She continued, "I'm Duke's cousin."

Viola said, "Cousin…"

She said, "Yeah. Oh my, you thought…"

Viola finally looked up at Katrina, and Katrina saw nothing but tears in Viola's eyes. Katrina's heart nearly hit the floor after seeing how upset Viola was. When Viola looked over at Duke, he was beat red. Katrina said, "Viola, Duke had so many problems talking to other girls. Do you think he would actually have dated someone else? You're the only girl he ever thinks about."

Duke screamed, "Katrina…."

She said, "What! It's true. You're like in love with the girl."

He said, "Katrina, please excuse us."

She smiled and said, "Okay."

Duke escorted Katrina out the room, and he said, "I'm sorry about her."

Viola asked, "Is it true?"

He asked, "What?"

She asked, "Do you love me?"

He walked over towards her, and Viola noticed her hairclips that were on his necklace. She intertwined the necklace in her fingers and said, "You have my hairclips."

He placed his hands in hers and smiled. He said, "Yeah. It was the only way I could keep you close to my heart. I thought I had lost you."

She whispered, "Me too."

Viola then noticed the tears forming in his eyes. Duke pulled her close and said, "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. If I wouldn't have…"

She said, "No. It's not your fault. No one could have ever guessed that he could have done this."

He asked, "Who?"

She said, "I'd rather not talk about it."

Duke looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. He thought, "Doesn't she trust me?"

Viola said, "I heard you have a girlfriend."

He said, "No. Whoever told you was misinformed. Viola, you know me all to well. Do you actually think I could even talk to another girl?"

She said, "I didn't know…"

He then rested his hands on the sides of her face and said, "No. I could never look at another girl. I've only wanted you."

She asked, "Really?"

He softly responded, "Yes."

Then Justin, Paul, Sebastian, and Olivia came walking into the room. Sebastian ran over to his sister and asked, "Are you alright?"

She said, "Yeah, I'm okay. They just hit me a little bit."

Duke asked, "Why, what's wrong?"

Viola said, "That's not important right now."

He whispered, "Tell me."

She said, "I don't want to talk about it."

He said, "Come on Viola."

She screamed, "I said I don't want to talk about it."

Then she ran out of the room and into the parking lot with Paul following her. Duke wanted to run after her, but Sebastian stopped him and said, "Cool it man."

Duke asked, "Why won't she tell me?"

He said, "Dude, she's been through a hell of a lot these past six months."

Duke asked, "Sebastian, who did this to her?"

Justin said, "Coach Pistonek."

Duke turned towards Justin and said, "You can't be serious."

Justin said, "But I am. I found her there; he had her locked in his basement. But that's all I'm going to say. If you want to know more, Viola's going to be the one to tell you, in her own time."

Sebastian said, "It's best not to force her to talk about anything. The trial's going to be coming up in the next couple of months. We just need to make sure she's strong enough to handle it because she will have to get up on the stand to testify. Then everyone in town is going to know what he did to her, and that is something she's terrified of. Viola doesn't like for anyone to see her vulnerable side, even me. She's only releasing so little information at a time. There are nights she still wakes up screaming because of the nightmares."

Olivia said, "You're going to have to be there for her more than ever."

Duke asked, "What if I can't help her?"

Justin said, "Just being there for her will help her. She wants you to be there. She won't admit to it, but she needs you there."

Duke said, "Well, I'm going to go back to the dorm, shower, get dressed, and then I'll go visit her."

Sebastian said, "Good idea. Here's the address to my dad's house."

He said, "Thanks. I'll see you later."

Once Sebastian and Olivia left to go join Viola and Paul, Duke looked over at Justin and asked, "How bad was it, really?"

Justin said, "Honestly, you couldn't even begin to imagine. You think she looks bad now; she looked ten times worse the day I found her. She's doing very well at hiding the bruises and the pain. My dad said the trial is going to be coming in the next few months. You're going to need to be there for her. If I know Viola, she's not going to enjoy reliving everything. If you attend the trial, be forewarned, you're not going to enjoy what you're going to hear and see."

Then Justin left, and Duke was getting somewhat scared. He thought, "Do I really want to see what happened to her? Will I be enough for her? Will I be able to handle it?"