It was surprising, but it wasn't a surprise.
And Montgomery was supposed to be expecting her. But it was unexpected how early she arrived.
Montgomery's parents were out of town, and he was told to stay at the house all night, not leaving, so that he could be there in case Estella needed anything.
Ophelia didn't like doing anything sexual while Estella was there. She would kiss him, but barely. Ophelia was shy, and at the time, she was shy about people knowing she was sexually active. Which was strange, since Montgomery was the exact opposite.
But Montgomery didn't try to make a move on her when she got shy, because she never wanted to risk that she would leave and go home.
But Montgomery was horny. He had been all day. Ophelia would over in an hour, so he decided that he would masturbate before she got there. In his mind, that would erase horniness when she arrived.
Montgomery put on earphones, and laid back in his bed. He put his phone on incognito mode, and pulled his pants down to his mid thighs.
He had opened a pornography site, and scrolled through the categories. He found a three way video. Two girls, one guy. Watching that video, he began touching himself. The video turned him on, but not enough for him to finish.
When he got bored of that video, he scrolled in the recommended. There next video had a pinned photo of a girl riding a guy, so he clicked on it. He was a little surprised to see this video involved a girl, but two guys.
The girl in the video was pretty, but not as pretty as Ophelia was to him. She made sexual sounds that turned him on even more. Both guys in the video had a turn with the girl, only to then start making out with each other.
Montgomery winced. He didn't know the video would turn into that. He was going to change it, but when the camera panned out, and the face of one of the boys was shown more clearly, he hesitated.
There was a boy with brown hair, who had gotten on his knees to give the taller, more muscular man a blow job. He was skinny, and the taller man was able to grip his hair easily, and force him down further into his member.
The girl seemed to be out of the video completely now, but still, Montgomery decided to keep watching.
Finally, the thinner boy ended up on his hands and knees, while the muscular boy took him from behind.
Montgomery began touching himself again. He had liked the sexual sounds the girl had been making, but he started liking the boy's sound more. His grunts and pleasurable groans brought Montgomery close to finishing.
He was watching the video, focusing on how the porn star's entire body shifted with each thrust. But then his door opened.
The opening caught his eye, and he looked up. Ophelia had walked in. Her eyes widened, shocked at the sight of Montgomery masturbating on his bed.
She had been knocking, but he didn't respond, so she came in thinking he was sleeping.
Ophelia covered her eyes quickly. "Oh, god!"
Yes, she had seen Montgomery naked before. But this was still unsettling for her to see, probably because she hadn't expected it.
"Shit!" Montgomery yelled. He dropped his phone, and buttoned up his pants quickly, nearly falling off the bed to get up. He put himself away. Ophelia was just outside the door, turning around with her hands covering her eyes.
He touched her shoulder. She jumped. Turning around, she was red in the face. "I'm-I'm sorry," she told him. "AAC was cut short today because Mrs. Bradley had a doctors appointment."
"It's okay," he said quickly, but lowly so Estella wouldn't hear from her room. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in. And I'm sorry that, um, that I was doing that?"
Ophelia bit her lip. "It's okay. I mean, it's okay that you do that. It's normal. All guys do it."
He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Shit, I'm sorry, though."
Ophelia glanced down, and saw that he was still really hard.
She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry I interrupted. You can go...finish? If you need to."
He was beyond embarrassed now. But the thought excited him. He had been so close. "I don't have to." But his voice made it clear that he really wanted to.
Ophelia was okay with it, because she would feel guilty about sparing him that pleasure by barging in on him. And she wasn't planning on doing anything to give him that pleasure that night. She had just planned on watching a Harry Potter movie with him.
"I'll be right back," he promised. She watched him walk down the hall, and disappear into the bathroom.
She tried not to think about what he was doing. She found Montgomery really attractive, but the thought of a boy touching himself made her feel a bit icky. Maybe because she was so unused to it. She didn't touch herself, not really. Her mother was too strict of her time when she was home for her to be able to.
She went into his room, and decided to take a seat on his bed while she rifled through her bag for the movie. But when she stepped into his room, she heard the video. His phone was facedown on his bed, and she could hear sensual sounds coming from the earphones.
She took a deep breath, and decided to go over and turn it off for him so he wouldn't be embarrassed that he left it on.
Ophelia hadn't watched much porn in her life. Her mother was very strict with parental controls, and what she was able to access online. She had been able to get around it a few times, and Montgomery had showed her some for a reason she still wasn't sure of, but the subject of pornography was still an uncomfortable one to her.
So she braced herself before picking up the phone. But nothing prepared her to find that the video was two boys having sex. Gay pornography? That was something she definitely hadn't seen before.
She hesitated, wondering what she was seeing, and why she was seeing it. Did Montgomery watch a lot of gay pornography?
She paused the video, and stared at the screen for a few moments, processing it.
Montgomery was heavily, heavily homophobic sometimes. He would say gay slurs, and be extra rude to gay men at school. When he started dating her, she would criticize him for it, and plead with him to stop. He mostly did.
But then he would start asking Ophelia what he thought about gay men. Did it disgust her thinking of two men together sexually? It didn't, not anymore than thinking of any strangers having sex.
Then he started asking her what she thought of guys who acted more feminine, and guys that weren't gay, but still found other men attractive. What if a guy was sexually attracted to other men, but didn't want to be in a relationship with one. It confused her when he asked these questions. Did men who weren't gay find other men attractive?
Montgomery didn't have any female friends. He found comfort in other boys, and that's where he got all his comfort.
Something clicked in Ophelia's head while she stood in Montgomery's room.
He walked in while her back was facing the door. He was refreshed, and he had a big smile on his face.
"Did you bring the movie?" he asked her, ready to change the topic.
He froze when he saw Ophelia holding his phone. She closed it quickly, but he already saw that she had seen what he was watching. He felt his heart stop.
"Um...." he took a step forward, nervous. "I, um, I can explain..."
"It's okay," she muttered, quickly. She set his phone back on his bed.
She tried to leave the room. "We can watch the movie now."
He grabbed her when she tried walking past him. He closed the door, and blocked the exit.
"N-No, let me explain," he insisted. Still nervous as hell. And ashamed.
"Monty, it's alright," she told him. She couldn't hide her worried tone.
She wanted to leave, and have time to process it on her own. And she was scared. Scared of what this secret meant.
But Montgomery held her still. "No, it's not what you think!"
She cringed at his loud voice.
"It was just a random video," he tried, "I didn't realize that's what it was."
That didn't explain why he was still watching it.
"I didn't-I didn't use it," he lied.
Ophelia bit her lip. "Do you want to talk about?" Because she knew it was a lie.
"I was thinking about you in the bathroom," he told her. "Just you." This was true. He had been imaging having sex with Ophelia, and that's how he finished when he went to the restroom.
"Okay," she breathed. "I believe you."
She tried to take a step back. It devastated him.
"Wait, I-"
He turned away suddenly. Ophelia didn't realize what was wrong with him until she heard it. A cry. Montgomery was crying.
He turned back to her, and she saw tears in her eyes.
"I swear to god it's not what you think," his words were filled with emotion, and his voice wavered from his tearful expression. "Please, don't tell anyone, Ophelia. Please."
She walked forward now, taking his face in her hands. "Hey, hey, hey," she soothed. She wasn't upset now, she was guilty. She hadn't meant for her reaction to make Montgomery more upset. She hadn't meant to seem so unsupportive. "Monty, I'm not going to tell anyone."
"But do you believe me?" he was still tearful, completely devastated he had been caught doing something he tried avoiding for so long. "It's a mistake. I can show you. There-There was girl in the beginning of the video. I'm-I'm not a fucking fag, O."
There it was. The word he used so much. The word he hated so much. Because it was the word that could affect him the most.
Ophelia was breathing heavily. "Take a seat with me."
He sniffed, and agreed. He sat next to her on the bed. He was still crying.
"I swear to fucking god, I'm not a-"
He stopped, this time not even able to say it. He started crying more. This was one of the first times she ever saw him cry, and it was definitely the most she had ever seen.
Montgomery pulled his shirt over his face, beyond embarrassed by the situation, and his reaction.
"You want me, right Monty?" she asked him.
That's all she wanted to know. She didn't care if Montgomery watched gay pornography, or real pornography. It didn't matter to her what turned him on, she just need to know that she was one of those things.
"Yes," he cried. "Fuck-I'm Sorry, Ophelia. I swear to god it won't happen again."
She felt terrible for picking up his phone. She felt ever more terrible because it was clear Montgomery thought she would consider leaving him because of this.
"I fucking love you," Montgomery told her. He confirmed what she thought by saying, "Please don't fucking leave me for this."
"Monty..." she pulled him closer. His head fell down to her shoulder. She held him there while he calmed down, and finally stopped crying.
Something about this small incident making her tough boyfriend cry...it told her how terrified he was when he knew she had seen what he was watching.
He pulled away from her, and wiped his eyes. He didn't say anything, ashamed to speak, and kept thinking, what girl wanted a boyfriend who watched shit like that?
"Monty..." she began again. "...Can I ask you something?"
She watched his face twist into dread. "Yeah."
"Do you...ever think of boys like that? Sexually?"
He covered his face with his hands. He didn't answer. Ophelia realized that was an answer in itself.
But did that mean he didn't think of her sexually? It wouldn't bother her if he liked boys and girls, she just needed to make sure he actually liked girls too, and wasn't just pretending to keep up a straight image.
What if he was just pretending to like her? It would devastate her. She felt bad asking, since he was so upset. But she needed to know their relationship wasn't a lie.
"But...you like me too, right? Like, sexually too?"
He pulled out of his hands. "Of course." He sounded heartbroken. He was, especially thinking that his mistake of being caught made her question their relationship. "You're everything I want, O. Of course I'm attracted to you, of course I love you, of course I have feelings for you. But..." He hesitated.
"What is it?" she urged him.
Montgomery couldn't look at her. He looked away, not able to come to terms with what he was about to tell her. He hadn't admitted this to anyone before. Not even himself. "...but I think you're the only girl I've had actual feelings for."
She gulped. "What about your other girlfriends?"
He was still looking away. "I liked having sex with them. I like having sex with girls," he emphasized, "But I didn't...I can't connect with girls, O. Not like I connect with you."
She took a breath. She dared to ask him, "Can you connect with boys?"
Again, he didn't answer. So the answer was 'yes'.
Ophelia reached over and grabbed his hand.
"But you love me, right? You love me like a boyfriend loves his girlfriend?"
Montgomery did look at her to say. "Even more, O."
She nodded, and swallowed hard. "I believe you. And I love you. And...what I've learned about you today, it doesn't matter to me, since I know you still love me the same."
Montgomery sighed, beyond relieved.
"And I promise to never speak of this to anyone," she assured him.
Montgomery sniffed, beyond grateful.
Ophelia continued, "And...we don't have to ever talk about it again. Until you're ready to. And I hope you will be someday."
Montgomery grabbed her, and pulled her into him tightly for a hug. "Fuck, I love you, Ophelia."
"I love you," she breathed.
Ophelia kept her promise to not bring it up to him while they dated, he had been the one to decide he was never going to bring it up. And Montgomery tried to push back the feelings he had towards other men, and he tried to forget about him.
He thought he didn't need to worry about it. Because he had Ophelia, and he didn't think there would ever be a time he didn't.
*****
"Of course Montgomery's testimony is late," Zach mentioned. "He's late to almost everything."
Ophelia looked at the time. It was only five minutes past nine.
"It's the judges fault," Ophelia told him. "Monty's here. He was here in time."
She saw him while she was walking in. She had caught his eye in the lobby. Her and Zach were hurrying in to get a seat, so she couldn't stop to say anything.
But she offered him a smile. And he had accepted it gladly.
Zach rolled his eyes. "I guess."
Zach and Ophelia were sitting on the Baker's side of court, in the fourth row. They sat near the row in the middle. She had a good eyeline of the stand. Scott had come in just after them. He sat on the other side of the court room. He was closer to the front. There were a lot of baseball players that were seated up there. But not Bryce.
He had glanced back at her while taking a seat. He was guilty for not sitting with them, but Zach's attitude that morning made him not want to be anywhere near him.
It made Ophelia sad that he had sat so far away.
Zach saw Scott looking, and he sat back in his seat, and put an arm around Ophelia, while he was still watching. Scott quickly looked away.
Ophelia blushed, not noticing Scott had seen.
Estella and her mother sat in the front row on the school's side. Estella waved at Ophelia when she walked in, and Ophelia waved back.
She would have gone to sit with her had Zach not been there. She was worried Montgomery's mother would get upset if she sat with them with her new boyfriend.
The judge finally came, and they began less than ten minutes late.
"We are bringing in today's first and only witness," the judge announced, "Mr. Montgomery De La Cruz."
The courtroom doors open, and Montgomery was escorted in. Ophelia wondered if her entrance had looked that dramatic as well.
Montgomery was wearing black denim, and a dark blue button down shirt. He had on a black tie. Ophelia thought he had a suit somewhere at home. Maybe he wanted to go casual so he could go straight to school. Or maybe, and more likely, he couldn't find his suit.
He took a seat, and straightened his tie as he sat down.
Mrs. Baker was full on glaring at him as he stepped in. He noticed, and shrank down.
The Baker's lawyer, Vasquez stood up. Ophelia felt nervous, remembering the hard questions he asked her.
"Can you please state your name and age for the record," Vasquez asked him, "As well as the school you attend, and what grade you are currently in?"
Montgomery's eyes glanced through the crowd of people in front of him. He didn't speak, not until he made eye contact with Ophelia, and made sure she was there. It calmed him.
He looked back at Vasquez. "My name is Montgomery De La Cruz. I'm eighteen years old, and I'm a junior at Liberty High School."
Vasquez nodded. "Good. Thank you. Now, Mr. De La Cruz, would you consider yourself a popular student?"
Again, he glanced through the crowd, seeing how many of his team turned out for him.
"Yeah, I would say I'm popular." He couldn't help but crack a joke, "It comes easy when you're this good-looking."
All his teammates laughed. Ophelia cracked a smile, while Zach rolled his eyes again. Montgomery had managed to lift the tension of the courtroom.
Mrs. Baker leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms, shaking his head behavior.
Vasquez forced a smile. "And you're an athlete?"
Montgomery nodded. "Baseball and football."
His teammates let out an 'ayeee'. They were shushed by the court officials.
"So," Vasquez continued, "You're a popular athlete. You have influence over people. Have you ever used the influence to turn people against Hannah Baker?"
Stuhl stood time her feat, quickly. "Objection, your honor. How would he know if his actions directly influenced-"
Vasquez didn't let her finish. "I'm not asking if it indirectly did anything. I'm asking if he willingly influences people against a fellow student."
The judge favored Vasquez. "Objection overruled."
Stuhl slumped back into her seat.
Vasquez turned back to Montgomery. "Did you ever say or do anything, that you knew would cause other Liberty High students to view Hannah Baker negatively."
Montgomery shifted in his seat. "I mean, I guess. I told people what others told me."
"So you helped spread rumors about her?"
He shifted again. "I guess. But I didn't lie or anything."
"But most of those rumors were lies," Vasquez said. "So you helped spread lies around, which resulted in bullying. Did you, Montgomery, bully Hannah Baker?"
Stuhl stood again, "Your honor, we've been over this many times. Students do not realize the negative effect their words have on people. They do not know who they are considered bullies to and who they are just joking with."
"Sustained," the judge said. "Vasquez, rephrase."
Vasquez was irritated at this. "Montgomery, did you ever say anything rude or negative directly to Hannah?"
"I..." Again, Montgomery caught Ophelia's eye. He sighed. "Yeah, I think I did."
"Like what?"
Montgomery struggled. "I think I called her a slut a few times."
Mrs. Baker exhaled so loudly, Ophelia and Zach could hear it from their seats. Zach's arm stayed wrapped around Ophelia's shoulder, especially since he noticed Montgomery's eyes on her.
"Why would you do that?" Vasquez asked him.
He shrugged, feeling off-put by the question. Why did he do that?
"People said she was one. And I believed them."
Vasquez walked closer to the jurors, and asked, "So all these rumors, the ones that insinuated she was a slut, you heard them at school?"
"Yeah," Montgomery admitted.
"Did you know Hannah personally, outside of school?"
"Um," Montgomery did glance at Ophelia yet again. This time his eyes were on her so long that others seemed to notice. Scott looked backed, and noticed he was looking directly at her. Montgomery gulped, and had to look away to answer. "Kind of. She was friends with my girlfriend."
Vasquez seemed pleased by his answer. Pleased that Ophelia was brought up. "Your girlfriend, Ophelia Tristano? She was the one who was friends with Hannah?"
Montgomery cleared his throat. "Yes."
"And your girlfriend and Hannah often-"
"Ex-girlfriend," Montgomery cut him off. Vasquez paused. Montgomery repeated, "She's-She's my ex-girlfriend."
Ophelia shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she felt people turn to look at her. Zach pulled her closer to him.
Vasquez nodded. "Alright, your ex-girlfriend. She and Hannah saw each other often?"
Montgomery let out a breath. "I guess."
"And they were close? She would tell Hannah things she didn't tell other people?"
"I don't know," he breathed. "I didn't talk to Hannah. So I don't know what they talked about."
Vasquez told him, "You didn't talk to her because she was a slut?"
Stuhl was on her feet in and instant. "Objection-"
"Withdrawn," Vasquez said quickly, before she could even finish. "Montgomery, was there a reason you didn't talk to Hannah Baker?"
Montgomery just shrugged. Ophelia watched his expressions. He was getting upset, slowly. Ophelia hoped he could calm himself down. "I didn't like her."
Montgomery hadn't meant to make a joke, but his teammates laughed. Mrs. Baker was infuriated.
"Why didn't you like her?"
Again, Montgomery's eyes landed on Ophelia. Guilt encased his face. "Because everyone thought she was a slut. And I believe it. And I didn't like that they hung out. And she didn't like me either."
"She didn't like you?" Vasquez asked. Montgomery shook his head. He seemed pleased at the statement. "Is this because she witnessed you hitting Ophelia at a school dance?"
Ophelia slumped down in her seat. His friends, which had been murmuring, had become silent. She saw Estella look back at her, before her mother forced her to look forward.
And then Scott looked back at her. And she felt his eyes the most out of anything.
Montgomery was the only one who didn't look at her. He looked down instead, he was clenching and unclenching his fists.
Vasquez spoke up again, after realizing he wouldn't be answering soon. "Montgomery, did you dislike Hannah Baker because she had seen you physically abusing you ex-girlfriend, Ophelia Tristano?"
He scoffed. "I disliked Hannah because she was a bitch."
He regretted his word immediately, as he saw the expressions of those around him. But Montgomery didn't care. He wasn't on trial, he wasn't trying to cater to the jury. Who gave a fuck what they thought about him?
Zach's hold on Ophelia strengthened.
Vasquez seemed upset, but his face remained unfazed. "Did you, or did you not, physically assault Ophelia Tristano at a Liberty High dance?"
"I..."
Now, he did look at Ophelia. He stared at her, for a long time.
Ophelia knew Montgomery. And she could read him well. But as his eyes softened, his expression become unreadable. His mouth opened, but he didn't say anything. He closed it again. He cleared his throat, and took a long, deep breath.
"Yes. Hannah saw me hit Ophelia."
Holy shit.
There wasn't silence anymore. There was enough whispers through the room to make it seem almost deafening.
Stuhl ran a hand over her face, and sighed.
It wasn't just a few people to turn to her, it was almost everyone that looked at Ophelia.
She shrank down further into Zach's arms.
Mrs. Bakers audibly said, "Vasquez."
Vasquez went back to the table Mrs. Baker was seated at. They talked for a moment, and Ophelia saw him slide a folder his way.
"Are you sure?" he asked her. She nodded.
Vasquez straightened back up, and walked back to Montgomery.
"Mr. De La Cruz, did you repeatedly bully Hannah because she attempted to convince Ophelia to break up with you?"
Montgomery just said, "No." But he had.
"Did you want revenge on Hannah for convincing Ophelia to call the police on you?"
"No," he lied, again. "Ophelia didn't mean to call the cops on me. It was a misunderstanding."
"I'm sure it was," Vasquez taunted. "Did you attend Representatives Night? Hosted by Liberty High?"
Montgomery hesitated, knowing where this was going. So did everyone else who listened to the tapes.
"Did you see Hannah that night?"
Again, Montgomery looked down at his hands. "I saw her talking to Ophelia. That was it."
"You didn't approach her at all?"
"No." Again, he lied.
Vasquez opened the folder, and took out a photo. It was the photo which Ophelia had been shown in her deposition months ago. A blowup of a Polaroid.
When it was pulled out, Ophelia didn't notice Zach look away, guilty.
"Is this you in this photo? With Hannah unconscious on your lap?"
Montgomery shifted. "No."
"You didn't drug her on Rep Night? And take her into another section of the Liberty High campus?"
"No," he said, sternly. "I didn't."
"You didn't-"
Stuhl stood. "Your honor, its clear that Mr. De La Cruz is not the person in that photo, and he does not know where it's from, can we move on from it?"
The judge agreed with Stuhl. "Let's move on from the photo, Vasquez."
Vasquez set the folder down on the table. The judge told him, "Remember to stay on course, Vasquez. He is a witness, not a defendant."
The judge was telling Vasquez to back down. Montgomery was a high schooler, there without a lawyer. His badgering looked bad, even if Montgomery was guilty of something.
Vasquez chose a new course, "How often did you see Hannah getting bullied?" Vasquez rephrased his question when he saw Stuhl preparing to stand. "Or, how often did you see kids harassing her?"
Montgomery shrugged. "Everyday?"
"Everyday? Every single day Hannah Baker was harassed and bullied at school? And there was absolutely zero involvement of the staff in attempts to stop this bullying?"
"I don't know," Montgomery's voice was clearly irritated now. "Like I said, I didn't fucking hang out with her. I don't know who fucking did what."
"God...," Zach groaned, watching his language shift the tension in the courtroom more negatively.
"What about you? Did you ever try to stop your friends from harassing her?"
"I didn't fucking-"
Montgomery stopped, when he caught Ophelia's eye again.
She mouthed him two words. 'Calm. Down.'
Montgomery took a deep breath, and started over. "No, I didn't."
"You would let your friends do a lot of things to Hannah, wouldn't you?" Montgomery feared his next question. "Even rape her? Did you see Bryce rape Hannah, and do nothing to stop it?"
Stuhl stood, and quickly shouted, "Your honor, where is this question coming from? We were told there were no witnesses to Hannah's encounter with Bryce."
Vasquez spoke, just as quickly, and just as loudly. "Your honor, we have recently come to learn that two people had still been at the party at the time of the rape. Alex Standall and Montgomery De La Cruz. They were in the pool house, where you could both hear and see the hottub."
"Holy fuck," Zach said, from next to Ophelia. He took his arm away from her, and leaned forward.
Stuhl walked closer to the judge. "I was not given this information."
"It was recent," Vasquez explained. "Happened this morning. Just before court."
The judge deliberated for a moment, and then nodded. "Continue with questioning."
Vasquez marched back to Montgomery. "You were there the night Hannah was raped by Bryce Walker, correct? The night of his house party?"
This was the moment he had promised Ophelia he would turn on Bryce, the moment he had sworn to do the right thing. But it was hard.
"I was there for his house party," Montgomery said.
Ophelia noticed Zach, besides her, was breathing deeply.
"And you were there until morning? You never left?"
Montgomery said, "I did. I dropped off Ophelia at her house before dark."
Ophelia remembered the party. She wasn't there when Bryce went in the hottub. She wasn't there at night at all. Just during the hot day when everyone was in the pool.
"But you went right back? And stayed the night?"
He nodded. "Yes."
Vasquez took a deep breath before asking, "Did you hear Bryce and Hannah having sex?"
Montgomery shot Ophelia a look. "Yes, I did."
Zach tensed next to her.
Vasquez asked now, more carefully, "Did you know who it was when you heard it?"
Montgomery frowned. "No. I haven't memorized my friend's moans."
A chuckled ran through his friends. What an inappropriate time for one.
Vasquez hummed lowly. "So did you then get up, and walk over, and look out the window to see who was having sex?"
How did he know that? Alex must have told him.
"Objection," Stuhl cut in. "Where is he getting this information?"
Vasquez spoke to the judge when he said, "Alex Standall informed us of these events."
"Alex Standall is not mentally stable enough to testify anything," Stuhl told the judge. "He was taken off the witness list. His words can't be trusted as true."
Vasquez almost rolled his eyes at her. "That is why I am asking if it's true, your honor."
The judge ruled in Vasquez's favor, yet again. "Tread carefully, Vasquez."
The question was asked again. "Did you hear two people having sex, the night Hannah was raped, and did you go to the window to see who it was?"
Montgomery blinked. "Yes."
A low murmur spread through the crowd. All the jurors leaned forward, listening just as intently as Zach was.
"And did you see that it was Bryce and Hannah?"
Again, "Yes."
"And did it look consensual?"
"Your honor!" Stuhl cried. "This, like so many of his questions, is clearly calling for speculation!"
"I said to tread carefully," the judge told Vasquez, strictly.
"This isn't calling for speculation, this is calling for what he directly saw. Mr. De La Cruz, when you saw Bryce and Hannah having sex, did it look consensual?"
"Mr. De La Cruz should not have to answer that," Stuhl complained. "He is being targeted with these questions-"
"Targeted?" Vasquez scoffed. "There is no way-"
"They are simply bringing this up because Mrs. Baker has labeled him a bully."
"Your honor-"
"Stuhl, thank you for looking out for Mr. De La Cruz, but I do not think this is targeting. I think it's relevant." The judge nodded to Montgomery, "If you believe you had the ability to make this judgement, you may answer."
Montgomery gave Ophelia one, last look. She held her breath.
"No. It did not look consensual."
She heard Mrs. Baker's reaction from where she sat. A gasp? No, a deep breath of relief.
"What the fuck?" she heard from on of the players upfront.
Montgomery was on his feet in an instant, walking out of the courtroom. He hadn't been dismissed, he had just had enough. The judge called for him to stop, but he didn't. Both confusion and clarity swept through the room.
"Shit," Ophelia muttered. She turned to Zach, who was processing everything that had been said. "Zach, I'll be right back."
"What?" He was off-put by the sentence. "You're going after him?"
"I'll be two minutes," she promised. "I just want to make sure he comes back in."
He looked unsure.
"For Hannah, Zach."
He sighed. "Go. I'm not going to make you stay."
Ophelia rushed out the room. Montgomery had left the courthouse completely. She caught him walking down the steps.
"Monty!" she called. He stopped, and ran a hand over his face, beyond upset. She caught up with him. "Monty, where do you think you're going?"
"I'm fucking leaving," he said. "I'm fucking done with this."
"Hey," she reached out and touched his arm. "You were doing really good."
"Everyone's gonna fucking hate me," he said. "They're going to fucking hate me for turning on Bryce."
"They won't," she insisted. "Not the people that matter."
He asked her, "Meaning you?"
She blushed a bit. "I meant people like Scott. Good people. People you actually want to stay in your life."
"What else do they fucking need from me, O?" he asked. "I'm just gonna fuck things up if I'm in for any longer."
"You won't," she promised him. She stepped closer. "Monty, if you leave now you could get in serious trouble. Leaving court before being dismissed is a big deal."
Montgomery ran another hand over his face. "I didn't mean to tell them what I did to you."
He was talking about when he admitted to hitting her.
"It just slipped out," he insisted. "Do you think you'll get in trouble for it? Since you said I didn't?"
Would she be charged with perjury? She honestly had no idea. She didn't think so.
"Don't worry about me," she told him. "Please, lets go back."
"What if this was a fucking mistake?" he asked. "What if I'm just losing all my friends, and just making fucking enemies for myself?"
"You're not going to lose anyone," she assured him. She touched both his arm, giving a gentle squeeze. "And you're not losing me, okay?"
He leaned into her touch.
"Don't look at them when you're on the stand," she instructed. "Look at Estella, or Scott, or me. You can look at me. I'll be there to calm you down."
That alone seemed to lift Montgomery's spirits, and encourage him to go back in the courtroom. He apologized to the judge. And the judge apologized to the jurors. They continued.
Vasquez walked back up to the stand. He cleared his throat. "So you confirm that you saw Bryce Walker rape Hannah Baker the night she reported she had been raped?"
Ophelia saw him spare a glance at his team. He then looked at her. She nodded her head, encouraging him.
Montgomery looked back to the lawyer. "Yes. I saw Bryce rape Hannah."
His bold statement swept through the room.
"How do you know that it was rape?" Vasquez pressed.
Montgomery gulped. "Because I could hear her crying. And he was holding her down. Forcing her down."
Mrs. Baker covered her mouth, a cry coming out. Vasquez seemed just as distraught, but at the same time, pleased at the outcome of Montgomery's testimony.
Vasquez spoke happily. "No further questions, your honor."
When Vasquez sat, Stuhl stood, and marched over to Montgomery, like she was on a missions.
"You saw Hannah Baker get raped by Bryce Walker?" she asked him like she hadn't believed his answer.
Montgomery cleared his throat, uncomfortable. "Yes."
Stuhl asked, in a passive voice. "What were you doing before you went to the window and saw that your best friend was raping someone?"
Vasquez watched her carefully.
Montgomery spared a glance at Ophelia, who bit her lip. Zach noticed his gaze, and put his arm back over her shoulder.
"I was playing some video game. With Alex."
Stuhl nodded. "Alex Standall, whose memory can't currently be trusted," she added. "And after you got up, and saw a rape taking place? What did you do after?"
Vasquez seemed like he wanted to object something, but didn't know what to.
"Um," he seemed uncomfortable again. Constantly shifting in his seat. It was his guilt. "I went back to it."
Zach scoffed next to her. "Jesus fucking Christ."
Stuhl faked a surprised reaction. "You mean you didn't try to stop it?"
Montgomery looked down, regretful. He started picking the his shirt sleeve. A loose thread had gained his attention. "No. I didn't."
"Why wouldn't you do that?" she asked. "If you really, actually saw a rape taking place, why wouldn't you do anything to stop it?"
Montgomery kept looking down at his sleeve. "Bryce was my friend. I didn't want to get him in trouble."
"So you let Hannah Baker get raped?"
Montgomery finally looked back up at her. "Yes."
"Fucking piece of shit," Ophelia heard Zach say. He must have said it loudly, a few people looked over at them.
Montgomery clenched his jaw. He must have heard it to. He was glaring at Stuhl. Fucking bitch.
"Montgomery, had you been drinking at this party?"
He shrugged. "I don't remember." He was worried about admitting that he had.
"Don't you think it's possible that you were drinking, and that you mistook what you saw for something it wasn't?"
Vasquez visibly scoffed.
"No," Montgomery said. "I know what I saw."
"But if this was the first time-"
"It wasn't the first time," Montgomery told her. "He did this shit all the time."
Stuhl stepped forward, determined. "If he did this so often, assaulted girls so often, why had you not said anything to anyone about it?"
Montgomery took a shallow breath. He admitted. "I didn't care at first."
"You didn't care? You didn't care girls were getting raped by your best friend?"
Montgomery hesitated. "Not at first. I thought the girls wanted it, that they got themselves in those situations because they wanted it. But then..." he hesitated once more. "Then he tried something with my girlfriend. My fucking girlfriend. I did so much shit for him and always stood up for him, and he just doesn't give a fuck what I would think and decided to try something with my girlfriend."
Stuhl looked down, hesitant for a moment. She was supposed to be defending the school, and she never wanted to defend a rapist. But right now the best way to help the school was to prove Hannah a lie.
But Stuhl was a woman. And whenever she had to fight to prove a rapist innocent, it did hurt her.
"Did you ever tell anyone about this, Montgomery?"
He shook his head. "No one until now."
Stuhl nodded, like she was concerned. But then she said, "Maybe if Hannah had turned him in to Liberty High staff, instead of refusing to disclose his identity, your girlfriend, and many other woman, may not have had to experience his pressuring?"
Ophelia just scoffed.
Stuhl told the judge, simply, "No more questions, your honor."
And that was it. That's was all they wanted from Montgomery. Pointing fingers, assigning blame. Labeling him a bully, then labeling him a drunk liar.
The judge dismissed the courtroom.
Zach and Ophelia waited for the room to clear out.
"That was...kind of harsh," Zach admitted.
"They're harsh," Ophelia said. "Both of them."
"Are you okay?" Zach asked her. "I mean, he called you out a few times."
"He didn't call me out," she insisted. "He was trying to tell the truth. I was just a part of it."
"Well, he left out a lot of fucking stuff," Zach complained.
"And?" Ophelia asked. She was irritated at his tone. "He told the truth about Bryce, Zach."
"He admitted that he watched Hannah get raped and didn't do shit about it," Zach snapped. "I'm not going to put him on a pedestal for finally coming clean about seeing something he could have stopped."
"That's fine," she said, sternly. "You don't have to. But Montgomery was struggling up there. And I struggled up there. And-And I don't even know how you were up there because you didn't let me come."
He frowned. "That's not fair. You know why I couldn't let you come."
"Because you had lied about your relationship with Hannah-"
"I didn't lie, I just didn't tell you," he defended himself.
She scoffed. "Of course, my mistake."
Zach didn't like the attitude he was getting back. So he stood up. "Let's go," he told her. "If we leave now we'll get there in time for fourth period."
She honestly didn't care about school in that moment. But if you're not at school before lunch they call home to announce that you weren't there. Ophelia definitely didn't want that.
She stood and walked out of the courtroom with Zach. Montgomery was surrounded by his team. They were smiling and laughing with him. Looks like he hadn't lost so many friends after all. She was glad.
He didn't see them leaving, but Scott had.
He caught Ophelia's eye. He just nodded to her, sending her a smile. Ophelia wouldn't be able to stop herself from smiling back, even if she wanted to stop herself.
And she had wanted to.
*****
Ophelia noticed the anger seeping off of Zach in the car. Anger didn't look good on him. It didn't seem natural.
Montgomery would get angry a lot while they were together, but it didn't bother her, because he got angry at everyone all the time. He had a lot in life to be angry about.
But Zach was sweet. He was kind. His anger meant his attitude and personality had slower been shifting while they were together, and she was worried that she was the reason why.
"How did you think it went?" she asked Zach. They merged into the freeway, heading back to school.
"I guess it was good for Hannah," was all he said.
Ophelia nodded, glad to agree. "Yeah, I think it really helped her."
"But the lawyer was right about other shit."
Ophelia tried to guess what he meant. "That Hannah should have named Bryce?"
"Of course she should have," Zach told her. "And Chloe should have named him. And the last girl he raped should have named him. And-And fucking Montgomery should have told on him a lot sooner. Because that lady was right, if he was stopped sooner, others wouldn't have have gotten hurt."
Ophelia looked out the window. For some reason, she felt guilty. "Is that why you were mad at me? Because I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell anyone about the Clubhouse?"
"The Clubhouse-!" he stopped, because he saw Ophelia turn to him with an upset stare. He took a deep breath, and lowered his voice. "The Clubhouse wouldn't have happened if Hannah, or Montgomery, or fucking anyone told someone about him and had him shut down."
"I don't think it's that simple-"
"You could have been raped, Ophelia! You could've been just like Hannah. You could've-You could've-"
"I didn't get raped," Ophelia told him. "That's why it was easier for me to tell you what happened, or to tell Mr. Porter what happened. If I had been...If I had been raped by Bryce, it would have been hard to admit it. I don't think it's right to blame victims for not being able to share what they went through."
He clenched the steering wheel. "And Montgomery? Why didn't he tell anyone?"
Ophelia looked away again. She was embarrassed, because she didn't know. Because of his loyalty to Bryce? Because his loyalty to his friends? Or because he's a bad person?
"I've been worried about you," Zach told her.
Ophelia reached over and touched his knee. "I worry about you too, Zach."
"And I..." he hesitated.
She looked at him and she saw his anxiousness.
"I don't want to do this break anymore," he admitted.
Ophelia didn't know what to say.
"What about you?"
Ophelia admitted, "I don't know if I'm ready to go back to how things were."
Zach swallowed. "Why?"
"I don't know," Ophelia told him. "I'm just not."
Zach exhaled loudly through his nose. "Well, I don't want to be on a break anymore. I think we should be together, or not be together. I don't want anything in the middle."
Ophelia looked back out the window.
What did that mean? She said she wasn't ready, so he wanted to break up? Was that him asking to finally break up? Ophelia wiped her eyes, taking away the stinging pain she felt from them.
She cleared her throat, keeping her eyes outside the vehicle. "If you want to break up completely then I understand." How could she keep a hold of him? It was selfish.
"I just told you that's not what a want," Zach told her. His voice was stressed. "I want to be with you. And I want you to be with me. I don't want to have to worry about others things happening."
She did look at him now. "What things?"
"Things like Scott."
She grew quiet. "Nothing happened with Scott."
"But he wanted it to," Zach said, jealously in his voice. "Of course, he wanted something to happen. That's why he's been so nice. That's why he picked you up. And I don't know if I'm even allowed to be upset about it, because technically we're not together."
Ophelia stayed silent. She didn't know how to defend herself, because she felt that she was clearly in the wrong.
Was that the only reason Scott was being nice? Because he wanted to be with her romantically? It was the same thing everyone had been telling her, that people only want her for one thing.
Maybe that's why she didn't have friends.
"I'm just letting you know how I feel," Zach said. "And I feel this break isn't helping us. If anything, it's helping you get over me."
"Zach..." she breathed. The pulled up to the Liberty High parking lot.
"Maybe we should talk about this after school," he suggested.
She could tell that he wanted to have a longer conversation about it.
"Okay," she agreed. "Fine."
The school day hadn't been easy. Everyone was talking about the trial again. Everyone was talking about Ophelia again.
And Ophelia had been right to think they would speak cruelly about her coming clean about what happened with Bryce. They accused her of lying. Then they accused her of lying to Montgomery, and making him turn against Bryce.
Everyone knew Bryce and Montgomery were inseparable, so creating the story by saying she manipulated Montgomery, the boy who was clearly in love with her, into lying about Bryce didn't seem too hard to believe. And yes, they did try to say Ophelia and Bryce were going to hook up in the Clubhouse. Consensually. And since Ophelia was considered a 'whore of the baseball team', that was easy for people to believe too.
Ophelia was hiding in the bathroom, again. Her stomach feeling upset and nauseous.
Jessica came in. She seemed to know she would be there. Ophelia was in a stall, and Jessica already knew which one.
"So Montgomery called out Bryce in court?" she began.
Ophelia perked up when she heard her voice. She opened the stall door. Jessica stood leaning again the barrier between hers and the next one.
Jessica asked her, "I'm guessing I have you to thank?"
Ophelia shook her head. "I had nothing to do with it."
Jessica smiled. "Right. I would ask you to thank Montgomery for me, but I hate him, so that's not going to happen."
Ophelia laughed slightly. She had noticed the past few weeks Jessica was slowly, but surely getting back to her confident, witty self.
"You and Zach went, right?"
Ophelia nodded. "Yeah."
"How are you guys doing? I saw him earlier, he did not seem super happy."
Ophelia sighed. "Honestly, I don't know."
Ophelia stepped out of the stall and washed her hands. She hadn't gone to the bathroom, but touching the stall door at all made her feel icky.
"Can I ask you a question?" Ophelia asked her.
Jessica nodded.
"Do you think this break I'm doing with Zach is stupid?"
Jessica was the one to sigh now. "If you want me to be honest..."
"I do."
"I think it's really dumb." Ophelia groaned. Jessica said quickly, "I mean, you seem to really like Zach. And I feel like he could really help you out right now. But that's just my opinion. I'm not you, I don't know what caused you to want to take one. Maybe if you tell me I can help out more?"
Ophelia felt like a complete asshole when she said, "I wanted the break because after the whole thing with Zach and Hannah, I-I honestly didn't want to be with him in that moment."
Jessica let out a breath. "Oh, Ophelia, you know that was in the past."
"I know, and I figured I would get passed it. And I did. But when I asked to take a break, and he just kind of agreed...I don't know, I felt like I should've been more upset than I was. I feel like I shouldn't have wanted the break in the first place. But I liked it. I liked being on my own."
Jessica watched her friend, carefully. She guessed what Ophelia was really feeling, and what Ophelia didn't want to say. "You were sad when you took your break with Montgomery, but not when you took one with Zach."
"No," she said quickly, "I was sad when it happened with Zach. And I know the only reason it was worse with Montgomery was because I thought we wouldn't get back together. We shouldn't have. But with Zach..." Ophelia decided just to tell her, "He told me he wants to get back together, completely. But I told him I wasn't ready."
"Why not?" Jessica asked her.
"I don't know. But, I feel like I have to say yes. If not, I'm going to lose him. We'll be done entirely, and I don't know if we'll get back together. And that scares me."
Jessica processed her words. "Why wouldn't you get back together? If it's what both of you are going to want."
Ophelia looked down at the sink.
She was scared to admit the truth. That she didn't know if either of them wanted that at all.
After school, Zach drove her straight home. Baseball practice was cancelled. And Zach had heard a rumor that it wouldn't start up again. He didn't know if he wanted that to be true.
When they got to her house, and Zach walked her inside, he saw all the paperwork laid out in front of him. From Hillcrest admissions office.
"Your mom's still on this?" he asked her.
Ophelia only hummed. She walked to her refrigerator, and pulled out a cold water bottle. The rush of the cold liquid made her feel less hot, and less nervous.
"I'll tell my mom to talk to her," Zach promised her. "I've convinced my mom to fully drop it already."
Ophelia just said, "I'm glad you have."
He noticed her stall. "Are you alright?"
She wasn't. How could she be, when she knew what was happening next?
"I don't think my moms changing her mind about Hillcrest," she confessed.
Her mother and father discussed it with each other every night. Ophelia wasn't present for those conversations, but she got the gist of it. They weren't giving up.
"Come on, there's got to be some way to convince her," he told her. "Let me try talking to her. Maybe I can explain how much you want to stay. How we should be at the same school."
Zach finally noticed her anxiousness. He looked from the admissions papers, then back to her. "Unless...you don't want to stay at Liberty."
Ophelia couldn't help it. "What's for me there, Zach? Honestly, who would give a fuck if I left?"
"Me!" he told her. "And Jessica, and Alex, and-and Clay, and Tony."
"They might be sad, for a day, but they wouldn't care," she said.
"You think I wouldn't care?" Zach scoffed. "You're a smart girl, Ophelia. But that's one of the stupidest things you've ever fucking said."
"Zach, you have people that like you, I don't. Everyone at that school thinks I'm some lying slut-"
"They don't," Zach seemed desperate now. "I promise, they don't."
"Would it be so bad?" she asked him. "For me to start over without anyone there?" Without Montgomery there.
Zach shook his head. "Then I'm going too. I'll talk to my mom, and tell her I want to go."
Ophelia told him, "Zach, you have friends, and a reason to stay. I'm not going to make you leave after the work you're put into your team."
"Fuck the team!" he told her. "I don't even care about that anymore. I'm done with baseball."
"But what about football next year?" she asked. "You wanted to be captain."
"I'm not gonna get it," he said. "It'll go to Bryce, or Montgomery."
"Zach, you know you want to stay there-"
"But not if you're not there." But Ophelia could see past his words. He did want to stay at Liberty. But he would give it up for her. She didn't want to ask him to do that. "Please, Ophelia."
She swallowed, hard. "Zach, come on-"
"No, I'm going," he told her. He grabbed his keys. "I'll talk to my mom about it right now."
"No, Zach," she said suddenly. He stopped to look at her. "Zach..."
He waited, impatient.
Ophelia spoke with a voice that was wavering, and devastated.
"I think I need to go to Hillcrest, and you should stay at Liberty."
Zach tried to say something, only for his voice to deny him. He cleared his throat, after a moment of hesitation. "Is this because of me? Did I do anything to make you want to leave?"
"No, of course not," she said quickly. "It's not because of you. It's because of them. Everyone else."
"But I must be doing something wrong if you don't want to stay," he mentioned.
"I just don't want to end up like she did."
Hannah. She didn't want to go through what Hannah went thought. She didn't want to be pushed to the point of not wanting to be alive. She just wanted to leave, and maybe the negative things in her life would stay behind.
"I'm sorry," Zach told her, again. "I didn't think things were that bad for you."
"They've been bad for me," she told him. "And I just thought I'd have to deal with it. But I have a way out now. And I want to take it."
*****
"You son of a bitch!"
Montgomery was struck from behind. He fell, only to see Bryce above him. He was at his car, in the parking lot. So he was surprised Bryce had come and snuck up on him.
"The fuck?" Montgomery yelled. He scrambled to his feet, and pushed Bryce away from him.
"You're a fucking sellout!" Bryce yelled at him, with anger.
"Fuck you!" Montgomery yelled back. "It's your own fucking fault! You're the fucking rapist."
"I'm the rapist?" Bryce scoffed. "What about you, Montgomery? Someone has those polaroids from the Clubhouse. And they're fucking using them. Chloe took the stand against me, almost ratted on me like your sorry ass did? And why? Because they used those fucking pictures in court?"
Montgomery hesitated. "They don't have all of them."
"Someone does!" Bryce yelled at him. "You think you won't be labeled a rapist too? If they have all the Polaroids, it means they have the ones your took. Remember when you took photos of Ophelia? Drunk and topless?"
"I took it out," Montgomery said, recalling when he took that photo out, as well as the one with Hannah on his lap.
"There was more than one, dumbass. We were snapping them all night."
Montgomery paused. He hadn't remembered that until now.
"You're a piece of shit," Bryce told him. "Just as bad as me. And I swear to fucking god that if I end up going to jail because of some bullshit you said, you're coming with me."
"I'm not like you," Montgomery tried to say. He didn't even know if he believed it.
Bryce scoffed. "We'll see what people believe. I'm not the only one going down because of those photos."
Montgomery had stopped messing with people since he turned on Bryce. But now, knowing the severity of how much trouble he would get in to if someone released all of the polaroids, he realized his days of threatening others weren't done.
He would have to start with Alex. He was the one who told on Montgomery about having witnessed Hannah's rape. He would be the first to tell on Montgomery for anything else he figured he was guilty for.
*****
"Hey, so Montgomery's not here today."
Ophelia was taking a cardigan out of her locker when Scott came up to her with the statement. It was the day after Montgomery's testimony. The morning of Justin's. Alex, Zach, Clay, and Tony all went to support him. She was surprised, since Zach wasn't friends with Justin anymore.
"Okay," Ophelia said. She pulled the cardigan over her shirt, buttoning it for further warmth.
Scott hesitated. He watched her button the cardigan up. She went from top to bottom. Scott found himself watching her fingers, but looked away quickly when she got to buttoning near her breasts, not wanting her to catch him looking.
He cleared his throat, trying not to look suspicious. "Have you heard from him at all?"
She thought about it. "Last night, I guess. I just texted him and thanked him for telling the truth about Bryce. He said it made his dad really upset that they were in a 'scandal' now, and I told him to stay safe. That's it."
"Yeah," Scott nodded. "He asked me for a ride to his place in the hills. Said he dad freaked out on him."
Ophelia's face fell. "Really? What happened?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "I was in the shower when he texted me. When I got out, I called him and texted him, but no answer."
"Jesus," she whispered.
"He might have already gotten up there," Scott tried to think of a reason not to freak out. "I guess it was kind of a long shower. I don't know, he probably just left."
"How long of a shower?" she asked.
He quickly changed the subject. "I just wanted to see if he had called you since then."
"He hasn't," she said, honestly. "But I'll keep an eye out for him."
Scott sighed, relieved. "Thank you." He then asked, "Zach's at the courthouse?"
Ophelia was suspicious of him asking about Zach. Like he had an ulterior motive.
"Yeah. He's with the other boys."
'The boys'. That's what she decided to call them. The boys involved in the tapes.
"How's he doing?" he asked her. He cleared his throat again. "I kind of saw you two arguing in his car the other day. Is everything alright?"
Ophelia closed the locker, and rolled her eyes. "Stop acting like you actually care."
He was taken aback from her tone. Acting? "What? What do you mean?"
"You're just asking to see if we broke up," she told him, upset.
"No," he insisted.
"Zach is upset because I might be transferring to Hillcrest."
Scott was shook by this news. "Really? So, this year? Or next year?"
"We haven't decided," she said. Her parents were thinking next year. But with how bad things were going, Ophelia didn't mind leaving sooner.
"But what about all your friends?" he asked her. "You're not gonna miss them?"
Ophelia took a breath. "Why do you care if I leave?"
Scott admitted, "I would miss you, Ophelia."
"Come on," she groaned, unconvinced.
He frowned at her attitude. "Come on, what? You think I won't?"
"I think it'll be easier for you to move on to the next girl you want to hook up with," she said, condescending.
Scott frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You don't have to pretend you care anymore," she told him. "You already admitted you didn't want to be my friend."
"What?" he recalled what he said the day before. "Shit, Ophelia. I didn't mean it like that."
"Are you sure?" Opheli asked. "Because it makes sense. Bryce told me guys wouldn't like me unless they wanted to get at me. And guess what? I thought he was wrong because you always liked me, and it turns out you just wanted to hook up too."
Ophelia turned around. Scott ran around to stand in front of her. "I don't want to hook up," he insisted. "I just-I just wanted to be more than friends. That doesn't mean I didn't like being your friend."
Ophelia sniffed. "Why would you? Nobody likes being my friend. I don't blame them, since my last best friend fucking killed herself because of me."
Scott was horrified that his misuse of words caused her this much turmoil. "That's not what I meant, Ophelia. I swear to god-"
Someone stepped between them suddenly.
"Excuse me, do you mind backing the fuck off?"
Marisa had barged in front of Scott, who had been trying to catch Ophelia from leaving. Ophelia was too shocked by her sudden presence to even say anything.
"Excuse me," Scott told her, trying to step around her.
"You're excused," she told him.
Scott scoffed. "What the fuck, Marisa?"
She just repeated, "What the fuck, Scott? Why don't you run along and go find the rest of the Liberty High Rapists?" She mocked the name burned into the baseball field.
Ophelia took a step forward. She didn't like that Marisa called him a rapist. Unknown to Ophelia, a lot of people had called him that. All because he was on the baseball team. Ever since the Clubhouse was found out about, by Ophelia and other's reports, the whole team was labeled as rapists.
Scott didn't want to face it now.
"Fine," he said. He looked to Ophelia. "See you around."
Ophelia watched him leave, upset at Marisa now. "He was just talking to me. He wasn't doing anything."
Marisa just rolled her eyes. "Yet."
Ophelia shook her head. "No, Scott's nice. He's...good."
Marisa scoffed, unbelieving. "He's on the baseball team. All the boys on that fucking team are terrible people that do terrible things."
Ophelia hesitated, thinking back to when Marisa had been dating the player, Anthony. She also thought back to how much Anthony yelled at Ophelia when he was angry, and how scary he got when he was upset.
Marisa just repeated, "All of them."
*****
"I've figured it out."
Zach turned to Alex. "Figured what out?"
"Who's been threatening us."
Zach's eyes widened. They were in his car, on the way back to school. "W-Whoa. Are you serious?"
"Yeah," Alex said. "And I don't think we should be going back to school. We should go meet back up with Clay. And Tony."
Zach was beyond confused. "But who is it? Who's been doing all this shit?"
"Who do you think?" Alex asked. He groaned. "It's been so fucking obvious. Who's the one person that hasn't been threatened?"
Zach thought about it. "Everyone's been threatened."
Alex said, "Ophelia hasn't."
Zach frowned. "What? Someone sent her that bullshit picture of me and Hannah, though."
Alex told him, "Chloe sent that picture. And Chloe put up those photos of Jessica. Jess told me the other day. But Jess also had a sex doll hung by a noose on her house, had anything else happened to Ophelia?"
Zach thought back. "Not that I know of."
Alex nodded. "Okay, so they didn't fuck with Ophelia, but they fucked with you more than anyone. Sending you dead shit and taking photos of your sister. And it was someone who obviously didn't want me getting my memory back, since I'm the one that can prove they witnessed a certain event."
Zach took in all the information, and processed it.
"Holy shit."
"Did you figure it out too?" Alex asked him.
"Fucking Christ," Zach hissed. "It was Montgomery. This whole fucking time. That-That fucking asshole."
*****
Scott called Montgomery again. He would be sent straight to voicemail after one ring.
This worried Scott. He must have been in a lot of trouble with his dad. He could be really hurt.
Scott was sitting in the library, on one of the comfort seats. Ophelia came and sat besides him.
"I'm sorry I didn't stick up for you in front of Marisa," she started.
Scott shrugged. He put his phone away. "It's fine. I'm sorry I was being such an asshole someone had to come to your rescue."
"You weren't an asshole," she said, "I was. I'm sorry for getting mad at you for saying you didn't want to be my friend."
Scott sat up straighter. "But that's the thing, Ophelia. I didn't say I don't want to be your friend, I said I can't be."
She asked, "What's the difference?"
He sighed. "The difference is I love being your friend, Ophelia. And if you want me as a friend, of course I'll be there for you. But it's not fair for me to tell you that I don't want more, because it's not true."
Ophelia was hesitant. "And what makes it not true? Was it because Bryce said I was easy? Or did Montgomery-"
"No!" Scott said quickly. He lowered his voice because they were in the library. "It's nothing like that. It's...because you're really nice. And I like how you treat people, and I like the way you talk, and the things you say, and I really like the things you do, and I think you do a lot for other people, who don't deserve it because they don't want to return your kindness. And I hope that, maybe, I'll be able to make you feel as good as you make others feel."
Ophelia was blushing, and looking away now. "Haven't you heard, Scott? I don't make others feel good, I cause drama."
"No," he told her sternly, "I think you make people happy. And I think Liberty High would lose a lot if you left here."
Ophelia was embarrassed now. Embarrassed because of all the nice things he was saying about her. And because she had basically told him she wasn't interested in him now, and he didn't have any reason to lie about what he was saying. It was how he really felt.
"I'll try calling Monty," she said, clearing her throat, suddenly desperate to change the subject. Or else she didn't know if she would be able to speak at all.
Scott nodded. "You can try. He keeps hanging up on-"
"Hey Monty, where are you?"
The phone only rang once before he answered for her.
"Son of a bitch," Scott mumbled. Had he been ignoring him? Or maybe he was just ignoring the world, except for Ophelia.
Ophelia's face fell, and contorted into a look of worry.
"What?" Scott asked.
"Are you serious?" she asked. "N-No. Stop it, okay? Stop what you're doing. I'm going to be right there. Monty..."
Scott watched her, quizzically.
"You should've asked me first. Fucking hell, Monty...Yeah, I'll be right there."
She hung up the phone, and stood up. "Can I have a ride?"
"What happened?"
"Monty's in the parking lot of the hospital. He's trying to stitch up his own arm. He didn't even tell me what the fuck happened."
Scott jumped to his feet. "What? He wouldn't do shit like that. He's not fucking stupid."
"He is, Scotty! You're his best friend, you should know he's a fucking dumbass!" Everyone in the library was now looking their way. "He's scared about them calling his parents, so please, take me down there so I can force him to go in!"
Scott just said, "Yeah, okay! We'll go! I-I have this test next period-" He could tell that if he didn't take her, she would try going by herself. And he would be too worried for her to let that happen. "-but I can retake it tomorrow if I say I'm sick. Let's go."
Scott helped her to his car, not forgetting the fact that she called him 'Scotty'.