Uncharted Territory

Regan

I woke up the next morning with a nervous feeling in my stomach. I knew the outcome of my trial would be decided today and I was extremely nervous. I didn’t want Luke to win. I didn’t want him to get away with what he’d done to me.

I got dressed in my court room appropriate outfit and quickly made my way downstairs. Dr. Coates smiled at me and told me that breakfast was on the table. I wasn’t hungry but I walked into the dining room anyway and saw that John was already in there. He looked up and smiled at me as I walked in. I smiled back but I could tell it was forced and I’m sure he could tell also. I sat down and began picking at my food but made no movements to eat it.

“Nervous?” John asked as he broke the silence.

“Yeah, I am,” I softly said.

John nodded his head and quickly stood up and walked out of the room without saying anything. He came back in the room a few seconds later holding something.

“Here, I want you to have this,” he said as he held out the thing that was in his hand.

“A guitar pick?” I questioned.

“Yeah, this is my lucky guitar pick and I want you to have it. If you’re feeling nervous today just hold that and think of how I’ll be there for you.”

“Thanks John,” I smiled.

All too soon it was time for us to head to the court house. We walked in and Dr. Coates and John took their place with all the other people who’d come to watch while I went and sat next to my lawyer.

I was soon called up to the witness stand. I sat down and looked out at all the people staring up at me as Luke’s lawyer walked up to begin questioning me.

“Now, Miss Trotter, you’ve said my client raped you and you claim he did something to you in order to rape you. Would you mind telling us what you believe he did to you?” the lawyer asked.

I took a deep breath and clutched John’s pick in my hand, “I believe I was roofied.”

“Do you have any proof?”

“I had all the signs of being roofied.”

“But you don’t have any substantial proof?”

“No, sir.”

“That’s all then. You may have a seat,” the lawyer said as he gave me a cold smile.

I stood up from the witness stand and walked dejectedly back to my seat. My lawyer gave me a reassuring smile before walking up in front of the courtroom.

“I’d like to call Rachel Grant to the witness stand,” my lawyer said as I sat there shocked. I had no clue Rachel, my old roommate and Luke's girlfriend, was even at the trial, much less going to testify.

Rachel walked up and sat at the witness stand and my lawyer wasted no time in questioning her.

“Miss Grant, you were dating Luke at the time when my client claims she was raped, correct?”

“Yes.”

“My client also claims that she was roofied and you have proof of this, is that right?”

“Yes…I have a picture,” Rachel said as a picture was projected onto one of the white walls.

The picture was the one that the group of us girls had taken but in the background you could see Luke holding a water bottle and it looked as if he was putting something in it. I had never seen this picture, and didn’t even know it existed, so I was surprised.

“Would you like to explain what this picture is, Miss Grant?” my lawyer prodded.

Rachel paused for a few seconds before continuing, “Reagan had set her water bottle down when we took this picture. That’s Luke in the background holding her water bottle and he’s putting the pills in her drink.”

I was completely surprised by Rachel’s story and I could tell everyone else was too by the murmurings in the room.

My lawyer asked Rachel a few more questions before he dismissed her back to her seat. As she walked by me I tried to make eye contact with her but she looked down at the floor. I looked over at Luke and saw that he was glaring at her.

The lawyers questioned a few more people before the jury left the room to make their decision. I looked nervously around the room. John made eye contact with me and gave me a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.

The jury finally came back in and I held my breath as I waited for their verdict.

The head juror stood up and began speaking, “We the jury find the defendant, Luke Hobson, guilty…”

The juror continued speaking but I didn’t hear anything he said because I was so overjoyed that Luke had been found guilty.

As soon as the juror finished everyone began exiting the courtroom. As soon as I was outside I immediately found John and threw my arms around him.

“You did it, Rae! I’m so proud of you,” John said as he hugged me back.

“I was so worried. Honestly, I think Rachel’s picture is a huge reason why they found Luke guilty.”

“Did you know Rachel was going to do that?”

I shook my head. “I haven’t talked to her since last year.”

John and I continued talking until I heard someone from behind me say my name. I turned around and was surprised to see Rachel standing there.

“Hey Rae,” she softly said.

“Hey Rach, listen I just want to say thank you for what you did today…” I started but she shook her head.

“Please, don’t thank me. I don’t deserve your thanks. I was awful to you. I think I knew all along in the back of my mind that you were telling the truth but I didn’t want to believe it.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“I found the picture on my camera and confronted Luke about it and he admitted to it. He said he’d always liked you but you wouldn’t be with him since he was with me. I realized that I’d lost one of my best friends and I’m so sorry for everything I put you through. I know I can never make up for what I did to you but hopefully this helps a bit.”

“Thanks Rachel. That was really brave of you and I appreciate it. You helped me win this case,” I said as I hugged her.

“Once again, I’m so sorry,” she said before walking away.

I turned around to look at John, speechless at what had just happened.

“People have a way of surprising you when you least expect it, don’t they?” John asked.

“Yeah…I guess they do,” I said.

“Let’s go get ice cream to celebrate you winning. I’ll even pay for you,” John winked.

I laughed. “Oh wow, what a gentleman.”

“I try.”

We began walking to the ice cream shop in silence when John spoke up, “Rae, I just wanted to tell you that I’m so proud of you. I know this is really cheesy but you were so brave and strong throughout this entire process.”

“Thanks John,” I smiled but inside how I was thinking about how he couldn’t be more wrong. Sure, I had been strong for the trial but brave was the last thing I was when it came to the rest of my life. If I was honest with myself, I would have to admit that I had fallen for John. Sure, I had Joel and I did love him but not in the way I loved John.

We made it to the ice cream shop and got our cones before sitting down. I was lost in my thoughts but finally decided that I was going to tell John my feelings for him. I was only hurting myself by not telling him and I needed to know if we could be something. I should have been thinking about Grace but at that moment she was the last person on my mind.

“Hey John,” I started right as he said, “Rae…”

We both stopped and nervously smiled at each other.

“Go ahead,” I smiled.

“No, that’s fine. You can go,” he argued.

“No, you go,” I said. I needed a few more seconds to gather my thoughts.

“Okay, well I think I’m going to propose to Grace and I wanted to get your opinion,” John said as he looked at me expectantly.

I was shocked but managed to squeak out, “What?”

“I’m going to propose to Grace. I know we’ve only been dating for a little while but we dated throughout high school so I think it’s time we take it to the next level.”

“Wow…well…that’s great, John. I’m happy for you,” I said as I forced a smile.

“So you don’t think it’s a mistake?”

“Not as long as it’s what you want.” I was such a liar. I didn’t want him to propose to Grace. I wanted him to break up with her so we could be together and she could be with Kenny.

“Yeah, I think it’s what I want. I mean it is what I want,” John said as if he was trying to convince himself. “So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” he asked as he quickly changed the subject.

“Oh…uh…” I stuttered as I tried to think of something. “I was just going to ask you if you thought Joel would still want to be with me after this whole ordeal.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I kept this a secret from everyone and it’s a pretty big secret. I mean finding out your girlfriend was raped is a pretty big deal. I’m just worried that he’ll freak out and not want to be with me anymore.”

“Don’t worry, Rae. Joel loves you and he won’t break up with you because of this. If he does I’ll knock some sense into him, even if he is one of my best friends,” John reassured me.

“Okay, that’s good.”

We both sat in silence after that. I knew I had lost my chance with John and even though I still had Joel, that thought upset me. I guess I wasn’t so brave after all.