𝙊𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 - 𝐵.𝐸

24 - 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢

As I woke up from Billie's hand shaking my shoulder, my stomach churned with anxiety. I knew deep down that I was guilty, and that made the thought of facing the judge and jury all the more daunting.

I walked down the hallway grabbing a towel from the narrow closet beside the bathroom and took a shower. Slowly washing the soap off my body and brushing my teeth.

My feet stood on the cold floor as  I got dressed, I couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled over me. I tried to distract myself by checking my empty phone and tidying up my room, but my mind kept drifting back to the impending trial. Billie and Ali got ready as I stood in front of my mirror applying some makeup. I had to look presentable, like I was the perfect teenager who only cared about where she was going to university and friends.

I wore my hair down and fixed the butterfly necklace as well as the gold locket Bil gave me around my neck. I put a dark blue shirt over my head and some gray jeans. I guess this looked somewhat nice.

The only reason we're going to court is because Robin's parents hired detectives who think they now know what happened, and that we were somehow involved. I didn't even remember what the actual term was called, it wasn't manslaughter or anything that dramatic.

I walked out of my front door towards the car before Alison called my name out.

"Maddy, wait! I forgot something upstairs. I'll be down in a sec!" She yells before running back up the stairs.

I sat in the car waiting for her to come back out as I applied my lip balm before putting it in billies pocket. I saw a glimpse of her strawberry hair walk by on the opposite side of the car. She got in and we drove off.

"Noo you just ate!. These are mine." Alison smacks Billie's hand away from her tupperware bowl of blueberries. I laughed and handed Billie a granola bar I stuffed into my bag with me earlier.

The drive to the courthouse felt endless, each passing mile feeling like a step closer to my own personal reckoning. I held Billies hand the entire way as my parents drove us and Alison.

We arrived infront of the courthouse in the center of the town square, its imposing white pillars with sturdy red bricks and its peaked roof was covered in black slate tiles. A large clock tower rose up from the center of the roof, with a clock face on all four sides, its hands pointing towards the time of day.

We walked up a wide stone path, the steps themselves were broad and shallow, and a bronze plaque with the town's name written largely above the entrance along with a carved stone pediment, which read "Justice for All" in bold letters.

As the minutes ticked by, my nerves only intensified. I felt like I was on the verge of a panic attack, my heart racing and my palms sweating. The thought of standing up in front of a room full of strangers and admitting my guilt was almost too much to bear.

We opened the doors to see my friends and their parents standing waiting to go in. I hugged Jason and Zoe and sat down with everyone as all of our parents talked. I looked over to my mom and Maggie talking as they shook their heads in disbelief. I turned my head across the hallway seeing Robin's parents and their lawyer already staring me down.

"Did you put any makeup on?" I whispered to Alison who was resting her head on the hard wall.

"Uh no why? Was I supposed to?" She quickly fixed her posture.

"No no I just meant you look a little bit sick, did you not sleep." I tell her examining her face.

"Did you?." She laughed. I took out my tinted raspberry lip balm and applied some onto her pale mouth.