When your girlfriend is Amanda Knox

Despite her 2011 acquittal in the murder of former roommate British exchange student Meredith Kercher, Amanda Knox's case has been overturned, and she's now coping with the threat of being ordered back to Italy to stand trial again. The news of a retrial, announced Tuesday, means that Knox's relationship with her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito will again be scrutinized. 

In the meantime, she's been in a new relationship.
For the past two years, she's been reportedly serious with University of Washington classical guitar student James Terrano.

According to Terrano's nuclear physicist brother William, 27, the pair, both 25, were friends long before Knox's fateful trip to Italy in 2007. Knox and Terrano reportedly share a $1,500 per month apartment in a brick building with a flashing neon sign out front that reads: "Hong Kong" in Seattle's Chinatown neighborhood and have been spotted engaging in normal couple activities: Sharing Haagan Dazs ice cream, strolling on coffee runs, buying groceries at an Asian market, and practicing their dance moves outside a dance studio in Seattle.

It seemed like the romance with Terrano had symbolized a new beginning for Knox, who had previously spent four years imprisoned in an Italian jail. Now, her shot at living like a normal college student—spending time with friends, dating, taking creative writing classes—is hanging in the balance. What will happen to her relationship if she's re-convicted of Kercher's murder and extradited to Italy? Will her boyfriend stand by her? There is no handbook for dating a celebrity, much less an accidental one on trial for murder. Their relationship will be further tested as Terrano's presence in the spotlight increases in the upcoming months while the evidence is re-examined. And if the new appeals court upholds Knox's previous conviction, she'll have to serve out her life sentence, provided Italian authorities issue an extradition request and the U.S. government approves it.

In a statement, Knox wrote that the prosecution's case against her "has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair" and an "objective investigation" and "capable prosecution" are needed if any questions remain about her innocence.

"The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele's sake, my sake, and most especially for the sake of Meredith's family. Our hearts go out to them," she said.

"No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity."

In the meantime, Knox, her relationship and her new life will be put to the test.