I'm Not A Girl, I Swear [Discontinued]

XXXVI

Nick was panicking. He had sworn in, he had told his story and shown the pictures of his bruises, Clara and Daniel had explained what they had heard from upstairs and how she sent them away to eliminate witnesses, but his mother's defense was foolproof. When Wes told him his parents were testifying, he didn't expect them to be so sharp-tongued and charming. Hell, Nick himself almost believed them.

Wes kept shooting him odd looks, as if needing to tell him something. He didn't even know Wes was going to be there.

That is, until they called him up to the stand.

Against Nick's side.

His eyes widened and he realized why Wes had been to nervous and almost terrified all trial. Did he chose to do this? Did his parents make him? What happened?

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

Wes closed his eyes briefly, nodding. "Yes, I do."

"Alright, Wesley, you go to school with Nicholas, correct?"

"That's correct."

"Did you ever notice a change in his behavior before this allegation?"

"Yes." The courtroom seemed to stop breathing. Wes shook his head. "I'm sorry, I was called up here to defend Mrs. Duval's side, but I was also told to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. I can't do both of those. It isn't an allegation. It's the truth."

The lawyer cleared his throat, clearly annoyed. Nick glanced at Wes's parents, but they looked perfectly composed.

Nick's lawyer, however, was hiding a smirk. "And why do you say this?"

Wes took a breath. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't this happen to Nick. "When I first met him, he reassured a friend of mine- who'd I rather not say the identity of- that he wasn't homophobic, that that was just his mother. Naturally, that, coupled with how beaten down he seemed, was worrying. And not just to me- I wasn't the only one to notice. Later, his mother finds out that he went as Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror for Halloween, and is ordered to come home from the weekend. He comes back, seeming to be bruised just about everywhere. Hardly a day later his mother is reported for hurting him."

He looked directly at Nick's mother, mentioning something she had spoken about earlier. "And yes, he got into fights- well, beaten up- at his old school. But if you check the time those photos were taken, you'll see it's well after he transferred to Dalton Academy. Those bruises are too fresh to be from his old tormentors."

Nick was in shock. Wes just did that, he did that for him. His family wanted him to testify against him, but he didn't.

They did indeed check the time the photos were taken, seeing Wes was right. Everything matched up.

The court came to a decision.

Guilty.

And they all knew it was because of what Wes had said.