A/N: Whoo! Sorry I've been gone for so long guys. Things happened. Like life and all that.
Truth be told I kind of lost interest in this project for a little while because my email wasn't telling me whether someone reviewed or not. It just filed my alerts under spam.
But then I got emails again! I saw your guys' reviews and sort of...got the inspiration to write again. So thank you!
Please note though, I've never taken a law class in my life, much know how a sentencing hearing is supposed to go. Law and Order only get you so far. So this is my best guess at it. I actually did a quick google search on how severe drug possession is; and the fine in here is mostly legit. My sister can back it up. (She's studying to be a paralegal.)
Review replies!
ForgotMyName2Day: You're very welcome. I'm hoping you won that talent contest. I'm glad I could help you out.
Sky's Breaker: Thank you. Y'know I've been connecting with Twilight Princess lately, and I'm dying without my Zelda fix.
AutobotCopperShadow: Thank you!
JerseyPrime23: Y'know, I was actually thinking about pairings for a long while. Debating whether 'Sidesand Alex do get together once she's older, or maybe just pairing here with 'Bee. It's a huge tossup right now. I'll let you know if I need any help. Thank you.
Professionalemail101: Well here's an update for you. :) Thank you.
So, I've kept you long enough, I'll let you guys get to reading.
DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING aside from the OC's.
Alex
Counting Stars – One Republic
She was chewing her lip rather roughly as Kathy was pacing back and forth in the hallway and Sideswipe was bouncing his knees nervously.
They were just…nervous to say the least.
The worst that could happen is Alex being sent to a detention center…no one wanted that.
She's heard stories…just…no.
The most amazing thing that could, but probably won't, happen is that the charges could be dropped altogether, and they would just have to pay for the hearing.
Mom was currently talking to their uncle, who was an attorney, and discussing what they could do and what could happen.
"Hey." Alex looks up at Kathy. "Just let Ronnie do all the talking. Really." Alex nods.
They're uncles name was Ronald Sanders, and he was a damn good attorney, Alex actually liked his work, and his stories that he sometimes shared.
They also called him Uncle Ronnie, or sometimes Ronald McDonald, but most times it was just Ronnie or Ron.
"You ready kiddo?" Her uncle walks up to the three, his silver hair gelled back and only slight silver stubble on his chin. His suit was pressed finely and his glasses hung low.
"Is anyone ready for something like this?" She asks, but Sideswipe helps her up as she flattens out Kathy's blue dress and taps the toes of the flats on the marble floor before nodding and they all head to the court room, Ronnie and Alex taking the podium to the right while an officer and another official looking man took to the left.
She thinks he's a District Attorney but she could be wrong.
The judge is a pudgy African American woman, who looks strikingly similar to Whoopi Goldberg, with her hair and glasses, but she takes a seat at her stand and Alex bites her thumbnail nervously as the Judge goes over the charges silently before looking at them.
"We are here today to discuss the charges put against a Ms. Alexandria Harper. Each Attorney will discuss what had happened to Ms. Harper to earn such charges, we will discuss if there should be any charges, much like Juvenile Center time, or even community service. Mr. Sanders, I suggest you start." Jeez, she even sounded like Whoopi.
So her uncle moves to start explaining the actual story of how Jeremy had dragged Alex to the party, and how she knew she had to be home by a certain time, and was moving to leave the party when someone had slipped the little bag of drugs in her back pocket. She'd only made it down the street when the officer who was at the podium next to them had caught her, found the drugs, and decided to take her to the station where she spent the night in a holding cell.
Then he moves to take Alex's thumb away from her mouth as the officer on the table next to them told the same exact story, and the District Attorney piping up;
"Your honor, we are willing to drop the charges considering it was all just a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people." The judge raises an impressed eyebrow as a spark of hope flares in Alex's stomach.
"Well, DA Williams, that's certainly a generous offer, but it seems to have left the table when you walked in here for the sentencing. You should've spoken with the Harper family before this hearing was scheduled." Alex hears Sideswipe sigh under his breath in one of the benches behind her. "Now, Ms. Harper, you do have a choice here. You could go to a Detention Center for fourteen days, convene to a hundred hours community service, or pay a fine of six hundred dollars. What will it be?" She looks at her Uncle hopelessly as he mulls the decisions over in his head.
"We will take the fine your honor." The judge nods.
"Six hundred dollars then, to be paid by July thirtieth. Consider yourself lucky Ms. Harper. This hearing is adjourned." And she smacks the mallet on the table with that as Alex and her uncle turn to her mom, sister, and best friend.
"Are you serious Ronald? I don't have six hundred dollars!" Her mother hisses as both Sideswipe and Kathy wrap her in hugs, noticing how much the teenager was shaking.
"I'll loan you the money Mary. It was the easiest option, considering community service is more times than not washing graffiti off the sides of buildings. And Detention Centers aren't that great either." Her uncle argues as they leave the courthouse.
"Ronnie, you know I can't accept your money." Her mother says as they move to the parking lot to the side where Mom's Durango is waiting next to Sideswipe's Corvette, and Ron's Bentley.
"Well it seems like you don't exactly have a choice now do you Mary?" The attorney replies as Alex reaches in the backseat for her converse and socks that she had the foresight to put in Sideswipe's backseat.
"Ryan, take Alex home, I have to talk with my brother-in-law." The man in question nods as Kathy crawls in the backseat and Alex takes the front seat, rifling through Sideswipe's glove compartment, looking for the latest mix CD she made him.
"Allie?" Kathy asks as she pulls out the CD with the number six on it and switches out the last two. The teenager hums in reply as she puts the older mix CD in the case and puts it back. "You gonna be okay?" The older sister knew Alex well.
Usually she's not very public about it, not even to Sideswipe or her mom, but Kathy knew that Alex had a small case of Social Anxiety.
Under stressful situations like the ones they've just had, it takes her around an hour or so to recover.
"Y-yeah. I'll be fine." Her and Sideswipe share a look as he turns onto a street and they continue in relative, comfortable silence as Alex bites her thumbnail again.
Considering the severity of the situation, the judge was actually quite relenting.
Alex could've spent longer in a detention center.
"Stop thinking so much." Ryan tells her, and Alex looks up at him as he bats her hand away from her mouth. "You got off, be happy. Jeez, you two are bumming me out." Kathy laughs lightly in the backseat as Alex turns the volume knob as Sideswipe drifts around a corner, making Alex forget for the most part of the hearing.
For the most part.
The rest of the week was rather slow. Alex got her phone, wallet, laptop, and Xbox back. While that was all fine and dandy, she still felt terrible that her mom had to come up with six hundred dollars they really didn't have.
Considering the amount of money spent on Alex's and Kathy's birthday combined, along with rent on the house, utilities, food, car payments and insurance, and gas.
It's no secret that Durango's are humongous gas guzzlers.
Sideswipe had been doing a great job of distracting her though. Often taking her on trips from Baltimore to DC, and truth be told they were quite nice.
They'd walk, Sideswipe never getting anything, but Alex always got something sweet as they'd walk from one monument to another.
"You've never told me what you do." He looks at her as she takes another lick off her ice cream.
"You've never asked." He shoots back as they sit in a rather large park and Alex pulls out one of the books she's supposed to read through the summer.
Alice in Wonderland.
Fantastic book, fantastic movie.
"Well, I'm asking now." She smiles as he grabs her bag to rifle through it.
"Army." She looks up at him.
"Don't mess around like that." She responds, instantly not taking to the career choice, making him look at her.
"I'm not joking. Military. It's more like a secret branch though, so I can't say much." She sighs, and cracks open the book.
"Great." She mumbles and he looks at her again.
"Got something against the military force?" He asks defensively, and she gives him a look.
"My dad was in the Army when he left." He's shocked, slightly.
"Left?" He asks, and Alex nods.
"Like fought with mom, wanted nothing to do with us left. He sends child support every now and then, but I have no clue where he is, or what he's even doing. He doesn't even call." She spits out, turning the page to her book.
"Why?" She looks at him.
"Why what?" She asks back.
"Why would your dad leave like that? I mean, isn't it his obligation to help raise you? Make sure that things like this don't happen?" He finds a bag of gummy worms and gives Alex her bag back, ripping open the package.
She doesn't mind, they're for him anyways.
"Yeah but…people change after being deployed Sides. It happens. Didn't help that he was cheating on mom." Sideswipe gives her a strong sorry look.
"Humans are strange." He grumbles, leaning back as Alex lets out a dry scoffs and takes another bite of her ice cream cone.
"Tell me about it."
A few more minutes pass in silence while Alex reads and Sideswipe just relaxes and eats the candy before he jumps up as the teenager finishes her ice cream and continues to read.
"We need to go." He says quickly, and Alex raises an eyebrow.
"Why?" She asks, and she hears a car screeching as it turns a corner.
"We just need to go. Now." He tells her, and Alex nods as she grabs her bag and marks her book before throwing it in the bag and tossing the strap over her shoulder.
"What's going on?" She asks as they quickly make their way back to the parking garage where the corvette is parked.
"Nothing, we just need to leave." He lies, and she stops.
"I'm not leaving till you tell me." He sighs and picks her up easily.
"I'll tell you on the way back to Baltimore." He tells her as she squeals and starts thrashing. "Now hush or I'll put you in the trunk." She grumbles but stops fighting as they make their way to the car.
She's silent as he hurriedly backs out of the parking space and zoom out of the parking garage and down the streets, out of DC.
"Sides…what's wrong? You're driving twenty over the speed limit." He looks in the rearview and mumbles something under his breath that she doesn't quite understand. It might be a completely different language she's never heard of. "What?"
"Just…Shh!" He hisses at her, checking the rearview again before speeding up and weaving through traffic.
Alex looks in the side mirror to find a semi-truck and a Camaro following them closely and blocking two SUV's with police lights.
To say she's confused is a severe understatement.
But she does as Sideswipe says and stays silent as they zoom through traffic on the highway, the Semi-truck and Camaro following faithfully and seeming to flank them.
"Sides…" He looks at her, telling her to go on. "Why is there a Camaro and semi following us?"
He sighs before answering.
"They're helping make sure I get you home safe." He tells her and she looks at him.
"Why? What happened?" She can basically hear his teeth grinding and she swallows. "Sorry. I'll let you drive." Sideswipe gives her a grateful look.
"I'll tell you when we get home. I promise." She nods and lets him weave in and out of traffic some more until Alex looks in the rearview again to find the Camaro and Semi-truck gone.
Where'd they go?
Sideswipe slows down now, going the speed limit and nods silently to himself.
Alex is thoroughly weirded out.
"Uhhh…?" She asks, giving him a look. He blanches, realizing she's still there.
"Nothing." He tells her and she raises an eyebrow.
"Okay…?"
He doesn't say anything the rest of the way home.
A/N: So there ya go! I might update somewhere around this weekend, depends on how busy my schedule is. Boyfriend wishes to take me comic book shopping and I REALLY want to go. I need to finish my Killjoys collection...
Anyways!
Review, follow, favorite, you guys know how this drill works.
Outfits are on Polyvore!
See ya guys later!
-Alice