Full Strength

Sixty One-Logan🏒

"As you can see, this essay is dated approximately six years ago," Andrew Reed said, pointing his laser towards the screen. "Lillian West wrote this essay for her Honors English class at UCLA, after being prompted to write a paper about the comparison between literary romance and romance in reality. To give a short summary, Lillian proceeded to write about how she believed that romance in literature was solely existent due to the fact that real-life romance was, and would almost always, fall short of perfection."

Next to me, Dan had a complete poker face on. Meanwhile, my face was probably already trying to smile. While the essay seemed mildly interesting (I knew Eve would've gobbled it up), it didn't really seem to have anything to do with the case.

Andrew scrolled down a couple of pages, stating, "I'd like to particularly draw attention to this paragraph on page four. This entire section talks about how real-world romance falls short, and this particular example is about how in the real world, romance is often exaggerated in our own minds. We mentally exaggerate the good parts of potential mates, while often covering up or convincing ourselves that the bad parts really aren't that bad."

Then he gave the direct quote: "'We as humans are often optimistic, even when we don't intend to be. When it comes to romance, our perceptions are often twisted to bring our partners into the greatest light possible. This is especially true in cases of coercion and rape within relationships; often the victims will try to convince themselves that it wasn't truly assault, or that it really wasn't that bad. When the attacker is a person of high authority or someone who's role in society is significant, this effect is even more common.'"

Surely he wouldn't-

"Lillian West not only believes this effect to be true, but has succumbed to it herself," Andrew said, false sympathy dripping from his voice as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Logan Kingston is clearly someone who holds a lot of social power, being a famous athlete. Lillian most likely thought that dating such a person would improve her social standings, and any consequences would be swept under the rug."

I gritted my teeth. As I'd suspected, it was a pretty far stretch. The essay, not only several years old, didn't really prove anything. Not to mention that essentially saying that Lillian was a moron who was so in love that she forgot her own standings and morals was a pretty weak argument.

Judge Matthews peered over the rims of his glasses. "Is there anything the prosecution would like to say?"

Dan, of course, had plenty to say. He presented a good rebuttal, saying that the essay was old, not really relevant to the case, and most importantly, practically hearsay. He also hinted at the fact that Lillian had been nineteen when she'd written this, and it had been for an intro-level course. Most likely, she hadn't devoted a lot of effort or emotion towards this assignment.

The real kicker was when the jury decreed that they would meet tomorrow to not only determine whether the evidence was compelling enough to be counted as true evidence, but also to agree on the conviction.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I would know whether I was going to prison, or if I would get to see Lillian again.

Dan had to nudge me several times to get me back in the courtroom. Apparently we'd all been dismissed. I slowly stood up, trying to listen to whatever Dan was saying.

"It shouldn't hold up. Honestly, considering that we knew it was a college essay, it was decently strong. But the jury didn't look too convinced. I'm guessing that anyone who's holding just wants to read the whole thing, double check the message," he was explaining. "Plus, it's not like that essay will lead to another; anything they decide will be pretty final."