Schizoid

:.Disbelief.:

Again, I'm  sorry about the short chapters. Still, I hope you're enjoying the story so far. Play the song in the media. It's Decode by Paramore. 

Jenna presses the buzzer outside the door, waiting until she hears a click as the door unlocks to charge in. Her chunky black ankle boots make a dull thump on the thin, navy blue carpet. She makes her way to the faux wood of the receptionist's desk. The young man seated there looks bored, but upon seeing Jenna walk through the door, he pulls mouth into a fake albeit flamboyant smile. "Good morning," he calls to the stranger. "Do you have an appointment with us today?"

It takes a lot for the woman to not laugh in the man's face. She finds it rather comical that, although having no power or jurisdiction, the clerk still has the boldness to link himself with the company. To someone else, the word 'us' doesn't have much power. But for Jenna, everything has power. Everything means more than it probably should. That's what it means to be a lawyer, right? Every word is a weapon. Every statement matters.

"Jenna Black," she says as she holds up her ID badge to the man working the desk. He types noisily into his desktop before pleasantly smiling at the woman and instructing her to visit room 24. He explains that she'll need to go up to the second floor and turn to her left until she finds the room. He points her in the direction of the facility's elevators, which she gratefully takes up to the second floor. When she reaches the room, she gives a light rap on the door before gently pushing it open. Three men and one woman are already seated as she pulls her own chair closer to the table.

"Ms. Black-" one man with too-long dark brown hair starts, only to be cut off by Jenna.

"Dr. Black.."

"Thank you for the correction," he says dryly.

A woman with fading blonde, no, yellow hair speaks. "Dr. Black, I'm Dr. Williams, and these are Drs. Preciado, Way, and Bostwick." She punctuates by pointing each man out.

"Nice to meet you all," Jenna says, then clears her throat pointedly. "There are never usually this many people in the room when I get new cases." She thinks about adding, "and none of you even look like doctors of any profession," but she holds back. That doesn't keep her from thinking about their appearance, though. Preciado, Bostwick, and Williams all have tattoos covering their arms. All the men's hair falls past their shoulders excluding Preciado. All of their suit jackets are draped over the backs of their faux leather swivel chairs, making the room feel more like a lounge than a professional meeting place. Jenna tugs on her own suit jacket, feeling overdressed.

"This one's pretty different than any case you've ever taken, honestly," Dr. Way tells her, his East coast accent thick and heavy. He scratches his scalp beneath layers of not-so-subtle red hair as Dr. Bostwick hands the state lawyer a case file. Her manicured hands carefully open the manilla folder, her eyes immediately widening as they scanned over the name printed across the top.

"You want me to defend him?" Jenna asks in disbelief.

"Yes," Dr. Preciado answers evenly. "We've seen your work. You did a perfect job on the convenience store robbery case. You're an amazing attorney. Think of what this will do for your record when you win."

"If I win," Jenna amends. "And this isn't about my record. I couldn't care less about my record. This is about morals. He killed four people. For no reason."

"Everything happens for a reason. It's your job to find out what that reason is and defend it," Bostwick sighs. "But how about this: You go to Belle Reve, you hear his side of the story. If you don't want the case, we have other candidates that are jumping at the shot. We just assumed that we should give you the first opportunity..."

"Are you testing me? I'm not egotistical enough to respond favorably to challenges," Jenna snorts.

"Dr. Black," Way pleads, leaning back in his chair.

"No. I don't think this will-"

"Jenna," Bostwick snaps, "it's been three months. Ohio is getting restless. You know the 6th gives him the right to a speedy trial; we can't hold this off forever. Something needs to happen. He can't go on trial without a defense attorney, and our main focus here is getting him to court and out of this side of the legal system. I couldn't care less whether you bomb this case on purpose or not; that's all up to you. It's all on you. If you can't handle this, that's fine. But if you can, then say that now. Because, as I said, you're not the only person we've considered and we would have no problem passing this case on to someone more qualified."

Jenna looks at the case file, trying her best not to notice the gory crime scene photos. She can feel everyone's eyes on her, but she chooses to ignore them as she reads. Finally, she finishes, closing the folder and tucking it into her briefcase.

"I'm going to Belle Reve tomorrow to meet my client," she tells the group as she stands and makes her way to the door.

"Keep us updated," Williams calls to the attorney.

"Of course," Jenna calls as she leaves. She stands alone in the elevator, trying to come to grips that she will be defending a cold-blooded murderer. She will be defending Tyler Joseph.