Turmoil | Spruceworth 5.1 (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Holden

       Shaw's hearing came a lot faster than I thought it would. It still took a long time, but at least I didn't have to go months and months with him behind bars waiting for his trial because if he did get off, he would have already spent a lot of time in prison.

       I was honestly starting to get worried. I honestly didn't know much about how Shaw acting in the past when he was getting help from Mom and Dad because I spent most of that time in boarding school, and Kendra started to tell me some of the things he did.

       If someone brought that up to the judge, they might reconsider the whole thing and believe that Shaw could have done something else to get away instead of killing Cassidy.

       The trial was happening during school hours, but Dad gave me permission to skip. Not that I wouldn't have skipped if he told me not to because I was now eighteen. If he wouldn't allow me, I was going to tell him that I would drop out of school then.

       Thankfully, he knew that it would make no difference if I skipped since if I didn't, I wouldn't have been paying attention in school anyway.

       Jane even wanted to come with me since she knew I might turn out to be a complete wreck in court, and since she was a very smart girl and always on top of her game at school, one day wasn't going to affect her.

       "Please tell me my heart isn't going to leap out of my chest," I said as Jane helped me adjust my tie since my hands were shaking too much to do it myself. 

       "Relax, I don't think it will," Jane said, pushing the knot of the tie up to my neck. "I don't know much about what happened with Cassidy but from what everyone has been telling me, I think he'll get off. She has a history of actually killing people, so it's not going to be hard to prove that she actually did try killing Shaw."

       "You know, everyone's saying that they'll think he'll get off, but what if that means that he won't get off?" I asked. "There's that saying, be careful what you wish for."

       "Holden, seriously, this has nothing to do with wishing or luck or fate," Jane said. "It has to do with evidence. He'll be fine."

       I still had my doubts.

       Dad, Jane, and I headed over to the courthouse for Shaw's hearing. Not surprisingly, Mom didn't want to come because she didn't want to see Shaw get away with killing someone.

       Even though Cassidy tried killing him first.

       The closer we got to the courtroom, the more nervous and worried I was starting to feel. If he got sent down, I wouldn't be able to see him as often. He would be in prison for a long time when all he tried doing was defending himself.

       "Holden," Jane said when we got to the courtroom, gently grabbing my arm. "Try not to worry, okay? If Shaw's lawyer is confident about it, then just focus on the best case scenario, okay?"

       I nodded, even though it felt impossible for me.

       Once we got in the courtroom, it felt like days before it was finally time for Shaw's trial. The whole time, my heart was beating fast and we weren't even at the point where we were to find Shaw guilty or not guilty of misconduct.

       If he was found guilty, I would probably break down.

       The nerve and worrisome wasn't leaving at all, even though Brody was doing an amazing job trying to prove that Shaw shouldn't be going to prison when all he did was defend himself. At least mixed with those feelings was a tiny bit of hope.