s.t.a.y. | ethma

7

Emma

Jared and I got downstairs, and my mom was waiting in the kitchen.

"Emma, you have a couple of surprise visitors!" She said. "They're in the living room."

Oh no. I wasn't expecting this. Please don't let it be Ethan. I can't do this right now.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and smiled back at my mom. "Okay. Thanks, mom."

Jared followed closely behind me as we walked into the living room, his hand slightly resting on the small of my back.

Luckily, the surprise visitors weren't who I was afraid to face, but my half sisters, Lexie and Riley.

I gasped. "No way. I-I can't believe you guys are actually here." I said, walking towards them and bringing the two girls into a group picture.

"We've been in contact with your mom, and we wanted to be here for you through this. You're our big sister. We should be here for you." Lexie said. Or Riley. They're identical.

Ever since they called me that first time, we've been in contact, getting to know each other through face time calls, and normal calls.

It didn't work out that we could meet each other last summer, but they're here now.

"Wow. It means so much to me that you guys would travel out here for this." I said. "Now, how do I tell you two apart?"

The one with her hair in a half up style laughed. "I usually have my hair down, and Riley always has her hair up. Other than that, I have a longer face, and a tiny birthmark under my eye." Okay. That's Lexie.

"Good to know."

"Lexie also never shuts up. So whichever one of us is talking more, it's usually Lexie." Riley said. I laughed.

"Well, girls, this is my boyfriend Jared." I said, gesturing to Jared who was standing by the couch. He walked over to me and put his arm around my shoulder. "These are my little sisters. Lexie and Riley. We have the same dad."

"Nice to meet you." He said.

"You too." the girls said in unison. For some reason I always thought that it was just an Ethan and Grayson thing, but I guess all twins do that.

"So, where are you guys staying?" I asked.

"We have a hotel with our mom." Riley said.

"She wasn't feeling well, so she just dropped us off here." Lexie added.

"You two should stay the night here one of the nights. We could hangout."

"Totally!" Lexie said.

Riley nodded. "Sounds fun."

My mom came into the living room. "We gotta go, kids."

So, we piled into my mom's car, Jared in the passenger seat so I could sit by my sisters in the back, and we drove to the courthouse.

For some reason my sisters being here has made me feel so much better.

We got to the courthouse, my mom and I meeting with my lawyer who was named Stephanie. She was super nice.

We ran through a few things that Stephanie said we needed to be prepared about, and then we went into the courtroom.

I spotted Lisa who was sitting with Ethan and Grayson, and she gave me a small smile and little wave. I reciprocated.

I've talked to her a few times since Ethan and I broke up, but definitely not as much as I used to talk to her.

My mom, Stephanie and I took our seats, Lexie and Riley sitting across the railing behind my mom, and Jared behind me.

I slipped my hand through the railing, needing Jared's support. He took my hand, running his thumb back and forth on my hand.

The prosecution started, Stephanie opening the case and presenting to the jury about what happened.

She cross examinated Andrew, asking him questions, and I couldn't stop the quiet tears from flowing out of my eyes. He was lying about every single detail.

He makes me sick.

Once that was done, his lawyer presented the case, making it sound like he did something less than rape me.

I hate this.

It was finally my turn to be cross-examined, and so I went on the stand and sat down at the podium.

"Miss Chamberlain, is it true that Andrew van Tossel sexually assaulted you?"

"No. He raped me."

"Tell is what you remember."

"Well, I remember bumping into someone by accident at the party, and a little while later I had to go to the bathroom. I started to feel really weird like my hearing was muffled, then I remember Andrew coming into the bathroom and locking the door before he started taking my clothes off and touching me. I couldn't move, and I couldn't scream, and I felt a really sharp pain between my legs, and all I could do was silently cry because no noise could come out of my throat. I remember blacking out, and then I woke up in the hospital."

The lawyer asked a few other questions regarding Andrew, and then they asked me for my final statement.

"I'd like to read a letter I wrote to Andrew.
Andrew,

The easiest way for me to move on is to forgive you. I need to be the bigger person in this situation. Although you haven't even apologized, I still need to forgive you so that I can let it go and live the rest of my life in a hopeful peace of mind. I can't dwell on the past anymore, or else I could go down the wrong path mental health wise. I need to move on, and live the rest of my life trying to better myself and become happier again. That will never change what you did to me, but what you did to me will never change me. Not anymore. I forgive you, and I pray that you'll never violate anyone in the same way again. I hope this will be the only story that makes you into a villain.

- Emma."

I went back to my seat, Jared reaching across the railing and patting me on the back, and my mom pulling me into a hug. I was still crying.

Grayson testified next, answering questions to help confirm my story. Stating that he saw Andrew come out of the bathroom before they found me passed out naked on the ground.

Grayson got a little emotional telling his side to the story which made my heart hurt. I don't like that he feels guilty about not preventing the situation before it happened. It wasn't his fault.

Ethan was next, also further confirming my side of the story, and when he was asked for a final statement, my heart broke for him.

"Emma is one of the people in my life that I'd do anything for. That's simply the truth. So while I'm up here, I'm gonna do the best I can to make you believe that Andrew should spend the rest of his life in prison, and that Emma should never have to see his face again. I hate more than anything what he did to Emma, and I think he deserves a life sentence. Make sure she never has to see him again, and make sure he never so much as breathes near another woman again. And to Andrew, fuck you, man."

A few other random kids that apparently saw Andrew come in or out of the bathroom testified, and then court was adjourned until tomorrow.

We went home and I changed into some normal clothes before Jared and I went to Charlie's and met back up with Lexie and Riley.

Grayson even came. He told me that Ethan stayed home with Lisa because he was feeling upset about the trial, and I was low key relieved that he didn't come because I would've felt too weird hanging out with Ethan and Jared at the same time.

I was happy spending time with my sisters, Jared, and Grayson.

I was learning a lot about Lexie and Riley.

Even though Riley's quieter than Lexie, she's super funny, and has a very similar sense of humor to mine.

After a while at Charlie's, Alayna, Grace, Kyla and Anna showed up too, getting there after school must've ended.

I was happy to be surrounded by my friends and my sisters who were becoming my close friends, but at the end of the day is it bad that I would've rather been hanging out with Ethan?