Chapter 54

                                    

                                          
After finding the court summons in the mail, Clay had talked to his mother about it. Lainie mentioned to her son that he had been asked to testify in court due to the fact that he was the only person to witness what Montgomery de la Cruz had done to Skye Miller. The 19-year-old couldn't help but feel nervous about having to testify about what he saw, but he wanted to support the victim and hopefully help put Monty behind bars, where he rightfully belonged. The Jensen teen had even talked to Coach Rick about it as well, telling him about how one of the victims was his best friend. The older man had been extremely understanding as he remembered finding out about the harassments before dropping the jock from the team. And, already knowing about what had happened to him previously, Rick had been very supportive of Clay's decision in wanting to help his friend in any way he possibly could. Coach Rick had also stated that he would gladly show his support for the boy by attenting the trial when the Jensen ten was due to testify. 
                          
Now, Clay and his mother were at the Miller's house, sitting at the kitchen table, along with Skye and her mother. They had mainly been talking about the trial and what could possibly be asked when the Jensen teen would be on the stand. The group of four had talked about possible questions that would be asked, and other things to possibly expect, but the 19-year-old kept getting a growing suspicion that Monty's team would try to bring up a twisted version of what had really happened. Ms. Miller had even personally thanked her daughter's close friend for agreeing to talk about what he had seen that night, because she knew very well that both teens had been affected by the event one way or another.
                          
When the morning of his court day finally came around, the Jensen teen felt more nervous than he had days before. Though he calmed himself as best he could and slowly climbed out of bed, showered, and got dressed in a tux that had been picked out the night before. Clay knew that he probably wouldn't get called to the stand right away, but he still wanted to be there to support his best friend. And Coach Rick had talked to Principal Bolan and Kevin Porter about the trial day as well, leading to both men agreeing to give the teenager the day off from school to be able to be at the trial for his friend the whole day. After he was finally dressed, the boy headed downstairs to grab some breakfast.
                          
Entering the kitchen, the 19-year-old was greeted by his parents sitting at the kitchen table, along with Hannah and her parents as well. "Hey, Helmet." The Baker girl said as she stood to greet the boy. "Hey." Clay said after a second, slight confusion in his voice. "What are you guys doing here?" He asked curiously after glancing between the three Bakers, his right hand subconsciously finding the back of his neck. "You've already done so much for our family, Clay. The least we could do to return the favor is supoort you and your friend during the trial." Andy spoke, a small, warm smile on his face at the end of his response. Hannah glanced at her parents before turning back and giving her boyfriend a small smile. "Besides. You've been a supportive boyfriend for me more than once since we've been together. Now it's my turn to be a supportive girlfriend for you again." The girl stated, placing a gentle hand against Clay's arm. The Jensen teen offered a small smile in return as he gave his girlfriend and her parents grateful looks before taking a seat at the table to have some breakfast before soon leaving to head over to the courthouse to begin the long trial day he had ahead of him.
                          
The day had gone by pretty slowly as both sides took turns questioning people they called up to the stand. Clay glanced around the courtroom as the questions droned on, and he saw quite a few familiar faces. Maggie, Jessica, Alex, Tony, Caleb, Sheri, Tyler, Mackenzie, Cyrus, Scott, Zack, Coach Rick, Troy, Ramón, and some other baseball teammates were seated in the room as well. The boy couldn't help but be grateful for his friends and teammates coming here just to support him and his best friend through the trial against the former jock, Montgomery de la Cruz. 
                          
After some time, and after a short lunch break, Clay found himself in the center of attention as he was seated at the stand after being sworn under oath to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. As the teen sat at the front of the courtroom, he felt all eyes on him, and it was hard to ignore the angered look Monty was currently giving him. Glancing around the room for a brief second, one person in the back of the room caught the boy's attention. Justin sat alone towards the back, and he gave a small smile to his brother when he saw the boy's eyes locked on him. Seeing the Foley boy made the Jensen teen have to bite back a small smile as the his mother flashed him a flat, encouraging smile before she began pacing a bit as she thought of her first question to ask her son.