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Tessa looked at her watch as the judge called a lunch break, surprised to see it was only noon. She was seated next to Gabriella on one of the benches in a separate room where they were told to stay until they were each called. So far, they had sat there for three hours with neither of them being called in and now there was a break for lunch, at least that's what the security guard and Paul communicated to them as Paul slipped into the room, just ahead of some officers who were leading Riley through the room and out the side door.
Just before Riley was escorted out, he turned his head, almost as if he sensed her and leered at Gabriella, giving her a look that sent chills down her spine before he was pushed on the shoulder by one of the guards to keep him moving out of the room.
"Are you all right?" asked Tessa, instantly concerned as Gabriella's mood seemed to have changed quite dramatically.
Gabriella silently nodded her head, trying to gather her thoughts. "I guess we should go get some lunch?"
"Actually, we're having it brought to you two," supplied Paul. "There's a huge crowd of reporters and photographers outside the entire perimeter of the courthouse as we think word got out you would be here today. We won't be able to get you in and out safely and no where we would be able to take you would be far enough to lose everyone in such a small amount of time. Will you two be okay here?"
Tessa nodded her head but looked to Gabriella for confirmation, which she gave after some hesitation. Paul said something into his earpiece all the royal security team were allowed to wear inside the courthouse although most of their weapons were checked in daily outside the courtroom with the exception of one gun.
The two girls sat in silence as Gabriella lost herself into her thoughts with Tessa worrying as she sat next to her. Soon the food arrived, distracting both of them as they ate the roast beef sandwiches, each with their own bag of chips and can of soda. Paul stayed in the room with them along with a court appointed guard, both serving as a harsh reminder of what both girls would be facing within the next couple of hours in the room next door.
Just as Gabriella was stuffing the paper wrapper from the sandwich into the now empty chip bag, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her purse that was sitting next to her on the chair. She looked at the court's guard who nodded his head before she reached in and grabbed it, seeing that Sharpay sent her a picture text. Gabriella froze and felt her mouth drop open as she stared at the image in front of her before the cell phone clattered to the table. Tessa, alarmed by the sound of the phone hitting the table, looked up just in time to see the first few tears slowly course down Gabriella's cheeks before she herself picked up the phone. Paul came over and the two looked as Tessa pulled the text back up, both staring with disbelief of what was on the screen:
Message: A picture is worth 1,000 words right?
Below the message was a very clear picture of Troy standing in the halls of East High with a brunette up against a locker, his hands tightly wrapped around her waist, while his lips were connected to the brunette's.
"Gaby," started Tessa, stopping as she saw Gabriella shake her head, furiously wiping away the tears that wouldn't stop.
Paul eyed the young woman, quickly coming to a decision before he left the room. Tessa used this time to pull her chair closer to Gabriella so she could pull her best friend into her arms, letting her cry even more into her shoulder having decided it was better to let Gabriella cry than for Tessa to rant but this didn't stop her from silently cursing Troy Bolton. 'I trusted you with her, you promised you would never hurt her, what the hell have you done now?'
Soon the door opened again to reveal an anxious Annette quickly moving through the doorway before she rushed to her daughter's side, her heart breaking with each tear that dropped from Gabriella's chin. "Shh, Gabriella, it's going to be all right," soothed Annette, pulling her daughter to her after Tessa let go of Gabriella but kept hold of her right hand.
"How could…he…do...this today?" got out Gabriella between sobs, trying weakly to gain control of her emotions.
Annette shot Tessa a look who reluctantly showed Gabriella's mother the picture and message with it. The mother closed her eyes against the image as the reason for her daughter's distraught state became crystal clear. "Maybe it isn't what it looks like Gabriella," suggested Annette, not really knowing if she believed it herself but knowing that Gabriella didn't need this emotional breakdown and distraction right before she was about to testify. "He could be pushing her away."
Tessa stared at Gabriella's mother, shocked that she seemed to be defending Troy. "But Mrs. Montez," protested Tessa before a shake of the head from Paul silenced her.
"I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding Gabriella. He loves you, remember that," continued Annette, throwing a look at Tessa that begged for Tessa to play along.
"Your mom is right Gaby, Troy loves you. Remember, he made a promise to you that night when he gave you this ring," said Tessa, hating the words coming out of her mouth, the complete opposite sentiments than what she wanted to say about the brown haired boy who would be getting it from her as soon as the courtroom was dismissed for the day.
By then, Gabriella had slowed down her breathing and controlled the tears to be just a few before stopping them all together as she looked down at the ring on her right hand. 'The promise ring, Troy's vow to never hurt me, to always be here for me. I thought he meant it back then. Do I not think so now? Would he really do something like kiss another girl when he knew I would be gone and going through hell here? That's not like him but pictures don't lie, right? God, this is so confusing,' thought Gabriella before she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a door opening.
She looked up and saw two guards come in with Riley behind them, standing out quite a bit in his prison issued orange jumpsuit, his hands handcuffed behind his back with another two officers following behind him.
Riley quickly took in the emotional wreck that was Gabriella at the moment and smirked. "What's the matter princess, afraid they'll find out you're a fucking royal slut instead of the virginal saint you tried to be with me before we fucked? Little did I know then how big of an accomplishment it was for me to screw you. How many guys can say they fucked a princess? That was the best news ever when I heard!" called out Riley before he was roughly shoved out of the room before he could say anything further.
Gabriella leaned back in her chair heavily as soon as the door closed, letting out a deep, shaky breath. She closed her eyes as she tried to find something positive to focus on but failed as the image of Troy kissing another girl back at school came into mind with Riley's little speech echoing in her head at the same time. 'God, Riley's right isn't he. I am a slut, otherwise why would Troy really want to stay with me? He's been so good to me but he can take only so much. Can I really blame him for kissing another girl when I'm not there?'
"Don't you dare start listening to a word of his lies Gabriella Montez," demanded Tessa, snapping Gabriella out of her thoughts. "I know you are letting the lies he spat eat at you and I am demanding you to stop this nonsense right now!"
Gabriella blinked a few times at the harsh tone her best friend had used but realized that only that type of voice would have successfully brought her out of her monologue in her mind. "Troy deserves better."
Three simple words were enough for Annette, Paul, and Tessa to see that the defenses Gabriella had worked so hard to have for the testimony today were cracking if not completely gone. Annette was pulled from the room by one of the royal guards as the court was coming back into session before she could do anything but begged the other two remaining to do what they could in the time they had left before the testimonies.
Neither had time though as a court appointed guard came into the room and announced it was Gabriella's time to testify. Tessa and Paul watched helplessly as she was taken out of the room and the door closed behind her, Paul unable to follow as he was one of the three victims and was not allowed to be in the room while Gabriella testified.
"God, how could that bastard do that to her?" asked Tessa, pissed off that Gabriella went into the courtroom in such a vulnerable state because of a boy.
"Who are you madder at Tessa? Riley for his lies or Troy for whatever happened in that picture?" questioned Paul, unsure which of the two males had Tessa more riled up.
"Both!" exclaimed Tessa, getting a stern look from the guard that told her to quiet down. "Riley is such a jerk for still messing with poor Gabriella's head and Troy is an ass for betraying our trust in him and screwing some other girl!"
Paul refrained from speaking and allowed the silence between him and Gabriella's best friend to reside, tension filing the room as both anxiously thought of the sweet brunette in the next room who was currently being forced to relive one of the worst days of her life.
Gabriella had used the time she was being examined by Walter Bayley, the United States Attorney who was leading the prosecution team for the trial, to try to sort out her thoughts and emotions while she answered Walter's questions. He had made sure not to ask too many graphic questions while still asking the appropriate ones to make sure Gabriella's side of the story was told to the fullest degree.
Now Gabriella eyed the advance of Rick Sullomon, saw the determination in his eyes, and knew that he was not going to be as nice to her in terms of his questioning. 'Remember Gabriella, you swore to tell the truth and that's all you will tell today. The truth will set you free, right, or something like that?' thought Gabriella just as Rick stopped right in front of her.
"So how are you doing today Princess Gabriella?" addressed Rick, not really looking like he truly cared to hear her answer.
"Fine," replied Gabriella, getting more nervous as to what was about to be asked of her as she saw Rick nod his head while an odd glint became evident in his green eyes.
"Fine? After supposedly being raped as you claim? Not many rape victims are fine, which makes me believe even more so that you are a liar, as we have heard you called before in this courtroom by others. See, rape victims are never fine," stated Rick, getting some satisfaction from the fact that his plan to unnerve Gabriella was working. "They have damage, they have nightmares, they have self-image issues. They aren't fine."
"Objection your honor! Defense has no question," exclaimed Walter, not all that surprised at the defense's tactics.
"Sustained. Mr. Sullomon, please get on with your questions unless this cross-examination is over," ordered the judge, whose name Gabriella learned earlier that morning was Thomas Warren.
"My apologies Judge Warren," said Rick although Gabriella saw no sincere apology on his face. She glanced over at Riley and gripped the fingers of her hands that were now resting on her lap tighter as he leered at her, almost taunting her in some ways. "Princess, what is your relationship with the defendant?"
Without a thought, Gabriella said, "He was a classmate of mine while I was at West High."
"Just a classmate? Not a friend, not a boyfriend?" questioned Rick. "Are you so sure about that?"
"Yes," replied Gabriella, "Riley and I were only classmates. We never hung out off the school grounds unless it was a school event and even then there were other people around."
"You were alone on that afternoon in late May," reminded Rick. "Tsk tsk, we already find you in contempt Princess. What else are you lying about?"
"We weren't alone more than a few minutes," returned Gabriella. "I was home with my bodyguard Paul when he left to get my bag from the car. Next thing I knew, Riley was locking the front door and advancing before Paul started to try to come back in, getting slapped before Riley went after Paul."
"So you have been alone with Mr. Sutton," remarked Rick. "Describe for us what happened after your bodyguard came into the house."
"They began fighting," said Gabriella, letting her mind slip slowly back into the memory she had suppressed for so long. "Riley and Paul began wrestling and I was getting scared for myself and Paul both. Soon after Riley knocked Paul unconscious by throwing him against the wall I think."
Rick slowly shook his head. "You either are lying or have a very bad faulty memory. You missed a big part here. What happened between the two males fighting and your bodyguard being knocked out?"
Gabriella thought for a few moments, trying to replay everything in her mind and froze as she remembered the letter opener. "I grabbed the letter opener and stabbed Riley in the side," whispered Gabriella, blinking back a few tears from thinking back of the fear and guilt she had felt at that moment those months ago.
"In other words, you supplied Mr. Sutton with a weapon," stated Rick, satisfied he seemed to be getting even more into her psyche.
"Objection your honor! The witness did not willingly hand over the weapon to hurt her own bodyguard," argued Walter.
"Overruled. The evidence so far collaborates that the princess was the one to introduce the weapon into this situation," returned Judge Warren. "Continue Mr. Sullomon."
"Thank you your honor. As I was saying, you stabbed Riley and then what?" questioned Rick.
"Wait, I didn't stab him that deep, I couldn't. I let go after I felt it barely slip into his side," protested Gabriella, realizing how everyone in the courtroom must now see her as the criminal. "I couldn't go through with it, I couldn't hurt him."
Rick smiled a little. "So you have feelings for Mr. Sutton after all."
Gabriella furiously shook her head. "No, never. It's not in me to hurt another life form though, I'm just not that way."
"Let's get back onto topic here Princess. So, your bodyguard is now knocked out. What happened next?" pushed Rick, knowing he'd reach his goal in this next series of questions.
Gabriella stared at him for a few moments before closing her eyes and forcing herself to relive the memory that had haunted her so often but that she had finally been able to control. She opened her brown eyes again and met those green ones of Rick's while she felt the tears start to surface again. "Riley advanced on me faster than I realized he could. We struggled on the floor, I begged him to stop, and he raped me."
Rick raised an eyebrow at this. "Mr. Sutton raped you? How do you know it was rape Princess and not just sex between two teenagers?"
"Because," she got out, taking in a deep breath. "I begged him to stop, I told him no, I was screaming and he still ripped my clothes off, he tore me apart, he took away my virginity and didn't even bat an eye."
"How do we know this wasn't consensual sex that you are now having doubts about Princess? Girls your age want to have sex just as boys your age do but sometimes there is regret in the aftermath. How are we to believe that that this wasn't the case?" questioned Rick.
"I told him no!" shouted Gabriella, folding under the pressure and all the pairs of eyes she felt watching her at that very moment. "I've told him no for most of my time at West High! He wouldn't leave me alone, in the halls at West, at the school events, and then even in my own home! Do you know what it feels like to have your insides rip apart, setting off such burning pain and sad emotions in you that you just want to die? To have people staring at you as if you asked to be raped? To be violated in one of the worst ways possible? That's what my life has been ever since Riley did this to me."
"So you deny covering up having sex with Mr. Sutton so your boyfriend, I believe his name is Mr. Bolton, wouldn't think any less of you under the guise of it being rape? That's also a normal reaction when you're involved in a relationship and have a slip. It's human nature to want to cover up your guilt. However, in the process of covering up your affair with Mr. Sutton, supplying your friends and loved ones with stories of being raped, you have single handedly ruined Mr. Sutton's reputation and possible future. So what is it? What's been motivating you to play this sympathy card for all these months, to spread lies about the defendant, to want to destroy his life?" pushed Rick, his voice getting louder. "This is what you have done to him Princess, you have lied your way into ruining a young man's life. Think hard about this, what you are saying Princess. Recall what happened that day, remember what occurred. Is it the real truth you are speaking or just one big story?"
"I haven't lied about this!" exclaimed Gabriella, tears falling down her cheeks while her brown eyes slowly got that unfocused look, which happened any time she was getting overcome by a memory from that day. Her mind became less focused on the words coming out of the defense attorney's moving mouth as she started hearing Riley's voice in her head, from the taunting in the holding room from earlier to what she heard him say back on that fateful day. The intense feelings of Riley's hands on her again, all over her, while his lips bruised her skin choked her up. Gabriella desperately tried searching for a lifeline, tried to think of Troy, but all that came up there was an image of him kissing the brunette. She panicked as she searched for a way out of the feelings and echoes of the memory she hated to revisit but couldn't find anything until her eyes happened to fall on her mother and father who were looking at her with such love and concern in their eyes. 'I'm safe, I'm really safe. They're here, nothing will happen to me.'
Distantly, she heard Walter object to Rick's attack on her, hearing the words "Impeachment of Witness" and "badgering" among other words that didn't really stick in her mind as Gabriella fought for control of her mind and emotions again. 'Come on Gabriella, you have nothing to be worried about now. It's in the past, Riley is the past. He hurt you, he raped you, but he will never be able to do so again. Too bad Troy still can hurt you. No, he has nothing to do with this. Be strong Gabriella, don't allow Riley to win.'
When she was finally able to pull herself together, she wiped her face with her hands quickly and looked up at the judge, who was looking back at her with concern in his own light blue eyes. "You may step down now Princess," stated Judge Warren, gentleness in his voice that helped soothe her even more.
To his surprise, and even to her own, Gabriella shook her head. "Please, can I say something?" asked Gabriella, noticing for the first time that Rick was already seated next to Riley, who was currently staring at her while listening to something Rick was saying. Their brown eyes connected again but this time, Gabriella wiped away a few of the remaining tears away and straightened her back before looking back at the judge.
Judge Warren saw this little exchange and realized how important this would be for the young woman to his left. "You have the floor Princess."
"Thank you," said Gabriella, taking in a deep breath and sharing a look with both of her parents before she started speaking again. "I know that my behavior just now borderlined on hysterical, that it could question my sanity. I want everyone in this courtroom to know that I'm not insane, that I'm not lying, and that I am no longer going to succumb to the nightmares I've had to endure for many nights since May. At the same time, I admit that over the past months, I have been highly emotional and haunted by Riley and his actions. I have scars on my body I will gladly show you to prove the incident really did happen but the deepest wounds, the longest scars, are the ones that you can't see, that I wear on my soul, on my being. Riley took something very precious from me and it was definitely in a manner I don't think any girl or guy would want their virginity taken. I can't convince you of the truth alone but I don't want you to believe his lie either. It has taken me hundreds of days, thousands of hours, but I can finally sit here, under oath, and tell you that Riley Sutton raped me, forced me against my will, and that's something I will never be able to forget, as much as I wish I could. Everyone can blame me, everyone is entitled to their own opinion after all, but I refuse to be seen as the helpless victim anymore or the lying royalty. I'm just a teenage girl whose high hopes for a great end to her academic career through high school were derailed as soon as Riley had his way with me, with my life. I am here right now though to say it's over, your control over me and this continual torture you have put me through. It's so over."
With those last words, Gabriella looked directly at Riley, showing him he no longer was her personal boogeyman, that she recognized now that she could face him and had the inner strength to put the past finally behind her.