originally thought.
After arriving at the courthouse, everyone I considered my family had given me final hugs, kisses, and words of wisdom before they shuffled through the public entrance. I, on the other hand, was pushed through a private door, led into a tiny room with nothing but a short and scratchy bench, and told not to move until I was called for.
The American justice system: nothing but comfort for the victims.
So there I was: alone, cold, and unable to stop the gnawing in my stomach that something would go horribly, horribly wrong today. I gave up on my justice long ago, and I would continue to ignore the hopeful voice of Kate in the back of my mind until I heard the final verdict.
After realizing that the muffled voices on the other side of the wall wouldn't suddenly become clear, and chewing my way through not two but three pieces of nicotine gum, I resorted to focusing all of my energy on picking at my fingernails. Losing even a second of that focus meant my mind would wander to the things being said about me in the courtroom, to the thought that Chad was not even 30 feet away from me.
He was closer to me than the height a sunflower could grow.
How I wish there were some sunflowers in this room.
YOU ARE READING
Finding Eve
Romance[Previously titled "What He Took From Me"] I can't forget about it. How am I supposed to get over something that plays on repeat in my head? ∞ Evelyn Moore, Eve, has always been bad news. But with a deadbeat Dad, an alcoholic mother, and saddled wi...
