14. What Can I Do?

Linda had spoken to the judge and the charges were dropped, but it was too late to submit her testimony in Jade's favor. Jade was furious again, both at her mother and the judge, and went back to the cold shoulder. Jade and her mother avoided each other pretty successfully despite the fact that neither one could really leave the house. When Jade had shut herself in her bedroom, Linda could roam the downstairs freely. When Jade emerged, Linda vanished into the den. It wasn't an entirely comfortable existence, but neither one wanted to address what caused the silence between them. So at the sound of the doorbell and Jade descending the stairs that afternoon, Linda disappeared.

Jade opened the door, a little part of her excited to see Cat, and was immensely disappointed to find Tori Vega alongside the redhead on the doorstep.

"No," was all she said. She tried to slam the door, but both girls outside the house put their hands out to stop it.

"Hi Jadey!" Cat said obliviously.

"Cat, why is she here?"

"Well I don't have a car, so I asked Tori to drive me here, but she doesn't have a driver's license, so Trina drove us!"

"Trina?" Jade repeated, irate.

"Don't worry, we told her to wait in the car!" Cat said, as if it was a great comfort.

"Awesome. So now Trina knows where I live," Jade grumbled. She took the thick folder of papers from Cat's hands and tried again to close the door. Tori threw her arm against it before it shut.

"Jade, listen—"

"I'm not going to listen!"

"No, I just wanted to apologize for—"

"I don't need your apology!" Jade shouted. "And I don't need your pity. Leave me alone."

The door slammed successfully this time. Jade set to work on her homework – anything to take her mind off the jury and prison and the false justice of the world. She already felt imprisoned in her house; she couldn't begin to imagine real juvie, but she thought it would be a little similar. Lonely, uncomfortable, unsafe.

Jade had all of the homework completed by the end of the tenth day. She had just thrown her last textbook aside when her phone started buzzing. It was Adam.

"What?" she greeted.

"I called your mom, but she said the two of you weren't speaking. Is everything okay?"

"What do you want?"

"The jury reached a verdict this afternoon. It'll be announced tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Be at the courthouse by ten."

When she hung up, she hesitated, her finger hovering over the first name in her contacts list. She tilted her head from side to side, weighing the pros and cons. Finally, with a sigh, she called him.

"Jade, what's going on?"

"They're giving the verdict tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Ten."

"I'll be there."

Jade didn't sleep that night. She kept getting sad that this could be her last night in her bedroom, then getting angry at herself for being sentimental. She tossed and turned until one thirty, when she finally dozed off into an unsettled drowse. She was strained and sore when she startled awake again around seven. Giving up on the idea of rest, she rolled out of bed and into the shower, which unfortunately did nothing to ease the tension in her body. She used every product she had in the bathroom, inspecting the ingredients and savoring the smells of each one. When she felt she'd killed enough time (and had run out of products to examine), she wrapped her hair in a towel and her body in a bathrobe and stood in front of her closet. She pulled out item after item of clothing, holding each up to herself in front of a mirror, and throwing it back again. She finally settled on a black dress with black boots — it could very well be her last day to wear black.

She didn't go downstairs until it was nearly nine, dressed to kill (pun intended) and with purple streaks in her hair, as defiant as ever, at least on the outside. Jade pretended her mother didn't exist as she made herself a small breakfast. It was Linda who was forced to break the awkward silence.

"Ready to go, sweetie?"

Jade just nodded, her back turned. She followed her mom out to the car and buckled herself in the passenger side. Her teeth chewed at the corner of her mouth as she tried to control the trembling that had started in her hands. The closer they got to the courthouse, the harder it was to keep her fingers still. By the time Linda parked the car, Jade was shaking all over. It took effort just to keep her teeth from chattering.

"Jade," Linda said softly, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Sweetie, you know I love you, right?"

Jade nodded jerkily, looking out the passenger window. Linda kissed Jade's head and got out of the car. Jade trailed behind her as they entered the crowded lobby, looking from face to face as she sought Adam. Jade's eye was caught by a head of red velvet cupcake hair. She rushed toward it, leaving her mother behind. The whole gang was there.

"Cat! What are you doing here?" Jade asked worriedly. As she pushed her way through the crowd, she found Cat standing with four familiar faces. She didn't want any of them to see this.

"We came to cheer you on!" Cat said cluelessly. Jade sighed and looked to Beck. Tori stood beside him.

"Why would you bring them here?" she asked.

"They want to be here for you."

"Yeah," Tori agreed brightly. "We're your friends, Jade."

"My friends? Yes, because friends testify against their friends and send their friends to prison!"

Thankfully for Tori, Jade was led away at that moment by Adam's hand on her arm. But Jade gazed at them over her shoulder fiercely, and everyone could see the pain burning in her eyes.

After some whispered protests from Tori, Andre, and Robbie (which echoed enough for Jade to hear), the gang ended up sitting behind the defense table, so close that Jade could speak to them if she turned. She didn't turn.

There was a lot of waiting to do as people filed into the courtroom, slowly filling the gallery seats around a certain group of mismatched performing arts students. Jade let her annoyance calm her trembling, sitting straight in her chair, head held high. Finally, finally, the gallery was filled, the judge sat at the bench, and the jury filed in.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Justice Banter asked. Obviously they have or we wouldn't be here.

"We have, Your Honor," the jury foreman declared pompously.

"Will the defendant please rise?"

Jade stood shakily, smoothing her dress, wide eyes on the jury.

"How does the jury find?" Banter turned back to the foreman.

"On the sole count of attempted murder, we find the defendant, Jade W—"

"Wait!"

All heads turned to see who had jumped up and stepped into the aisle. The true culprit looked straight at the judge and spoke the fatal words:

"Jade didn't do it. I did."

I'm trying to minimize the damage done

'Cause there ain't no one like you