I can't believe this is happening right now, I didn't know this was going to be today! I knew my parents had been working on this but I never imagined it would come so soon. I'd never seen two people look so angry with me, Sabrina and Jake wanted nothing more than to kill me I'm sure.

But this was it, they had the proof to back up the accusations Nate and I had been making all along. I couldn't let them get away with this and I couldn't let it be swept under the rug as a joke, this made me question myself and tore me apart for days on end. It felt like the whole world was against me and like I was nothing.

But I know my worth, I know I'm not someone who's worth being pushed around and I hated hating myself and the people around me. I didn't want to deal with it anymore, I wanted to be happy and this was the start I needed.

"Um, certainly Miss Petrov, the floor is yours." Mister Garcia says, clearly taken a bit by surprise by my remarks. "Would you like a minute to collect your thoughts?"

"No thank you." I say, smoothing my hands over the front of my pants.

Sabrina gives me a smirk and I feel my anger boil over. These two people made my life hell for four years, I wouldn't let them get away with it. This ends today.

"This wasn't a joke." I say confidently. "Period. The torment doesn't even begin at the flyers or rumours, it's been going on for years. I've been teased relentlessly by Jake and Sabrina for so long, about how I'm a freak, how I eat too little, too much, how I'm a prude or a stiff loser." I say and I watch my parent's faces fall, I don't think they knew the extent of the teasing.

"That was almost tolerable, I could live with it even though it nearly tore me apart as a person. But after those flyers came out.....I was lost. I was broken and they said awful things about me being unattractive or how I had an eating disorder?" I state incredulously. "That doesn't seem like anything to joke about, it's life-ruining. I'd walk down the halls and get harassed by students, have them throw food at me telling me to 'eat something'." I say feeling my voice starting to break.

"I've never hurt like that in my whole life." I admit honestly. "I've struggled with food and body-confidence for years now, so those flyers ripped me in half." I wipe off my tears and slump back in my chair feeling pathetic, I couldn't keep it together for a few minutes just to speak my mind. "If this is a joke, I don't see how it's funny." I say quietly.

"Precisely, thank you Miss Petrov." Mister Garcia says and I nod. "This goes far beyond a prank, this is serious enough that it may very well end up out of the school's hands altogether."

"What?" Sabrina asks. "They can't do that!"

"Sabrina, quiet down." Her father scolds.

"We believe this is severe enough that this could move to court and formal charges." Mister Garcia says and Jake's dad shakes his head.

"Doesn't that seem like a bit of an exaggeration? I'm sure harm was not the target of these....flyers." He says, as if the issue as a whole wasn't worth discussing.

"Mister McMaster.....have you taken the time to.....read one of these flyers?" Mister Garcia asks, taking one from the folders on his desk. He slides it over and I press my lips together, now understanding how many people had really read them.

"You two could be looking at jail-time, community service.....it could mean repeating your junior year." Sergeant Blake chimes in.

"For what exactly?" Sabrina's father asks and he sighs.

"For trespassing and assault." He tells them and even my eyes widen, that sounded incredibly serious. More serious than the attention they'd given this issue in the beginning.

"I didn't assault her!" Sabrina yells. "I never put my hands on her once!"

"It's an assault of Miss Petrov's character, Miss Carmichael." He sighs, sounding incredibly unimpressed.

"Is that a thing?" She asks and the third man, the lawyer my parents were working with, places a legal document down in front of them.

"I can assure you, Miss Carmichael, it's certainly a thing." He says and her eyes widen. "This goes over the list of possible charges-"

"Dad, do something! They can't send me to jail!" She says, shaking her head and her father glares at her.

"With all-due respect, last time I checked freedom of speech was completely legal." He says, flipping through the pages of the document, eyes not leaving the page.

"You're certainly right that freedom of speech is a right here, Mister Carmichael. However, it becomes a crime when the information spread is dangerous or detrimental to others. For example you can't yell 'fire' in a crowded room." He sighs, passing yet another copy of that awful flyer to her parents. "As you can see here, the rumour of Miss Petrov having an 'eating disorder', isn't simply an act of free speech."

Her father's eyes fill with concern and anger as he reads through the paragraph at the bottom.

"Furthermore, Miss Petrov has been tormented at school because of these flyers. She told her parents Miss Carmichael even sent the school's guidance councillor after her, because she was a 'concerned classmate'." He sighs, pulling out another sheet of paper. "The charges wouldn't have been so extensive if not for the utter display in the lobby at school. Had this simply been exchanged through social media or a message, the charges wouldn't exist."

"Way to go." Jake's father mumbles. "You two have really done it this time."

My parents had simply been siting by my side the whole time, not butting in or out of the conversation. I knew they felt confident in what they knew about this, and it made me feel more relaxed. I have Nate holding one of my hands and I feel my mother grab the other one. She gives it a firm squeeze and I nod, seeing her smile out of the corner of my eye.

"Alright so where do we go from here?" Sabrina's father asks. "Clearly there's no debate about who did it or whether it happened, so what exactly do you want?"

I felt angry in that moment, knowing he thought that this was a waste of time, or that he could make it go away. I think he didn't like the fact that anyone had found some crack in his perfect family.

"Well, we don't necessarily want anything." Mister Garcia chimes in. "We've told you that Miss Petrov's family is willing to file charges."

"That's not necessary, I'm sure we can figure something out here." He insists and I sigh.

"Charles." Sabrina's mother hisses. "Stop it." She says angrily, then stares at Sabrina who's eyes are now focused on the table before her. "Why would you even do something like this Sabrina? This isn't how we raised you."

"B-because.....because she took him." She says angrily. "Nate I love you, I always will. Please.....come back, come back to us." She says and Nate huffs from across the table. I feel myself tense up a bit hearing her say that. It made me uncomfortable to hear her say anything of that nature, especially given how long she cheated on him and how long Nate just didn't seem to have feelings for her.

"You can stop the tears Sabrina, you're not fooling me." He says angrily, giving my hand a squeeze. "People break up, we broke up. Get over it. I don't want you back, why would this even bring me back?!" He asks and I sigh, feeling my stress over his response dissipate.

"Alright, everyone settle down." Mister Garcia says. "Whatever the reasons may be it's clear that this issue is greater than the school. Therefore it is now in the hands of the police, I have no choice. The only action that the school will take is a two week suspension, everything else will be dealt with through the police station."

"What?" Sabrina asks.

"This wasn't even my idea!" Jake says angrily.

"Stop it the both of you." Sabrina's father says. "Not another word."

"I'd like to say on the behalf of the school, that we're very sorry for this Miss Petrov." Mister Garcia says and I smile weakly. "We'll be taking great lengths to insure nothing like this ever happens again."

"Thank you." I say quietly and I feel weight lifting off of my chest as I watch Sabrina and Jake's parents whisper to them angrily. Finally someone was doing something about this, and she wouldn't be allowed to do this to anyone ever again.

Eventually I'm dismissed from the meeting along with Nate, his parents, my parents and our attorney. Everyone else continued to talk in the boardroom, I'm assuming about the punishments that were yet to come.

"Sasha." I hear and turn to see Nate's parents behind me. I felt incredibly tense, I'd inadvertently put Nate in the middle of this and I was just hoping they weren't to mad. "Honey, we're sorry." His mom says and I receive a quick hug from her. I stand, feeling a bit caught off guard by the gesture but I'm thankful for it nonetheless.

"It's alright." I say quietly. "I'm fine." She nods and pulls back a bit, then his father shakes my hand.

I leave Nate to talk with his parents alone and I watch our attorney shake my father's hand and then leave the school. I quietly walk over and smile as I watch my mother lean into my father's side. I'd been noticing that a lot recently, their relationship was practically fixed and they seemed to be falling in love all over again.

I get a hug from both of my parents, my mom first with her telling me everything would be alright. Then from my dad, this was the one I savoured.

"I do not let anyone push my family around." He says and I laugh a bit, feeling his shoulders shake as well.

"Thanks dad." I whisper.

"You're very brave Sasha." He says quietly. "I love you very much."

"I know dad." I tell him quietly, feeling tears form in the backs of my eyes. "I love you too."

"I missed you when you left." He mumbles and I nod. "I made many mistakes with you Sasha, mistakes I wish I could take back." I sniffle a bit, knowing this hug had been going on for far too long. "But when I see you skate, it makes me happy."

"It makes me happy too." I admit honestly.

"Well I'll let you get back to your day, unless you'd rather come home with your mother and I?" He suggests but I shake my head.

"No, I'm alright." I tell him and he nods. "I want to stay."

"Well then, I'll see you this evening." He says and I nod, waving goodbye and watching my father take my mother's hand, walking out the front doors.

Then I turn back and see Nate, with a warm mushy smile that makes my stomach feel all bubbly. I walk over quickly, seeing his parents are long gone. He picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist.

"Hey baby." He whispers and I smile.

"Hey." I say feeling the tears in my eyes flow freely over my cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" He asks and I shake my head, feeling unexplainable joy coursing through my body.

"They're happy tears." I whisper and he smiles, holding my face in his hands. "Baby I'm just really happy."

"You haven't called me that in ages." He whispers and I smile. "I miss hearing you say it." I feel him drag his thumb over my bottom lip and I feel my heart beat faster.

"I love you." I tell him and he nods giving me a quick kiss that makes my heart melt.

"I love you too." He says quietly. "How would you feel about blowing off the next two periods until lunch? I'll take you somewhere and we can do something fun." I feel my smile turn more mischievous and I nod, giving him another kiss.

"I'd like that." I whisper.

Without a moment of hesitation, he picks me up and walks out the front doors of the school with me wrapped around him.

I let him take me all the way to the car, I loved being this close. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling as the tears kept coming. I felt like I had my life together for the first time in years. I was just happy, so happy I didn't even know how to process it.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asks and I nod, pressing my lips together.

"I've never been better." I whisper and he smiles, fitting his mouth to mine.