hometown glory - wroetoshaw [✓]

TWENTY SIX

[nineteenth of january 2020]

AFTER THE FESTIVITIES AT THE END OF twenty-nineteen, daily life felt almost back to normal for apollo. herself and harry had been going steady, a few dates occurring and a lot of time spent at either one of their flats. she had been properly introduced to his youtube friends, discounting the initial meeting at the new year party as a formal first introduction as their memories of the night became very hazy.
she found herself growing very close to mia, they discovered they didn't work very far from each other so met very frequently for lunch during their breaks at work. while still making time for her loyal group of school friends whom she loved very dearly. they often found themselves day drinking, bundled together on the floor of somebodies front room which felt so very normal for the group. 

her life was back on track. mostly. 

the trial had been looming over her for quite some time, she tired not to let it get to her but it was difficult not to, considering the toll it had on her mental health. she knew it was unhealthy to suppress it but quite frankly she didn't care. in her mind the less she thought about it the sooner it would leave her brain entirely. however now it was here. 

she had met with the girls now sat in front her her a few times when they found out the man was a repeat offender of harassing women, they all shared their very similar experiences and found some had it unfortunately worse than the others. however they all shared one common goal and it was to stop this man putting any more women through what they had to go through.
that is how she got to this very moment, awaiting the signal for them to go in and testify. apollo had rehearsed her statement many times, recounting everything very clearly with the kind help of harry who was waiting outside to comfort her when necessary, along with all of her friends who could be there. all they cared about was apollos mental health and she was so grateful for that. 

"we can do this, that man is going to be locked up for hopefully a very long time where he should be. away from harming anybody else." one of the young women named melissa, who she had met first of all during the whole unfortunate situation, spoke up in an attempt to boost the little morale in the room.
they all knew he wasn't just a man overstepping the boundaries of flirting as they found one of his victims to be a girl dressed in her school uniform, whom he whistled at and followed home before attempting to grope her. with evidence like this there was no way he was going to get let off free, and if he did they would riot. 

the girls all nodded at her, short smiles shared between everybody as they were all quite frankly terrified to go outside and recount their trauma with a whole jury as well as the man himself in front of them. as it went in alphabetical order by first name apollo was up first, which she was not looking forward to. every single one of the women in that room hugged her before she was escorted to a podium with a microphone and was asked degrading questions such as 'what were you wearing?', 'did you make any contact with the defendant?', 'how much had you had to drink?' and 'what were your intentions when starting the night?' 

things that certainly were not relevant and trying to force her into saying that she was essentially asking for it. she was quite taken aback, their lawyer had said they should be prepared for off putting questions but she was not expecting to be indirectly blamed for the events.

it took a lot for apollo to not start an argument with the man grilling her. she knew that no matter what she looked like or what state she was in there was no way she would've deserved to be abused by a man who wanted power. she was forced to swallow her pride and remain level headed in the courtroom, holding her head high and recounting the events as accurately as possible. 

-

once finishing her statement and being allowed back into the room she was previously in, a weight felt as if it was lifted off of her shoulders. she sat with the other girls who were anxious to enter and comforted them, warning them of the sexist questions they were going to be facing and reminding them that they were not at fault.
she sat there with a rapid heartbeat, her leg jumping up and down with anxiety. wishing to be nowhere near the courtroom, but back at home with the people she loved and away from the whole ordeal that was this case.

after the jury reentered the room they had declared that they found him to be guilty and sentenced to seven years and a lifelong place on the sex offenders register. the main driving force for their decisions being the fact he knew one of the poor girls was a minor and it was frankly despicable for him to even think of touching her. 

the group of them reacted in relief and shock. any anxieties that the man would get away free melted away as they watched his reaction. feeling pride in themselves for putting him behind bars where he should be, away from risking anybody else who did not deserve to go through it. 

they had won.