"Abi?" I heard Lin's voice, and my door open, "sweetheart, it's time to get up." When he said this, I snuggled deeper into my blankets. "Seriously, we have court." He said.

"I don't want to go." I said hugging Cookie.

"It's the last day. It won't even be all day, it's just the closing arguments, and the defenses witness, that's just Nick." He sat down on my bed.

"I can't seem to leave my bed, because it's very comfortable." I said, pulling my blanket over my head.

"I know, I know, come on. You can go to court, then come back and sleep." He grabbed my hands, and started pulling me out of bed.

"Ugggghhh." I groaned, "ok, ok, I'll get dressed." I said, walking over to my closet.

"There's coffee in the kitchen." Lin said, leaving my room.

I changed into a white dress, with a black necklace, and put my hair in a messy bun at the base of my head. Don't let the name fool you, it took me 5 tries.

"Good morning." I said, dragging myself into the kitchen.

"Morning." Vanessa said, handing me coffee in a mug. "That has a cap, we need to go." she said, referring to the mug, it was somewhat of a to-go mug. "Kara from downstairs is babysitting Seb, because DayCare is closed on Sunday's. She'll be up in like, 5 minutes. We need to go." She grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the apartment.

"Why the rush?" I asked.

"It's 9:30, we only have a half hour!" She yelled, jamming the main floor button on the elevator with her finger. "Oh, gosh, why do we live on the 41st floor?"

"Firstly, it only takes us 15 minutes to get to the  courthouse. Secondly, I do not know. I asked myself the same thing when the elevator broke down a couple weeks ago, when I was on crutches. And thirdly, where's Lin?"

"Car." She replied.

"How did he beat you out of the house?" I asked.

"I am at a loss to explain this morning." She replied, as the elevator finally opened. "Hallelujah!" She said, and continued to pull me towards the car. Lin was already on the drivers seat, and I got in the backseat.

"I see you got up." Lin said.

"I did get up. I don't want to be up, but, alas, here I am. Up." I said, checking through my purse to make sure I had everything.

"Vanessa, we're not going to be late." Lin said to his wife, who was nervously tapping her fingers on the dashboard.

"Well, traffic." She said, "this is NYC." She gestured to the freakishly busy streets.

We made it to the courthouse at 9:42. 18 minutes before court started. We made it through security in about 3 minutes. I hate court security.

"You know Abigail, when I found out, I wasn't surprised." Mr. Walter came up behind me.

"Found out about what?" I asked, turning around.

"Oh! Did you not know?" Mrs. Walter piped in.

"Not know what?" Lin came up behind me.

"Your attempted suicide." Mr. Walter said, and my heart plummeted. "It's all over the Internet, check, see for yourself." My head started clouding, and I fumbled for my phone inside my purse, when I finally got it, Lin snatched it from my hand, and shoved it in his pocket.

"Lin, please, let me check it."

"Nope. We'll deal with everything at home. One major issue at a time." He wrapped his arms around me from behind. "Also, you two. Leave."

"We're supposed to be here, just like you." Mrs. Walter said, putting her hand on her hip.

"Don't talk to her. Go." Lin pointed towards the courtroom.

"We don't have to."

"Ok, so, we'll go." Lin said, and shuffled me into the courtroom.

Court started with Mr. Defazio (Nicks Lawyer), calling up his only witness, Nick.

"Mr. Walter, where were you at 12:30 Tuesday March 22nd?" He asked.

"I was on 51st." Nick replied.

"And did you make contact with Miss Miranda on 51st street?" He asked.

"I did."

"What was she wearing?" He continued with his misogynistic and sexist argument.

"A very short pink skirt and an extremely tight black shirt." I flushed red at the embellishments, the skirt came down to just above my knee, it poofed a bit, it was 50's style.

"I see, and how did her provocative choice of clothes affect you?"

"I mean, I'm a guy, and seeing a girl, any girl, dressed like that, I mean, it clouded my judgement, instinct kicked in, you know, man to man." He finished, and I stood up, and ran out of the courtroom, telling Lin I was going to the bathroom.

Was this allowed in court? He basically just said that what I wore made it so male instinct kicked in, and he shouldn't be punished for what happened. He told a court this.

I stood in the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror. The skirt on my dress came down to my lower thigh. That's long enough right? I mean, there's a fine line between provocative and matronly. Where am I? Where do I lie? Do I dress inappropriately? I don't think I do? This lawyer is saying I do. I guess I do.

I came back into court, in time to see my lawyer interview Nick.

"I know you all have lives so I'm gonna make this quick." My lawyer addressed the jury, who laughed in response. I slid back into my seat, before my lawyer could ask anything.

"Did you or did you not assault my client physically and sexually?" My lawyer asked.

"Well, I mean, it wasn't really my fault."

"Mr. Walter, it's a yes or no question."

"Well, there's more to it than that..." He started, but was cut off.

"No there isn't. Did you or did you not physically and sexually assault Abigail Miranda?"

"I guess I did."

"No further questions your honor." My lawyer, said, walking back to the table.

"Closing statement, Mr. Defazio." The judge motioned for Nicks lawyer to deliver his closing statement. Mr. Defazio walked over to the jury.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, how long..." He trailed off there, going into some long misogynistic argument. Which, to be honest, I tuned out.

"Thank you Mr. Defazio." The judge said, "Mr. Martin." The judge invited my lawyer up.

"Thank you your Honor." He smiled towards the judge, "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you've sat here for 3 days, listening to me and Mr. Defazio argue. You've heard from several witnesses, all of them saying the same thing, that a 15 year old girl was attacked. I don't know how other way you can swing this. A 17 year old boy assaulted a 15 year old girl, and all I'm trying to do, is to get him away from her, put him away for a year. Do you want her to get hurt again? You can find Mr. Walter not guilty, and send him back to school with Miss Miranda, 5 days a week, or, you can find him guilty, and put him in juvie for a year. It's your call, and I know you'll make the right decision. Thank you do your time." He smiled, and walked back to my table.

The jury left to deliberate on the case, and I have never been so nervous. If they found him not guilty, he'd go back to school with me. I'm not ok with that. He'll destroy me. I won't come out of Monday if he's there.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked, pulling me out of my trance. I looked up to see the jury foreman standing.

"Yes your honor." The foreman said, smiling. "The jury rules in favor of the prosecution." She smiled at me, and sat down. My heart soared, and as I was processing this I felt Lin's arms wrap tightly around me from his seat.

"It's over. Niñita, we won." He said, and I grinned.

"Thank you so much." I said to Mr. Martin

"Of course kiddo, it's my job." He smiled at me.

"Thank you Shawn." Vanessa said, hugging him.

"Anything for you Vanessa." He said hugging her. We were mixed up in a moment of complete and utter bliss, thinking, for a moment, that everything was going to be okay.

We were wrong.

•••

Thanks for reading!

- Abi