*TW* Contains topics and scenes of sexual assault, self-harm, abuse.*
"You know you loved every second of it," I can feel the tears welling up as well as the anger building up within me. I stare at him for a while before I have to turn away from his...
As soon as I hear the guilty verdict I stand up from my seat next to my lawyer and hug my parents tightly. We hug for a couple of minutes before we pulled away. As soon as we pull away Christian is coming towards me.
"You did it," Christian says his voice filled with excitement as he envelopes me in a huge hug.
"I know, I can't believe it," I say smiling into the hug.
"I can," He says pulling away. "You are one of the strongest people I know, there was never a doubt in my mind that you could do this," I smile before being rushed with a hug from Dani.
"I am so fucking proud of you," I laugh as Taylor and Summer give me hugs too.
"Now that this is over I would like to go get some food, I haven't eaten all day," They all nod and we head out of the courthouse. When we walk out the door and start walking down the stairs we are ambushed by a group of reporters. How did they even find out, we made sure this whole case was kept quiet in the media for a reason.
"Miss Young, how do feel about the guilty verdict today?" One reporter asks shoving her microphone in my face.
"Look, we're leaving so please leave her alone," Christian says stepping in front of me.
"No Christian it's fine," I say before turning to the reporter. "I am very happy that he was convicted but I think that there was a lot more that could have been done with my case. He deserves far more jail time but I will take what I can get. And I just want to tell anyone who is in a similar situation as me that they can do it. It may be scary and maybe even terrifying but in the end, it is also so empowering," The reporter nods and moves on.
"Look at you being a motivational speaker," Summer teases. I roll my eyes at her and get in the car.
"You know this year has probably been the best year of my life, minus the whole Jack thing,"
"Really?" Dani says.
"Yeah, even with all the bad things that happened there have been so many good things, like meeting all of you," I say looking at my group. All of the girls are over and so are Christian and Connor. We're sitting in my living room hanging out. "You guys have been my lifeline this year and I am so grateful,"
"Ok don't go getting all sappy on us now, we still have another semester before we graduate," Taylor says. Summer rolls her eyes at her before scooting closer to her. I shake my head at them, they are so hopeless. It's so obvious they like each other but are too scared to make a move.
"You know what I'm trying to say,"
"Yeah we do," Christian says.
"You know what we should do?" Dani says. "We should go to the winter formal,"
"Why, I thought we agreed we weren't going, it's literally tonight,"
"Yeah but I think it could be fun and a little spontaneous, plus I know a place where we can get suits and dresses last minute," We all look at her for a second before Connor speaks up.
"You know what? Why not, if it's boring we can just leave and go get food or something."
"I guess we need to go shopping," I say standing up.
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(1 is Logan, 2 is Summer, 3 is Dani, 4 is Taylor)
"It's official, we look hot," Dani exclaims.
"Yeah we do," Taylor says, her eyes never leaving Summer.
"Hey Tay, can I talk to you for a second? I ask motioning to the hallway. She nods and follows me out of the room. "This is so painful to watch,"
"What is?"
"You and Summer,"
"What about us?"
"Seriously? I know you like her, and before you ask it's pretty obvious to everyone except Summer. I also know that she likes you so tonight you need to make a move before it's too late and before I die from suspense,"
"Do you really think she likes me?" She asks looking hopeful.
"Yes, I think she's like you since September or even before that, she's just too scared to make a move," She nods and hugs me.
"Thank you, Logan," I smile and we reenter the room. Dani and Summer are just finishing having a conversation when we walk in. I make eye contact with Dani and she gives me a thumbs up and I nod, everything is coming together.
"Let's get downstairs before the guys complain," We all start walking downstairs and into the living room. My mom is waiting at the bottom of the stairs snapping pictures, classic. I shake my head at her and make my way into the living room where Christian, Ryan, Connor, and Thomas are waiting for us.
"Took you long enough," Ryan says when he sees us walk in.
"Whatever, you're just impatient," Dani says smirking. I look over at Christian who hasn't taken his eyes off of me since I walked into the room.
"You clean up nice," Ugh, that's so cliche, I can't believe I said that.
"Thank you, I do clean up nice," He replies smirking. I punch him in the arm before my mom starts ushering us all in front of the fireplace for pictures. She has us do pictures of the whole group, just the guys, just the girls then splits us into duos.
"Logan, you and Dani next," Me and Dani obey and pose for her, then she has Christian and Dani swap, and Dani smirks at me as she walks away. I roll my eyes at her and pose for the camera. Summer and Taylor are up next looking absolutely adorable.
"Ok, mom we need to get going,"
"Fine, I guess I have enough pictures," I roll my eyes at her before giving her a hug.
"Bye, see you later," I say as we walk out the door. We split up and load into two cars, me, Christian, Dani, and Ryan in one and Summer, Talyor, Thomas, and Connor in the other.
I hope you guys liked this chapter and as a treat, for hanging in this long I would just like to say I think you will really enjoy the next chapter, there will be a couple of really special moments and maybe a confession. Stay tuned for the surprise. Also, the book is coming close to the end, and as sad as I am for it to be ending I am also excited because that means I can shift my focus to The Lengths We'd Go. XO my lovely readers.
