Trial.

After school, during the time clubs are happening, you’re called to the headmistress’ office again. There, you find an assortment of people. There’s teachers, a few students and even the dean of discipline who is a dark-haired woman in her late forties.

Among the teachers, you see Emma, Mia and Mrs. Hunter, the biology teacher, and Ms. Fujiwara, the nurse. The students you see are, of course, Olivia, Lilian and Jessica, two of which give you glares that pierce through your very soul while the other casually twirls her brown hair in her finger. Sophia is also there, and she makes it a point to only nod in your direction, acknowledging your existence and nothing else. You want to believe that’s to prevent any sort of bias on her part from showing. Emily and Megan wanted to come, but when asked if they had any evidence to provide and the answer was no, they were told to go away, much to their frustration and anger. Last, but not least, it’s the headmistress herself. Man, this really feels like a trial.

“Alright everyone, let’s get down to business.” The headmistress begins. “We’re here because of an incident that happened in the 4th floor restroom yesterday afternoon, where the young man here, Mr. David Walker, was caught… apparently sexually assaulting Ms. Jessica Ramirez. The ones who found them were Ms. Olivia Hughes and Ms. Lilian Reed, also present.” She summarizes. “Mrs. Hunter, I believe you’re going to talk in behalf of the three girls?”

“Yes, Mrs. Hayes.” The biology teacher, a small woman in her mid-fifties, takes a step forward and starts talking. She basically tells everyone how everything went down, by which you mean it’s a load of fucking bullshit. According to her, and what is no doubt the testimony of the girls, they simply found you and Jessica in the restroom, with you forcing yourself on her.

“Thank you, Mrs. Hunter. Now, Mr. Walker, we’d like to hear your version of the events.” Oh, that’s nice. Have a teacher speak for the “victims” but have the accused defend himself. The headmistress’ bias is apparent, but not enough for anyone to dare call her out.

Once more, you tell the story exactly how it happened. You see Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Hayes and the dean, whose name you simply don’t know, shake their heads in frustration.

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!” You’re startled when you hear the pained, agitated voice of Jessica. “He pushed me to the ground and wanted to have his way with me! He’s lying! We have proof!” Tears roll down her eyes as Olivia and Lilian hold her by the shoulders, comforting her.

Wow. This girl is good. A good actress, at least. You can almost buy her anguish. Almost. It’s amazing how she can go from zero to tears in an instant. Still, that’s not good for you. While you can’t rely on the sympathy of the headmistress, the girls can, because she’s on their side.

“About that,” Emma interrupts before her mother can get a word in, feeling no pity for the lying girl. “I contacted the high school you three graduated from and asked for your records.” She has a red folder and three blue folders on her hands with the names of the three girls and the name of their high school. “Not only is there evidence here that proves this isn’t your first time forging evidence, but I was also allowed to talk to four different girls who were victims of your bullying. Their testimonies are recorded here, as they didn’t want to show their faces.” She holds the red folder for everyone to see and gives it to the headmistress, who reads through it with a sour look.

“This is certainly upsetting,” The headmistress admits. “But even if this is telling of their high school history, there’s no way for us to know if the picture is fake this time. I would be irresponsible of us to simply dismiss it because of mistakes the girls made on their younger years.” She still defends them. You briefly wonder if you can be fast enough to take off your shoe and throw it at her before she can dodge.

“You’re correct, Mrs. Hayes. I agree that they high school records are to be taken into consideration, yet they’re not definitive proof.” Mia says, earning her a smile from the headmistress and the trio of devils. “Ms. Fujiwara, would you please tell us the results of Ms. Ramirez’s medical examination after the supposed incident?”

The school nurse steps up. She’s a Japanese beauty with auburn shoulder-length hair, similarly colored eyes, slim figure, big chest and slightly shorter than you. You’ve interacted with her only a couple of times since you came to Hayes, but she’s a kind young woman and very knowledgeable about medicine.

“Of course,” She speaks in fluent English. “Ms. Ramirez showed no signs of a physical struggle or any sort of injuries, thankfully. Her heart rate following the incident was within normal standards as well. Over all, she was in good condition.” She says with an honestly relieved smile. She’s probably glad that, whether something happened or not, the girl is uninjured and healthy. At least, that’s how you see it.

“Thank you. Finally, I believe Ms. Sophia has something to contribute to the discussion as well.” Mia adds, nodding to the captain of the debate team. Sophia steps up, defiantly returning the icy glares the three hyenas are trying to freeze her with.

“I come here not as someone involved in the incident, but as a representative of those who, for different reasons, cannot be here.” She starts. “Let me begin by saying that I am personally acquainted with several people who have voiced complaints of varying levels of severity over Ms. Olivia, Ms. Lilian and Ms. Jessica.” She goes on to tell of the different things the so called “victims” in this ordeal have done to other girls. Blackmailing, physical ****, humiliation and other things. She doesn’t state names, saying those who were willing to talk did so on the condition their names would remain anonymous to anyone but the teachers, should they ask for them.

“Still, I realize this does not resolve the issue at hand, but I believed it was necessary to say in order to understand that this is not the first time this has happened in this school. To end this, I’d like you to listen to this. This was recorded on the 4th floor restroom yesterday at lunch hour by a girl who remained hidden in one of the stalls.”

WHAT!?

Before you can process this, Sophia starts the recording on her own cellphone.

“You’ve been getting pretty friendly with people around here. We don’t like that.” You can all clearly hear Olivia’s voice. “It’s time you went back to your place, right at the very bottom of the garbage can.” She chuckles.

“I wonder if this’ll get you expelled.” Lilian’s giddy voice comes out. “Oh! He might even get thrown into prison!”

“A new purse. That was the deal.” Everyone hears Jessica’s unaltered, calm voice.

“Of course! I’ll buy it for you! Black, right?” Lilian answers in an extremely good mood.

“Let me be very clear here, Monkey.” Comes Olivia’s condescending voice. “You were always our plaything, and we got bored of you. We have other people to do our homework, other people that we can have fun with. You were just the newest toy, and we’re not the only ones that want you gone. Goodbye, Monkey. It’s been fun. Try not to drop the soap in your new home.”

The last thing you all hear is the retreating laughter of the three girls.