Issues // H.S. // A.U.

Chapter Thirty-Five

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual Assault & Rape & Mild Drug Abuse

The following will contain the stories of victims and survivors in a trial setting.

DANI

The months following were hard. My last term of school was filled with hard classes, and with the added distraction from the case, I was stressed. I knew I wasn't the only one, Harry taking a heavy course load this term, as well as having his interviews for the internship he applied for. All of that and he was still finding the time to make sure I was okay. We don't spend nights apart, some silent and contemplative, others filled with hot touches and experimentation.

We were exhausted emotionally and mentally, but kept on going. I worried about harry focusing too much energy on me and my well being, but he shut me up quickly when I voiced my concerns. He was right, of course, knowing that I would be doing exactly the same thing as him.

The first day of trial was yesterday, opening remarks led by both the prosecution and the defense. The lawyer Mr. Styles got for us was truly amazing. She took no prisoners, telling me that under no circumstances was she going to let Clint get away with what he's done. From what I gathered, she had gone to law school and done an internship with the District Attorney, so she was able to come onto our case easily. The whole team had done a great job putting together a case, and I was even more impressed and surprised with how they handled everything. This wasn't the system I was used to. I still harbored a lot of distrust towards a lot of these people, almost like I'm expecting them to disappoint me at any moment.

There was a lot riding on this case. And not just for me. They had tracked down four other girls who were willing to testify. I wasn't aware of their stories and I hadn't asked, but I would hear them starting today. The whole week was going to be filled with the prosecution calling up the girls one by one. I had talked to my school and professors, and had gotten the okay to miss the next week, getting all my assignments sent to my email. I knew I wouldn't be called up until the very last girl had gone, our lawyer wanting to end with my story, but I still wanted to be there to hear the other girls. We might not know each other, but they needed support for this. Each and every one of them were braver than most could claim.

So Harry and I were sitting in the back of the courtroom on the second day of trial waiting for it to start. The opening statements had taken a few hours the day previous, and the prosecution had spoken to one witness at a party, but the judge broke us for the next day. Hopefully, we could get this trial done by the end of the week.

Harry's hand squeezed my hand, making me look over at him. He gave me a soft smile, but didn't have time to say anything. We stood for the judge, and waited for the first girl to be called up.

Kaylen was a petite girl, just over five feet, with mousy brown hair and pale skin. She definitely looked nervous, eyes flitting around until they land on a girl a few rows ahead of us. Whether it was her friend or girlfriend, I didn't know, but she seemed to calm down quite a bit. After she took her oath, she sat down, and waited for the questioning to start.

"Kaylen," the prosecution started, "why don't you start by telling us how you met Mr. Halstead?"

She clears her throat, and says, "Um, back in high school. I was a sophomore when he was a senior."

"That's when you started talking?"

"Yeah, I knew of him from school, of course, but at homecoming that year he asked me to dance. After that we started to talk and hang out more." She was clearly uncomfortable talking in front of everyone, and I don't blame her. There were reporters in the courtroom, recording everything she said, both the prosecution and defense were eyeing her for any slip up, and the jury was judging every move she made.