Chapter 2: After Effect
The two teenage boys walked downstairs and entered the dining room where Mister and Mrs. Jensen sit with breakfast plates ready for Clay and Justin.
"Good Morning boys." Mrs. Jensen
"Good Morning Mom"
"Good Morning Mrs. Jensen" They said in unison.
They looked at each other then sat down with the adults. It was quiet for a few minutes with Justin and Clay exchanging glances. Finally the silence broke when Mr. Jensen pulled out the Newspaper, "Hmm..." he said as he skimmed through the paper.
"Oh" he said in a sad but surprised tone.
"What is it?" Mrs.Jensen asked.
"Bryce Walker was shot last night." Mr. Jensen said as he looked up at his wife, her eyes widened when she said, "What?!"
Clay and Justin exchanged glances, waiting for the other to say something. Clay swallowed his scrambled eggand looked at his dad, "Did they say who did it?" he asked.
"No, but apparently he was found in the front porch of his house, almost bleeding to death by gun shot wounds." Mr.Jensen explained as he was reading the paper.
"This is crazy, the court verdict is today and with a witness being targeted will put this case at halt." Mrs.Jensen said.
"Who ever did it probably has a vendetta against him." Mr. Jensen replied.
Mrs.Jensen turned to Clay and Clay looked at her as his heart started racing. "Clay, do you know anyone that doesn't like Bryce, I mean really doesn't like him." she said as she leaned in.
"I-I don't know anyone who would try to kill him." Clay replied.
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Jensen asked.
"Mrs. Jensen I think its time for us to leave for school." Justin said as he got up and dragged Clay with him.
The Jensen couple looked at each other and Mr. Jensen replied, "They should've at least finished their breakfast."
After a few minutes the boys got dressed and walked out the door toward Clay's car. They both entered in the car as Clay's parents stood outside to wave goodbye.
"Have a great day at school." Mrs.Jensen said.
"Don't get into trouble." Mr.Jensen said.
"I won't dad." Clay exclaimed back as he drove off from his house. The car ride was quiet as they both barely looked at each other.
"Well, say something." Hannah said as she sat in the backseat.
Clay ignored her as he focused on the road, Justin turned to Clay with a stern expression.
"Look, we got to keep it cool and normal, when i mean we, I mean you Clay." Justin said.
"You were there too Justin."
"But I didn't pull the trigger Clay."
Clay gripped on the wheel as he said that, "Sorry, we just need to have a low profile until we'll figure something out." Justin said. "Remember its between us, no one else."
"Don't you think that the others should know?"
"Clay! were already in deep shit because of Hannah, we can't bring anyone into our shit, especially Jessica." Justin yelled back.
"Why are you protecting her? she clearly doesn't want you back in town." Clay snapped back.
"That's not a good idea" Hannah said in Clay's head.
"I owe it to her Clay, trust me if I was in more of a fucked up place now, I could've killed Bryce myself." Justin replied.
"Then why didn't you? He raped your ex-girlfriend and clearly didn't give a fuck about your friendship!" Clay said in a angered tone.
"If Hannah was here, she-"
"If Hannah was here, we wouldn't be in this fucking mess in the first place! But you fucking started this shit by being a dumbass and spread rumors." Clay snapped.
Justin, trying to hold back, took a breather and looked at Clay, "The past doesn't matter anymore, were in a fucked up situation right now, we just need to get through this day, alright." Justin said.
"Your being too hard on Justin, he's a heroin addict for christ's sake." Hannah said.
"Whatever." Clay said as he drove up to Liberty High School. They parked next to Zach's car and exited the car meeting Both Zach and Alex at the same time.
"Hey Clay." Alex said.
Clay gave a simple "Hey." and walked away, "Whats up with him?" Zach asked.
"Clay is just stressed out." Justin replied.
"Because of what happened to Bryce?" Zach asked again.
"So you guys heard the news too." Justin replied, trying to act normal.
"Yeah, I didn't think anyone had the balls to actually kill Bryce." Alex said as he limps with his cane.
"I wonder how Jessica is gonna react to this." Zach said as he looked at Justin.
"I wonder the same." Alex replied as he walks away on his cane. Zach walks over to help but Alex puts his hand out to stop him, "I'm good, Zach."
"Im supposed to make sure you don't get hurt." Zach replied.
"Im fine, you don't have to be my guardian angel everywhere I go." Alex replied.
The three boys entered the tense atmosphere of Liberty High. As they walked passed a sea of students, they heard whispers and gossip around them about Bryce.
"Seems like everyone caught wind." Zach commented.
"Yeah, we better get to class." Justin said.
"Alright you fuckers!" a voice yelled, the three boys slowly turn around as Montgomery De La Cruz appears from the corner with his jock friends riding behind him. "I know one of you motherfuckers did it!" Monty exclaimed again.
"Guys, lets go." Alex said as he tries to limp away.
"Hey Standall! where the fuck do you think your going!" Monty yelled as he got closer.
Alex sighed, "Leave me alone Monty."
"You and your fucking friends are behind this shit!" Monty said as he got even closer, Zach stood in front of him, "What Dempsey? you think I'm scared of a bitch like you?" Monty said as he got into his face.
Marcus stands in front of the both of them and said, "Hey guys, get to class."
"What are you? a hall moniter?" Monty said slyly.
"Monty, your causing a scene, leave before you do some dumb shit." Marcus whispered.
"Lets go Zach." Alex said.
"Yeah, you better go with your butt buddy." Monty taunted.
"Piss off!" Alex yelled back.
"Make me, you fucking cripple." Monty taunted again.
"Ok, thats enough! everyone get to class!" The Principle said as he appeared from the crowd.
"Lets go Mister Del La Cruz." The Principle said as he grabs his shoulder. The three boys walked away as Monty stares back at them.
Clay sits in class, tapping on his desk as he drowns out the noise around him. All he could think about what happened last night, Feeling Guilty?
Clay slowly turned his head to his right and gave Hannah a daunting look. She looked away as she sees the anger in his eyes, "Why didn't you leave?" He asked.
What do you mean?
"Hannah, I attempted murder on the guy that fucking raped you, the same guy that drove you to suicide...and your still here." Clay replied.
Maybe that wasn't the answer...Maybe your not letting me go Hannah said calmly.
"Oh fuck off." Clay replied as he turned his head.
You tried to kill Bryce for me right? I'm still here and my soul is still not in peace.
What the fuck do you want me to do Hannah?" He said sternly
"Clay." a voice said behind him, Clay jumped a bit as he felt a hand on a shoulder. He turned around and said, "Oh, Hey Sherri."
"Are you ok, you seem a little bit jumpy today." She responded with a concerned look.
"Oh, I haven't got any sleep last night because I was watching some old movie on TV." Clay lied.
"Clay Jensen? Not studying on A School Night? I don't even know you!" Sherri said jokingly. Clay chuckled as he remembers when he would be teased for being the goodie-goodie student of Liberty High.
"Did you hear about what happened to Bryce?" She said as she leaned in.
"Hasn't everyone?" Clay replied subtlety.
"I feel like he got what he deserved, who ever did it, gave some justice to Hannah that Liberty couldn't." Sherri said.
Those words rang on Clay's head like a bell as the actual bell rang for class to start. Clay sat up and pull out his textbook as the History Teacher writes on the chalkboard.
"Alright class turn to page 200 in your textbook." The teacher said.
Liberty Courthouse
"Well we're fucked." Mrs.Baker said as she leans back on her chair.
"Well, Mr.Walker is currently in critical condition so we don't know where this case is going at this point." The lawyer replied.
"Dennis, This is going to be used against us, their going to claim it's some act of revenge or some shit and start pointing fingers." Olivia said as she gave him a disturbed look with her dry teared eyes.
"Olivia look, we are fighting as hard as we can for Hannah but all the Witnesses' stories haven't given us any leverage of Liberty High being in the wrong." Mr. Vasquez replied.
"But their fucking lying!" Olivia said as she pounded her fist on the desk. She gritted her teeth and held back the tears as she was filled with the constant anger she had the past few months.
"Olivia, it's up to the Jury to make up their minds, we could fight for months on end but it's their words against ours." Mr. Vasquez replied trying to calm her down.
"If the Jury can't understand what my daughter went through then to hell with this case!" She said as she picked up her things. She turned away and walked out the Courtroom, Dennis said a subtle 'fuck' before biting his fist.
Liberty High Library, Lunch Hour
The Library in Liberty High was usually inhabited by the bookworms and bibliophiles but during Lunch time, it was usually empty.
Marcus Cole and Scott Reed sat in the Library's roundtable as they wait for a third guest. Monty bursts through the door and walked in with a loud fashion, a girl reading a book looked at him and he looked back with a smirk.
"The fuck are you looking at?" He said, "You want some of this?" He said as he gripped his pants.
"Monty get over here!" Marcus whispered in a stern tone.
Monty gave the nerdy girl a wink and walked over to the other two associates of Bryce Walker. He sits down and leans on the chair as he hangs one arm on top of it.
"So what is this meeting all about?" Monty asked as he looked at both.
Marcus and Scott exchanged glances, then Marcus looked at Monty, "What?"
"Look Monty, Bryce's shit has cost us to many problems as of late and now with the shooting..." Marcus whispered as he clears his throat.
"What the hell are you saying Marcus?" Monty said as he leans forward.
"We have to disassociate with Bryce before anything else happens." He said.
Monty looked a Scott, who seems to agree with what Marcus is saying and leaned back into his chair, nodding his head. "I see, so you two are going to run away like a bunch of bitches while he's laying in the hospital right now?"
"Monty, we're all targets in this situation, who ever shot Bryce might come after us and we can't risk our lives for his fuck ups." Marcus whispered
"Marcus is right, we all are in deep shit by association with Bryce and I don't want to walk around school and be looked as a Rapist." Scott spoke up.
"I knew you were fucking disloyal the first time I laid eyes on you, I knew you couldn't fill Jeff's shoes because at least he was loyal to his brothers." Monty replied with a tone of malice.
"Monty! If you stay Bryce's side, your going to end up getting yourself killed." Marcus said as he gritted his teeth.
"Can you stop with your political bullshit Marcus, Bryce and I knew that you'll become a traitor because of your squeaky clean Class President image, knowing your just as guilty." Monty said as he got close to Marcus' face. "You know what, fuck this and fuck you guys, I'm out." Monty said as he got up and flipped his chair.
As he walked out the door, Scott looked at Marcus exchanging glances, "I told you that he'll ride Bryce's dick till death." Scott said as he scoffed.
"Well, he's going to be the last man standing because if Bryce dies, no one is going to by his side anymore." Marcus said as he leaned on his chair.
