A/N: AH! Y'all are so amazing, that it's indescribable! XD I got 5 less on chapter 2 than on chapter 1, but hey, I'm not complaining whatsoever! Twenty reviews is still fantastic, and not to mention exciting! Alright, here's where things become a little heated, and I'm going to apologize in advance for my lack of knowledge on how the court system works. (I want to major in English, not history... Oh, sound familiar? (; ) Anyways, all the info I collected is purely resources from the internet...no libraries were harmed in the making of this chapter. :P
Disclaimer: I do not own PLL, nor do I own the State of Pennsylvania and their laws...we'll leave that to the smarter people! XP
Aria reached the small podium in front of Judge Oxford and looked to him to confirm that she was ready to begin. The usher then made his way over to the dark haired teenager and said, "Please state your name for the court."
"Aria Christine Montgomery," she answered with all the pride within her.
"Raise your right hand, please," the usher responded. After Aria did so, he continued, "Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
She hesitated for the slightest second, and Ezra could have sworn she glanced to her right to look at him, but it went by too fast for him to be sure. "I swear."
The usher nodded and went back to his respected spot to the side. Judge Oxford turned his attention to Aria. "Welcome, my dear; how are you today?"
Aria made no effort of showing emotion when she replied with, "Peachy."
This caused the judge to chuckle lightly. "Well, looks like we have us a feisty one here! However, you are quite beautiful and look much older than...how old are you again?"
She scrunched her nose. "Sixteen, Your Honor."
"Sixteen," he repeated, running a hand over his small beard. "Again, you're quite beautiful."
"I appreciate the flattery, Your Honor, but I don't think it will help us speed up the case in any way," Aria admitted, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the older man above her.
Ezra snorted from his seat at his girlfriend's remark; however, he wasn't aware at how loud it had been, and that it would draw the attention of everyone in the room.
Judge Oxford folded his hands on his podium and spoke to Ezra, "Do you have something to add to Miss Montgomery's comment, Mr. Fitz, or can we continue?"
Ezra cleared his throat in embarrassment. "No, Your Honor, please forgive me." The judge nodded and looked back to Aria, who was busy giving Ezra a sympathetic smile.
"Miss Montgomery, if you would please..." Judge Oxford offered with a gesture of his hand to move on. "Start from the beginning, my dear."
"Um, yes, Ez - I mean, Mr. Fitz and I met at a bar… I wasn't drinking, just eating a cheeseburger… Near Hollis College a few months ago...to be more specific, it was the day before I went back to school. Being the only two there, besides the bartender, we started to converse casually," Aria explained as thoroughly as she could.
"About what?" the judge inquired.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I had just returned from Europe, so that, but also our interests - the main one being English. He had just graduated college and was going to begin his first teaching job. I didn't ask where, though, because he had already asked me what I was majoring in."
The judge quirked an eyebrow. "But you weren't majoring in anything because you were still in high school, correct?" he confirmed.
"Right, but it's not every day that an...attractive...older guy talks to you; I didn't want to scare him away, so I said I was leaning toward English. Never did I answer the question with affirmation in my tone."
"Okay..." Judge Oxford said as he absorbed all the information given so far. "What happened next?"
"We, uh -" she paused, knowing that the part coming was never told to anyone, but it was court... "W-we made out in the bathroom for a while, and then went our separate ways after exchanging phone numbers."
Ezra closed his eyes, remembering the first day they had met, but quickly pushed it from his mind when he heard the judge speak again, "So, the following day, you go to school and he's at the front of the classroom introducing himself as your new English teacher."
"Exactly," Aria said, gazing down at the floor. "We talked about us afterwards, and agreed that we would attempt to make it work. It was rough, but we managed to keep it up until he left for New York."
Hearing the pain in her voice during that moment, Ezra mentally slapped himself for ever leaving her. Judge Oxford asked, "Why'd he leave?"
"He thought that, maybe, if he was to get a job somewhere else, there'd be a chance to be together."
"Hmm, I see," the judge mumbled as he stroked his beard again. "New York, you say... Were you two planning on running away together?"
"No, that was never a topic we discussed. When he returned, we talked, and I eventually forgave him. We've been together ever since, but things have been rocky, us being in a forbidden relationship and all," Aria answered, absentmindedly playing with her nails.
"Talked about what when he returned?"
"Why he left, and I already explained that," Aria replied with annoyance. Ezra feared that she was becoming impatient, and that couldn't happen in court. Something might slip out of her mouth that wasn't supposed to be said.
Deciding to move along, Judge Oxford remained silent as he shuffled through some papers he was given. "This proof," he said, indicating to the pictures. "...is the main reason we are here. Miss Montgomery, you are aware that sexual intercourse with this man is very much illegal?"
"Objection, Your Honor!" Mrs. Hastings yelled as she abruptly stood to her feet. "I find that statement to be very untrue!"
The small crowd began to murmur at the sudden outburst. Several eye glances were exchanged between Aria and Ezra, both confirming that each had absolutely no idea what Mrs. Hastings had up her sleeve.
Judge Oxford brought his gavel hard against the wood. "Order!" He then turned to Mrs. Hastings. "Ma'am, you do not have the floor; please be seated!"
Spencer's mother shot an intense glare to the judge before finding her chair once more. The crowd had quickly become silent at the sound of the gavel, giving Judge Oxford the chance to continue. "Miss Montgomery, the pictures were sent in by someone known as 'A'; do you have an idea of who this person would be?"
"No, Your Honor, the only name that comes to mind is Alison, and we all know she is very much -" Aria swallowed hard. "-dead."
"Indeed she is, but have you had any other contact with this 'A' person before these pictures?"
Aria's eyes widened at the question at hand. What do I say? I don't want to bring the police into this; it will just pull the girls down with me! She looked over her shoulder to see Hanna, Emily, and Spencer staring intently at her. She gave them a look of desperation, needing an answer fast. The three other teen girls glanced at one another briefly, before turning toward the shortest of their group and nodding.
Aria turned back to the judge and sighed. "Yes, this stranger has been harassing me about the relationship since the first day of school, but I still have no idea who they could be." She decided to keep the rest of the girls out since it was irrelevant to the case.
Judge Oxford nodded his head in understanding. "Aria," he began, using her first name this time. "I have one more question for you before moving on to Mr. Fitz. That being, would you consider your relationship with your teacher as a loving one? What I'm trying to say is, do you find yourself in love with this man?"
Once again, Ezra found himself holding his breath as he waited for her reaction. He knew that she did love him, but hearing it come from her mouth with many witnesses around would be mind-blowing. Aria held her head high as she said, "Yes, I am in love with my AP English teacher, Mr. Fitz, and I am not ashamed to express it."
"Thank you, Miss Montgomery, you are dismissed," Judge Oxford announced. Aria bowed her head a bit before walking back to her seat with the girls as quickly as possible. "The floor recognizes the representation of Mr. Ezra Fitz."
Mrs. Hastings stands calmly. "Thank you, Your Honor. Now, I would like to go back to the comment of this man and young lady have sexual intercourse and how it is illegal. Your Honor, being a man of the government, you are reliable for knowing the laws, correct?"
"Yes, ma'am, I am; your point is?" the judge asked curiously. "Are you suggesting that I do not know the fulfillments that my career requires?"
Mrs. Hastings gave him a daring smile. "Maybe I am, Your Honor, for if you really knew the laws of Pennsylvania, then you would be aware that this is not considered statutory sexual assault or any type of rape."
Judge Oxford was baffled. "Nonsense!"
"I have proof from the very capital of Pennsylvania, Your Honor," Mrs. Hastings informed, holding up a stack of governmental documents. "Care to take a look?"
As Mrs. Hastings walked to the podium, Aria, in the back of the courtroom, leaned over and whispered to Spencer, "How did your mom manage to snag that?"
Hanna rolled her eyes and replied quietly, "It's the Hastings, Aria; what do you think she did? She paid for it, of course!"
Spencer narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to protest, but instead slumped back into her seat and mumbled, "Yeah, she probably did..."
Back at the front of the room, Judge Oxford refused to take the papers, and requested that Mrs. Hastings be the one to read it. She smirked, "From the PENNSYLVANIA CONSOLIDATED STATUTES: CRIMES AND OFFENSES, part two, chapter thirty-one, subchapter B, section 3122.1, statutory sexual assault is, and I quote, 'when that person engages in sexual intercourse with a complainant under the age of 16 years and that person is four or more years older than the complainant and the complainant and the person are not married to each other.' Do you see the difference, Your Honor?"
"I certainly see the problem, ma'am. Mr. Fitz is indeed four or more years older than Miss Montgomery," Judge Oxford stated confidently.
"You are correct, Your Honor; however, Miss Montgomery is sixteen years old. This section states that the compliant is under the age of sixteen. Plus, the age of consent in Pennsylvania is sixteen. For this to be accounted as sexual assault, both the age difference and Aria's age must be in play, but only one is being violated," Mrs. Hastings argued.
Ezra sat at the edge of his seat in anxiety, as was the rest of the crowd. They soon began to mumble to each other again, causing the room to be filled with noise very quickly. Many were discussing the fact that the judge was not even aware of these laws, and that it seemed ridiculous. "Order! Order in the court!" Judge Oxford demanded as he pounded his gavel harshly. The noise immediately dissolved into nothing as the result of the anger in the older man's voice. "I see your point, ma'am, and I frankly have embarrassed myself by not knowing that these regulations were in play. After hearing this news, I have made a decision."
No one in the room moved.
"By a legal stand point, Ezra Fitz will not be going to jail."
Ezra broke out into a goofy grin. Oh, thank God!
The judge continued sternly, "However, him being a teacher of Miss Montgomery, there must be consequences given on that account."
Shit.
A/N: Okay, so, I'm sorry that this was a lot of dialogue...but court is practically all talk. That judge was pretty stupid, if you ask me. Again, I don't know all the ways of the court, so if this was way too fast of a case, then oh well. It's not completely over, that's why I left you with a cliffhanger(; Also, I have absolutely NO idea how I managed to come up with so many 'smart' words and arguments for Mrs. Hastings and the judge :P
I took Aria's middle name from another story I read, but I can't remember which one it was, so I can't give credit...but I do not claim it as my own.
Please review! I wanna get 60 reviews total, so 15 on this chapter, por favor. I have faith in all of you because y'all haven't let me down yet! Be looking for chapter 4 soon(:
Thanks a bunches!
XxLadyStrengthxX