The Beginning and the Memory// 13RW

19 I Will Always Love You

I took a deep breath, straightening the hem of my black and white striped dress over my thighs while I waited for Justin to testify. Zach grabbed my hand, clasping his fingers with mine and squeezing. My heart beat fast while I took several more breaths to calm my nerves. It was nearly impossible as I sat there impatiently waiting to finally let the world know who Bryce Walker was, and what he did to so many girls, and how he was Hannah's leading reason for suicide.
       There were so many secrets that people were left in the dark on. The ugly truth was about to come out, and it was such a nerve wracking experience for all of us.
     Jess sat beside me, and Alex beside her, Clay on the other side of Zach. I stole a glance at Bryce, who was wearing a pair of fake glasses and a nice button-up that was tucked into his khakis. My nose wrinkled in disgust at the monster who refused to admit the wrong that he had done.
      "Justin Foley, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god?"
      I squeezed Zach's hand tighter when Justin nodded quickly, his hand placed over the Bible. I murmured a quick prayer while Justin moved to the stand. Zach held my hand to his lips, kissing it a few times before he dropped our hands back into my lap.
      "Mr. Foley, you say you were there the night that the defendant raped a girl at a party?"
       Justin's face was the shade of a peach as he nodded once again, "yes, sir."
        "But, you did nothing to stop it?"
     Justin shook his head, "no, I tried. Bryce pushed me out of the room and locked the door, there was nothing I could do."
      The attorney nodded slowly, rubbing his fingers on his chin, "and you know for sure that the defendant committed this?"
      "Yes," Justin stated firmly, "Bryce-the defendant- raped her, he raped another girl that night, I didn't know about that until recently but it happened, and he raped Hannah. Just before she decided to kill herself."
       "Objection," I watched as Mr. Walker stood abruptly from his seat, "where is the proof of any of this happening? It's a dead girl's words against my son's."
       "Why would a dead girl lie?" Justin spat back, and the judge banged his gavel.
      "Order in the court," he shouted, and Mr. Walker adjusted his tie before he sat back down.
      "Mr. Foley," the attorney continued, "are the victims here in this courtroom right now?"
     "Yes, sir."
     "Are they willing to testify?"
     "Yes, sir."
      The judge banged his gavel, "I call the victims to the stand."
      I looked over at Jess and she nodded at me. She squeezed my hand before standing and taking both of us to the stand.
     We swore on the Bible that we would tell the truth, my heart beating a mile a minute and I was beginning to feel a little lightheaded. I tried to shake it off, still holding onto Jess's hand tightly.
       The attorney looked at us both with remorse, eyeing my wheelchair, before he began questioning, "you both can confirm that you were raped by the defendant that night?"
      "Yes," Jess and I responded in unison, and she squeezed my hand.
      "Permission granted to speak freely," the attorney told us, and Jess urged me to speak.
        I took a deep breath, "that party should have never happened in the first place," I began, "nothing good came out of it for any of us."
       My mouth felt dry as I looked out at all of the people watching, and the camera people who were broadcasting. I found Zach's face in the crowd and he gave me an encouraging smile while he mouthed "I love you."
       I wiped a few tears from my eyes, "Yes, I can confirm that I was raped by Bryce Walker. Yes, I can confirm that he raped my two best friends as well. And I can also confirm that we are not the only ones."
     I found the coach's face in the crowd, "the entire sports shed was used as a hang out for the players to get their way with girls, Bryce being the main player. There were so many polaroids of his victims, his own girlfriend being one of them. But there's no proof of that, the polaroids were stolen."
       I looked out at everyone once again, "but we shouldn't need proof. Why would anyone lie about being raped? It is such a horrible, shameful thing. Why do you think that being raped sent Hannah over the edge? She felt inhumane," i shook my head, "so embarrassed, and Jess and I feel her pain. We really do feel it, but we just happened to come out of it."
       "We just want to put a stop to Bryce. No one deserves this treatment, but Bryce DOES deserve to be behind bars."
        I tried to think of more things to say, but I was coming to a blank. My vision was beginning to black out and I decided to stop.
      "Thank you."
      Jess smiled at me, tears falling down her face, "you did so good."
      We were dismissed from the stand, as well as Justin, while Bryce was sentenced to nothing more than probation, and the Bakers lost the trial.
     
A few months later

       "Honey, you look amazing!"
      "Just wait till Zach sees how beautiful you are!"
       "And when everyone sees that you're standing on your own again, they are going to be so joyful!"
      I grinned at my reflection, my flowing purple dress sparkling in the light. I twirled around a few times, biting my lip to keep from crying tears of joy.
      "I'm so proud of you, honey," my mom kissed my head several times, hugging me to her chest while we both looked at ourselves in the mirror, "thank you for never giving up."
       I began to cry and my mom gasped, "oh, no, honey, don't cry, you're going to ruin your makeup!"
      I laughed through the tears while my mom tried to save my makeup. She held onto my face, rubbing her thumbs along my cheek, "I love you so much."
      "I love you too, mom."
      It was the night of the spring formal, and I had planned to surprise everyone by showing up to the dance on my own two feet. No one knew about it yet besides my mom and Cara, who was invited to help me get ready.
      It was the most exciting thing that had happened to me in a really long time, and I hoped it would bring joy to my friends as well.
      "Well, are you ready?"
      I nodded, "yeah, I'm ready."
    
       My mom slowed to a stop in front of the doors, and I hesitated before I reached for the handle.
      "Have so much fun, sweetie!"
      I smiled at her, hugging her once again before I got out of the car and waved goodbye. I turned towards the doors, taking a deep breath before walking up the stairs.
      The only lighting in the gym was from fairy lights and the neon lights that shown all around the room. I stopped in my tracks when I saw them all in the middle of the gym floor, dancing with each other having a good time. I grinned, tears coming to my eyes. Zach happened to look up at that time, spotting me standing there. He rubbed his eyes, as if it wasn't real, and looked at me again, a grin on his face. He quickly notified everyone else, hitting Justin's arm to get his attention, and everyone else's gazes followed, jaws dropping.
       "Oh my god, Emm!" Jess screamed across the gym, running to me and hugging me tightly in her arms, "holy fucking shit, you're walking!"
        I laughed, "Yes, I am!"
       Everyone else followed, rushing into a group hug.
      "Emm this is so sick, you're fucking walking, dude!"
     "I'm so so so proud of you, baby girl!"
       I smiled at all of them with such fondness that my heart could barely muster the love that I felt for them all, "I love you guys so much."
      "We love you too, Emm."
      "Forever and always."
      Hannah and Clay's song began to play, and I was so grateful that we were all there with each other to stiff it out. We slow danced in our group hug, reminding each other that we would always be there for each other, no matter what.
     
       I had my arms wrapped around Zach's neck later that night when everyone had started to clear out. Open Arms by Journey was playing, one of mine and Zach's first slow songs that we had danced to together at the winter formal.
      "I love you," he leaned his forehead against mine, "I will always love you."
      "Okay, Whitney," I joked lightheartedly, "I love you, too. More than anything."

      We danced the night away in each other's arms, the others joining in occasionally- none of us ever leaving each other's sides.

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Well, guys, I think this is the end. Tell me what you think, I'm sorry it took me so long to update and finish this story, but I hope you guys love love love it as much as I did.