When Athena woke up, she didn't recognize the room she was in at first.

"Good morning, beautiful!" CC waltzed into the room with a towel around his waist and his hair dripping wet.

Then she realized she was in CC's room. "What happened last night?" Athena sat up, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"You almost overdosed." CC pulled a shirt on over his head.

"I what?!" Athena shouted. "On what?!"

CC shrugged. "I don't know what they gave you exactly but you're okay now. You better get dressed. You have to be at court in an hour."

Athena groaned. She forgot Max's court date was today. She took the dress that CC had laid out for her and went to the bathroom to change. When she came back to CC's room, he was already dressed and ready to go.

"Ready?" He smiled at her. He knew she was stressed and he was trying to stay positive for her.

"Ready as I'll ever be." She sighed.
***
"All rise." An officer said.

The judge was brought into the court room and sat behind his podium and gavel. He motioned for everyone to sit and began looking through the case papers in front of him before continuing on with the trial.

"Ms. Goldson, your first witness please." The judge said.

One by one, each witness was sworn in and brought up to the stand.

"I would like to call the defendant to the stand at this point in time." Ms. Goldson, the prosecution attorney, said.

Max rose from his seat and went up to the stand.

"Max, you're in a gang, is that correct?" Ms. Goldson said.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it a gang but yeah, I guess." Max said.

"Okay, okay. And this 'gang'," She put air quotes around the word, "What types of things do you do? Get in fights with other 'gangs', sell drugs, what?"

Max glanced over at Athena and then down at his lap. "Um... Yeah, drugs..."

"That it?"

Max nodded.

"Tell me about Aaron, Max."

"I didn't do anything to him!" Max stood up and shouted.

"No further questions." Ms. Goldson turned around and sat back down.

Mr. Nelson, Max's lawyer, stood up and walked to the middle of the floor. "Max, if you didn't do anything to Aaron, what exactly happened?"

"I saw something happen. I wasn't involved in it." Max said.

"And you didn't do anything to stop it?"

"What was I supposed to do?! I knew that if I had tried to stop them from killing Aaron, I would have been killed too!"

"No further questions." Mr. Nelson said.

"You may sit back down, Max." The judge said.

"Wait." Max said as he stood up. "I have one more thing to say. I have sworn to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth." Max looked right at Athena. "Athena, I'm sorry. I love, you."

Athena was mortified. She looked down at her lap and hid her face with her hair. She felt CC pull her in closer to his side.

Each attorney shuffled through papers and began setting up their closing statements.

Ms. Goldson was up first. "We came here today for a reason and one reason only. To find the accused guilty of an awful crime and make sure proper punishment was given. The boy behind me was found dealing illegal drugs to minors as young as thirteen years old. He was an accessory to murder and I ask you, the jury, to do what you can to see that this does not happen again."

Mr. Nelson stood up and began his statement immediately after. "Max didn't do anything wrong. All teenagers go through phases. Drugs will never go away. They'll always be around and people will always find a way to get them. My client was no accessory to murder. He didn't provide the murder weapon nor did he lure the victim to the spot where he was killed. Max just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He saw something happen. If you were all here to catch a criminal, you've come to the wrong trial."

The judge called for a ten minute recess to give the jury time to discuss their decision. Athena began to get worried. Max kept looking at her and she knew that the defense's closing statement was much stronger than the prosecution.

"Have you come to a verdict?" The judge asked.

"We have, your honor." A blonde woman, who looked to be in her mid twenties, stood up. "We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty."

The judge banged his gavel. "It is settled. Max, you are free to go. Court is adjourned. Case closed."

Athena felt all the life being sucked out of her as she watched Max hug his lawyer in celebration. Those two words were going to haunt her for a very long time.

Not guilty.