Seventeen (Zach Dempsey/ Montgomery De La Cruz

Chapter 3

I sat in between my parents trying to follow all of the legal talk. It was the only way I could keep my mind off of the judge, jury, and the pictures in my pocket. I knew they were going to be calling me up soon so I was feeling a little on edge

'It's going to be ok." My mom said in my ear, I held her hand until I heard my name.

Once I took my seat on the stand, I looked around the courtroom and spotted Zach, Clay and Tony in the back.  I locked eyes with Zach and he gave me a small smile and I looked away. I didn't want him here, every time I see him I feel hurt and anger not only towards him but Hannah. I can't feel like that today

"Ms. Down?" I was pulled from my thoughts and looked at the lawyer

"I'm sorry what was the question?"

They started out the same:

'Where do you go to school?'

'How did you know Hannah?'

'How long were you friends?'

The real questions started

"Did you know she was being bullied?"

"Yes."

"Did you ever see it?"

"Objection speculation!"

"Overruled. You may answer."

"Yes and I caused some of it myself."

"Why would you do that if you were friends?"

"I was trying to protect my brother."

"Did you know about the pictures Tyler took of her?"

"No, not until she told me."

"What happened after she told you?"

"I told her to get over herself, she's not worth stalking."

"Then what happened?"

"We- Um I stopped talking to her for awhile." I said

"Ok do you recognize this?" He said then handed me the 'hot or not list'

"Yes, that list started a lot of bad things for Hannah."

"Are lists like this typical at Liberty?"

"Yes, everyday the boys are allowed to objectify us and it's just considered boys being boys. Or us girls being over emotional or teases. Hannah was already labeled a slut because of an innocent picture and that list made things worse for her."

"As a female member of the student body have you experienced incidents like that?"

"Yes actually.." I pulled the pictures out of my pocket and held one iin each hand showing the court

"I found these taped to the board in my English class." I said as people started whispering and the school lawyer jumped up

"Objection!"

"This is what they did to Hannah and now they're doing it to me."

"Objection these picture wwe're never entered into evidence."

"They hear one thing and it defines you forever."

"Enough Ms. Down I'm calling a recess so we can go over these pictures, take fifteen minutes to get yourself under control." The judge said

I got up and walked over to my parents my mom just hugged me

"Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"I didn't want to bother you guys, I wasn't going tell but I just got angry."

"Perri you need to tell us about stuff like this. No matter what we're on your side."

"I know dad." I said and he hugged me and kissed the top of my head

"We're going to that school first thing in the morning." He said and mom nodded in agreement and I knew there was no room for argument. Twenty minutes later they called to order and the judge announced the pictures were now apart of the case. Ii took my seat back on the stand the Baker's lawyer asked me a couple more questions about them then he sat down and the school's lawyer stood

"So you and Hannah were friends?"

"Yes."

"How close were you two?" She asked and I hesitated As I looked at Zach

"She.... She uh, she was my best friend."

"So you guys were best friends? Was she really also really close with Zach Dempsey?"

"No, Zach and I were dating we all hung out together sometimes."

"You were dating Zach? As in not anymore?"

"No we broke up."

"Do you mind telling us why?" She asked and I looked at Zach again I could see the guilt on his face

"We just didn't work well together."

"Ok high school romance I get it, but you and Zach were still dating last summer correct?"

"Yes Zach and I were still together then."

"Ok so you two were together, and he and Hannah weren't that close. So can you explain this string of text messages between Hannah and Zach?" She said then handed me a paper

"I would text her from his phone sometimes."

"But the dates on these messages they span over two weeks August 10-24th. It was to my understand you were out of town during that time."

"Um." Ireally didn't know what to say and I didn't want to look at the texts

"Why don't you look down and refresh your memory."

'Let's hang out'

'There's a party tonight'

'We need to talk about last night'

'Just keep it between us. We can't tell anyone especially Perri.'

I felt this ache in my chest as I read the texts between my best friend and boyfriend,

"You go by Perri correct?"

"Yeah everyone calls me Perri." I said softly putting the paper down

"Kind of shady the girl you call your best friend texting your boyfriend behind you back right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Did you know they were talking behind your back?" She asked and I looked at Zach and I wanted to spill it all so that they could get what they deserved then I looked at Mrs. Baker and I couldn't do it

"No I didn't know."