Hello!

There are a couple of reasons why updates have been late.

Reason one- On Dec 7, at 1:30 PM EST my school went into a modified lockdown due to a potential threat at the high school next to us (we are in a pod, with elementary, middle, and high). I go to the middle school, so as a result, we had to follow lockdown procedures. Nobody was harmed, but there were speculations that the person had a gun on him. He did not fire it, according to police, but he did wave it at one of the windows at the high school. A cop was called and he was arrested. We were in modified lockdown for about 2 hours.

(Modified lockdown is where all the doors are locked, nobody can enter or leave the school, hallway travel is not allowed, and you have to stay in your classroom. However, you are still allowed to talk and have normal class, as opposed to regular lockdown.)

Update as of Dec 8, 9:54 PM EST- all 3 minors have been arrested and criminally charged on multiple counts.

Reason two- Less elaborate, but the poll results needed to come in, and the name that was chosen was Mika!

Ok, back to the story.

"Skylor, are you ready for your ultrasound?" Kai asked his girlfriend.

"Just a second," Skylor yelled downstairs.

Skylor touched up her makeup and she grabbed her purse, then went downstairs and met her smiling boyfriend.

"Okay. I'm ready now. " Skylor smiled.

"Then get into the car," Kai said as he opened the door for her.

Skylor got into the car and sat down as Kai started the car.

"Are you nervous?" Kai asked Skylor once he started driving.

"A little, yeah."

"Why?"

"What if something is wrong with the baby? Like they can't live outside the womb or something." Skylor said, worried.

"Skylor, we know that won't happen."

"But what if it does?"

Kai put a hand on Skylors shoulder.

"Skylor, it won't. You and I are both healthy and nothing is wrong-"

Suddenly, Kai's car swerved off the road and into a ditch. Skylor screamed as the driver's side window got smashed by a nearby tree and the car flipped twice.

That was the last thing Skylor remembered before she passed out.

Meanwhile, at the courthouse, Mike was being arraigned for attempted rape and battery on Nya. Mike was on one side of the courthouse, and Nya was on the other with Jay.

"Mr. Cottwald, you are being tried for attempted rape and battery. How do you plead to both charges?" The judge asked.

Mike stood up.

"Not guilty, your honor."

"And is that for both charges?"

"Yes."

The judge flipped a paper.

"It says here you were tried for something similar, rape and sexual assault. It also says you weren't convicted. Do you believe you are innocent on those counts as well?"

"I did not rape Nya and I never had sex with her. I knew her in elementary school and she was like a little sister to me."

Nya thought and realized she had not gone to school with him. Not even once.

Nya's attorney stood up.

"Your honor, my client was homeschooled until middle school. There is no way she went to school with the defendant."

The judge looked at Nya, and then Mike, and back to Nya.

"Ms. Smith, can you confirm that is true?"

"Yes, your honor. I was not enrolled in a public elementary school."

The judge looked at Mike.

"Mr. Cottwald, lying to the federal court is a serious crime. If you lie again, you could face up to 3 years in prison for it. Do you understand the severity of your offense?"

Mike looked down.

"Yes, your honor. It won't happen again."

The judge looked at the papers.

"I will be entering 2 not guilty pleas. Do you have anything you would like you to say in your own defense?"

Mike stood back up.

"Women who withhold sex as a form of punishment are the lowest of low. That is all."

These words enraged Nya.

"Objection, your honor!" Nya's attorney said for her.

The judge gave Nya the floor.

Nya stood up.

"I am a licensed domestic abuse and sexual assault prevention activist. By definition, withhold means something is being held from you that you have a right to. An entitlement. So when you say withholding sex is a form of punishment, you are saying you have an entitlement to a woman's body, in which case you do not. I don't care if they're your partner, your wife, or even a side chick, you do not have a right to their body."

"A woman's body is something I have a right to. I am a man." Mike replied.

Nya looked at the judge.

"Your honor!"

The judge slammed his gavel on the wooden block.

"Mike, sit back down."

Mike did as he was told.

"Ms. Smith, I would like to apologize for that. Is there anything else you would like to add or ask the defendant, since he has made his beliefs clear."

The courtroom rippled with laughter.

"Yes, your honor."

Nya looked Mike dead in the eye.

"What makes you think you have a right to a woman's body? You have no right to anybody's body, and nobody has a right to yours. So my question is why?"

"Well, I'm a man and men are superior to women."

"We birthed you!"

"We helped create you."

Nya's attorney stood up.

"At least your mom stuck around when your dad left." Nya's attorney said.

The courtroom went silent. Nobody said a word. Even Nya was too stunned to speak.

When Skylor woke up, she realized she was in an ambulance. When she came more to, she realized she was sitting up with a cast on her arm.

Skylor looked around and realized she was also surrounded by nurses and doctors.

"You're ok, ma'am. Just breathe." One doctor said to Skylor as they checked her blood pressure.

"Deep breaths." One nurse said to her.

As the ambulance speed down the highway, Skylor couldn't help but wonder why Kai is.

"Is he ok? Was he nearby?"

Skylor decided to ask the nurse where Kai went.

"Where- where is my boyfriend?"

The nurse looked sad.

"We don't know yet, but it appeared he had a severe injury to the head, neck, and spine. He also has a broken arm. Based on his injuries, and his blood loss of 40%, he might not make it. There is only a 10% chance he will. We are so sorry."

Skylors world started spinning as she passed out into the nurse's arms.

As the courtroom was silent, Jay turned to Nya.

"I'm not taking his side, but are you gonna say something? I mean, you shouldn't use someone's trauma for your own personal gain."

"Yes, I'll say something." Nya said.

Nya stood up.

"Your honor, we shouldn't use someone's trauma for our own personal gain."

The judge stood up.

"You're right. Let's take a 10-minute recess and then come back. Nya's lawyer, stay here."

As everyone went outside, Nya walked quickly out of the courtroom so she could avoid Mike.

When everyone was outside, Nya and Jay sat on the steps while Mike and his lawyer sat on the other side.

"Great. Now people are going to think I was defending a rapist." Nya said as she kicked the ground.

"They won't." Jay replied.

"Yes, they will."

"Your lawyer shouldn't have brought up his trauma to win an argument. You did the right thing."

Meanwhile, Mike and his lawyer were discussing the same thing.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Mike's lawyer said to him.

"Meh. I deserve it anyway."

"For what?"

"For what I did to that poor girl." Mike replied and made a gesture to Nya.

"Oh. I thought you didn't care." Mike's lawyer said.

"Today was a wake-up call for me. I shouldn't have done that to her."

Suddenly, Mike's layer pushed him down the courthouse steps.

"Dude, what the fuck!?" Mike yelled.

"You feel sorry for that you did! You might as well plead guilty right now!" Mike's lawyer yelled.

"You know what? Maybe I will!" Mike yelled back.

Mike tried to get up to go back inside but his lawyer grabbed him and slammed him to the ground. All while Nya was watching, horrified.

"Nya, what should we do?" Jay asked his girlfriend.

"Go inside and get the officer. No!" Nya told Jay.

Jay ran inside the courthouse to get the resource officer.

Nya walked up to Mikes's lawyer and pulled him off of Mike as he was now slamming Mike's head into the concrete floor.

"Get off of him!" Nya yelled and yanked Mike's lawyer off of Mike.

Nya pulled Mike's lawyer to the steps and sat him down. Mike was now unconscious.

Jay came back outside.

"The officer is gone. The judge dismissed him and this court hearing. Woah-"

Jay saw Mike bleeding and on the ground. Nya was next to him.

"I know. His lawyer is over there." Nya pointed to the lawyer.

The lawyer was tied up to the pillar.

"What should we do with Mike?" Jay asked Nya.

Nya grabbed her water bottle out of her bag.

"Bring him over here and lay him on the steps. I can do an evaluation on his body and see how bad it is and whether he needs to the hospital or we need to take him back to our house."

Jay was shocked.

"You want to help him? He raped you, Nya!"

"We have to do the right thing. It's what Sensei would want us to do."

"You're right," Jay said as he lifted Mike onto the courthouse steps.

Nya used the water in her water bottle and did an evaluation of Mike's body.

"He appears to have a severe concussion, as well as 10% blood loss. We should take him to the hospital."

"Ms. Chen, are you alright?"

Skylor came to as she realized a nurse was talking to her. Skylor was in a hospital room.

"Where am I? Why am I here?" Skylor asked.

"You were in a car crash. Although your injuries were not too serious, we wanted to take you here to treat you for a moderate concussion, a broken arm, and 15% blood loss."

Skylor sat up and held her head.

"Why does my head throb?"

"A concussion, miss. Blood loss as well." Another nurse replied.

Skylor reached for her phone.

"Ma'am, you shouldn't be exposed to bright lights for the next 48 hours." The nurse told her.

"I'll turn the brightness down," Skylor replied.

"Ok, ma'am."

Skylor checked her phone and saw it was all over the news. She also had a text from her dad.

"Skylor! Are you ok?! I saw the news. Is Kai ok? Where are you?"

Skylor texted back.

"Hi, dad. I am ok. I am currently at the hospital, but my condition isn't serious. I only have 15% blood loss and a moderate concussion. But Kai had 40% blood loss and broke several bones. He might not make it."

Tears came to Skylors eyes as she typed those last 5 words.

"He might not make it."

Once Skylor hit send, she broke down crying.

A nurse came back in.

"Ms. Chen, I'm afraid we have bad news on your boyfriend's condition."

As Jay and Nya drove Mike to the hospital, a police officer was handling his lawyer.

Mike was in the backseat halfway conscious while Nya drove as fast as she could.

"Where are you taking me?" Mike asked Nya.

"Hospital."

"Why?"

"Because you got body-slammed into the floor, that's why." Nya replied while not looking back behind her.

"I know that much. Why are you helping me, after everything I did to you?"

Nya signed.

"It's never too late or wrong to do the right thing. Besides, it's what my instructor and mentor would want me to do."

"But I hurt you so bad."

"I know you did. And right now, that doesn't matter. What matters is you are severely hurt and need medical treatment."

Nya pulled up to the hospital and parked the car.

"Can you walk?" Nya asked Mike.

"I think, yeah." Mike said as he started to walk.

Jay saw Nya did not want to support him while he walked due to physical touch.

"Here, lean on me for support." Jay volunteered.

Mike leaned on Jay for support.

Jay led him into the hospital with Nya walking beside him.

Nya checked into the hospital for Mike and Mike was led away into another room with Jay.

Then, Nya saw someone else she knew.

Skylor.

"Sky, what are you doing here?" Nya asked.

Skylor started crying.

"Haven't you seen the news?"

"No. I was at court and then dealt with a fight."

Nya pulled out her phone and saw the news.

"Oh my goodness. Sky, are you ok?" Nya asked Skylor, concerned.

"I'm ok, but Kai isn't. He might die, Nya."

Nyas world started spinning as she sat down, with tears in her eyes.

"The nurse told me he has an even lower chance of survival now. He lost 47% blood."

Nya started crying.

"Oh my god."

Both women were now crying as the nurse came out.

"We would like to keep him overnight."

Nya dried her tears.

"Could we go home now?"

"You can."

Nya pulled out her phone and texted Jay.

"Jay, Skylor and I are heading home. We're taking a cab home. If they release Mike, take him home."

After Nya and Skylor got home, Skylor almost immediately received a phone call.

It was from the hospital.

Skylor started to sweat.

"Pick up." Nya said.

Skylor tapped the accept button.

"He-hello?" Skylor said nervously.

"Ms. Chen, we have an update on your boyfriend's condition, and we are afraid it is not good."

Skylor felt tears come to her eyes.

"No..." Skylors voice trailed off.

"Ms. Chen, we regret to inform you that your boyfriend, Kai Smith, has died. His death was ultimately a result of blood loss and bodily injury. We are so sorry."

Skylor hung up and dropped the phone.

"No!" Skylor fell to the floor and started crying hysterically.

Nya ran over and hugged her.

"It's ok, Skylor. You have got this. It's ok, it's ok..."

I told you a major character would die.

Next chapter: There will be a huge time skip (3 years at least).

Guys, I'm sorry about the sadness of this chapter but something needed to happen.

PS: Mike is a piece of shit and is truly made of garbage. It nauseated me to even write about him today.