Carol picked the girls up after school on Thursday, which was rather uneventful, save for the fact that the stares were becoming even more painfully obvious, and drove them to the court house to meet with Chris Olson.
Upon arriving, the trio found that all members of the senior cheerleading squad was seeting in the room, as well as their parents. At his desk sat Christopher Olson, an average-sized man who was a little overweight. He had a crew-cut hairstyle, and didn't look very intimidating, save for his stone-like eyes that scrutinized the room full of people.
"Take a seat," he instructed. After doing so, he rose out of his own and continued, "Today I'm going to conduct myself exactly as I will in court. We have on our hands a woman who has committed a grievious offense, and I'm certain that all of us here want the maximum sentence."
Everyone in the room nodded.
Chris took out a large folder and flipped through it. "I have the results of all your doctor appointments, save for Kelly's, but she has assured me that she's heading over there with her sister immediately after this meeting.
"We have reports of unsightly hair growth, breasts producing milk constantly throughout the day, and pelvises that have widened."
He looked around the room and paced. "We need more than facts," he continued on. "What we have is a bunch of reports and physical descriiptions, but we need emotion. We have to let the jury know how this infamous coach has damaged your lives, isolated you from the rest of the world."
"My girl will make a very good life for herself!" Tonia's father retored, to the agreeance of every other parent present.
"But is it the one she wanted?" Chris asked. He firmly gripped both of Jen's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "You're growing hair all over your body. One day, your skin won't be visible. People will stare, or even avoid you. Parents will see you coming and pull their children closer to their sides and sheild them from the abomination of humanity they see. Is that the life you expected to live?"
Jennifer felt a definite lump in her throat. In all honesty, no, that wasn't how she expected her life to play out. She was going to go to a good college, get a great degree, and marry a hot guy and work a high paying job. But she couldn't answer him, or even bring herself to look at him.
Chris, seeing that he had achieved the desired effect, moving on to Carol, he looked down at the scorned woman. "Think of your daughter. Before long her beautiful face will be gone, leaving only her eyes to look out from amidst a mass of hair. Do you shudder when your hands touch? Does your stomach churn when you think of what Coach Cromarte had done to her?"
"How dare you insinuate such things!" Carol shouted, very quickly joined by accusations from the other parents.
Chris looked rather pleased by this, a triumphant grin stretching from ear to ear. "This is brilliant!" he exclaimed. "This is how we win. I want that jury to hate that woman just as much as you hate me right now. This is the kind of emotion and fury we need to invoke in our jury. Not just facts, but drama. Make them hate her, want to punish her."
Chris went back to his desk and sat down, waving casually. "You may all go now, for I have to prepare for the juniors. I'm going to set up individual appointments with all of you in the future, but be prepared. This isn't going to be a pretty trial, and you have to be ready."
Feeling rather disgusted, although reassuring themselves that this was just Mr. Olson's prosecutor act, the families left, the only consolence Lisa and Jen could have would be the fact that they would spend the weekend at Brown.
The worst feeling of the bunch was Kelly, who was afraid to death for her sister.