Pieces // H.S

Chapter 7: A Courtroom encounter

Jane:

I travelled to the courtroom in a traditional London black cab with Felicity, Jade, a security guard and a lawyer, who was hastily going through the procedures. It was like the day of my parents’ funeral, with so many events timed down to the last minute. I looked across to Felicity and Jade, who looked anxious. Jade was quickly adjusting her perfect hair and Felicity was thinking deeply and trying to resist the urge to mess-up her makeup that had been forced upon her. Aunt and Uncle had agreed to get a professional to do my hair because they had been warned of the huge exposure to the press. The case had headlined the entertainment news, with a biased opinion towards One Direction, obviously. Mr Marsh, the lawyer, assured us that we had a strong case backed by strong evidence. His American accent made me think of To Kill a Mockingbird and the case of Tom Robinson: despite the lies that were told by the prosecution biases overruled and Tom was charged. Mr Marsh reassured us and told us that the press were fickle and they would change sides as soon as the management of One Direction appeared guilty.

Security pushed back the crowds of fans shouting at us. Their heartfelt protection of their idols was admirable, and I almost began to regret taking this to court, but a win from this case meant I could get a home of my own away from my over caring Aunt and Uncle.

We sat in our allocated places behind Mr Marsh and his strong team of trained lawyers. I watched the management team, which included Simon Cowell, sit with the defence team. The public galleries were filling as reporters poured in. Jade nudged me when she saw the members of One Direction and their entourage sit in the heavily protected gallery. Felicity stared as if examining the five lads and their girlfriends. She squinted, and then grimaced. Felicity was weird like that.

Once the jury had been seated, the case began.

 ***

Harry:

Simon asked us to show our faces on the first day of court, and then he said we wouldn’t have to come in again. I wanted to follow the case, though, so I came everyday (sad, I know). The press soon lost interest after about ten days, but I knew they would be back for the verdict. Three teenage girls claimed to have written and recorded the song months ago for a practical GCSE exam. Reports made out that they were liars, wanting money and attention. I felt sorry for the girls as hate and rumours spread quicker than a wild fire. Two of the girls, Jade Honey and Felicity Joseph had both twitter and Facebook accounts. Both of their pages were plastered in hate from fans interspersed with a few supportive comments that just supported them to spite us. There seemed to be no information on the last girl, Jane Hamilton, who had no social network links or any references on Google other than to the case. 

We couldn’t afford to lose this case. It would mean possibly the end of our lives as a band, and it would almost definitely spell the end of Simon’s career in management or whatever exactly it was that he did.

** COMNG SOON: Chapter 8: The Verdict**

A/N: This was originally two chapters, but they were very short, so I put them together. If you think they should be two seperate ones, then please comment below :)