"The last encounter was a few months ago, after school." When I glance at Cayden, his eyes are practically black. "Would you mind telling us what happened during that encounter?" I scratch the side of my face and nod my head. "While I was walking to my car, Mike pulled into the parking lot. We exchanged some words and he grabbed me," I paused. "It's okay, Cahlia," Jacob says. I take a deep breath in before continuing. "He slammed my back into his truck door multiple times. He then slapped his hand over my mouth." I look at Mike and his smile has finally disappeared.
                          
"The prosecution would like to present the court with Exhibit A." Jacob pulls out two big pictures of me the police took after the incident. The first picture is a close-up of my face with a bloody lip. However, I can barely stand to look at the second picture. It's a picture of my back with dark purple bruises spaced around. "Can you describe these photos, Lia?" I look in the back of the courtroom. When I see Tyler sitting next to Parker, he is staring at my photos. "Lia?" I shake my head and look up at the photos. "These are the pictures the police took when I went to the station. The one on the left is the bloody lip I received after Mike hit me. The one on the right is the bruises I had after my back hit his truck." I say my words at a fast pace to get them out. I can't look at any of my friends or family, so I turn my eyes to the floor.
                          
"Cahlia, is it true that the school found out about the attack?" I nod my head "yes". "How did they find out?" I move my hair behind my head and look up at Jacob. "Mike made a video about the attack and put it on Snapchat." "We would like to present Exhibit B." Jacob's assistant walks into the courtroom with a computer and projector. They pull up the video and Mike's voice soon feels the silent courtroom. I look at Judge Hendrix. Whenever Mike call's me something other than my name, she slightly winces. "Mr. John sent this around the school, correct?" Jacob asked once the video stops. "Yes, and some students even saved it."
                          
At this point, I feel like this case is a slam dunk. We have Mike's own words saying he attacked me. Yet, my confidence soon falls when it's time for Mike's attorney to question me. "Ms. Robinson, didn't you and Mr. John meet at the beach before this so-called assault?" Luke Jefferies voice is cold and aggressive. "I didn't meet Mike at the beach. He showed up, which is completely different." Jacob told me that I needed to watch my words very carefully with Luke Jefferies. "So, you weren't upset after my client said a few words to you?" I shake my head "no". "He said some disrespectful words to me, but I didn't do anything to him." Luke Jeffries nods before walking back to his desk. The man sitting in a suit next to Mike hands Luke a file. "The defense presents Exhibit C to the court." Luke pulls out multiple photos of Mike's tub filled with bleach and his clothes. There are photos of the stained clothes laid out for a better view.
                          
"Ms. Robinson, after the beach, you and your friends went to Mike's house, didn't you?" I bite my tongue and think about my answer. "No, I went alone," I confidently say. "What did you do at Mike's house?" Without any hesitation, I say, "I bleached his clothes." Luke Jefferies pauses from my blunt response. Jacob told me they were going to play that angle. He told me to be direct. "How would you react to someone breaking into your house and destroying your property?" Luke quickly gets back into the rhythm of things. "I wouldn't like that, but this situation is different." I feel word vomit about to come up, but I try to keep it down.
                          
"How is this different. You didn't like what Mike said so you broke into his house. You poured gallons of bleach on his clothes because you couldn't handle his words!" "No, no, it's not that." I say in a loud voice. "Objection your honor, the defense is badgering my witness!" Judge Hendrix hits her gavel and says, "Attorney Jefferies, calm down or I will tell the client to leave the stand." Luke apologizes before adjusting his tie. He walks closer to the stand and stares at me in my eyes. I don't back down. "Admit that you snapped because he said some few harsh words."