Good Girl Gone Bad

Chapter 1

"Avery Jennings, you are sentenced to six months in juvenile detention. Case closed! " The judge slammed his mallet on the podium, and walked off into some other room with his black robe dragging along behind him.

My jaw dropped to the ground and my heart sunk. This can't be happening. It's all a dream. It has to be. This can't be real. It just can't.

Instead of showing just how scared I truly was, showing how many emotions were running through me which were a mix of anger, guilt, sadness, remorse, a little bit of everything except happiness; Instead of letting my feelings show, I put on my poker face and made sure I seemed calm, cool, and collected. The last thing I needed right now was to show weakness.

The cop behind me muttered something incoherent under his breath. He pulled my hands behind my back and I could feel the cold, rough handcuffs wrap tightly around both my wrists. I didn't even bother to try and fight it, I knew there was nothing more I could do about it. He pushed me out the door and I was taken outside where a cop car was parked on the side of the road. I looked around and saw some people giving me dirty looks, while others stared down at me in what I considered to be sympathy or pity. My head was pushed down and I was roughly shoved into the vehicle.

The car took off and I stared out the window saying goodbye to everything I wouldn't see for the next six months. My eyes were tearing up, but I fought back the tears. I hate crying, but I do it so often. It's almost a reflex by now. I'm done crying, I won't let these people see me cry, I'm not gonna be the weak one anymore. I've been weak for far too long. From now on things will be different, I thought to myself as we pulled up in front of a ratty old building with the words Juvenile Detention Center printed clearly in big white letters. The whole place was surrounded by those circle things you'd usually see at the county jail, and all the windows were covered by bars. Man, they really take these things seriously.

By now, you're probably wondering, what the hell is going on, well I'll tell you. It's like this, a few months ago, I was walking home after school and as I was passing my neighbors house I saw something completely unexpected. There was some guy in a black hoodie, a ski mask and a black bag doing something to the side of Mr. Wilbur's car, he's my neighbor by the way, so anyway, I walked around the car and before I could do anything, he'd already cracked the window and was reaching inside. I stood there, frozen, unable to move because I was so scared. God, I was so stupid! If i'd have done something, I wouldn't be where I was right now. He took some cash, and when I finally ran inside and called the cops, I was too late. He'd already drowned the car in gas, and as I made my way outside to stop him from what he was about to do, he threw a lighter at the car and I stopped dead in my tracks as the car was engulfed in flames. My eyes stung and I could feel myself choking on all the smoke that was currently clogging up the air. That's when I passed out.

I woke up a few hours later to a bright light shining in my face and a doctor standing right above me. He had chocolate brown hair and bright blue eyes. He told me his name was Doctor Colhaine and where I was, turns out, I was at the hospital a few blocks down from my house.

The part i'm still fuzzy on, even now, was when he explained to me why I was at the hospital and how I got there. He was saying something about a man bringing me in, signing with Mr. Wilbur's name, but you know what's funny? That week, Mr. Wilbur had taken a trip up north to visit his son, so there was no way he could've brought me in. Then he explained to me that when I got here, I was still unconscious and i'd been out for about an hour. Plus, he told me I'd passed out because of all the smoke that traveled into my lungs.

So later that day when I was finally allowed to leave, I was given an inhaler I had to use for a few days and also some pills to take in case of any headaches. I called a cab, and soon enough their was a bright yellow car waiting for me outside the hospital.

When we pulled up in front of my house, what surprised me most was the fact that there were several cop cars parked in our driveway and my mom was talking to one of the police officers while he wrote something down on a small notepad. I gave the old man at the wheel a ten dollar bill, murmured keep the change, just loud enough so he could hear me, and then quickly clambered out of the cab.

I rushed over to where my mother and the cop stood, confused as to why they were here. The only thing running through my mind at that moment was, What happened? I couldn't think of anything else.

As soon as my mother caught sight of me walking towards them, she sent me a look mixed with surprise, disappointment, and even a hint of anger. This just added to my confusion so I quickened my pace, until I was standing smack dab in between them facing her. However, as I opened my mouth to speak I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned my head slightly to look over my shoulder, and saw the officer from before looking down at me with an unimpressed look on his face.

I excused us and dragged my mother over to a far corner of the front yard where our conversation wouldn't be audible to anyone but us.

During the time I spent questioning her I didn't realize what was going on behind me. So when she finally explained to me that there was an investigation going on to find out who committed the crime of not only stealing from Mr. Wilbur's car, but also setting it on fire, I really wasn't that surprised, since i'd been there, in fact i'd called the cops. However, the part that did take me completely by surprise was the fact that apparently I was first on the list of suspects. One of my other neighbors said they'd seen me there near the car when it blew up and that caused a great deal of drama.

So a few trials, arguments, and months later, here I am. In juvie for the next six months.