Home Is Just A Room

Chapter 6

The rest of the morning was awkward, because they sensed me being uneasy and I was torn between wanting to tell them about the letter or forget about it.
I waited until Connor came home from dropping Jack off at his tennis lessons and pulled out the envelope, which I had hidden until I could talk about it with them.

"Guys, uh, I found this envelope in the mail today" I began, tossing it to Troye.
"What's-" He started to question, going silent as he read the letter. He paled and tossed it to Connor.
They were both panicking because I knew they didn't want me to find out. Or in this way, at least.

"Why would you do that?" I asked, sounding defeated to myself.

"Do what?"

"Sue them. I thought we agreed on not doing anything like that."

"We..." Connor started hesitantly, "It wasn't us. They sued us saying we kidnapped you."

I was taken aback  by this response, since I didn't even consider one would think that. My parents knew we came to Troye as a last resourse and most of all following our will. It was stupid and very annoying then just after saying they didn't want to hear from us they started this kind of tantrum.

"I'm sorry, Rachel, I really am, but I think you'll have to witness against them if you don't want to go back living with them."

My heart dropped. Never would I believe I'd be put in this situation nor did I wanna make a decision upon that. I mean, they were surely awful to me and Jack but I didn't want to basically go to court and say they abused us because they didn't. It happened once, but I knew that my witness would be changed to make them look like monsters by Troye's lawyer.

"If you win... will you adopt us?"

"Yes, that's why we need to win in the first place"

On second thoughts, it was really low of my parents to sue them as kidnappers, especially since Connor worked with kids and his career could be seriously damaged by it. As much as I didn't want to go against my parents (or interact with them at all, for that matter), I decided that they were wrong and I was willing to stand up for the innocent couple that had been nothing but nice to me.

"I guess I could... witness, you know. But what would happen if they win?"

"I think the court wouldn't let you live with them anyway, if you tell them what happened. I think you'll be put in a foster home or something."

There was no way I could ruin it all by making us go in a foster home. It would really be too much for me and Jack. Living with Connor and Troye was just nice and to be honest I didn't want any change to be made.

*

 One month had gone by. One month of me rehearsing my speech and one month of the boys reassuring me about it on a daily basis. Making sure I wouldn't feel guilty if we failed was their main mission.

But here I was, dressed fancy and serious like I swore I never would. Yet, my silk-like blouse and pencil black skirt felt like a second skin to me and to say I felt suffocated would be an understatement.

Troye's lawyer repeated the same words the boys chanted every day just seconds before entering the surprisingly crowded room. My parents were pretty known in town, so everyone was there to witness the upcoming scandal.

I couldn't think straight throughout the whole thing, repeating in my mind the words to my speech over and over again.

"I would now like to invite my first witness, Rachel Cecilia Douglas". Our lawyer intimated solemnly. I nervously stood up and without glancing around I made my way towards the seating that I had been fearing for one excruciating month.

"Miss Douglas, could you describe with accuracy the events that lead you and your brother to Mr.Mellet and Mr.Franta's house?" the judge asked me. He looked like a nice man, as he was probably trying to make me more comfortable.

I then started reciting the words that I had basically learnt by heart,

"That night, a couple of months ago, my brother Jack accidentally mentioned that he fancied his male classmate. My, uh, parents then got angry and made homofobic remarks and intimated that we leave the house. So we did, and in the middle of the night we went to Tro, I mean, Mr. Mellet's house because we knew him well and knew he'd let us stay."

"So they didn't force you to live with them?"

"Definetely not". By then I was starting to feel very positive about the outcome of the trial. After all, I was the most important witness and completely exonerated them, so there couldn't be much evidence that Jack and I were there against our will.

Court was soon dismissed to let the jury establish a verdict. I felt utterly numb and euphoric because I didn't mess up. Everyone complimented me as I ignored the nasty stares by my parents. Theirs was just competition. After was felt like years, we were called back inside the room.

We all quietly took our places and I intertwined my hands with Connor's. After a few introduction sentences, the judge started reading the reasons behind their verdict that was yet to be anounced.

"Seen as Troye Sivan Mellet and Connor Joel Franta held two minors in their household without being granted legal custody; seen as sixteen years old isn't yet considered an appropriate age to garantee consent;..." Wait, what?

"...Mr. Mellet and Mr.Franta are considered guilty."

Do I really need to add more? I was basically fucked.

"The minors Jack and Rachel Douglas will be moved into a foster home within-"

"Your Honor, objection!".

Not me, not Troye, not Connor, nor anyone I knew was the one to yell that.

*Cliffhanger oops. Don't hate meh plz*