Wrongfully Exiled

Chapter 3, Part 1: Trial

George's mind had gone completely blank. He stared straight into the wooden walls of the courtroom, unable to focus. His head ached and his heart pounded.

On the contrary, Jonathan was freaking out. He was breathing heavily with a big lump in his throat as he tried to hold back tears. He was told that the judge wouldn't tolerate crying, so he held it back. He could feel tears brimming to the rims of his eyes, and blinked them away quickly.

Lila, on the other hand, was sick to her stomach. She couldn't believe that she was in this situation. Every once in a while, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight the urge to throw up. The judge hadn't even arrived yet, but she already knew that things weren't looking good on their end.

Mya was so dizzy, she thought that she was going to collapse. She was boiling hot, nervous, and couldn't imagine even having to stand up to greet the judge. She thought that she was going to pass out.

Matthew was on the verge of a breakdown. His mind was spinning, and he just couldn't stop thinking. He wished his mind would go blank for just a few seconds to allow him to calm down. He was shaking, with a pounding headache coming from the back of his eyes. He just wanted to collapse on the floor and never get up.

None of them could think straight. When the judge arrived, they all stood up at the same time, watching her take a seat. Fear glossed over their eyes as the lawyers began to speak.

"Good morning, your honour. I would like to start this trial off with a statement. Matthew Doogie, Mya Reels, George Filters, Lila Douglas, and Jonathan Screen have never, nor will ever have any sorts of emotional, personal, or physical connections to summoning any sort of magic or forces. To specifically address Matthew Doogie, as he's been accused of being a main suspect, he himself has declared in a personal statement that he is innocent and has no family who have ever dabbled in magic that he or his family know of," their lawyer stated confidently, Matthew nodding along as she spoke.

The lawyer was confident, yet she was kind when she spoke to the teens the day prior. She was strong and had really connected emotionally with Matthew. She knew that he was innocent, and wanted to help out any way that she could. She had explained that her brother had been wrongfully accused of something (not magic, however, robbery) and he ended up being convicted of it. She swore to never let an innocent person go to jail again, and so far, her hopes had been true. She'd yet to have a case of which she lost. They were all very glad that she was on their team - she seemed like she genuinely believed them and wanted to help.

As they sat in the large but filled-to-the-brim-with-spectators courtroom, none of them really processed what was being said, other than Jonathan. He was all ears, though panicked. The rest of them were clueless. The stress of it all had come down on them. It was difficult enough for them to appear calm without passing out. 

Suddenly, it was like a major blackout. In what seemed like both an eternity and a second later, the arguing stopped.

"My final verdict... is guilty".