The Last Chance Book 2

Chapter 24

TW: Violence, blood, ptsd , trauma , injuries , weapons

" Baby it's time to get up. You need to get ready for the last day of the trial " he hears Zee say. He opens his eyes slightly and sees Zee sitting down on the bed looking at him. So he just moves his upper half of his body on to his lap. He can hear Zee laugh quietly before he starts to play with his hair. Making him smile and close his eyes. " Baby you need to get up " Zee says again. " I don't want to. I don't want to see them today " he says quietly. " I know but today will be the last day ok " Zee says in a gentle voice. He pouts as he slowly sits up rubbing his eyes. Zee kisses him on the forehead. He smiles before getting up and walking over to his desk. He picks up his clothes and then walks into the bathroom. Closing the door behind him.
Once inside he quickly puts his outfit on before heading back into his room. When he does, Zee walks over and helps him fix his outfit to make it look good. Zee also helps him fix his hair so it'll look neat. " You ready to go " Zee asked as he hands him his phone. " As one could be in this situation " he says quietly. Zee gives him a gentle smile before leaning down and giving him a quick kiss on the lips before he grabs his hand. He smiles as Zee guides him out of his room and to the living room.
When they reach the living room they see that everyone else is already there. Including Max's father. " You look really good NuNew " Nat says. He smiles. " Thank you. Hia chose my outfit for me ". He says as he puts his shoes on. When he's done putting his shoes on he hears Max's father say " Ok guys. It's time to leave. Today is the last day of court so it'll be a really long day. And after court NuNew, Nat and Max will be doing an interview. Everyone else will be there in case they are asked questions as well ". They all nod. " Ok lets go to the cars " Max's father says as they all leave the house. When they're outside he notices that there's barley anyone there. There's only a couple of news cameras with some reporters. " Good luck NuNew! Stay strong " one of the reporters shout. He turns to look at them and smile. " Thank you " is all he says before he gets inside of Max's fathers car.
When everyone's inside the cars they all head off to the court house. It's silent for a while so he pulls out his phone and opens instagram. He goes and looks at the post of him, Zee, Max and Nat. There are thousands upon thousands of people supporting their couples. Several people use the ship names that Nat came up with. He clicks on the ZeeNuNew hashtag and becomes shocked. " Oh my gosh. Hia look at this " he says turning the phone towards Zee. " There's 10k post with the ship name Nat came up with for us " he says shocked. " Wait really let me see " Nat says excitedly. So he turns to Nat and shows him the phone. " Holy shit. What about the one for me and P'Max " Nat asked so he quickly goes to the MaxNat hashtag. " You guys have 9k post " he says shocked. " It's only been one night. This is crazy " he says. Nat nods his head. " Wait hand me your phone really quick I want to see something " Nat asked. So he gives him his phone and watches at Nat goes to the search bar and types in #NatNuNew. He starts to laugh at what Nat's doing but he quickly stops when he sees the number of post. " Holy shit " he says. " 12k post for a ghost ship " Nat says. Him and Nat look through the tag and see photos as well as videos of them together. There's even a couple of drawings. They continue to look at the hashtag until they start to pull up to the courthouse.
When he looks up he sees the most people he's ever seen at the courthouse. He can hear people shouting and talking loudly as they pull up to the entrance and park the car. The other two cars park right behind them. " I'll see you guys in a bit after I park the car " Max's dad says before they get out of the car. When they get out of the car they meet up with the others before heading up the stairs. The guards hurry and guide them inside of the courthouse because of the large amount of people outside.
Once inside he freezes when he notices a large group of news cameras as well as reporters filming them as they enter. He feels someone gently grab his shoulder. He turns to look who it was and sees Mrs.Betty giving him a gentle smile. " It's going to be ok dear. They won't hurt you. They just want to ask a bunch of questions because it's the last day of the trial " she says in a quiet and gentle voice. He nods before walking to the others who are passed the news cameras and waiting.  When he gets to the news camera he can hear reporters start to question him and shout at him. Making him a little hesitant to pass but Mrs.Betty grabs his hand and gently guides him to the others. When he reaches them he hears a reporter shout " Why do you think it's ok for someone to like the same sex when it's a sin to do it ". Everyone goes silent and he turns around to say " What's so wrong about loving someone. No one can tell me who I can and can't love. It's not a sin there's nothing wrong about it. I am simply loving someone ". He looks at the reporter and makes eye contact with them. " It's disgusting to kiss or love someone of the same sex " the reporter says. He smiles before pulling Zee towards him. " It's really weird if your mind goes straight to two guys kissing. But if you really want to see it so bad here you go " he says before turning to Zee and kissing him. When he pulls away he turns back to the reporter and says " Love is Love and there is nothing wrong about loving another person ". He goes to turn around but stops when he hears the reporter say " So disgusting ". Before he could say anything he hears Max say " Oh you need another couple to kiss? Ok " as he pulls Nat close to him and kisses him quickly. " Maybe that's enough to help you get used to people kissing each other " Max continues after kissing Nat. " If not there's a third couple " James says. " Actually there's four couples " Jimmy says. He quickly turns to look at them. Both Tommy and Net smile at him. He smiles happy for them. Tommy finally started dating Jimmy while Net finally started to date James. " I'm perfectly fine not seeing anyone else kiss " the reporter says. He turns around. " Good. I hope you get used to seeing other people being affectionate with their lovers " he says smiling at the reporter. Max's father rushes over to them. " What happened. I only herd the last bit of what NuNew said " Max's father asked. " One of the reporters asked NuNew a homophobic question so he replied and then the reporter said that kissing someone of the same sex is disgusting which led to him kissing Zee. The reporter made another comment which led to Max kissing Nat. Which then led to Jimmy and James saying there's two other couples who can kiss if the reporter needs it. Then you herd the rest of the conversation " Tommy says. His face becomes a light shade of red as well as Nat's face. Max's father gestures for a guard to take the reporter away from everyone. " Why did you kiss Zee, NuNew " Max's father asked. Making his face become even more red. " To shut them up. I mean the reporter was the first one to even bring it up " he said quietly, biting his lip. " And what about you Max " Well the reporter made another rude remark so I kissed Nat to try and shut her up like NuNew did ". He looks at Zee who just gives him a gentle smile before pulling him into a hug. " Ok. Well it's time to separate now. We have about 10 minutes until the trial ". He hugs Zee back quickly before pulling away. " I love you " he whispers so only Zee can hear. " I love you to baby " Zee whispers back.
Him, Max and Nat all head into the small room. When they get inside they see Mrs.T and Mrs.F writing something down. " Hello guys. Are you ready for todays trial " Mrs.T asked. " As ready as someone could be in this situation. If there anything you could tell us in order to help us get ready " he said. " I can tell you how today with work. Today there won't be a break because of how long today is going to be. Jack and Eddie will testify first. Then Tyler will. After Tyler it will be Max's turn and then Nat's turn. Finally it will be Nate and then NuNews turn. After that I will give a closing statement and NuNew will say what he wants to. The jury will then deliberate on what Nate and the others punishments will be and then they will tell the court the punishments " Mrs.T says. They all nod before Mrs.F says " It's time to head inside of the court room. The trail will begin soon ". They all make their way into the room and sit in the same seats that they have in the previous trial days.
" All rise for the judge " someone says so they all stand up until the judge sits back down. " Mrs.T please call up the first person to testify " the judge says right away. He watches as Mrs.T stands up and says " I'd like to call up Eddie to the stand ". He watches carefully as Eddie gets sworn in and sits down on the stand.
" State your name and involvement in the case "
" Eddie. I'm apart of Nate's group "
" Eddie, how close are you to Nate "
" We've been best friends since middle school so we're close "
" Close enough to attempt to murder someone together "
" I never attempted to murder anyone. I never even took part in hurting NuNew or anyone "
" Are you telling the truth "
" Yes "
" Then why did the security footage from the first attack show you taking part in injuring NuNew with a knife "
" I don't remember much of that day "
" Who's knife did you guys use to cut NuNew with on the first incident "
" Tyler's the only one with a knife so it would have to be him "
" Why did you help Nate hurt NuNew "
" Because I wanted to "
" Why did you want to "
" No one should date or love the same gender. It's disgusting and a sin "
" Would you kill someone over their sexuality "
" They don't deserve to live "
" That's not what I asked. Would you kill someone over their sexuality "
" Well he "
" It's a simple yes or no Eddie "
" Im not "
" Yes or no "
" Yes "
" So you would kill NuNew over his sexuality "
" That's not what I said "
" Then what did you say Eddie "
" I never did anything "
" NuNew said you would always grab him from class, hold him up or keep him still whenever Nate asked you to. Is that true "
" Yes "
" Why do you help Nate "
" No reason "
" Did you do help him hurt Nate in order to stop him from hurting you "
" What do you mean "
" Are you bisexual Eddie "
" No why would I be. That's disgusting "
Mrs.T walks back over to Mrs.F who hands her a piece of paper.
" How to figure out your sexuality. Am I bisexual. How to cure yourself from being gay. Conversion therapy. Does any of this sound familiar Eddie "
" No it doesn't "
" When the investigators looked through your phone they found some really interesting things. What I just listed off was your search history "
" You're lying "
" Besides your search history you had some photos that are concerning to me " Mrs.T said as she turned on the screen. Once she does he freezes.
" Almost every photo you have on your phone is a picture of NuNew. Photos you secretly took. Even one's that you wouldn't be able to take unless you were stalking him " She says.
" You're making this up ". Eddie says angrily.
" These next photos are what worry me the most out of the other photos " Mrs.T says as she clicks a button. His breath quickens as he looks at the screen.
" You have photos that were taken very recently. Ones from his new school. Which show him walking around with his friends at the store or even at the mall. You even have a photo of him kissing Zee. You must have been so angry because when the investigators searched your room they found some disturbing journals where you described wanting to kill Zee and take NuNew for yourself. Your friends all said that it was your idea to go to the beach for spring break "
" You're lying! You faked all of this! NuNew I didn't do that "
" Why are you trying to get NuNew to believe you. You're someone who hurt him the most. You're so obsessed with him that you helped Nate just to be close to NuNew "
" No I'm not! I would never hurt him! I only ever wanted to hurt that bastard Zee. He took NuNew away from me "
" So you admit it "
Mrs.T says. He covers his mouth. He feels so disgusted and disturbed by knowing that he was being stalked by Eddie and that Eddie had liked him.
" Look at how NuNew is reacting to finding out that you stalked him and like him. He's disgusted and disturbed by you stalking him "
" That's not true " Eddie shouts. He sees Eddie stand up and rush over to him. He quickly stands up and walks to the other side of the table. Max immediately stands in front of him while guards grab Eddie and pull him out of the court room. Once Eddie is out of the room Max turns to look at him. Thank you P'Max " he says quietly. " Are you ok " Max asked. He just shakes his head before slowly heading back to his seat and sitting back down. His hands slightly shaking. He looks back at the screen showing the pictures. He only looks away when the screen gets turned off.
" Please call up the next person you want to testify " the judge says.
" I'd like to call up Jack to the stand ". Once Jack gets sworn in he sits down on the stand and looks completely relaxed.
" State your name and involvement "
" Jack, I helped Nate hurt NuNew "
" When did you first meet Nate "
" 8th grade "
" How close are you with him "
" He's my role model. I respect what he does and will help him with anything he needs "
" Why is he your role model "
" He's not afraid to beat the shit out of people whenever he wants to. I mean he even pays people to tell him the names of gay people "
" Why did you help Nate hurt NuNew "
" I mean who wouldn't help their role model if they asked him. Not to mention I had a lot of lent up anger. It was also relaxing to see someone get beaten up. I especially love the fear in peoples eyes and voices when they are scared ". The whole room goes silent for a while. Shocked by what he says. Nat grabs on to his shaking hand.
" Why did you help cut NuNew on the day of the incident "
" Nate looked like he was having so much fun so I wanted to try it. It was definitely a lot of fun. I cut him on his hip and it was so cool seeing the blood come out and how NuNew reacted "
" Do you see NuNew as a way to release pent up anger and to experiment your sick interest on "
" Definitely. Every time we would punish him I would always be the last one to leave. I would see how he reacted to each punishment up until the first day of school. I even kept a notebook in my school backpack about the punishments ". He closes his eyes and try's to take deep breaths in order to calm down.
" See even right now it's so interesting to see how he reacts to everything we've put him through. I can see his hands shaking and he desperately wants to leave the room. It's so funny " Jack says laughing. He bites his lip as he opens his eyes. He looks up at Jack and they make eye contact. He sees him smirk and he immediately looks down scared.
" I'm done questioning Jack Judge " Mrs.T says. The judge nods and says " Jack leave the stand and go back to your seat. He quickly stands up and walks back to his seat with a smile.
" Tyler please come up to the Stand "
He watches as Tyler goes up to the stand after getting sworn in.
" State your name and your involvement in the case "
" Tyler, I'm Nate's childhood friend "
" How long have you known him "
" My entire life. Our parents are friends "
" Why did you help him hurt NuNew "
" We do everything together. If he wants to hurt someone or kill someone id help him "
He watches as Mrs.T turns the screen back on and shows a instagram account.
" Is it true that you and Nate run this account in order to find people to hurt "
" Yes "
" Why do you do it "
" So we can release our anger "
" Why are you always angry "
" Because me and Nate have rich parents and are expected to be perfect kids "
" Where did you get the knife "
" I bought it from some shop online "
" When did you get the knife "
" The day before school started "
" Did you guys already plan on trying to kill NuNew on the first day of school "
" Yes "
" Why "
" Mine and Nate's parents wanted to send us to university in America. We were both really pissed so we decided to release an our anger by torturing and killing NuNew. We were going to hurt him more but it started to not be fun or stress relieving after he stopped fighting back "
" So because of being sent to university in America you and Nate decided to torture and kill NuNew "
" Yes "
" The day of the beach. Did you intend to kill him when you saw him again "
" I had saw him the day before having fun with his friends. Especially Nat. So when I told everyone we decided that we were going to make NuNew watch us torture and kill Nat before we killed him afterwards ". He bites his lip stopping himself from crying. He gently squeezes Nat's hand.
" Why did you plan on hurting specifically Nat "
" Because he looked the closest to NuNew. The whole time they were all in the water NuNew and Nat were playing together the most "
" Why did you use your knife and stab Max "
" Well he started to fight me to protect both NuNew and Nat. He ruined our plan. I knew that if I couldn't kill Nat then I can injure one of his other friends. If it weren't for NuNew being a fucking snitch I would have been able to stab him in a more critical area "
" So you wanted to try and kill Max after you couldn't kill Nat or NuNew "
" Yes "
" That's all your judge "
" Tyler leave the Stand and go back to your seat now " the judge said. Once Tyler is sat down the judge says " Go ahead any call the next person to testify attorney "
" I'd like to call up Max to the stand " Mrs.T says. He watches closely as Max gets sworn in before he walks over to the stand and sits down.
" State your name and involvement in the case "
" Max, I'm NuNews best friend and the person that Tyler stabbed "
" Can you tell me about what you first thought about NuNew "
" I could tell he was a very anxious person but he seemed kind and Nat and him clicked immediately so I was happy to have him join our friend group "
" When was the first time you became really worried for him "
" I was in the hallway walking to my next class after dropping Nat off at his class when I saw him. I could tell as soon as he looked towards my way that he wasn't ok. He was swaying back and forth as he walked and looked like he had trouble breathing. When I reached him I herd him asking for help. He fell shortly after that and I picked him up immediately and took him to the nurses office. He had a really high fever because of stress and an infection in one of his scars "
" Was there any other times you were worried "
" NuNew got sick a couple of times. When we our group was eating lunch NuNew didn't have an appetite and just laid his head down on the table. Zee checked his temperature and he felt hot so he had me check his temperature as well. It was a lot more hot then the other day when he passed out. So me, Zee as well as Nat rushed him back to the nurses office. The doctor there told us to take his shirt off because he was over heating and getting bad. He had never shown anyone his chest before and he was terrified. He was fighting back and crying but we had to do it in order to help him. So Zee held him down while I got his shirt off. Even after that he clung on to Zee in order to hide his chest because he was so terrified. I was so worried about him "
" NuNew told the investigators that you were the person to help him reveal his scars for the first time. What did you do "
" I did the only thing I could think to do. I have a big scar on my hip because of a car crash I was in. I never showed anyone because I hated how it looked. Similar to what NuNew was saying about his scars. So even though I was scared to I told him that we can show are scars together. It took a little while if convincing but eventually he agreed. I told him that I would go first and I did. After that NuNew slowly stopped clinging on to Zee and showed us his scars. After he did it I just kept telling him that he did a good job and how proud I am of him for doing it "
" Do you see him as a little brother "
" I think that almost all of us do in our friend group "
" Why do you think that "
" Because we all really care for him. We always want to help him have fun and make good memories as a high school kid "
" Can you tell me what happened at the beach. What's the first thing that was bad to happen at the beach "
" The first day we arrived Nat and NuNew went to the beach and took photos before coming back because NuNew thought he had herd Nate laughing. He had told himself that it was probably his ptsd acting up. We started talking and that's when he revealed that he's had a re accruing nightmare involving me "
" What's the nightmare "
" When I talked with him later that night he said that he kept getting images in his head and nightmares that were about me getting hurt by Nate and the others while he was being held back and forced to watch "
" Similar to what happened during the incident at the beach "
" Yes. Other than Nate and the others hurting NuNew and Nat, thats what made me so furious "
" When NuNew saw you for the first time after the incident he ran out of the room. How did that make you feel "
" I felt so helpless and sad. Since the moment I got stabbed I didn't think about myself. I just kept thinking about how NuNew is going to blame himself. So when he ran out of the room I wanted to run after him but I couldn't. I hated that he felt and still feels guilty about everything that happened at the beach when it's not his fault "
" How was NuNew during the investigation after leaving the hospital "
" He was terrified. He didn't want to be alone with the investigators. After he was done you could tell that he was not ok. He stayed with Zee the entire time. When he was gone he stayed next to me and Nat. At one point he threw up because he had to look at the images of his scars on his chest "
" What about when you got back to the school up until the video getting released "
" He had a lot of mood swings that would change drastically. He would mostly get terrified or angry. He was rarely happy and he was often in his own head not really talking with others "
" What about the day of the last video getting released "
" I was so terrified that something was going to happen to him if he saw the video. And when we couldn't reach him it was scary. Luckily he went to an area he knew Zee could find him at. When we walked to the office he was shaken up for a while. He didn't want Zee or Nat to leave his side at all. He only allowed Nat to leave so he could get his and Zee's bags so we could all drive to NuNews house "
" How do you think everything has affected him "
" I actually don't believe that it only affected NuNew "
" What do you mean "
" Nat has gotten PTSD because of this while NuNews PTSD has gotten worse because of the beach situation "
" Nat has trauma because of this situation "
" Yes. Whenever there's fighting, yelling or he's being held down his anxiety starts to rise and he just shuts himself off from people. Similar to what happens when NuNews ptsd starts to get bad "
" What punishment do you want for them "
" I want them all to rot in prison for the rest of their lives. They are a danger to everyone "
" That's all judge "
" Max please leave the stand and return to your seat " When Max sits back down the judge says " Attorney call the next person up to testify "

Word Count: 4502