Hey Punk, Keep This a Secret

Chapter Fourteen: Chance Andrews

 At the end of the recess, Devin woke me up. "Chance. Chance, wake up, we have to finish the case," he said.

I definitely wasn't ready to get off that couch. I had to toss and turn so I could wake up. "I don't want to," I groaned. "I want to go home."

"Don't worry," Devin tried assuring me, "Mrs. Cartor said earlier that Hart will probably just be prosecuted now, and that we'll go home soon after."

"That better be true," I said.

"I hope it is," he answered. I couldn't tell if he said it because he was tired too, or because he felt bad that I was tired. It was probably a fair combination of both, honestly, and I don't blame him.

Devin sat there patiently as I pulled myself up from the couch. Then he walked with me to the courtroom. He kept his hand in mine the whole way there, and I don't exactly know why. I let him do it. I doubted it was because he liked me or anything like that.

Everybody else was already there, waiting for what I believe was Hart's prosecution. "You guys left Chance by himself," Devin told them.

"I'm sorry, I had to come a bit early to talk with the judge and our lawyer, and everybody else followed me by mistake," Taylor said.

To spare myself the pain, I'll quickly sum up what happened. The judge told us that- based on her evaluation of our evidence alongside what happened during the trial- she almost fully believed Hart was guilty. When I tell you the relief here was immeasurable, I mean it. He was charged with assault- for purposefully knocking me unconscious- and statutory rape- for reasons that I'm sure are obvious by this point.

After that, we got ready to leave. Since not all of us could fit in one car, both Taylor and Landon had their cars there. Everybody else chose to go with Taylor, but I went with Landon. Firstly, because I felt bad for him. Secondly, because I wanted to talk to him.

As we were getting into the vehicle, Landon said, "Thanks for riding with me, kid. I appreciate it." This surprised me a bit.

"Yeah," I said dryly as I buckled my seatbelt.

Landon began to pull the car out of the parking spot he was in. "That was kind of a dry response. What's wrong," he asked.

"I think you already know," I sighed.

"Oh," he said. He left the parking lot, and as he drove down the road, he said, "Well hey, he's gone now, so it'll be okay."

"Yeah, for a few decades, and then he'll go do it again," I said. I didn't even really think that was true. I guess being around Landon kind of puts those thoughts in your head even before he can say them aloud.

Landon paused. I think he was equally surprised that I would say that. "Yeah," he sighed once he wiped the look off his face.

I could tell he had to think for a minute before he gave his full response. "But hey, maybe you'll have healed by then. And you'll get to laugh when he has to go door-to-door telling everybody in his neighborhood that he raped a 15 year old kid," he said.

"I don't know if I'll laugh," I said.

"You're right. That might be a bit extreme, but who knows. Maybe when it happens, you will laugh about it. Or, at the very least feel some satisfaction about the much-deserved karma," he said.

"I guess," I said, not knowing how else to respond.

After that, we sat in silence for a few moments. When I couldn't take it anymore, I began to hint at what I really wanted to talk to Landon about: