Everything in my life goes wrong. Everything. But, when I'm with my friends, I feel happy. They don't care if I mess up, they'll support me either way. I try to keep a happy face for them, but most of the time, when they're not by me, my face falls...
"I'm sorry," I say to Claire, who lets go and looks me in the eyes.
"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here," she says, wiping her cheeks.
I do as well and we walk into my room, Claire telling me to sit on my bed while she looks for something suitable to wear. She walks into my closet and in a few minutes, she walks out with an all black outfit that looks actually formal.
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"I love it," I say, her putting it on the back of my door and looking at my more formal shoes. She picks out a pair of black pointed closed toe pumps and puts them in the basket on the back of the door, where the shoes are supposed to go.
"And now, I wake up the guys," I say, standing and walking to the door, it being 6 am already.
"Okay, just be back here before 10 so you can get ready," Claire says, waving as I leave my house.
I walk down to the buses and knock on the door, it opening and letting me in. I step on and hear the soft snoring of the guys, and the dead silence contrasting that. I walk to the beds and lean down, hearing Corey's snoring become louder. I run my thumb over his forehead, waking him up and getting him confused.
"Simba," I say, making him laugh silently.
He gets up and gets dressed as I wake the others up, doing the same thing to everyone. Sid was the one to do it back, making both of us laugh. They all get dressed and follow me to my house, the other guys catching up a block after.
"Okay, are you guys coming, or do you have things to do," I ask, walking into my house and turning to them as I walk into the living room.
"Of course we're coming, we wouldn't miss it for the world," Shawn says, the other three guys agreeing while the other guys are left in the dark.
"Miss what," Mick asks.
"Arron's getting tried today at 10:30. In about 3 hours," I say, the rest of the guys shocked.
"I hope he rots in prison," Chis spits through his teeth.
"Don't we all," Jim agrees, looking at the time.
"We should get ready along with you," Jim says, patting my head and smiling.
"No touchy," I say, swatting his hand away.
"Okay, you guys go get ready, I need to make a few calls," Claire says, pushing them out the door.
She closes the door and hands me the phone, telling me to call the doctor that took care of my wrist and injuries while she gets her camera. I call the doctor and ask for my wrist x-rays, the doctor saying I have to pick them up.
"Thanks. Oh, can you come? I don't think the judge will believe the whole 'trust me' part," I say.
"I can come," he says, bidding a goodbye and hanging up. Claire arrives back here with the pictures, all dated and named on which part of the body it's on. She also has a notebook, filled with an 'injury log'.
"Girl, how do you have all of this," I ask, looking at black eyes and bruised backs from years ago.
"I told you, I care about you. And I want enough evidence to make sure he's in prison," she says.
"I also got the doctor to bring the knowledge of what I told him and the x-rays," I say, Claire smiling and putting out her fist for a fist bump.
I fist bump her and we head up to my room, Claire turning me away from Arron's room and walking me into mine. She closes the door and hands me the pants, closing her eyes and turning away. I pull off my leggings and put my legs into the dress pants, a little loose while buttoning them.
I take off my sweater and slip the dress shirt on, tucking it in and pushing up the sleeves to show my battle scar. Arron had a knife with him a year ago, and he lashed out at me. He caught me in the arm and now I have a scar to prove it. I'm sure Claire has a picture of the day it happened, too.
"How do I look," I ask, Claire turning around and nodding.
"Amazing," she says.
I look at my self in the mirror and smooth out my wrinkles on the thighs. I look into a jewelry box and put on a heart hair clip, pulling up a half-up half-down look and securing it with the clip. I put on the tribal S necklace that got chucked at Sid and turn back to Claire, who helps me fix my hair while I step into my shoes.
"Okay, time to go face my fear," I say, walking out to the front door.
Claire holds out my good coat and I slip it on, walking out to Claire's car. We hop in and drive to the court house, seeing the guys' cars parked in a row. Claire parks next to the entrance and we step out, walking up the steps to the door. Claire opens the door and I step through, walking to the courtroom that the trial's held in.
I walk in and see the 9 guys with their girlfriends and wives sitting on the right side, talking quietly between the other couples. Claire sits in the front row, the doctor walking in after and sitting next to her and holding a yellow file envelope.
I sit at the end and take off my coat, laying it beside me. I take a deep breath, seeing Arron with a guard walk in, Arron's hands cuffed in front of him. He stares at me and extends his middle finger, making me smile. He sits in a seat beside his lawyer and they whisper, waiting for the trial to start.
