"You can tell me what he did," Ophelia had told Chloe. "Tell me what he did, I can help you."

But Chloe hadn't stayed in the restroom. She left after she was sure Ophelia was safe. Chloe didn't want help, not yet. Ophelia couldn't blame her, because she refused it as well. Ophelia also knew her words were empty. She could try to help, but she wasn't sure she could do anything. Not when it came to Bryce. His family was so protected.

Ophelia missed Alex's party. She gave him a gift after school, when she first saw him. It was small bag full of candy bars and treats since she knew his parents weren't allowing him to have any sugar.

He thanked her, and reminded her of the party, but Ophelia said she wasn't sure if she would be able to go. He asked if it was because of Zach, because Courtney had told them they had broken up, but she insisted it wasn't.

The truth was, Ophelia's mom didn't allow her to go anywhere that night, because her testimony was the next morning. It loomed over her that day, especially when Mr. Porter had pulled her out of class to talk to her about it.

"I understand you will be taking the stand tomorrow morning," he told her.

Ophelia nodded, fidgeting uncomfortably in the chair across from his desk.

Mr. Porter paused for a moment. He asked, "Ophelia, is there anything I can do for you? Here at school, to help you get through this hard time?"

Ophelia was surprised at Mr. Porter's words. She didn't think of him as a caring man, after hearing his tape. But maybe Hannah's tape only caught him at a bad moment. Maybe he was trying to make up for it.

Ophelia shook her head. "No, but thank you."

Mr. Porter sighed. He admitted, "I have listened to the tapes, Ophelia."

She was shocked at his bluntness. She looked to the door, checking to see if it was cracked open, if anyone could hear them. It wasn't.

"You don't need to worry about anyone hearing, Ophelia," Mr. Porter told her, noticing his haste, "What I want you to do is tell me, has Montgomery De La Cruz put his hands on you at all since you have been back to school?" She cringed. "I heard he followed you into the bathrooms today after the pep rally. Did anything happen?"

Ophelia wondered how many other people heard.

"No," she told him. "He just-He just wanted to talk."

"Mr. De La Cruz doesn't seem like someone who chooses to use this words during times of conflict," Mr. Porter pointed out. "I'm sure you know this. In fact, I don't think he's gone an entire month without a suspension, or at least a detention, caused by his violent nature."

She realized he was right. Montgomery got detention at least once a month, like he said. And yes, some of it had to do with his absenses, or lack of work ethic, but a lot of it had to do with fighting.

He fought a lot for a boy in high school. And he was given so many second chances from the school itself.

He'd been given so many second chances from her...

Maybe the reason his behavior never changed is because he was never forced to change it. Everyone bent over backwards for him, the teachers, the coaches. He was an amazing athlete, and at Liberty High that meant you were untouchable.

"Why did you call me in here?" Ophelia asked him, ready for him to get to the point of what he wanted.

Mr. Porter sat forward, now leaning on his desk, closer to her.

"Tyler Down said that he received threats in his photography room, Jessica Davis had threats about testifying as well, and I'm assuming others did too. I wanted to ask if you had received anything. It seems someone doesn't want Bryce getting into any trouble from the court."

He deserved what he got, but she doubted Bryce would come up at all during his hearing.

Ophelia thought about the photo, but she was still unsure if she should trust Mr. Porter completely.

"I have nothing to say about Bryce," Ophelia told him. "The Bakers called me because they want to accuse me of being a bully, which, if you listened to the tapes you know I was. To Hannah, at least."

Mr. Porter shook his head. "I didn't hear anything like that. What I heard was the story of a girl who needed help, but who didn't have the courage to ask someone to help her."

Ophelia eyes widened as he realized exactly what Mr. Porter was getting at.

"Wait-you called me in here because you think I'm suicidal?"

Mr. Porter leaned back. "I never said that. I am simply implying that you have been through a traumatic event, and you have had to experience an abusive relationship, and you will not be able to overcome the trauma by refusing to admit that it happened."

Ophelia shook her head, adamantly. "I-I didn't go through anything like Hannah did. I wasn't raped. I wasn't bullied, I wasn't targeted. I-I don't have a good enough reason to do that."

Mr. Porter fell silent, and Ophelia wondered what she had said wrong.

Mr. Porter asked her. "Have you had to convince yourself it wasn't a good enough reason?"

He was asking why if she had ever thought about it. Suicide. Of course she had. Not before Hannah died. It never crossed her mind then. But after she killed herself, before Ophelia even knew the tapes existed, she wondered if the guilt of what she did would ever go away. She wondered if suicide really was the easy way out.

Ophelia told him. "I've never wanted to kill myself."

Mr. Porter pressed, "But have you thought about it? Even if you didn't want to, have you ever imagined it?"

Ophelia lied, "Of course not."

He told her, "A lot of people trick themselves into believing that suicide stops their pain. But that's not true. Hannah's death only spread pain, so did Alex's attempt-"

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about them," Ophelia mentioned. "Didn't the principal say taking about it will cause people to want to try it."

Mr. Porter nodded. "He did. But I don't agree with that. I think if we don't talk about it, a lot of people might trick themselves into believing what Hannah did was good. It wasn't."

"I-I know it wasn't," she told him. "You don't have to preach to me about this. I already get the message." Why did he think she didn't know what kind of pain it caused?

"Ms. Tristano, I just called you in here to make sure you are safe. I understand you are no longer with Montgomery De La Cruz romantically, and I am extremely glad that you took yourself out of that situation, but that doesn't mean he can't still harm you."

"He hasn't," she said simply.

"I want you to know that if he puts his hands on you again, or threatens to do so, you can come tell me, and I'll have pulled from the baseball team immediately."

Woah. She had never heard a teacher say something like that before. She thought they all loved the athletes.

"He's, like, one of the Star players," Ophelia told him. "I don't know if you can even do that."

"I can," Mr. Porter told her, "And if need be, I will."

Ophelia didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. He excused her after a few moments, and after giving her a phone number to an abuse survivor's hotline that she knew she wouldn't call.

It would be insulting to the workers for her to call. She's just a high school girl who got slapped a few times by an ex boyfriend. How dare she call a number designed for woman who were abused daily?

Ophelia paused on the way out. Mr. Porter noticed.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

She hesitated. Ophelia opened her phone and set it down in front of Mr. Porter.

He looked at the text message in front of him.

"How do you know your boyfriend isn't a rapist too?" He read the text message out loud, and looked at the photo of Zach and Hannah together.

"It's not true," she said quickly, "I just thought maybe if you can figure out the number who said it, you can find out who's been threatening everyone else."

Mr. Porter nodded. "Thank you for telling me, Ophelia. I'll see what I can do."

Ophelia's mother drove her to the courthouse. Her father had asked to come, but Ophelia pleaded with him not to. It was hard being completely honest while you were looking directly at the people who would be most disappointed in you.

She was the first one speaking that morning. At only 6:45 am. She was scheduled to be off by 7:30, with enough time to get to school on time. Unfortunately.

She stood just outside the courtroom, her mother trying to calm her down.

"Just tell the truth," her mother told her. "You're not a bully. And if you tell the truth they can't trick people into thinking you are."

Ophelia let out a breath. "They can trick people into seeming a lot different than who they really are. That's what they're doing to Hannah."

Her mother shook her head. "The lawyers are not lying about Hannah. They are just bringing up stuff that people didn't know about before."

Ophelia didn't mention that they had tons to bring up on her that wasn't mentioned before.

Someone behind them caught Ophelia's eye. Zach stood a few feet away, dressed nicely, but not too nicely for school later. A dark red button down shirt tucked into black denim.

"Zach?" she asked, walking past her mom. "You-You didn't have to come."

"I know," he told her. "I wanted to."

She grinned at him, and hugged her. Her mother watched the two carefully.

"I'm going to take a seat inside," he told her. "Good luck in there." Hesitantly, he reached down and kissed her on the cheek, before quickly heading in.

Ophelia blushed, feeling his lips on her skin far after he was gone.

"How many boys do you have coming for you?" her mother asked.

Confused, Ophelia looked further ahead, where Tony was now walking up. Behind him, Scott and Montgomery. She wasn't sure who she was more surprised to see.

"Hey," Tony greeted her. "I'm sorry about them." He nodded to Montgomery and Scott. "I tried to tell them not to come in, they wouldn't listen."

Ophelia was blow away by the show out. "Tony, thank you for coming. I didn't think anyone would. It's not that big of a deal, right?" If she was being honest, she hadn't wanted anyone to come. But she wouldn't be rude and tell him that.

Tony asked, "Are you scared?"

Ophelia nodded, biting her lip. "Of course."

Tony told her, "Then it's a big deal to me."

Tony went up and greeted her mother. "Good to see you, Mrs. Tristano."

Her mother smiled at him. "So nice of you to come for Ophelia." Her smile dropped as Montgomery approached. She asked Tony, "You came with these boys?"

Tony only chuckled, "God, no."

Her mother shook his hand, squeezing it. "I still like you, then."

"I saw Zach head in," Tony told Ophelia. "I'll be with him."

As he walked inside, Montgomery and Scott approached her.

"What are you guys doing here?" Her tone wasn't as pleasant with them.

Scott sent Montgomery an upset look. "She didn't know we were coming?"

Montgomery ignored him. "We just wanted to come support you." Support her?

She wondered if that was true. Or if he thought coming and sitting in front of her would ensure she didn't say anything she wasn't supposed to.

"I know you must be scared," Montgomery told her, "And...Estella shouldn't have fucking said anything to you, but she was right. I'm scared too."

Ophelia recalled the conversation with his younger sister. She just said, "You have more of a reason to be."

There was an awkward silence, one that Scott didn't understand. So he turned to Ophelia's mom, and stuck out his hand to greet her. When her mother didn't make any attempt to move, he brought his hand back down.

"I'm Scott," he said, "I've been to a few of Ophelia's birthday parties, but I don't think we've met."

Her mother just said, "No. We haven't."

Now, he was the one standing awkwardly.

"Hey, I'll go take a seat inside," he told them. "Ophelia, good luck, okay?"

"Thanks, Scott."

She wondered why he didn't seem upset at her. After all, she had slapped him yesterday. She imagined that any other boy would still be angry at her.

"Why did you bring him?" Ophelia asked Montgomery. "I mean, he'll be hearing all this stuff about you..."

"He'd hear it later anyway," he said. He smiled, adding, "And I know you wouldn't kick me out if he was here."

Ophelia stayed silent.

Montgomery added, "But, look. I told you I had your back, alright? I mean it. That's why I'm here." He glanced at her mom. "Do you think we could talk alone for a second?"

Ophelia looked at her mom. "You can head in," she told her. "I'll just be a minute."

Her mother just said, "No."

Ophelia sighed. "Just say what you have to say. And quick. They're expecting me in."

Montgomery just spoke in a lower voice and told her, "I won't be mad at you for anything you say up there. Because-"

"Would you just go inside or leave?" her mother cut in there conversation abruptly and rudely. "They're expecting her in any minute."

Montgomery just scoffed. He sent one more look to Ophelia before heading in.

Scott had sat next to Tony, who was next to Zach. He had been confused why Scott was there, but didn't have the chance to ask before Montgomery walked in. When Zach saw him he shook his head, "Un-fucking-believable. What the fuck are you doing here?"

Montgomery came and sat next to Scott, and brushed Zach's words off, "Says the other ex boyfriend."

Scott said, "Hey, we're just here to show support, alright? I mean, we all know Ophelia didn't do anything wrong. That's why we're here, right?"

Tony, next to him, said, "You have no idea why we're here."

Scott frowned at that.

"You shouldn't be here," Zach told him, "Take Scott, and get the fuck out of here. All you're going to do is make her choke up there."

Scott was confused why.

"Is that why you're here?" Zach continued, "So she can be looking at you the whole time and be too scared to fucking say anything?"

Scott looked to Montgomery. "Scared to say what?"

Montgomery shook his head at Zach's words, almost laughing at his attempted badgering.

Tony cut in, "Look, us arguing isn't going to do any good. And if the fucking Baker's get here, and their lawyer hears us talking like this, it'll just give him more confidence to tear her apart."

Montgomery scoffed, "They were already gonna tear her apart."

Scott was still confused. "I thought the Baker's wanted her for Hannah's reputation."

Tony told him, "The Bakers called her here to call her a bully. No other reason."

A bully? Scott didn't think she was a bully.

"They could have a million fucking reasons," Zach grumbled, "These people know shit we never told them. And how the fuck is she supposed to speak clearly, after being put on the spot, if fucking Montgomery is here?"

Montgomery frowned at him, now offended. "Me? You're the one who was caught fucking Hannah. If she can't think straight it's because you decided not to fucking tell her that until someone sent a picture of you guys making out."

Zach's head snapped in his direction. "How the fuck did you know about that? It was you, wasn't it, the one who fucking sent it."

Montgomery laughed. "No, she told me about it. After she told me about the fucking tapes. Guess she still trusts me after all."

Zach and Tony both looked at each other.

"She told you about the tapes?" Zach asked.

"Tapes?" Scott asked.

"Shut the hell up," Tony snapped, "we cannot be talking about that here."

The courtroom door opened, and Mr. and Mrs. Baker walked in, their lawyer, Mr. Vasquez, behind them.

Mrs. Baker glanced at the row of boys, and seemed to scoff almost, before heading to the front of the room, taking a seat at the prosecutor's table.

The judge was seated already, and it seemed like the trial was just about to start for the day.

"Don't you guys say another fucking word," Tony told the three boys, "Not with the fucking Bakers sitting right there. If they figure out anything you don't want them to know, they'll use it against you. Same goes for that bitch."

He pointed to the school's lawyer, Sonya Stuhl, who was already seated in the front.

The judge upfront banged their gavel twice, and then spoke, "Alright, we are hereby beginning the ninth day of testimony for the Baker versus Liberty High School trial. Please bring in today's first witness, Ophelia Tristano."

When the door opened, Scott began to stand, but was torn back down by Montgomery grabbing his jacket.

Montgomery snapped, "They didn't tell you to fucking stand." At the same Zach said, "Reed, the hell are you standing for?" And Tony said, "This isn't a fucking wedding."

"Alright, Jesus," Scott spat as he sat back down, after being verbally accosted by the three other boys for his simple mistake. He had never been in court before, how would he know.

Mrs. Baker kept an eye on the boys as they muttered to themselves.

Ophelia walked in, being escorted by the bailor. Zach and Montgomery both scooted closest to who they were next to, in case Mrs. Tristano wanted to sit in their row. But she sat just behind the lawyer school's lawyer, Stuhl.

The judge said to Ophelia, "Can you please state your name and age for the record?"

Ophelia was seated at the very edge of the seat. The court room was pretty full, with reporters and protestors, but the row of four high school boys seemed to be the only people she could keep her eyes on.

She back looked to the judge and said, "Ophelia Tristano. I'm seventeen."

The judge nodded. "Vasquez, you may proceed."

Vasquez stood, and smoothed his suit jacket. "Thank you, your honor. I would like to begin, Ophelia, with asking you about the nature of Liberty High. Do you feel, personally, like there was a lot of bullying done at Liberty High?"

"Objection," Stuhl stood to her feet, "He's asking her to speculate intentions of others. Just because someone comes off as mean, does not mean they intended to be."

Vasquez said quickly, "That's exactly why I used the word 'personally'."

The judge told them, "I'll allow it. She was not asked to speculate. She may answer."

Ophelia was surprised by how quickly an objection came. She wondered if the whole trial would be like that. The two lawyers arguing back and forth, trying their hardest to get her to say as little as possible.

"Ophelia," Vasquez said, imploring her to answer the question.

"Um." She wanted to hit herself on the head. Her first word on record. Um. She cleared her throat, hoping the nervousness would clear out as well. "I would say there was bullying, yes, but I don't think there are a lot of bullies, so no."

Did that even make any fucking sense?

Vasquez asked her, "What would you call the people that bully others then?"

She cringed. She didn't mean to defend people who bullied others. She just honestly believed not everyone was a bully. Like Zach, he said stupid shit, but he wasn't a bully.

"There's a lot of people who try to put others down to fit in. I don't think they mean harm in it. Even though it's wrong."

Her words were sounding stupider and stupider. But she glanced at Zach, and he just nodded at her.

"Did you even put someone down to fit in?" Vasquez asked her.

She instantly thought of Tyler. The person that it was easier to be mean to than nice to.

She looked at him, guiltily. "I have, yes."

Zach took a deep breath. So far, so good. She seemed nervous, but her answers were honest and clear.

Scott frowned. As did her mother.

"And this will usually take place at school, correct?"

She nodded. "Yes." She felt like that was obvious.

"Of course," Vasquez continued, "Because at Liberty High, there are no consequences to bullying."

"Objection," Stuhl called out, "There are clearly rules against bullying in the school's handbook, as we pointed out earlier."

The judge nodded. "Sustained. Vasquez, please refrain from those type of comments."

Vasquez apologized. "Of course, your honor. I'll reword my statement." He looked to Ophelia. "Have you ever personally seen someone being punished for bullying?"

"Yes," Ophelia answered honestly, "Teachers will get upset if students yell, or cuss, or anything like that." Stuhl looked pleased.

Vasquez nodded. "So if a student, lets say a male student, tells another female student that's she's easy, or a tease, or makes other sexual comments without specifically cussing or raising their voice, do you think a teacher would step in?" He quickly added, "Personally?"

Ophelia thought of the times people spoke about Hannah in class. They were so obvious about it, like they weren't even trying to hide it. Sometimes, it's like they honestly didn't care who heard, even if that person was a teacher, or Hannah.

"No," Ophelia breathed, "I don't think they would stop it."

Tony shook his head at the thought, because he too knew how lax teachers would be, especially if students made homophobic comments towards him.

"Did you hear people speaking cruelly about Hannah at Liberty High? Whether making sexual remarks, or just cruel remarks?"

Ophelia glanced at Zach again. He was biting his lip, nervous. Montgomery, someone who actually had been the one to make those cruel remarks, seemed surprisingly calm.

"Yes. It happened a lot."

"Did you ever participate in-"

"No," she said quickly. She didn't let him finish. "I liked Hannah. We were f-friends." She stumbled on her words. She regretted it. But she wanted to make it clear she never bullied Hannah, or at least she didn't mean to if she ever had.

This time, she glanced at Tony. He sent her a small smile. It didn't help her much.

But then she caught Ms. Baker's eye. She was glaring at her.

Vasquez said, "Ophelia, have you ever experienced bullying at school?"

She thought about it. "I don't know if I would say 'bullying', but-" she paused, rethinking her words. Rethinking the kinds of things that happened to her. The things boys called her. The rude, sexual jokes they would make about her. "Yes, I have."

Vasquez looked pleased. "Did you feel that you could tell a teacher these things?"

Ophelia could have laughed. "No. Of course not."

"And why is that?"

Ophelia said, "It's not that I don't think they would want to help. There's just not much they could do." And then those bullies would be mad at her for tattling on them.

"There's a lot they can do, but not a lot they chose to do," Vasquez commented. "Is it true that you were involved in a fight earlier this year? One where you slapped another student?"

Ophelia looked at Zach, wondering how in the world they new about the fight. She glanced at Montgomery, who looked just as confused. Scott vaguely recalled hearing about the fight, but he didn't know the details of it.

"Yes." She caught her mother's eye, noticed her frown, and quickly added, "It was a mistake. A misunderstanding."

He asked her, "Did you get detention for the fight? Or suspended? Did you receive any punishment for the physical altercation?"

Ophelia cringed, knowing how bad it looked. "No. I don't think any staff knew about it."

"They did, actually," he said, "In fact, the other girl, Marisa Constance, was suspended for the rest of the school day."

She frowned. What? Really? Ophelia had no idea. Montgomery had no idea either. He stifled a laugh thinking about it. Tony sent him a look to shut up as Mrs. Baker heard and looked back at them.

"Marisa told them you were the one who began the fight, and they said they would look into it. Were you ever asked about it?"

"No," she admitted.

Vasquez then asked her, "Ophelia, you used to be in a relationship with a student named Montgomery De La Cruz, correct?"

This halted his laughter. Ophelia looked at Montgomery. He seemed to have become nervous in a matter of seconds. Ophelia's hands started shaking, the suspense of the oncoming questions causing anxiety.

Montgomery found himself frowning, worried where the questioning was going.

"Yes, that's correct." She spoke without looking away from Montgomery. Scott noticed. He was even more confused why Montgomery's name would be brought up at all.

"And last year Hannah helped you call the police to attempt to file a police report against him, correct? You called Officer Standall, saying that Montgomery attacked you in his home?"

Ophelia finally looked away from Montgomery, knowing that she had to look away in order to continue answering, or else her feelings of stress would steal her voice as well as her calm. She didn't dare look at her mother.

Montgomery found himself bouncing his leg up and down now, just as nervous as her. He had told her he wouldn't force her to lie on the stand to protect him, but he hoped she still would.

Scott looked over at him. His eyes had snapped in his direction as soon as the question was asked, wondering what the hell had happened. Obviously, the call was about something else, right?

"Yes, we called Officer Standall, but it was a mistake," she tried to speak as clearly as possible. "I never filed a police report."

Montgomery let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, relieved.

Zach was shaking his head, disgusted. Tony was the only one able to keep his cool.

Scott calmed down at her answer. It had to have been an understanding, that's all that made sense.

"But Hannah believed it wasn't a mistake. Hannah wanted you to file a police report because she felt you were still in danger."

Ophelia saw her mother sit up straighter. The movement made Ophelia flinch. She was scared her mother was going to stand up completely and come up to her and demand the truth. She was more scared of her mother than any judge or lawyer.

"I don't know," Ophelia said, "We didn't talk about it afterwards."

"Because you felt threatened by your boyfriend, and you felt unsafe speaking up?" Vasquez guessed.

She heard Montgomery audibly say, "What the fuck?"

People looked over to him, giving him looks of disapproval. He was shushed by Tony. Mrs. Baker glared at him, before turning that glare back to Ophelia.

Zach kept his eyes on Ophelia the whole time, hoping she would catch his gaze and see how disappointed he was in her false answer.

"No," she said quickly. "Because it was a misunderstanding, like I said."

Vasquez asked her, "Were you present in Hannah's communications class when the teacher read her submitted note that hinted towards Hannah feeling suicidal? The one where she asked, 'what if the only way to not feel bad is to stop feeling anything, forever?'"

Ophelia flinched. She was in that class. And until that very moment, she never knew that it was Hannah that wrote that note. It made sense now. It made so much sense. Why hadn't it made sense before?

"I did...but I didn't know she wrote it."

Vasquez nodded, seeming to believe her. "Were you aware she wrote another note? One that was addressed to the teacher privately, about you?"

Ophelia frowned. No way. What could it have said that Ophelia wouldn't have been spoken to about? What could she have admitted to a teacher without telling Ophelia?

"I-I didn't."

Vasquez walked to his table, grabbing his suitcase, and taking a lamented paper out of it. The paper was small and wrinkled.

He handed it to Ophelia. "Can you read the note aloud please?"

Ophelia looked down at it, reading it in her head first. She hesitated, glancing back at Montgomery, then Zach, then her mother. She didn't want to read it. She didn't see why she had to. It was already in evidence, right? What was the point of reading it now?

"Out loud," Vasquez said. Adding, "Please."

She gulped. She read the note which said, "This note is not about me. It is about my friend. She is being abused by her boyfriend and I don't know what to do." Ophelia paused, clearing her throat.

Zach's breath hitched in his throat. He shared a concerned look with Tony.

Montgomery had slouched into his seat a bit more. Scott eyed him, carefully, before bringing his attention back to Ophelia. He was ready to listen to Ophelia explain how Hannah's words were false. He could see from his seat that her hands were trembling. The note in her hand unable to stay still.

Ophelia continued, "She lied, and said that she broke her nose..."

Ophelia stopped. She couldn't say the rest. Not with her mom right there. Her mom would know, she would obviously know. Even if she denied it, how the fuck would her mom not see past her lie? It's such a specific detail, how could she not believe Hannah's words.

"Just the last few sentences," Vasquez pushed. He could see the nervousness in her eyes, and knew how important it was to make her keep going.

Scott suddenly remembered the time Ophelia came to school, a week after Winter Ball, with a broken nose. Montgomery noticed as his friend leaned forward, listening intently for what was to come.

Ophelia tried, "...in a..."

She stopped again, choking on her own saliva as she tried to swallow it down. She coughed into her arm, twice.

"Do you need some water?" the judge asked her kindly. She shook her head.

She turned her body slightly, so that her mother left her peripheral vision.

She finished, "...She lied, and said that she broke her nose in a car accident, but I saw him...hit her. I don't know how to help her. Can you?"

Ophelia put the note down.

Vasquez said, "Ophelia, you broke your nose last winter, correct?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"How did you break your nose?"

What the fuck was the point in asking that?

"In a car accident," she said, unable to admit the truth.

Zach felt himself clench his jaw, all while he looked at Montgomery unfairly becoming more relaxed.

Scott was still leaned forward, so focused on the discussion at hand.

"And your teachers knew, right? I mean, that was your excuse for being absent. You had to tell your teachers what happened?"

"Yes, I...I told all my teachers."

Vasquez nodded. He asked her, "But after reading this note, the average person may assume you did not break you nose in a car accident. They might think Hannah was saying your boyfriend was the one who really broke your nose."

"I..." Ophelia hesitated, constantly glancing back and forth between Montgomery and the lawyer. "I don't know who that note was about."

She heard a scoff. From Zach? No, from Mrs. Baker.

Vasquez sent her a quick look. She quieted. He continued, in a much nicer tone, "Of course. We can't confirm who it's about exactly; but don't you think that the teacher reading this should at least suspect that it might be about you? Considering no other female student broke their nose in a car accident that school year?"

"Um...yes. I guess, someone could think that," she admitted.

He nodded, happy to now be on the same page. "Ophelia, did any teacher or Liberty High staff member speak to you at all about this note?"

Ophelia felt Hannah's eyes on her the entire class period. She tried her best to ignore them, but it was hard. She recalled the week before, when Hannah tried to speak with her, telling her that she had seen what Montgomery did to her and Winter Ball, and that she wanted to help.

Ophelia hadn't spoken to her until then. She wad tempted to write a note to her, and put it in her compliments bag. Maybe that was the easiest way to reach out to her.

When the bell rang, Ophelia was surprised to see herself being stopped by Mrs. Bradley.

"Hey, Ophelia," the teacher greeted her, calling her over to her desk while the rest of the students rushed out to their next class. "Why don't you come here for a moment?" She waved Ophelia over to her desk. Ophelia didn't catch the nervous look Hannah sent over before she too hurried out.

"Yes?" Ophelia asked, wondering if she did something wrong. She had looked at her phone once, but it was quick. The boys in front of her were doing it far more often.

Mrs. Bradley smiled at her. The same smile before she began her class lectures.

"You haven't been to any ACC meetings in a while. Is everything alright?"

ACC? She hadn't been there in a long, long time. She thought it was clear she had dropped out.

"No, nothing's wrong," she told her. "I've just been busy."

Mrs. Bradley touched her own nose, and then scrunched it up in pain as she looked at Ophelia's, which was healing, but still bandaged.

"How's that been feeling?"

Ophelia honestly did not see anything wrong with that question. "Oh, it's feeling a lot better."

Montgomery's appeared at the doorway. He whistled at Ophelia, humorously. "Ready, babe?"

Mrs. Bradley got up and shut the door on his. Ophelia laughed as Montgomery made a confused expression on the other side, her being able to see his face through the glass. It must have been her happy attitude that kept her from picking up on Mrs. Bradley's serious one.

"You know you can come to me if you have any trouble, right Ophelia?"

"Yeah, of course," Ophelia told her. She still did not pick up on what was happening.

"You should come to ACC next week," Mrs. Bradley told her. "We can talk more. Catch up."

Ophelia nodded, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to make it. "Yeah, I'll see. Maybe I can find some time."

Mrs. Bradley put a hand on her arm. "Okay...it was good catching up, Ophelia."

Is that what this was? Catching up?

Ophelia left with Montgomery, and didn't think twice about the ACC meeting, or anything they talked about.

Vasquez repeated his question, "Did anyone make any attempt to reach out to you in regards to this alarming note?"

Ophelia thought about the encounter with Mrs. Bradley. She realized, even if she didn't know it, Mrs. Bradley did try reaching out. She didn't want to disrespect her by saying 'no'.

"My communications teacher, Mrs. Bradley, she would always tell me I could come to her if I needed her," Ophelia spoke up.

He asked, "But did she ever mention the note? Or the suspected abuse?"

Of course her answer was, "No."

She was glad she didn't. She would've been terrified.

Ophelia decided to keep her eyes off the people there to watch her. That was easier. To pretend they didn't exist.

Vasquez turned to the people listening. "So not only did they ignore Hannah's note that cried for help, they ignored a note that specifically called out a student that was the victim of abuse. And, like Hannah's cry for help, they did absolutely nothing about it."

Vasquez then turned to the judge. "That is all for my questioning."

Ophelia was confused. That's why they called her up here? What about the photo? What about the things brought up in the last hearing?

Vasquez went and sat down with Mrs. Baker's family.

Stuhl stood up. She walked closer to the witness booth. Ophelia was surprised how elegantly she walked in heels. Ophelia couldn't walk nice in heels that high.

Stuhl smiled at Ophelia. It scared her.

"Ophelia Tristano, you've gone to Liberty High since you were a freshmen, correct?"

She nodded. "Yes."

Her heart had stopped racing. She began calming down.

Stuhl asked her, "And have you ever faced bullying as harsh as the Baker family is leading us to believe Hannah went through."

Vasquez stood. "Objection. She's dismissing claims without evidence."

The judge said, "Overruled. Continue Stuhl."

Vasquez sat back down, slowly.

Stuhl brushed off his objection attempt, and waited for Ophelia to answer.

Again, Ophelia thought of Tyler.

She bit her lip. "I've definitely seen some harsh bullying, but, no, I've never experienced anything that bad."

"And you admitted to participating in this kind of bullying?"

Ophelia did spare a glance at Zach, who was looking more worried than she was. Tony was no help either. She just seemed angry. Montgomery looked either ready to leave, or ready to punch somebody.

She locked eyes with Scott. He didn't wear an emotion at that moment. He was staring up at her. He nodded, but in a supportive way.

Ophelia looked back to the lawyer. "Yes, I have. But not like they bullied Hannah. I've said mean things, but only when I'm angry. I don't try to hurt people."

"Of course," Stuhl agreed. "Many teenagers act out without thinking when they're in high school. They don't understand what they do affects people when they go home."

Ophelia nodded, surprisingly agreeing with her.

Stuhl then said, "In Hannah's case, however, it seemed most problems occurred outside of school."

She wondered where she was going with this.

Stuhl continued, facing the jury, "Yes, Hannah faced bullying at school. However, Hannah chose to consistently get herself into harmful situations outside of school. Schools can not control what their students do when they leave."

She got herself into those situations? No. People around her created those situations. Bryce created those situations.

"Of course, teachers would have stepped in, if there was any evidence of a student being abused. But, like Ms. Tristano stated, there was no abuse that took place. It was only a concern that could not be backed up. There was no choice but to offer resources, and let it go."

Ophelia looked back at Scott, and then realized she should be looking to Zach for support, so she switched her gaze. He still looked upset.

"Ophelia, you never spoke to any staff about this supposed 'abuse'?"

Of course not.

"No."

"And no one ever witnessed it?"

Ophelia hesitated.

Ophelia wanted to surprise Montgomery at his practice. She had just taken off the last bandage she needed from her injury at the winter formal, and she was finally able to put on a full face of makeup.

She put on a cute outfit. New high waisted shorts and a crop top.

She entered the conditioning room in a good mood. Conditioning had ended a while ago, and she knew just Montgomery and a few guys were still there working out. It was a Saturday, so there was no other reason to be there.

When Ophelia stepped in, she smiled when she spotted her boyfriend. He was doing arm curls, and she couldn't help but admire how his muscles moved.

The only other people there were Bryce, Carlos, and the coach.

Carlos noticed her first. He was spotting Bryce on the bench press.

He whistled lowly. "Damn, look at those tan legs."

Bryce set the weight up, and sat up, glancing over to the door. He eyes landed on Ophelia's legs as well, gazing up and down before eyes moving to her slightly exposed midriff.

"Shit..." Bryce mumbled, noticing her bandage was gone as well, clearly displaying her beautiful face to them all. He called out, "Monty, look who's here."

Montgomery set his weight down, smiling as well when he saw her. He hurried over. He gave her a quick kiss. "Hey, what are you doing here? Thought I was coming over later?"

She just said, "I wanted to surprise you. Maybe we can get lunch after you're done."

He nodded, excited. "We should just be a few more minutes."

She specified, touching his drenched shirt, "Once you're done and showered."

He chuckled. "Come on, I know you think I'm hot when I'm sweaty," he teased.

"I think the smell outweighs the look," she laughed.

The coach, who was watching them, called over, "Monty, you guys ready to pack it up?"

"Not yet, coach!" he told him. He told Ophelia. "You can go grab my keys from my locker and wait in my car."

She reached up and kissed his cheek. "Sounds good."

Ophelia left, and the coach sighed. "Boys, you can't just send girls into the boys locker room."

Montgomery only laughed and walked back to the weights, being stopped by Bryce and Carlos.

"Shit, man," Bryce said, "You let your girl go out in an outfit like that?"

Montgomery didn't see what the problem was with her outfit. "Yeah, she looks nice."

"She looked sexy," Carlos chuckled.

Montgomery frowned.

"I don't know," Bryce told him. "If you ask me, showing up to a male practice in something like that makes it pretty clear she wants more attention than just yours."

Montgomery was unconvinced. "It's just hot."

Bryce shrugged. "Alright, don't come crying to me when you find her jumping in with the next athlete she sees."

"She wouldn't." Montgomery brushed off, about to go back to his weights.

Bryce just laughed. "I mean, she was all over me at the winter formal, remember?"

Montgomery dropped the weight he had picked up. That night was far too vivid in his memories for him not to remember. He became angry suddenly, Bryce refueling the anger he felt that night.

He looked towards the locker room, and headed in.

Now, the coach groaned. "I can't have a male and female in there at the same time!" he yelled. When it was clear Montgomery wasn't coming back out, he made his way inside.

Montgomery caught Ophelia as she was shutting his locker, his keys now in hand. She jumped, surprised how quickly he came around the corner.

She laughed it off. "Oh, jeez, you scared me."

Montgomery looked her up and down, mentally noticing exactly how much skin she was showing. Too much.

He thought of his mom suddenly. How long had his mother been with his father before deciding to cheat? And how much did she hate his father to decide to keep cheating? And how likely was it for Ophelia to turn out the same way?

He suddenly walked around her and reopened his locker, pulling out a pair of his sweatpants. "Put these on."

She grabbed them, and glanced back and forth between the sweatpants and her boyfriend. "Are you serious?"

He didn't say anything.

"It's too hot for this," she told them, handing them back.

He shoved them back into her arms, making her nervous. "Fucking put them on!"

She was startled by his loud voice. She gripped onto the sweatpants, suddenly scared. His voice reminding her of his past violent actions.

"F-fine," she stuttered. He stood there, watching as she kicked of her laced shoes, and began unbuckling her shorts, sliding them off, and putting on the sweatpants. He didn't check her out while she was changing, because the anger in him had taken away his arousal. The anger that Bryce put into him.

He grabbed her shorts off the ground once she was done. The high waisted sweatpants covering most of her torso as well.

She reached for her shorts back. He just shoved them in his locker and closed it.

"Hey, come on, those are new," she said.

"Well, I don't want you wearing them," he said simply. "Not here. Not anywhere."

She frowned. She didn't do anything wrong. It's not like her butt was hanging out of them.

She reached for his locker, wanting to get them back. "Monty, they look fine-"

"They make you look like a whore!" he snapped at her. He pushed her back.

He hadn't meant to push her hard, but she tripped over the shoes behind her, and fell into the hall of the locker room. She yelped, scared not only by her sudden fall, but the word 'whore', which he seemed to use when he was the most angry. And she now knew what he was capable of when angry.

She froze, suddenly, when she turned and saw someone had come in. Montgomery froze as well when the coach stepped into view. He had heard Montgomery yell, and had seen her fall.

Coach Rick didn't say anything for a moment, just looking between Ophelia, on the ground, and his baseball player towering above her.

Coach Rick reached down to her. "Are you alright?"

Montgomery was quick, reaching down and helping her up. His anger had seemed to melt away in an instant. "Y-Yeah, she's okay." Montgomery was now the one who was scared.

Coach Rick snapped out of his shock and snapped, "What the hell am I seeing here?"

"Nothing," Montgomery mumbled, quickly. "It-It was an accident." He didn't look intimidating anymore. He looked like a little kid trying to get out of trouble.

"An accident?" the coach scoffed.

"Yeah," Montgomery stumbled over his words. He gripped Ophelia's arm, tightly. "Right?"

Ophelia gulped, looking the coach in the eyes. "I...I slipped."

Coach Rick seemed unconvinced. "You're one of my best players, Monty. If I have to report this shit we could lose you for the season-"

"You don't have to," he said quickly, desperate to stay on. "It was an accident. She's okay."

Montgomery was nodding, looking at Ophelia. She only nodded in reply, ignoring the pain in her back from the fall.

"I don't want to see that shit ever again," Coach Rick insisted.

"You won't!" Montgomery said quickly, "I swear you won't."

He looked back at Ophelia once more. "You sure you're okay?"

Ophelia only nodded again.

He seemed unsure, and she could see his eyes shifting between the two of them.

He pointed at Montgomery. "Let's go, back in the weight room."

"Yes, sir," Montgomery told him.

Coach Rick looked at Ophelia. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the locker room, sweetheart."

Again, she only nodded, and quickly rushed passed the two.

As she was leaving she heard Coach Rick say, "You save that energy for the field, De La Cruz."

Ophelia rushed out, beyond embarrassed as Carlos and Bryce spotted her, now in sweatpants, face red and near tears. She didn't go to Montgomery's car, instead she made her way to the woman's locker room. She found herself fleeing to the very last corner, and curling herself into a ball. Now, she did cry. Of embarrassment and betrayal. Betrayal of her boyfriend.

Coach Rick never mentioned the incident. Bryce and Carlos would never mention it. Montgomery never mentioned it. And Ophelia sure as hell would never tell anyone.

No one would tell.

"No," Stuhl answered for her. "No abuse was ever witnessed. It was never seen. Because it never happened."

Ophelia became angry. Who is she to say that? Yes, Ophelia had denied it before, but who is she to enforce it. So confidently disregard it. So confidently disregard Hannah's bullying to mere high school antics.

"Why are we expected to blame a school who's staff work hard in order to protect its students in any way possible?"

Is that what Coach Rick was doing, protecting her? Protecting Montgomery? Did he care about their future, or did he care about his future? He wanted to save his best player, not save not Montgomery's future, or help Ophelia.

"We have to face the fact, that even though we are hearing claims, there has never been a student ignored by Liberty High staff-"

"That's not true."

It came out of her mouth before she even realized it, before she even had a chance to think it through. And now Shuhl's eyes were on her, and she didn't know what to say.

Zach's mouth fell open, and Montgomery leaned forward. Scott, next to him, was no longer as happy as he seemed that morning.

She didnt look at anyone, knowing this decision had to be her own. Whatever she said, whatever she admitted, would be heard by everyone. Including everyone at school. She took a deep breath.

Stuhl didn't seem to want her to specify. Instead she just said, "That's it for my questions, your honor."

Maybe Ophelia didn't say it. Maybe it wasn't loud enough.

As she was walking back, Vasquez jumped to his feet. "I have responding questions, your honor."

The judge nodded to him. "Proceed."

Vasquez approached her quickly. "Ophelia, you said it's not true that Liberty High staff never witnessed students being harmed or bullied what do you mean by that?"

She gulped. Her first thought was to speak of Tyler. His bullying was so obvious to everyone.

"Tyler Down was always tormented in class. In the hallways. Everywhere."

"And teachers saw? They specifically saw and ignored it?" he pressed.

She said, "Everyone did."

Vasquez nodded. He looked back at Mrs. Baker, looking hopeful. "And what about you, Ophelia, would you consider school a safe place?"

No. Not at all. High bullies are exactly what they sound like. People that bully at the high school. They didn't follow her home. Even Bryce Walker was kinder to people at his house parties than at school.

"It wasn't a safe place," she said.

"Did anything ever happen to you that teachers were aware of?"

She couldn't say yes, right? Coach Rick wasn't a teacher. She'd be lying if she said yes.

Ophelia thought back to her first day back at school after her last absence. In Mrs. Jangle's class. She had just stood and watched Montgomery grab her, and yell at her. Yes, she sent him to the office, but she didn't try to help her. No one tried to help her. Not then.

Only Hannah.

So why was she helping the school now instead of Hannah's family?

When he saw her hesitation Vasquez added, "Or Hannah?"

This was more obviously true.

"Boys would talk about her in class all the time," she started, "They would talk about her butt in classes she wasn't even in. Teachers heard because they would tell them to quiet down. They weren't trying to hide it. The reasons teachers didn't do anything isn't because they didn't think anything was happening, it's because they chose to ignore it."

Vasquez smiled at her words. "They chose to ignore it. Thank you, Ophelia."

Stuhl stood up again, "Your honor, permission for my own following questions?"

Vasquez concluded, "I'm finished."

The judge allowed Stuhl to come forward.

Stuhl approached Ophelia with confident dismissal. "Ophelia, you yourself admitted that Hannah Baker was dramatic, especially with the note where she accused your boyfriend of domestic violence. You even admitted that you were dramatic by saying you called the police over a small argument."

Ophelia shrunk down, unconfident.

"Is it possible you're being dramatic now? That these 'whispers' of Hannah you heard were simply people talking about their own business?"

Ophelia shook her head, "No-"

"That the bullying of Tyler Down isn't as extreme as you say, you just state it more dramatically?"

Zach hated her badgering.

"No, I wouldn't-"

"But you have admitted that nothing ever happened to you that the teachers ignore, so you are just speculating this happened to other-"

"I'm not speculating anything!"

Stuhl ignored her loud tone. "Ophelia, you have already admitted yourself that you have never seen a teacher purposely ignore a violent or harmful occurrence-"

"That's not true!" she was suddenly yelling. "The school protects their athletes. Only their athletes."

Stuhl laughed, turning to the jury. "Surely, we cannot believe this speculation brought with no evidence-"

No evidence? Were they even fucking listening?

"This is a theory, not a fact-"

"It is a fact," Ophelia suddenly snapped, angry at the woman's continuing dismissal. "Coach Rick saw Monty push me in the locker room and he didn't report it because he didn't want Monty off the team."

Scott's mouth fell open.

Montgomery let out a low, "Shit."

That shut Stuhl up. Her mouth dropped open, and she stopped talking.

Ophelia regretted it immediately. Yes, she loved the satisfaction of seeing the lawyer upset, but she realized that she would have to now create a context if asked. She didn't want to create context.

But apparently, Stuhl didn't want anymore context either. She walked to the judge, quickly.

"Your honor, both a sides have already had their rebuttal statements, I move to bring in the next witness."

"Objection!" Vasquez shouted, moving towards the judge. "We need more context for her last statement-"

"Both sides have finished rebuttals," she repeated, "There's no time left."

The judge took a moment to think. Finally he nodded, and banged his gavel twice. "We will be taking a ten minute recess. When we resume Anne Jangle will take the stand."

Ophelia let out a breath. She got off the witness stand, slightly stumbling. She kept her head down, and rushed out of the court room.

"Ophelia-" It was Vasquez that called her. She ignored him, and her mom, and the boys. She rushed outside the courtroom, and into the woman's bathroom that was put just outside the doors.

She took quick deep breaths, feeling like she was running out of air. She felt bile in her throat. She swallowed it. She shouldn't have said that. She shouldn't have called out Coach Rick. Everyone would hear, everyone would know.

Montgomery would be angry at her. Hell, Zach would probably be angry at her because she never told him.

And her mom...

"Fuck!" Ophelia suddenly shouted. How could she say that in front of her mom? She'll be so angry at her. She'll never be allowed out again.

In the courtroom, Montgomery was the first to stand after Ophelia ran out. Zach stood quickly, asking, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"To see if she's alright," Montgomery snapped at him. "Like you would if you fucking cared."

Zach scoffed. "She ran out of here because of you."

Montgomery ignored him, making his way out of the courtroom as well.

"Go fucking catch up," Tony snapped at Zach, since he was not moving fast enough.

When Zach left, Scott grabbed Tony by the shoulder. "Hey," he said, softly, "That shit wasn't true, right?"

Tony hesitated. "About Coach Rick? I honestly don't know."

"No," he was standing now, "About-About Monty hitting her. Like her nose and shit. And did she really call the cops on him?"

Tony wasn't planning on staying and making conversation. "Go ahead and ask you buddy about that shit," he said, judgingly, like he was upset as his choice of friends.

When Tony left, Scott was about to follow him out, but he stopped as he looked ahead and saw that Ophelia's mother had not moved from her seat. She had her head down, and a hand covering her face. Scott went and sat next to her.

"Are you alright?"

She must not have noticed him sit, because she was startled by his voice. He spotted her face in a deep, emotional state, but as soon as she realized he wasn't Zach, her face turned to anger.

"Get away!" she snapped. Her voice was stuffy, and it might have been too hard to say a complete sentence at the moment without her voice cracking.

Scott flinched back and moved away from her.

Montgomery had been the first to realize Ophelia had gone in the woman's restroom. In fact, he was about to go in before Zach grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"You can't go in there, you fucking moron," Zach snapped at his, his anger from his mentioned abuse still glaring strong inside him.

But Montgomery was more than angry, he was embarrassed. And he was worried. Worried for Ophelia's current emotional state.

"The fuck will they do?"

"This is a fucking courthouse, idiot. You can get charged here for that shit."

Tony came up. "She not coming out?"

Zach shook his head.

Montgomery scoffed, "Yeah, go ahead and send the fag in."

Tony's gaze snapped his way. "Fucking excuse me?"

"You fucking heard me-"

They stopped. Ophelia opened the restroom door, came face to face with the three boys, and instantly lost her calm, slamming the door in their faces and heading back inside.

She gripped the sink with both hands, planning her own escape route.

"Great, you freaked her out," Zach scoffed.

Montgomery said back, "Your ugly ass face is what freaked her out."

"How fucking immature and stupid are you?" Tony snapped at him. "Get the fuck out of here. She doesn't want to see you-"

"Yeah? If she doesn't want to see me, why'd she break up with him?" Montgomery gestured at Zach.

Zach scrunched you're his face in disbelief and annoyance. "She didn't break up with me to be with you. She fucking hates you."

Montgomery scoffed, and laughed. This angered Zach even more. He balled his fist and shoved a finger in his face. "How can you laugh when she's this fucking upset. You're fucking crazy."

Scott came up to them quickly, looking worried. "Hey, Monty. We need to leave. Mrs. Tristano is fucking pissed."

Montgomery frowned in confusion. "What?"

Ophelia's mother came bursting out of the courtroom. When she set her eyes on the group of boys surrounding the bathroom door, she marched over with purpose. Zach was the closet, but she went past him and slapped him on the arm.

She began shouting at him in Mandarin. Zach's eyes widened as he heard all the words he was banned from using as a child, and was too afraid to use as an adult. Horrible, harsh words she yelled at Montgomery, and she continually swatted at him.

"Shit!" he muttered as her swats stung him.

"Leave!" she shouted, hitting him on the back of the head as he turned around. "Go! Leave!"

"Fucking okay!" he shouted at her. Scott became embarrassed as Montgomery cursed at the older woman.

Montgomery sent on more look at Zach, rolling her eyes. "She'll probably ask to see me later anyway."

Zach felt a sting in his pride, as he realized Montgomery might be right. Ophelia probably would want to talk with him about it later.

Scott followed Montgomery, hesitant in his pace. Montgomery stopped at Scott's passenger, impatiently waiting for him to unlock it.

But Scott's car was the last thing on his mind as he approached his friend. "What the fuck was that?"

"Her fucking psycho mom? I don't fucking-"

"Cut the bullshit!" Scott snapped at him. "What the fuck were they talking about in there?"

Montgomery played dumb. "What do you mean?"

He scoffed, unbelieving. "I'm taking about Ophelia calling the fucking police on you?"

Montgomery shook his head. "It was bullshit, Ophelia said that."

Scott didn't believe it entirely. "And that fucking note? About you being abusive?"

"I didn't know about that," Montgomery said, honestly. "And neither did Ophelia. You heard her."

"You said you guys were in a car accident, was that true?"

Montgomery hesitated. "Of course it was true."

"Why the fuck would Hannah say that then?" Scott asked, desperate for answers. "She said you hit Ophelia? Why the fuck would she say that if it wasn't fucking true?"

"Because she was a crazy bitch," Montgomery justified himself. "And she wanted me and Ophelia to break up?"

"Is that why you broke up? Because you hit her?" Scott accused, the pieces falling together in his head.

"Scott, what the fuck? You know why we broke up. I didn't do shit-"

"Coach Rick," he said, suddenly. "Why did she saw he saw you push her?"

Montgomery racked his brain for a quick lie, and he found one. "Ophelia and I...we were messing around-"

"Messing around!?-"

"Yes!" Montgomery insisted. "Look, we were...we were going to have sex. In the locker room. And she fell when she was taking her pants off and that's what Coach Rick saw."

Scott hesitated. He shook his head. "So why would she bring it up?"

"I don't know."

They stood there in silence for a few minutes. Scott was contemplating whether or not to believe him.

"Look, Scotty, you know me," Montgomery tried. "Look, Ophelia said it was bullshit. I swear that's all it was."

Bullshit? It was all bullshit? Scott didn't know Hannah at all, but domestic violence is a fucked up thing to lie about.

So he had to decide. Between Montgomery and Hannah, who was more fucked up?

"Come on, you know I love Ophelia," Montgomery said.

Scott did know that. She was the one person Montgomery loved besides his little sister. Ophelia was the only one who truly understood Montgomery. He was different when he was with her. Or when he saw them alone. Montgomery was different. He was better.

Imagining Montgomery hurting Ophelia, after all the love and care she gave him, was too much for Scott to handle. It was a depressing thought. Scott would rather believe Hannah was a crazy, lying bitch than believe Montgomery did what he was accused of. In fact, he refused to believe all the shit he was accused of.

It was bullshit, Scott decided. His best friend could never do that kind of thing. So it had to be bullshit.

Scott unlocked his car door for Montgomery. "Let's just get to school."

Inside, Zach, Tony, and Mrs. Tristano waited outside the woman's bathroom until Ophelia finally came out.

She looked embarrassed and exhausted.

"How are you doing?" Zach asked her. Before saying anything, she found herself falling into his arms, and him engulfing her in a hug.

"Is this how you felt after testifying?" she asked, "I regret so much shit. I felt so unprepared. I-I'm so embarrassed to even go back to school."

Zach pulled her away. "You don't have to be embarrassed he told her."

Tony said, "You did great."

"Why did Tyler's name come out of my mouth so much?" she asked.

Zach shrugged. "I don't know. That was kind of weird to me."

Ophelia covered her face. "What was I even thinking."

"They were coming at you hard," Tony told her. "And they caught us all off guard with a lot of stuff. You looked like you were able to keep your cool, and that's the best thing you could've done."

Ophelia took a deep breath, she looked at her mother. The anger and passion on her face that the boys saw earlier was now invisible to Ophelia. Her mother had put her sunglasses back on, and Ophelia was unaware that the reason was because she didn't want her daughter to see her watery eyes.

"Did you lie on that stand, Ophelia?"

She shook her head. "No, mom."

Her mother nodded once. "Alright, I will be calling the school later today. That coach will be fired."

Ophelia gasped, as did Zach.

"Mom, you can't-"

She had already brought out her cell phone. Ophelia heard her sniff. Her voice came out shaky, and angry. "Can one of you boys get her to school on time?"

"Of course," Tony told her. Ophelia's mother smiled great fully.

"Mom, stop, please-" If speaking of Coach Rick wasn't embarrassing enough, she knew each and every baseball player would hate her even more if her mother tried to take his job.

"Let's go," Tony told her, knowing more than Ophelia how upset her mother was.

"I'll take her," Zach offered.

Yes, they were broken up, but it still felt natural for them to be together.

"Mom-" Ophelia tried one more time. But her mother ignored her, hopping on a phone call as Zach and Tony pulled her away.

"The blog made it sound really fucking bad," Bryce told Montgomery and Scott. They were standing just outside the locker room. They met up there to talk about what everyone heard from the trial. "That fucktard blogger made it seem like everything Hannah said about you was true."

Scott's eyes shifted to Montgomery. Was it true? Scott kept convincing himself that he was absolutely sure it wasn't.

"Which is fucking stupid," Montgomery said quickly, catching his gaze. "I mean, Ophelia said it was wrong. But that obviously didn't do anything. Her fucking mom came out and started cussing at me in Chinese."

"Mandarin," Scott corrected, remembering what Ophelia had told him. They spoke Mandarin.

Montgomery scoffed. "Whatever. Hannah fucking Baker is still trying to fuck up my life from the dead. Fucking bitch."

Scott cringed. Bryce knew why Hannah would want his life ruined, after Montgomery told him the truth about Rep Night. But he also knew Montgomery couldn't be acting like Hannah had a reason to hate him, or people would catch on to it.

"Woah," Bryce said to him. "Don't be saying shit like that right now." Montgomery looked down, knowing he was right. He needed to play it cool. Bryce continued, "We need to calm down. And think of what we're going to tell people."

Scott asked, "Tell people? They already heard the story."

Bryce brushed it off by saying, "They heard a version of the story. We'll tell a different one. Montgomery, tell me about the incident with Coach Rick."

He hesitanted, glancing at Scott, trying to remember in detail the lie he told him. "We were just messing around."

"And she just fell?" Bryce asked, unconvinced.

Montgomery said, "Yeah, on accident. We were..." he didn't want to tell Bryce they were having sex. He wouldn't have if he hadn't already said it to Scott. Although, it seemed clear Bryce already knew what really happened, and he was just asking for a lie. But to tell him they had sex? It would fill Bryce's mind with provocative imagines Montgomery didn't want him to have. But he had no choice. "We were gonna fuck. Coach Rick caught us."

Bryce nodded, letting out a little smile. "Okay. Don't worry about anything else. I got it from here."

Scott frowned. Not only from Bryce's words, but from imagining them being intimate in the locker room. It upset him, and he wasn't sure why. After all, they were still dating then. "What do you mean you got it from here?"

Bryce just shrugged. "I mean no one'll be on Ophelia's side. They'll believe your truth, even though they heard hers."

He turned, but Montgomery caught him quickly and turned him back around. "Wait, I don't want anyone to be talking shit about her."

Bryce was confused. It was Montgomery against Ophelia in his eyes. "Would you rather them talk shit about you?"

Montgomery said, "They won't talk about me because they know I'll beat their ass. Come on, Ophelia seemed nervous enough about coming to school anyway."

Scott nodded, glad his friend was sticking up for her. He knew Hannah had to have been wrong.

Bryce asked, "Why did you go see her anyway? Why'd you go to the courthouse?"

Montgomery thought it was obvious. "I just wanted to be there for her."

Bryce scoffed. "Listen, Monty. Really listen because you need to get this through your head. She doesn't fucking care about you anymore, even if you care about her. She's not going to actually be there for you when you testify. These feelings you have are one way."

Scott was taken aback by Bryce's cruelness. He was even more surprised by how depressed Montgomery became from his words.

Montgomery said, in a quiet voice. "She said she'd come to my hearing-"

"Jesus Christ," Bryce cut him off. "Listen to yourself. This girl didn't give you a second thought before on Zach after you two broke up. Now, you can either let people believe fucking Baker's lies, or you can let me do my shit."

Montgomery didn't say anything. He hadn't read the blog yet, so maybe Bryce was right. Maybe it came off worse than he thought.

He sniffed, and Scott was surprised to see he became emotional.

Montgomery said, in a defeated and low tone. "Say what you want. Just make sure they don't say shit about her."

Ophelia was bouncing her leg up and down on the way to school. Zach was driving slow, but it felt like they were going a hundred miles an hour.

Zach was looking so handsome, and normally it would have filled her mind with normal thoughts, but all she could think about was how disgusted he looked while she was on the stand.

Everyone must have been disgusted with her.

A stupid girl who bullied people and ignored a depressed friend. A girl who made a false police call and unprovable accusations against the baseball coach. That's all they would know her as. She was sure of it.

She looked in the rear view mirror and saw Tony's car. They were on the freeway driving to school, and she was surprised Tony's mustang went on it. As they drove closer to the exit, Zach turned on his blinker, and got into the farthest right lane.

"What if you just kept going?" Ophelia asked suddenly.

Zach blinked. "What?"

She gulped. "What if we didn't get off here. What if we just kept going until you ran out of gas?"

Zach looked down. He had almost a full tank. He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Let's leave. Together." She took a deep breath. "Just the two of us. Just leave for a while. And not come back until this is all over."

"Not come back?-"

"No, we can come back. But we'll wait. We'll wait to come back."

Zach kept his eyes on the road. "I can't leave my mom."

Ophelia felt guilty suddenly. Like she wasn't a good daughter for wanting to go be away for a while.

"Don't you ever just want to get out of this town?" she asked him, wondering if their desires were really that different.

Zach shook his head. "My mom loves it here. She won't move."

She didn't ask if his mom would move. She asked if he wanted to. But she took that as a 'no'. She gave them silence for the rest of the ride to school.

It was a stupid idea. Of course they couldn't pack up and leave. No matter how much she wanted to. Tony was behind them, anyway, so he would probably end up following them.

If Ophelia ever wanted to get away, she might have to be completely alone. She doubted anyone else shared her longing for anonymity if Zach didn't.

Ophelia saw people looking before they even parked completely.

"Just ignore them," Zach told her. He opened her door for her. "Look, it'll be hard at first. But by tomorrow most people will have moved on."

She doubted it. Just because it happened to him didn't mean it would go that way for her. People were a lot less forgiving of girls than they were attractive athletes.

And Zach's only big secret was that he had sex with Hannah. He probably got high-fives for it. Ophelia wouldn't be getting any praise for being a bother.

They walked down the hallway, Tony taking off in a different direction.

"You can head to your class," Ophelia told Zach.

He shook his head. "I can walk you."

Surprisingly, out of all the stares and whispers, Clay Jensen was the first to approach her.

"What the fuck, Ophelia?" he asked, reaching them as them.

Zach stepped in front of her. "Dude. Change your tone."

Clay huffed, and looked past Zach to Ophelia. "Do you know what you did?"

Ophelia frowned. What she did? She exposed herself in order to stand up for Hannah. She admitted stuff she didn't want to because it would help Hannah.

"I defended Hannah," Ophelia said, sure of it.

Clay scoffed. "Defended her? You made her seem erratic and crazy?"

She shook her head. "I didn't."

Zach spoke up. "Yeah, man. Lay off. She didn't say anything wrong."

"Are you serious?" Clay asked, like Zach was lying for Ophelia's benefit. "Everyone's saying Hannah is the one who made Ophelia call the cops on Montgomery, knowing nothing happened, just go get back at him for messing with her."

Ophelia's mouth fell open. "That-That's not what I said."

"Well, that's what they heard," Clay told her. "And that's what they'll believe. Because you lied to them and said he did nothing wrong. Nothing."

Zach pushed him back a bit. "Jensen, for real, leave us alone."

Clay looked at Zach now. "You're not upset that she lied? That she's still protecting him?"

"She's not protecting him," Zach snapped, although his voice was defensive. "That shit that happened is her business. And she's the one who decides if it gets shared."

Clay scoffed. "So you think Montgomery should get off of free for all the terrible shit he did."

"No, I think he belongs in fucking prison," Zach admitted, "Or at least deserves to get the shit beat out of him."

Clay turned to Ophelia. He pointed to Zach and her. "Neither of you ever wanted to help her in court."

"What did you do, Clay? Let everyone know she took drugs? Like that helped any?"

"At least I didn't turn her into Hannah the slut!"

Ophelia noticed the lingering eyes hadn't left them, and she was worried how many people would begin hearing the conversation.

"I got to go," Ophelia said, nervous.

Zach turned to her. "I'll walk with you."

"No," she said quickly. "I'll just-I'll see you later."

When she left, Zach told Clay. "You're a fucking asshole, you know that?

"Your fucking girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend right now," Zach admitted, defeat in his voice.

Clay felt bad. "Shit, yeah. I forgot Justin told me."

Zach frowned. How the fuck did Justin know?

"I'm sick of all the lies and coverups," Clay told him, calming down a bit. "People need to know what Hannah went through. And if you guys aren't willing to admit it...I'll make sure it gets out."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Zach asked him.

Clay just shook his head, and walked off. "You'll see."

Ophelia was worried that after the trial she would go through the same thing Zach did. The obvious jokes, the whispers of classmates. The judging stares. And it happened. She went through all of it. But she also went through more.

In her second period she had been harassed by Carlos for having mentioned Coach Rick's name in the trial. He called her a lying bitch.

Marisa called her a 'lying slut' in the hallway. This is when Ophelia discovered Montgomery had dealt with the locker room incident she admitted by saying they were going to have sex in the locker room, which is why Coach Rick found her in the ground.

She didn't see Montgomery first period, so in her heart she felt he was the one to blame for everything. He must have been so angry she said something against him that he sent everyone after her.

Ophelia tried her best to keep her mouth shut to all the harassing. She didn't want to cause problems. And honestly, she didn't know what she would say back to them. What they're saying might as well have been true. She didn't tell the full truth about Hannah and Montgomery, so she might as well have lied.

She was surprised that people were much more upset about the Coach Rick incident than anything to do with Hannah. That alone says what this school valued.

Her mother had ended up calling the school about him, apparently. And the situation was going to be 'investigated'.

When Ophelia was in her fourth period, before it started and before the teacher arrived, Anthony, Marisa's ex boyfriend approached her.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he demanded. Everyone's eyes fell in him.

She had no clue what he meant. "What?"

"Who the fuck are you to try to throw Coach Rick under the bus? Trying to get out season cancelled because you're a fucking whore who likes getting fucked in a locker room?"

She heard gasps. Maybe her own included.

She was taken aback by his anger. She had no idea Anthony could speak like that, he always seemed like such a chill person. No wonder him and Marisa were together.

Again, Ophelia decided she wanted to ignore the problem, so she looked away, looking down at her textbook on her desk.

Angry at her dismissal, Anthony shoved the textbook off her desk.

She gasped. Anthony snapped, "Bryce told us fucking everything, you little bitch."

"Bryce?"

So Bryce was the one spreading all these rumors? Of course he was.

"Get the fuck out of here, Anthony," Ophelia heard. She was surprised to see Scott standing in the doorway.

Anthony scoffed. "Coach might get fired for this shit. If people actually believe it."

"You want me to tell Monty you're yelling at her?" Scott asked. "So he can come in here and beat your ass?"

Anthony considered it. He knew Ophelia and Montgomery weren't dating anymore. But he also knew he was still crazy protective over her.

"Whatever," Anthony said. But he still left.

It was awkward for a moment. She heard the whispers of students talking about the incident, even though she tried not to.

Scott walked in the classroom, and picked up Ophelia's book for her, setting it back on her desk.

She breathed, "Thank you."

She was surprised by the nice act.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll, uh, see you later."

And he left too. And, for once, Ophelia felt sad knowing she wouldn't be having lunch at his table.

A/N: Okay so sorry this took so long ?

I'm sorry if anyone seems out of character in this chapter, I've been experimenting a lot with different scenarios and figuring out how I think these characters would actually react in them

Sorry for the lack of updates! Like I said, I got scared and locked out ? hopefully you like this chapter! Next one should be up a lot sooner!

Also, I finished season 4 and definitely feel like Ophelia would not click with Zach season 4 because he was so different but we'll see

Thanks for all the support! Love you guys!