Chapter 9- The Court Hearing

It was the morning of the trial and Jade laid wide awake, staring up at the blank white ceiling. She had barely slept a wink the previous night, worried about how the case would play out. The alarm on her phone buzzed, letting her know it was 7:00am and she begrudgingly threw off the covers and headed into the bathroom with her clothes draped over her arm. Jade stood in the shower for a long time, mixed emotions running through her all at once. She sighed softly as she finally turned off the water and stepped out. Jade did her hair and makeup with a towel wrapped around her body, making her usual appearance lighter and far more appropriate for a court hearing.

Once Jade had finished in the bathroom, she headed down the hall to Cat's room to see if she was awake. Jade gave a knock on the door and before Cat could answer she stepped inside, only to find Cat in her underwear. Cat gave a squeak of surprise as she grabbed a shirt from her bed, trying and failing, to cover herself up. Jade quickly shut the door, both girls blushing just as much as the other as Cat quickly grabbed her pink fluffy dressing gown and slipped it on before tying it around her tiny waist.

"Come in." She called in a high pitched voice, her cheeks still a deep shade of red. Jade opened the door again, this time finding the red head fully clothed.

"I was trying to pick out what to wear…I've never been to a court hearing before." Jade's embarrassment turned to protectiveness as she observed the different outfits on the bed for the first time.

"Cat…I don't think it's a good idea for you to go. I don't want you to get worked up and then pass out because you can't handle it all." Jade explained as easily and careful as she could, not wanting to upset the petite girl.

"But Jadey…I want to be there for you. I know you didn't hurt that girl as much as they say you did and you'll need me for afterwards." Cat tried to reason, not moving her gaze away from Jade's face.

"Please Cat…stay here. I'll need you this afternoon when today is all over." Jade tried again, this time taking a step towards her friend and gently took her hand.

"Please Jadey…" Cat begged, giving one of her best puppy eyes which she knew Jade couldn't resist. Jade gave a groan and slowly shook her head, unable to say no to the red head.

"Fine. But you stay at the back with your mom, okay?" Jade sighed softly as she dropped her hand once again and took a step back in defeat.

"Yay!" Cat applauded, bouncing up and down in excitement before grabbing the goth girl in a hug. Jade gently pushed her off and looked over at the clothes on the bed.

"Okay. Let's pick an outfit for you to wear."

Half an hour later the two friends stood in front of the large court building, awaiting anxiously for their case to be called. Fiona, Fiona's parents and her lawyer stood off to the side not fifty metres away from them. Jade did her best to ignore the dirty looks she received and instead discussed the hearing in a low voice with Mrs Valentine while they waited patiently to begin.

Jade's case was called next and they headed inside the building where Jade was led to the front room and told to take a seat. Mrs Valentine and her daughter took a seat on a bench towards the back of the room as Fiona and her party followed them inside.

Jade sat and waited anxiously along at the front and looked up as her lawyer finally took a seat beside her. He sat his briefcase on the table and pulled out a few sheets of paper before setting his case on the ground. The man, who she'd come to know as Kevin Jacobson in their previous meetings, shuffled through his notes before setting them down and turned to face Jade.

"Answer the judge truthfully. You are under oath and could get a jail sentence if you are dishonest." Kevin told her, keeping his voice low so only they could hear. Jade nodded in understanding as she faced the front once more.

"All rise." Jade heard a man call off to the side and the entire room stood from their seats as the judge walked up to the front of the room. Once the judge had taken her seat, the room settled down in theirs and fell quiet.

The judge was about to speak when the door opened the rest of the gang entered one by one.

"I told you we were going to be late!" Robbie exclaimed in a not so hushed tone as the others shushed him in irritation. "Well if you hadn't taken ages to apply your thigh cream, we wouldn't of been late!" Andre replied just as loud as Robbie as they took their seats in the same row with the Valentine's. Jade stared at them all in surprise, both amazed and embarrassed as they made their entrance. She couldn't help but roll her eyes before turning her attention back to the front of the room. Of course they were late because of something stupid and pointless Robbie had done.

With the room now settled down from the interruption, the man who had spoken before introduced the case before asking Fiona's lawyer to stand and give all evidence. Jade watched and listened in silence, fighting her usual instinct to threaten and scream. Instead she raised her chin in the air and with her hands in her lap, remained quiet with gritted teeth and clenched fists.

Once it was Jade's turn to speak, her lawyer gave his evidence which was so little due to Jade's track record with violence. Kevin did his best to show Jade in a new light, bringing up small past struggles that could at the very least explain why she had lashed out at Fiona. Jade had never mentioned her father's violent nature and wanted to keep it that way as she simply wanted to move on, even though she knew such evidence could win over the judge's decision.

The judge finally called it a day after long hours of reviewing all the evidence and all rose as the judge walked from the court room. Jade slumped in defeat as she headed towards where Mrs Valentine and their friends sat. Cat hugged the gothic girl and for once Jade hugged her back, even if it was only half-heartedly. The gang gave words of comfort and reassurance but Jade barely noticed as she was staring at Fiona and her party as they walked down the aisle. Fiona gave Jade a look of smugness as she walked past before Jade scowled and turned away from them, not giving them the satisfaction of seeing her broken and defeated. They finally walked out of the room once everyone was well and truly gone and headed to their car while the others left in Beck's truck.

Jade stared out the window as they drove with her chin held high, the determination and fight clear on her face. Fiona hadn't won just yet.

AN:- Okay so I have several things to apologise for. 1.) This chapter probably won't be nearly as good as previous ones and the reason being I've lost my muse for it. So I'm doing this for you guys because I did say I'd finish it. 2.) I lost the book that had the storyline written in it so I had trouble even starting this. I have however mapped out a slightly different ending but I think its better because the story now includes some Victorious humour. And 3.) I only have a little idea of how a court hearing proceeds so I apologise if I get some facts wrong.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and enjoy :)

~Mrs AV~