i miss the rain // dnf

tomorrow

tw // violence mention

I look in the mirror, pushing my tie up to tighten it. I'm so glad to be out of that orange jumpsuit, but it's only for the trial and hopefully never again after this. I drop my hands to my sides, just staring at myself in the mirror. I close my eyes, taking in a deep breath. I hear the door open to the meeting room, 3 people following the door opening. Mia, George, and Sapnap walk into the meeting room. Sapnap immediately hugs me before George could. I hold him tight.

"I'm sorry I never came to see you." He mumbles in my chest.

"It's okay, Sap. I understand." I rub his back, looking over at George. I shoot him a smile and he smiles back, clearly holding back tears. I can tell today is going to be an emotional day, no matter what happens. Sapnap finally lets go of me, quickly wiping his eyes. We sit down with Mia.

"Today's the day." She pauses, looking at me with a small smile. "You've got this, Dream. You know what to say right?" I nod nervously. I feel a hand take mine that's resting on my thigh. I look down to see George taking my hand, squeezing it gently. I look over at him and give him a small, but weak smile. "Now they're going to try and twist your words and they're going to try and make you believe you did it because that's what they want to hear. You just need to keep your story straight no matter what. Okay?" She gives me a look of worry, but also confidence. It's really hard to read her right now since there's so many emotions between all of us. A knock on the door interrupts our conversation.

"It's time." An officer says, stepping into the room. I look back to Mia and she nods. We all stand, letting out a breath we all seemed to be holding.

-

"So, Dream. What happened that night in the alley? Tell me everything you remember from that night." The lawyer from the plaintiff's side asks.

"Well, I stopped at a gas station. My car was on the verge of breaking down and I wasn't sure if I could make it home. When I stopped to let it rest, I decided to look under the hood to see if I could do anything and found I couldn't. I was frustrated with my car and decided to leave it at the gas station and walk home. I start walking and I walk past an alley when I hear yelling. I was concerned so I went back to the alley to see the victim get stabbed. I started yelling at the guy who stabbed the victim and then he started running. He dropped his knife and let the victim fall to the ground." I pause to take a deep breath, keeping my mind focused on not bouncing my knee out of nervousness. "I then tried to stop the bleeding and pulled my phone out to call for an ambulance. After I hung up from the 911 operator, the guy came back, but with someone else. I thought I had seen a weapon in the new person's hand and picked up their knife. I swung the knife around, yelling at them to back off. I stood back up and that's when they run off." I pause again to look around. I look at George and Sapnap, noticing that George is crying. I can't tell if it's because he's remembering what happened the night I called him, or if it's as overwhelming for him as it is for me. "When they run off, I notice that they ran because they heard sirens. My first instinct was to run because I was covered in blood and holding a knife. I ran until I couldn't and then found the nearest hotel to stay in for the night."

"And that's when the police found you, correct?" The lawyer paces, looking up at me. I nod.

"Correct." I say shortly. I start to twiddle my thumbs, not knowing what else to do.

"I have no more questions." The lawyer says, nodding. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. The judge lets me go back to my seat and I quickly go back. The judge looks over at the jury and one person nods.

"The jury will be going in to discuss. I will call everyone back when they have made a decision." The judge says, dismissing everyone. My first instinct is to start crying. I put my head in my hands, crying from being overwhelmed. I feel a hand on my back and a hand on my shoulder, both of them rubbing me to calm me down.

"Dream, listen. You did great." Mia says, a smile in her voice.

"Dream, you did really well. I promise. There's no way they can't believe your story when it matches the evidence." I hear George's voice next to my ear. "You're going to be home soon." George kisses my cheek, his own tears falling onto my cheek. I nod, only hoping for the best.