She is not bad

Chapter 60 : The trial

Jane was now sitting in the dock next to her lawyer. She was stressing more than before because the judge was the same judge who sent Constance in jail a few years ago. She was wondering if the man had recognized her or not. She was younger when it happened, but she didn't physically change much.

Alexandra had given her version of the story and same for Jane. They answered the questions of the lawyers, and Jane thought she did well. She didn't lose her temper like Cassandra advised her. But she could see in the jury's eyes that they were not believing her. She didn't know how they could believe Alexandra, the girl kept stuttering, avoiding eyes contact, and messing the information. It was obvious that she was lying. But she still managed to answer the questions with confidence.

Cassandra was the next one called at the witness stand. The woman was determined to defend her niece. She described Jane as a young girl with lots of willingness, and that her bad decisions were only because people kept treating her like a criminal and managed to convince her she was one.

- "So, you say if your niece has a criminal record as long as your arm is because of the others?" Alexandra's lawyer asked.

- "The others didn't help, yes."

- "Well, those report cards say otherwise! I quote "Jane is a troublemaker. She steals other kids' works to copy them and throws pieces of chewing gum to her teachers". Does she look like someone who needs help to do bad things? I have other report cards if you want, and they all say the same thing: this girl has no respect for people around her, and I'm surprised it took her this long to finish in a law court!"

- "She was just a kid! Every kid made mistakes! She was trying to build herself to know who she was! She was rejected by her classmates; it was her way to exist! She was just looking for attentions!"

While Cassandra was defending Jane body and soul, the brunette was realizing that all her past was a fucking mess. If she had known she would be in a situation like that, she would have been nicer with her teachers. The more the man was asking questions, the more Cassandra was defenseless. The woman sat again in the bench, feeling like she just failed the defense of her niece.

Melissa, Medhi, and Mallory were the next ones. Medhi and Melissa were especially interrogated in their desires to take some distance with Jane. They explained that it was because they wanted to focus on their respective jobs. But Alexandra's lawyer insisted on this, making them talk about their fear to be influenced by Jane's bad habits. But they insisted on Jane's bad habits by saying it was especially her addictions which were the problems, and not a supposed sexual problem. But when the lawyer asked them if they had already seen her being too insistent with some girls, they hesitated. They had already seen Jane annoying some girls to get what she wanted, but she had never been farther. What if this time she did? It seemed impossible for them, but the silence they made was making Jane look more guilty than at the beginning.

Thankfully, Mallory didn't let the lawyer unsettle her. She affirmed many times that Jane was the best support she had and was unable to do such a horrible act. The blonde girl saw in some eyes that they were touched by her words, she hoped it would convince them that Jane was innocent.

The next two hours were other girls complaining about Jane's behavior toward her, accusing the brunette to touch them without consent and at private parts. Jane was really thinking hard, but she didn't even remember having a conversation with those girls. She had some classes with them, but nothing more. But the worst part was that they had witnesses who apparently saw the brunette touching those girls. She must have been drunk to have forgotten about it. Or she was spaced out when it happened! But she would have never touched someone like they said, she was sure of that...But she couldn't prove it.

The judge decided to take a break. Jane was taken back to her room while all the others met each other out of the law court. Mallory approached Medhi and Melissa with an angry walk.

- "What was that!? You really think Jane could have abused those girls!?"

- "No! Of course not!" Medhi replied.

- "But you remember how she was at the party with your colleagues?" Melissa said.

- "She was drunk, as much as drunk as my "colleagues", as you said! And they touched Jane as much as she touched them! And no one complained about that! They laughed and went to smoke together when we told them!" the blonde girl affirmed.

- "But still, a behavior like that could have happened again, but with someone who doesn't think it's funny!"

- "Come on! Jane stops when she gets knock back! Even drunk! I can't believe you did that to her!"

- "We were surprised by the question..." the boy answered. "Do you think she will be mad at us?"

- "Mad at you!? If she finished in jail because you both thought for a few seconds she could have abused someone, yes, she will be mad! Even furious! More than I am!"

If Mallory wasn't beginning to feel sick, she would have told her more about her thoughts instead of going to the toilets to throw up. While the two friends were feeling guilty, Beverly was walking in direction of Hopper who was talking with Joyce. The redhead was furious too and tapped his arm to get his attention.

- "I thought I was supposed to talk too!?"

- "I told you that not everyone would be called at the bar," Hopper answered.

- "But I wanted to defend Jane! I can convince them, I'm sure of that!"

- "It's not me who decide!"

- "And what the hell are those proofs!? I thought they had nothing against her! I'm sure those texts were not from her phone! Have you checked it!?"

- "Yes, we did. We didn't find anything; we'll show them they are fake. Now, go take some air. You're stressing."

- "Of course, I'm stressing! My best friend could go to jail for something she didn't do, and I didn't even have my chance to tell them how good she is!"

The redhead didn't wait for them to answer. She knew they couldn't do anything, but she was too frustrated to listen to anyone. Hopper and Joyce were not mad. They were understanding very well her reaction. Seeing an innocent being accused like that by everyone was unfair, and they were both feeling powerless. Bev went out of the building and saw her friends there, all thinking.

- "I can't believe they didn't let me talk!" Bev angrily said.

- "Maybe they thought it was useless," Gabrielle answered. "I mean, it's like if they've already condemned her! They don't let her finish her sentence, they imply many things about her, they kept using old things to make her look guilty!"

- "Maybe she is," Will intervened.

The two girls stopped talking and frowned at him, not sure to understand what he meant. The boy was tired of this situation, so he said:

- "We know Jane did lots of bad things. She robbed many places, she sold drugs, she is violent, she even bullied Max! But you all seem to forget about this part of her!"

- "We don't, okay!? We're not saying Jane is perfect and 100% innocent! But in this case, she is innocent! We know how she is, but we know she is able to change too. I mean, look at Max and Jane now! They are good friends! And I haven't seen her completely high or drunk for a while! I'm sure it's because she feels good with us and letting her down and doubting on her right now will ruin all her progress! I'm sure she didn't hurt those girls, they're just lying, but I don't know why!" Bev explained.

Will didn't answer. The only thing he had in his mind was all the bad things she did to his mother, but it probably had nothing to do with the trial of today. Bev wasn't really surprised. Will had been evasive on the situation since the beginning; he tried to stay neutral, but he had apparently already his opinion on it.

The trial had begun again for one hour now. Hopper showed them the proofs they had, the absence of the messages in Jane's phone, but the other lawyer could prove he was wrong. Hopper was lost. Jane had no chance. At the end of the afternoon, the jury left the room to deliberate. Ten minutes. Ten minutes was the time they needed to decide about Jane's fate. They all came back to the law court, waiting for the decision.

- "Guilty."