Lisa was sad to be leaving the school. Apart from the first term, it had been a happy time, and she knew she'd made many lifelong friends.
 
     She had studied hard for the four ‘A' level exams she’d taken, and she was optimistic about her results. The amount of studying she’d needed to do to catch up on the first few weeks when she was in hospital had been fairly excessive, but she was glad of it, if only to keep her mind off the accident and all the tragedies that went with it. Her friends had coaxed her back from the brink of depression and taught her how to be a teenager again; their friendship supporting her every time she felt that she had no reason to carry on.
 
     As she packed up the last of her things, she picked up the pile of eighteenth birthday cards which had lain on her top shelf for the last seven months. Lisa looked again at the card Alan had sent her. She hadn’t seen him since the year before on the day she’d left for the school, but she still thought about him often.
 
     Despite her protestations, Richard had talked her into keeping the car Nick had given her, claiming it was a birthday present, and she deserved it after all he’d put her through. She used her driving lessons to pass her test after she was well enough, and she was proud of herself for passing first time. She eventually conceded that Richard had been right talking her into keeping the car in the first place. It had given her something else to focus on apart from studying for her exams, and it helped take her mind off the accident while she was waiting for Nick's trial date to be set.
 
      Now that it had, she just wanted to get the whole thing over and done with so she could start again. Hopefully, her exam results permitting, she would get into Bath University to study law in September.
 
     Both Nick and Liam had denied having any involvement in Alan's accident, claiming the pictures were only taken because Nick had commissioned Liam to find and follow Lisa, and he was tailing Alan at the time of the accident. The only thing the police could charge Nick with was raping and kidnapping her, both charges which Nick denied. If it hadn't been for Eve and Dave Wilson's involvement, and the medical examination Richard had organised, Nick would probably have gotten away with those charges as well.
 
     He had written several times to Lisa, but she had put each letter, unopened in the bin - after she had ripped it up into tiny pieces. Not that she had anything to worry about from her school friends interfering. When she returned to the school after the accident, and told them what had actually happened, they promised faithfully never to interfere again.
 
     All in all Richard had been fantastic. They had become close since her accident and he'd visited her regularly at the school, cheering her up every time he did. He never pressured her to make their relationship anything other than platonic, and it was Lisa, not Richard, who kept it that way. It would be a long time before she could learn to love another man after what had happened - and she sometimes wondered if she would ever love again in that way. The last time she had made love had been in her dream at the hospital and that, she decided, was the way it would stay.
 
     Lisa took the last box down to the car and squeezed it into the boot, feeling the nervousness inside her again at the thought of the journey she had ahead. Thankfully, she hadn't used all her lessons before her test, and she'd used the five that were left to get more experience on the motorway before the end of term.
 
     If it wasn't for the fact that she was staying at Vikki's in Chelmsford for the trial before she returned to Scotland, she would have happily backed out and taken her brother up on his offer to come down and drive the car back for her, but she knew she had to get over her nervousness, and ensure that she was never dependent on man to drive her about again.
 
     Lisa went back upstairs and looked around the room she'd called home for the last ten months, thinking how bare it looked without all of her things. She had another look in the drawers, just in case she had missed anything, before reluctantly closing the door for the last time.
 
     Lisa stood by the car, dreading having to say good-bye to the others. The thought of leaving them all, as they scattered and left their childhood behind them, filled her with unbelievable sadness. They had shared a closeness that bound them all together for life.
 
     Amy had already arranged to come and stay in Dunoon for a couple of weeks at the end of the summer, and Chloe and Teddy promised to come and visit too, as soon as they could. Needless to say, she had an open invitation to visit Linda in the States and Veronique in Paris, and she promised that one day she would.
 
     As they said their goodbyes, they all cried and hugged each other, promising never to lose touch. When Amy looked at Lisa, they both burst into tears. Theirs was the closest friendship of all. They had shared so much, which meant they both felt the sadness of parting the most. They hugged each other for a long time before Lisa at last got into her car, hooted the horn, and waved her arm out of the window as she set off down the driveway.
 
     For the first part of the journey, Lisa barely went over forty miles an hour, but as her confidence grew she increased her speed and began to enjoy the drive. The men in her life had always driven her and dictated, to a certain extent, where she ended up. The knowledge that she could go where she pleased, at a time and pace that she chose, made her feel free for the first time in her life. It seemed ironic that it was all thanks to Nick, and his generosity in buying her the car.
 
     When she thought about him now, all she could remember was their last night together when he had raped her, and the look in his eyes just before they smashed through the crash barrier. Although the pain had faded, she knew that she would never forgive him.
 
 
 
 
    When she eventually pulled into Vikki's driveway, Lisa was pleased to see Richard’s car was already there. She hadn't seen him for a few weeks while she was sitting her exams, and she'd missed him a lot more than she'd expected.
 
     When he came out to meet her at the car, he didn’t give her the usual kiss on each cheek, but kissed her gently on the lips. There was a moment of embarrassment before she looked into his eyes and smiled. Although he had caught her off guard, she was surprised at how nice the sensation had been, which pleased her immensely because she’d felt like a block of ice since the night Nick had raped her.
 
     “How was the drive?” he asked, breaking the silence. He grabbed the bag Lisa prised out of the boot and, encouraged by her smile, took her hand as they walked towards the house.
 
     “Better than I expected,” she replied, looking down at her hand in his.
 
     Richard let go of her hand so she could hug Vikki and her parents who were standing waiting for her at the front door. After the accident, they had regarded Lisa almost as one of the family, and she’d stayed with them at Easter, three months before.
    
     Richard had asked them to think of some diversions while Lisa was there for the five days before the trial and boy, had they pulled out all the stops. Lisa hardly had a minute to herself between Richard and the rest of the family. Consequently, when the eve of the trial finally arrived, Lisa had almost forgotten the fear she’d felt at the thought of seeing Nick again.
 
     She and Richard sat on the sofa finishing their wine after dinner and, taking advantage of the fact that the rest of the family had disappeared, he took Lisa's hand for the second time since she’d arrived.
 
     “How are you feeling about tomorrow?” He asked.
 
     Lisa looked down at his hand and tried to work out how she felt about it being there. It was fine, she decided, although it still felt really strange.
 
     “I don't even want to think about it, Richard. It's as though I can't start my life again until it's all over.”
 
     “Then what?” he asked, looking into her eyes.
 
     “I don't know. I only know it will be clearer after I've seen Nick and Alan again at the trial tomorrow. I need to face up to what happened, and the trial is my only way of doing that. For the last eight or nine months, I've been able to put it all to the back of my mind with my exams, because tomorrow seemed such a long way away. But I do know that I couldn't have got through it without you, Richard.”
 
      For the first time since she'd arrived and he'd met her at the car, Richard put his arms around her and kissed Lisa gently on the lips. At first Lisa held back, but after a second or two, her lips parted and she felt herself responding. When at last they pulled apart, Richard looked into her eyes and, sensing her confusion, smiled understandingly back at her.
 
     “Don't worry, Lisa. It was just a kiss - not a lifelong commitment.” he said softly, before letting go of her hand.
 
 
 
        The next morning, Lisa woke early feeling sickeningly  apprehensive. She couldn’t face any breakfast however much everyone tried to tempt her. By the time she got to the courtroom, she was visibly shaking. Richard took her arm as they approached the front doors in the hope it would steady her nerves a little. As a rape victim, she had been asked to come to the courthouse early, so that someone from witness support could show her around the court room before the trial and familiarise her with the whole procedure.
 
     Lisa lent against Richard when they got inside, feeling as though her legs were going to buckle underneath her. When she looked up, she saw Alan and their eyes met for a moment before Richard squeezed her shoulders reassuringly and steered her towards the private room where she would stay after her tour of the courtroom until she was called to give evidence.
    
     “Are you sure you’re going to be alright, Lisa?” he asked, when he saw the witness support officer coming towards her. Lisa nodded. She knew how worried Richard would be if he knew how upset she really was. She let out a nervous laugh and told him she was fine before kissing him goodbye.
 
     Alan watched with a sense of déjà vu as Lisa kissed Richard. When he’d seen her come through the courtroom door, he had been taken aback seeing Richard by her side. Even though Karen had told him that Vikki had said they were close, the reality of seeing them together still hurt. All he could see was the vision of her standing in the red dress, which had haunted him when he was unconscious, and all he could remember was the way he had felt then. The agony he felt inside now, was even greater than the pain he’d felt at the hospital when Richard had told him that Lisa didn't want to see him. The way Lisa had leant against Richard when she arrived left no doubt in Alan's mind that she'd been attracted to him right from the start.
 
     Lisa was amazed at how quickly things moved on after she’d been shown around. She knew she would be called as the first witness after the prosecuting barrister had opened the case, but she’d expected it all to take much longer. By eleven thirty she was being ushered into the courtroom, her heart in her mouth.
 
     The calm, unthreatening courtroom which she had been shown around earlier had changed into a sea of staring faces when the public gallery had filled, and Lisa felt her legs shaking again as she made her way to the witness box. She searched the faces in the gallery, looking for Richard. Only when she found him did she look across at Nick, who was sitting in the dock. As their eyes met, she shivered inwardly. He looked much older than the last time she'd seen him, and he stared back at her with a knowing smile on his face which made her feel physically sick.
 
     After she was sworn in, Lisa looked back up at the gallery and spotted Alan again sitting in the back row.  Their eyes met momentarily, and he looked back at her with a sad expression similar to the one he’d had when she’d watched him through the hotel window in Dunoon. She tore her eyes away from his and looked across to Richard, who smiled back at her encouragingly, giving her strength.
 
     The prosecuting barrister stood up and approached her…