Black Iris

Not civil.

Rose

"This is good for us," Clara said, looking intently at the TV screen showing the news.

We were at my house, cycling through the media that was coming out about the first day and strategising for the next one.

A lot of the stories were talking about the 'faulty metal detector' that had delayed the morning. Others were summarising the day, or talking about the summary from the forensic analysts that broke down the crime scene once the trial kicked off.

But the biggest news was the opening statements.

Or rather, how lacklustre Blake's team's was. And how fucking explosive ours was in comparison.

It had exploded online. The court had a live feed on their website, at the request of Blake's team for transparency, but someone had used that to clip Clara's statement and post it online, and in a matter of hours, the case which was already fairly known, was being talked about at a national and global level. #ItsNotCivil was trending, #IvyvAlto was trending, and it was only growing.

The best part was: it was leaning on my side. Which meant that the media was largely on my side.

There were still the few vocal ones that had been anti-me to begin with, but even they were questioning, hey, why is this a civil court case?

"This is what we want, Ophelia," Clara said, glancing across at me. She was on fire, her eyes ablaze with the same fervour I'd seen in court this morning. She looked back at the TV. "If there's enough uproar, the judge will reassess. This is what I've been saying from the beginning, and the more we push it the more likely you are to get justice, okay?"

I nodded vacantly, glancing up at the screen then back at my phone. I was reading the tweets, dissecting the response to the day. Even though it was mostly positive, there were still the outliers. The nasty ones.

This dumb bitch doesn't understand how the justice system works. She is being SUED. That happens in civil court #YesCivil #AltovIvy

Is anyone else already sick of the Alto trial? like smh will someone just lock her up already, she's obviously a narcissistic liar #AltovIvy

Can't believe cancel culture has come this far. Thank goodness the justice system ISNT BROKE. #HeDidntStartTheFire #AltovIvy

Those were some of the most civil. They got worse.

"Ophelia!" Clara snapped, and I looked up. She was staring at me, as were my parents and the two law students that were observing under Clara for the trial. I didn't mind them. They were nice. The girl, Saylor, had an undercut and purple frosted tips. If I wasn't still hung up on Charlene (and Jordan, if I was totally honest with myself), and she also wasn't part of my legal team and at least 3 years older than me, I would definitely consider hooking up with her.

But never mind that, everyone was staring at me, so I'd obviously been asked a question.

"What was that, sorry?" I asked quietly.

My mother rolled her eyes and stood up, flouncing to the kitchen, muttering about how hopeless I was.

Clara shook her head. "It's okay, Ophelia. I just asked if you're clear about how tomorrow's gonna go down."

I shrugged. "Cross examining the investigation, then psych assessments. Blake's first. Danielle after, if there's time."

Clara nodded. The student, Saylor, cleared her throat. "Do you want me to go bring Mrs Alto back, Clara?"