“Where did you get these?”
“Todd was takin' photos of prom for da yearbook and got dem wit'out realizin' it. I asked him for a copy of dem. I knew I had to do someting. If I didn't...the next girl he does dis to, it'll be my fault. In only a few days I had seven different girls approach me at school to tell me I wasn't alone. Dey didn't come forward, for whatever reason, but...I couldn't keep quiet. I couldn't look myself in da mirror knowin' he's just gonna keep druggin' and rapin' girls if he's not stopped.”
Miles Saunders studied the young woman across from him. She was scared, nervous, embarrassed, but despite all of that she was determined to bring a serial rapist to justice. “You need to understand, Miss Lafluer. If this goes to court, you will have to get on the stand and the defense will do everything in their power to tear you down and tarnish your reputation. If there is anything that could be used against you to make you look like you brought it on yourself, they will use it. It's ugly but it's the truth.”
“I know. Dere isn't anyting dey could use to do dat.” Her laugh was almost bitter. “Dis was da first date I'd ever been on.”
“Okay. We'll talk more once I inform the judge I am representing you and I've had the chance to look over the charges lodged against the defendant.”
Mia nodded and followed her parents out. All she wanted to do was go home, crawl into her bed, and pretend none of this had happened.
Within days, word of Cole's arrest and the charges against him had spread throughout school. Attitudes varied depending on who you talked to. The jocks and their groupies thought Mia was making it all up because she'd decided to fool around and regretted it. Those who'd been where she was knew differently. Others just wanted to enjoy the gossip.
Mia kept to herself as much as possible. As the days passed, and a court date was set for Cole's case, she began to notice the looks she kept getting from some of the girls who flocked to the jocks. Whispers would start when she passed them but she rarely caught what they were saying. One afternoon, she was in the girl's restroom when a couple of cheerleaders walked in. She froze in the stall she was in because they were the worst about whispering about her when she walked by.
“Can you believe that little slut? She goes out to his car with him and then she has the nerve to say he 'assaulted' her? And the way Gage went after him? You can't tell me he hasn't been fucking her. He was probably jealous because she was with Cole.”
Mia felt tears stinging her eyes before she wiped them away, squared her shoulders, and stepped out into the bathroom. Both girls fell silent and wouldn't look at her. “You two are such fools. You tink he's so great? He's raped seven girls, at least. I would have been number eight if Gage hadn't come out to da parkin' lot and found us where I was tellin' Cole to STOP and he ignored me. I don't care if you believe me because you know what? I know da truth, I know what he is, and I have proof dat he drugged me. You should consider yourselves lucky you weren't one of his victims, you stupid little bitches.” With that she stomped out of the bathroom.
Mia was nervous. She was waiting to be called to testify against Cole. His lawyer pushed for a trial and now she had to sit there and let herself be badgered by the defense, let her character be called into question. She was grateful there really wasn't anything in her background for him to bring up. She was also grateful a couple of the girls he'd raped had come forward to press charges as well. One of them was Stacy. She was warned the defense would go into detail about her personal life and the fact she was very promiscuous. Mia sat in the court room while the defense attacked her but Stacy didn't break down. She stood her ground even when some of the boys she'd been intimate with were called to the stand to try to tarnish her testimony. It had hurt to see Gage up there on the stand but Mia was good at hiding her feelings.
“Miss Lafluer? It's time.”
The bailiff's voice pulled her from her thoughts and Mia rose to go into the court room. She placed her hand on the bible and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Then she sat and once again went over what happened that night. At one point, in recent weeks, Cole had tried to blackmail her into dropping her charges by threatening to press assault charges against Gage. She'd gone right to Gage about it and he'd insisted on her following through, no matter what. They'd called Cole's bluff and so far no charges had been brought against Gage.
“Miss Lafluer, can you confirm, for the court, that these photos are of you?”
She blinked and then looked to the screen where photos from both Homecoming and Prom were being projected. “Yes, dat's me.”
“For someone who claims to be innocent of wrongdoing, those are some very revealing dresses. Do you expect us to believe you dressed that way without the sole purpose of attracting attention?”
“Objection, your honor. Miss Lafluer is not the one on trial.”
“Overruled.”
She'd known the defense would try dirty tactics, she'd seen it already, but it still threw her off a little. The judge overruling her attorney's objection made it worse. “Yes, because it's da truth. Da dresses I picked out, I picked dem because I liked dem, not because I wanted attention.”
“Are you accustomed to wearing such revealing clothing, Miss Lafluer?”
“Objection, Your Honor. Miss Lafluer's clothing is not the issue here.”
“Sustained. Counsel will stick to the parameters of the case.”
“Of course, Your Honor. Miss Lafluer, can you tell us what the reaction was when you entered the dance in the green dress?”
“Some people looked or commented, just like dey did other girls' dresses.” She knew she wasn't supposed to do more than answer the questions but she couldn't help herself. “You're married. Are you tellin' me dat if your wife went out somewhere in a fancy dress dat showed some leg, you would blame her if someone tried to rape her for it?”
“Objection. My wife's attire has no bearing on this case,” the defense attorney said.
“Sustained. Miss Lafluer, another outburst like that and I will fine you for contempt of court.”
“My apologies, Your Honor.” Mia glanced at the jury and knew her words hit home.
The defense tried, in multiple ways, to imply that the entire incident wouldn't have happened had she been wearing less revealing dresses, but in the end his tactics failed. When the case concluded, and the jury gave it's verdict, Cole was found guilty on all charges. Mia felt relieved. Because she'd come forward, Cole would go to prison for a number of years and maybe, just maybe, she'd saved others from being his next victims.
Gage
Throughout the trial, Gage was there in the court room to give Mia his silent support. When he'd had to get up on the stand and talk about his sordid sexual past with Stacy he'd been unable to look at Mia. The attorney really tried to dig into details and Gage knew Cole had shared some things that had come out during locker room talk.
