Disclaimer: Je ne possède pas Twilight. C'est très évident.
I HAVE SOME ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TO MAKE! So these are the people who helped me with this chapter and prevented it from the crash and burn fate.
First, to my beta, dear forever yours, who calls me about 50 times a day and keeps me company :) I love talking to you on the phone. :D
Second, to equestrienne326, who clarified for me a LOT of confusing stuff.
Third, to Xo-ILoveEdward-oX, because I used a chapter she wrote as reference.
And fourth, to xx-twilight7-xx, whom I talk to almost every day. And who gave me ideas.
Emmett's POV
The first thing to occur was the "swearing in" of the jury. I noticed that they weren't asked to swear the God-oath. Only affirmation was required. In my opinion, that was all for the better, since I wasn't too happy with having to put my right hand over the Bible and swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help me God.
As always, the prosecuting attorney started first. Jacob, already standing, started on his opening statement right away. He apparently was not one for wasting time. He began his speech magnificently and continued on with so much passion that I hoped they would forget about the trial and just chuck Lauren back into where she belonged.
When it was time for the defense attorney's speech, I paid strict attention to his ramble, listening carefully for just exactly what he was going to say in an attempt to prove Lauren's innocence. I didn't find it delivered with much conviction.
The next thing I knew, it was Jacob's turn again and he had called up Rosalie as his first witness. She, too, was only asked to affirm that every one of her statements were nothing but the truth. She was asked to state her full name, and she did so with unfaltering clarity. How did she manage that? It was court, not a class presentation.
Jacob began the questioning without preamble.
"To begin with, Miss Hale, have you given Miss Mallory any reason at all to hurt you?"
"Objection! Mr. Black is badgering the witness!" the defense attorney called sharply. I didn't see how that was harassing. By the looks of it, he did not have much experience. He was probably a state-appointed lawyer for Lauren.
Judge…Pascal, I think it was, raised an eyebrow at the DA. I guess he felt the same way the rest of us did. Nevertheless, he did his duty.
"Mr. Black?" the judge questioned.
"The point will be gotten across after several more questions, Your Honor."
"Very well. Overruled," His Honor decided, his eyebrow settling back from its much too high position on the forehead.
But unfortunately, that little "confusion" had gotten Rosalie flustered. Jacob had repeated the question to her and she wasn't sure how to answer.
"Yes—I mean no—I mean possibly…" That statement did not bode well for her. It seemed Jacob would have additional work to do. Already the case had begun with a rocky start.
"Miss Hale, I would like you to please recount exactly what happened on the day of the incident."
She reeled off her story, thankfully leaving out the embarrassing flirting part. After several more questions and Jacob's assessments, we could all see where he was going. Have fun countering that, DA, I thought, satisfied.
"No further questions, Your Honor," Jacob said respectfully and stepped back. The judge then asked the DA if he wanted to question Rosalie too. He nodded and walked forward.
"Miss Hale, do you know if Miss Mallory attacked you with the intent to kill?"
"No. I do not know."
"Well, then, why did you say what you did to cause her to harm you?"
"I…I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Take what?" the judge stared at her keenly.
Jacob's eyebrows pulled together into a frown. I wondered if I was going to be questioned as mercilessly when my turn came.
"I couldn't tolerate her behavior towards us and she often bothered us." Even I had to admit, Rosalie's reasons did not sound very convincing. I looked over at the panel of jurors. They were feverishly scribbling down notes with various looks of concentration on their faces.
However, Rosalie's vague responses were not very damaging, since the DA's questions became more and more far-fetched. Jacob objected to most of his questions, and the judge sustained almost all of those objections.
As I had predicted, it didn't take long to get to the subject of Rosalie's injuries. That was when Carlisle got called up. As he spoke his part laced with many complex medical terms, we all got lost. The jurors who were attempting to copy down all the words quickly gave up—not that it was a long speech anyway.
"In plain English, that just means that there was extensive external bleeding but not as much internally—at least, not enough to cause fatal damage. The poison was slow-spreading but it acted very quickly," Carlisle translated.
"Oh," was the defense attorney's very brilliant response. I swore I saw the smallest hint of a smirk on Jacob's face.
After that, my father was stuck on the stand for quite a time while both sides eagerly used him as a live medical version of Wikipedia.
Finally, the judge called an end to the questioning, telling the two attorneys to continue tomorrow. Looking at the clock, I discovered that we had only been here for three hours. I had been so captivated that I had lost track of time.
As we all bid our farewells and were leaving, I saw Rosalie smack her own forehead, and I heard her utter softly, "What the crap?"
Tuesday, October 28, lunchtime
"Hey, Emmett, can I borrow your calc book?" Rosalie asked randomly in the middle of our meal.
"Where's yours?"
"Left it at home."
"Ah. Forty-two twenty-five thirty. You know which one it is, right?"
"Okay, crap. Be right back!" I heard her repeat the three numbers over and over again as she ran to my locker.
Five minutes later, Alice worried about the fate of Rosalie aloud. "Why's it taking her so long? Your locker isn't even that far from here."
"She probably got lost at first," Jasper said. "Maybe you should go help her."
I walked over there, wondering what on earth Rosalie could possibly be doing. I rounded the corner and immediately stopped dead in my tracks.
What I saw made my blood run cold.
My calculus book was on the floor, but the sight of the new textbook getting grimy wasn't what incensed me. It was the sight of Demetri pressing a struggling Rosalie up against the row of lockers that made me see red.
Rosalie shoved him violently away and launched her fist at his nose. Immediately blood started spurting out. He tried to stem the flow of it; he clearly did not expect someone like her to have the strength to inflict that much damage. To be honest, I didn't either.
"Don't you ever touch me again, you sorry bag of rapist shit! If you do you'll find yourself on trial like Lauren is right now!"
I stepped in. "Excuse me," I said in a tone that could've frozen him up. "I do believe that's my locker you were assaulting Rosalie at. So get your ass away from here before I get a dean. And next time you decide to attack someone's face, you'd better have their permission to do so."
Demetri laughed coldly at me. "You think that you can take me on just because you're all brawn? Well I say I can beat you any day." He aimed a right hook at me, but for a water polo captain he was horribly off. His fist smashed into a locker instead and he winced in pain. He instantly recovered, though, and his next attack was flying right towards my face.
I instinctively dropped towards the ground. My head slightly banged against the knob, but it didn't hurt that badly. Above me, I had the locker's loud protest, a sharp crack, and Demetri's bellow of pain; all three occurred almost simultaneously. The blood ran freely down his hands and wrists as he cradled his damaged hand with the other. Not so handsome anymore, are you, water polo captain?
"Damnit!" he yelled. "Why can't you just leave us alone?! It's not like you even like her anyways! You just like her physically!" Rosalie's shocked eyes accused and questioned me.
"Excuse me? I believe that was you," I shot back at him furiously. "And assuming it's true, why would I tell you, of all people, that?"
"Because Rosalie said the same thing at the dance!"
"What?!" she shrieked. "I didn't!"
"Yeah, well, at least I didn't smell like skunk spray on the day of the dance!" I countered.
"It smelled perfectly fine! Rosalie liked it!" he yelled.
"Stop making all this bull up!" she yelled at him. "You're a very truculent person, you know that?"
"Ever heard of 'too much of a good thing makes a bad thing'?" I asked Demetri sourly.
"I'm telling you, it's not too much!" Funny how we got sidetracked to something as trivial as cologne.
Rosalie added her voice to the cacophony. "It doesn't matter what you think, stupid. Trust a girl's opinions. You should've listened to Heidi when she said you stank. What's more, I hate how you refer to me as a 'conquest'. I'm a person, for heaven's sake, not something to be seized! And if you ever thought about it, if your cologne didn't already drive me away, your dancing certainly would! Did you know, you ruined my foot, toes, and toenails! Do you realize—"
Demetri cut her off. "Then maybe you girls shouldn't spend so much time over pedicures and crap! I never understood why it made a difference!"
"Both of you, just shut up!" I yelled. "You know what, just forget it. I'll leave you two to settle your own problems." I turned to Demetri. "You'd better get your hand, wrist, and nose fixed without seeing the school nurse first, because in the end the trouble all goes back to you. You're the one who started it. If you were smart, you would not bring this up. I don't know about Rosalie, but if you're lucky, she won't report you for sexual harassment. And I thought you said you liked Isabella Swan."
I turned on my heel and walked away. I heard Rosalie rush up from behind.
"Oh my God! Emmett, are you okay?"
"Never better," I replied with biting sarcasm. I stalked into the nearest boys' restroom to escape her.
That afternoon, I wanted to skip going to the trial, but I obviously couldn't. Who knew how the events would turn out, and when I would be needed to testify?
Damn it all. Damn my involvement in things that weren't my business. Yet I could never regret rescuing her. Had I ever been this conflicted before? No. No, I hadn't.
Wait…what were they currently saying?
Oh no, no, no…please don't discuss that today…discuss tomorrow or something…please…
The sooner you testify, the sooner you'll get it over with…was I schizophrenic or something? Here I am, with that Voice in my head telling me what to do…
The Voice won the battle. Jacob called me to the witness stand. I stood up.
Oh my God. Oh freak. Oh crap. I'm going to die. Damn it. I kept repeating such phrases in my head as I walked to the stand. It seemed unreachable, as if for every one step I took it slid back two feet further. But at last I made it.
I stood there, waiting for the judge's next instruction.
"Please state your full name."
"Emmett McCarty Cullen."
"Thank you, Mr. Cullen. You may now be seated."
I swear my heart plummeted down to my stomach the same moment I lowered myself onto the chair. Jacob stood up and walked over to me briskly.
"Now, Mr. Cullen, do you remember that meeting we had a short while ago?"
"Yes, I do."
"I would like you to repeat everything you told me, this time to the court. Tell your side of the tale."
I did so in a voice that sounded like I had a worm stuck in my throat. But as I got further into the story, I found myself reliving the day again. By the time I was finished I sounded like a robot.
"Very good," Jacob praised. "Now, did you see any of the stabbing when it happened?"
"No." I stared at him but let my eyes glaze over.
"And why would that be?"
"There were many people in front of me."
"Very well. Please describe Miss Hale's condition when you saw her."
I launched into that account too, and after that I was questioned by Jacob for ten (it had seriously only been ten?) more minutes.
"Thank you," the judge said as Jacob looked at me triumphantly. "Mr. Randall, would you like to cross examine the witness?" So that was his name.
Mr. Randall was nothing compared to Jacob. He basically repeated the questions, and when the interrogation was over I couldn't see what answer he was trying to lead me to reveal. And yet during that whole time, my body internal body temperature must've dropped to a few degrees below zero. I could only assume Rosalie had felt the same way when she had been on the stand.
The only person I could remember being called up after me was Angela. For the rest of that day I reran my answers in my head, hoping I had not screwed up any one of them.
Wednesday, October 29
"…shall be decided." Jacob finished his closing statement and stepped back. The judge indicated that it was the DA's turn for his own closing statement.
However, his speech was interrupted quite rudely by none other than…
"Yeah, I did want to kill her!" Lauren burst out. Our mouths all dropped in shock. She couldn't keep quiet after all. The jurors above us were having a field day.
"What?" her lawyer asked, gaping at her.
"I don't need you to defend me anymore! I acknowledge what I did, okay? Yeah, I wanted to hurt her, I wanted to stab her until she bled to death. I was perfectly aware of the consequences when I did what I did, but guess what? I'm PROUD of it! I'M PROUD OF MYSELF FOR HURTING THAT LITTLE SLUT WHO THINKS SHE'S BETTER THAN ME! Do you hear me, you good-for-nothing assholes? I AM PROUD!" she bellowed like a madwoman. So much for the "you have the right to remain silent" declaration. The bailiff firmly sat her back down.
Even Jacob's calm demeanor was shattered. His look bordered one of absolute shock and awe. Apparently he had never expected this; but then again, neither had the rest of us.
Judge Pascal forced his jaw back up and cleared his throat twice before speaking.
"I will have to ask you to please keep your voice down in court, Miss Mallory. Would you like to finish your statement, Mr. Randall?" The DA shook his head mutely.
"I believe this case has reached its denouement," the judge continued on. "Will the jury please assemble and reach a decision. The court is now in recess." The twelve citizens of Pollex filed out first to the deliberation room. The rest of us waited in the hall.
It was now that mattered. The fate of the trial all depended on the opinions of the twelve people. The judge's thoughts didn't matter, Jacob's thoughts didn't matter, the DA's thoughts didn't matter, mine didn't matter. The people in the other room determined whether Rosalie would have her revenge.
1 hour later
Man, people, will you hurry it up already?
This felt like that horrid hospital wait all over again. And like before, I wanted to run and escape.
20 more minutes later
Come on…this isn't that hard to decide…common sense I'd call it…it's not even a difficult case anyway…
8 more minutes later
When we were finally allowed back in, the jury was already seated in the panel. One man, apparently the leader, held a slip of paper. Judge Pascal banged the gavel unnecessarily and looked to the man.
"Based on a unanimous decision…it has been decided that Miss Lauren Mallory is guilty for attempted murder, albeit not premeditated."
Judge Pascal only deliberated for a moment before saying, "Miss Lauren Mallory, you are guilty as charged. You will be sentenced to thirty years of imprisonment. Years will be added onto or subtracted from your sentence depending on your conduct during the first year. You will also be inspected for any psychological dysfunction. Should that be the case, you will be sent to a psychiatric reform center. The staff there will then take the necessary measures.
A short pause, then: "This case is officially over. Court is dismissed."
It was finally over!
While walking to parking lot
"You look very dashing, Emmett," Rosalie said, her eyes sparkling. "Reminds me of Homecoming."
"I'm just so glad it's over," I sighed deeply.
"Yeah, I know…" she agreed.
"Excuse me?" A female's timid voice interrupted us. We turned to see Mr. and Mrs. Mallory standing there hesitantly. Not knowing what to do, we simply looked at them.
"Miss Hale, we are so very sorry about our daughter's actions. She is normally not a violent person, and it was very shocking to us that she had a knife in her possession. I know this apology does not redeem for what she has done to you, but we have always been very strict with her about being good ever since she was young. We do not know how, when, or why she has strayed to this new level of hers."
Rosalie gave them a kind smile. "I am sorry, too, about Lauren's choices. My peers and I have never seen her any other way except for her bully side."
Mr. and Mrs. Mallory grimaced in chagrin. "Also, we were not fully aware of the extent of the damage she has inflicted on you until now. Dr. Cullen only gave us a brief overview. We feel terribly about the accident. Please, allow us to pay for the cost of your hospital bills."
Rosalie's polite, receptionist-like smile was still fixed upon her face. "No, no, it's fine. I don't think it's right to have you pay for something you had no control over."
"Yes, but still…" they deliberated. "Then, if you ever need anything, please do not hesitate to ask us. We will perform whatever you ask of us to the best of our abilities."
"That sounds fair. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Mallory."
"Thank you, Miss Hale. We're so glad you bear no grudge against us. Albeit she is our daughter, we wholeheartedly agree that she deserves to be where she is right now." Mrs. Mallory's spouse nodded in agreement and they walked away.
"Rosalie, are you really going to hold them to their promise?" Jasper asked her.
"Of course not. I think it's bad enough that their reputation is damaged, and that they may possibly have to shelter her when she is finally released. I can't find it in me to forgive her yet, but I do feel sorry for her. All her dreams of going to college and starting a life as an adult are now all impaired."
"You couldn't possibly be serious, Rosalie?" I questioned. "I don't think the rest of us are even near ready to forgive her, yet you, the victim, are?"
"Well, it's like they say, the victim usually forgives before the others. For me, I guess it's just…well, after I looked past my injuries and pride and everything, I kind of feel for her. Think about it. She'll be lucky to even be considered by colleges after this."
"Are you kidding me?" I snorted. "Her, planning to go to college? More like, she's been secretly training for a mafia or something, thus explaining the knife."
Alice hit my arm. "This isn't a joke, you insensitive person."
"I wasn't joking, you violent person."
"Oh. Sorry, Emmett."
"Let's celebrate tonight!" Rosalie said cheerfully.
"Err…alright…" we agreed. Weirdo.
We decided on watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, just because Rosalie said it was one of her favorite movies. Thankfully, I did not have any homework—well I had math homework, but I planned on doing it during lunch tomorrow—and I allowed myself to relax.
It was near midnight when the movie ended. Rosalie danced to the kitchen and yelled for me "to help her bring the midnight snacks out". Geez. This was my house.
I barely caught a glimpse of her before something white went flying towards my face and smashed into it. I felt Rosalie's hand slathering the tray of pie all over my face.
"FOOD FIGHT!" she screamed shrilly and hysterically.
"You stupid…" I whined, although the sound was muffled and it sounded like "mm mmfip". I removed the tray and ran after her with it. I gained on her easily and snagged her waist. I put the tray on her like a hat and she screamed wildly.
A flash momentarily blinded my eyes. I turned in that direction and blinked rapidly. When my eyes were finally able to see something besides the swirl of dull, dizzying colors, they focused on Alice, who was holding a camera.
Jasper…had his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder, surveying the picture too. They were pretty much an item, and I didn't really mind, mainly because I trusted Jasper. Therefore, it had been completely unnecessary for him to ask me for my permission to date Alice.
I couldn't stop staring at them. How great everything would be if that was Rosalie and me.
What was supposed to be my initial reaction finally kicked in.
"Alice!" I yelled, leaping towards her. "Give me that!"
She quickly hid the camera behind her. "Tch, no. And you can't do anything. If you dare break it…oh you're so going to pay."
Rosalie, meanwhile, had sneaked up behind Alice and grabbed the camera from her hand. Alice screamed in surprise and made to grab it back but Rosalie held it high above her head.
"Awww, it's so cute!" she exclaimed. "I may actually forgive you for messing up my hair, Emmett," she said very seriously.
"Right." I rolled my eyes. "If you don't mind, I'm going to shower now, again."
A/N: YAY! THE TRIAL IS OVER! PHEW! I changed some things in the last chapter based on what we did yesterday and today for our own Crucible trial. It was funny. 'Cause everyone swore on a MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY. HA. Got quite a laugh out of that :) But the attorneys objected to the questions with the incorrect reasons, and the judge wasn't any better.
Beta at Knott's Scary Farm?!
So, I would like your opinion on something: would you rather prefer that I write long chapters but take longer to update, or that I write shorter chapters but update sooner? Please keep in mind that my definition of 'long' and 'short' may be very different from some of yours.
I don't expect many reviews for this chapter; I admit I was supremely bored when writing it. Next chapter will be better, I promise. And I'm sorry for not updating on Monday; as you all know, the site went through modifications, and yesterday I was so tired I basically collapsed in bed.
Must study now! Math and anatomy test tomorrow! Au revoir!
