Don't Hide From Me, Please? |✔

Chapter 17| Court Day

How long do you think I can keep this secret? Secrets could ruin everything that isn't damaged. I'm a little afraid that I feel this strong towards Zayn. We have a good friendship, why would I want to ruin that? He's made me stronger than I was. It's a dramatic change on my part. If you told me in the past that I was going to be falling for Zayn Peterson I would have laughed in your face. Nothing is like the books...fairytales don't happen. Only in the books and movies. It doesn't hurt anyone if I daydream about it though.

Lacy's trail is coming up and I'm extremely nervous. After New Years at the end of January I will have to go to trail to watch my mom be put behind bars longer than before. It's a complete nightmare, I'm not sure why I even care. Maybe it's because she is my mom? I'm not sure why I asked Zayn to come with me. I'm sure I won't have to talk about what happened in detail. Personally, that's a good thing because I don't know if I could handle speaking of it in detail.

A light knock flutters from my room. I rub my eyes sitting up. I haven't been able to sleep for a couple days so I'm exhausted. "Come in." I say in my 'sexy' morning voice. Kaitlyn slowly walks through the door. I have never told her what happened to me or Aaron. I don't know if Mom told her about the incident. It wouldn't bother me as much as it would have in the past. I guess that's a step somewhere. "Good morning sweetie." She beams handing me a cup of tea. "Good morning." I say with a little concern. I gratefully take the cup of tea.

Kaitlyn sits on the edge of my bed. "What's this about?" I ask hesitatingly. She takes a deep breath. "Your mom said that something happened to you and your brother. She said that this trail coming up is sort of connected. I'd like to ask what happened." She spills out. The still air stirs in me. I take a deep breath. "Aaron was molested, and I was rapped. At the time, we were friends with all of them and their son did those things to us." I reply looking into my cup.

It's a very heavy subject to talk about around anyone. Kaitlyn shows a glimpse of pity but covers it up. Mom might have told her how I feel about pity. She lays a hand on my leg. "I may not know how you feel deep down but just know that I see you as my own daughter." She finally speaks. She stands up and I put my cup down. I hug her tight. I feel a small tear roll down my cheek. I wipe it away quickly. The phone rings through the whole house. "I got it!" I hear Mom scream from downstairs. Kaitlyn walks down the stairs to meet up with Mom.

I sigh opening my curtains. Max runs in barking up a storm. I groan. "Not today Max." I whisper. A gasp comes from downstairs. Immediately, I hear Mom yelling into the phone. My eyes widen, and I run downstairs to her. I watch her slam the phone down. "What's wrong?" I question. Aaron rubs his eyes slowly walking down the stairs. We must have woken him up. Mom looks from Aaron then to me. I raise my eyebrow. "Mom?" I ask. Fear sparks in her eyes which causes my heart rate to shoot to the stars. "That was your mom's lawyer. The prosecution wants to blame Jeff, Brandon's dad for the crimes and they're going to say your mom put him up to it, so they could give her the death penalty." My mom speaks slowly. "Her lawyer wants you to defend her by telling what really happened." She ends.

My heart sinks to the floor. Aaron falls to his knees. We are going to stand in front of a jury and judge. Not only that but we must come to my real mom's defense. This is a nightmare. I wrap my arms around myself. How could things be crashing now? I nod slowly walking out into the snow. I stand at the edge of my house for an hour. Zayn comes out of his house. "Hey Little Flower. What are you doing standing out in the cold?" He asks throwing a blanket around my body. He walks me back inside. "Things are much worse now." I mutter to myself.

We walk up to my room. "How have things gotten worse?" Zayn asks. I lean into his chest as my tears silently roll down my face. Zayn wraps his arms around me and pulls me down so I'm laying down on him. "The justice system is all screwed up. The prosecution is blaming Brandon's dad for what happened and saying my mom had him paid to do it or something." I start hiccupping. Zayn begins to stroke my hair trying to sooth me. "Aaron and I have to come to my mom's defense, so she doesn't get the death penalty." I add.