“I know this is hard for you and I’m sorry.” She appeared to be nice. “Only a few more questions, Amanda. Did you two ever have intercourse before the said event?”

Amanda shook her head saying no.

“For the record,”

“No. I was a virgin until that night.”

There were only a few more questions that honestly had nothing to do with the case. Amanda was back in her seat, tears dried up and gone. The judge, Judge Jackson, pulled his reading glasses from his face and put them down on his desk. “I’m going to call a forty-five minute lunch break. I expect you all to be back in this room before the time is up.” He slammed his mallet and departed the room.

It was a bright and pretty day. The sun was shinning through the leaves of the only old tree in L.A. It seemed so wrong. It should have been raining, or at least looking like it was going to. Instead, the sky had been clear all day and there was a zero percent chance of rain.

Amanda joined Spencer and Ashley on the front steps of the courthouse. A look of dismay and disappointment spread across her face like a Picasso painting. “He is going to get away with it.” Amanda cried out to Ashley. Ashley stood up and tried to comfort her but she pulled away. “He is going to get away with it, and he is going to keep doing it to people and then he’ll get away with it again. Ash, I need you.”

Spencer was a bit surprised at the words. Why did she need Ashley? It didn’t make much sense. “You need me?” Ashley asked a bit confused as well.

“Yes.” Amanda said clarifying. “I need you to testify.” Shock set over Ashley’s face. She couldn’t testify, she wouldn’t, no way in heck.

Although her friend needed her, the friend that was right in front of her bawling because this jerk was going to get away with it, and all Ashley was worried about was the tabloid. “I- I- I can’t. I’m sorry, Amanda, I just can’t do that.” Ashley said quietly.

Disappointment jabbed Ashley in the side as Amanda stared her in the eye. She quickly looked away, the ground, the sky, the tree, the statue, anything that wasn’t Ashley. “It’s fine. Why should Chris get put in jail?” And with that, she walked away heading back into the court room.