If Not Now, When? // Book 1

Chapter 17: Feb 18

Chapter 17: Thursday Feb 18

I woke up at 6AM - on a fucking Sunday of all days. But I was panicking about the court hearing last night. I wore black skinny jeans, a dark purple jumper and my boots.

The hearing started around 12PM, so I had plenty of time to prepare, but I also had to wake Shannon up. I knocked on his door multiple times before I finally opened it. "Get up fucker, we have places to be!" I yelled at him.

"Go away." He groaned

"I said get up!" I pulled his covers off him.

"Ugh, go away, Michaela!"

"Shannon, we have a court hearing today, I've been panicking all night, I don't need this shit. Get up, or I'll chop your fucking dick off," I walked away.

Then I popped my head back in, "and wear something nice, will you?"

He finally appeared around 10:30. "Thank god, I thought you'd never come out."

"Piss off."

We sat there for another hour or so and I thought about how I was going to talk about it.

Mum drove us to the court. I saw Livia and Sheldon.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"Nope," Livia said almost immediately.

"I think..." said Sheldon

"Same, Liv. Same..." I giggled.

We were finally let in at 11:50.

At 12:00 it started.

Out of nowhere someone called "All rise." We stood. "The court of Latrobe Valley is now in session. Judge Theresa presiding. Please be seated." We sat down again.

The Judge then spoke. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the people of the state versus Bonnie Whitehall. Are both sides ready?"

Someone, who I guess is meant to be on our side said, "ready for the people, Your Honour."

Bonnie's lawyer stood up. "Ready for the defence, Your Honour."

The judge had us swear to the court.

Our person - whoever he was - stood again.

"Your Honour and ladies and gentlemen of the jury: The defendant has been charged with the crime of breaking and entering a public school and attempted murder. The evidence will show that the defendant was recorded entering the school after 12:45PM on Monday, February 12th. The defendant then lunged at a witness and attacked him. This attack can be seen as attempted murder. The evidence I present will prove that the defendant is guilty as charged."

Bonnie's lawyer stood up to talk to the jury.

"Your Honour and ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Under law, my client is presumed innocent until proven guilty. During this trial, you will hear no real evidence against my client. You will come to know the truth."

"Objection! I apologise for interrupting, though you may not hear the evidence, you will be watching it. There is no way the defendant can be proven innocent," said our person. You know what? Let's call him Daryl. It's Daryl now. Good ol' Dazza.

"Order! Let the lawyer speak," said the Judge.

"Thank you, Your Honour. Whitehall was only entering the school to enter the office. She was intending to speak to a student in a calm and quiet manner."

I was beginning to become suspicious... He knew what she did. Everyone does. What is the point of defending her. Maybe he had no points to backfire with, so he came up with this bullshit.

The judge once again spoke up. "The prosecution may call its first witness."

"The people call the first victim."

I was taken to the witness stand. I stood there awkwardly waiting until someone gave me some sort of signal to talk.

"Please stand. Raise your right hand. Do you promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do," I said.

"Please state your first and last name."

"Michaela Amiri."

"You may be seated."

Someone else asked, "please spell your last name for the record."

"A-M-I-R-I"

Daryl stood. "Michaela, where do you go to school?"

"I go to Blue Murry Secondary college, Junior Campus."

"What is the address of your school?"

"83 Herald Avenue, Blue Murry."

"Were you present there on February 12th?

"Yes."

"Tell me. What happened on the day Blue Murry Secondary was broken into?"

"The school immediately went into lockdown, Bonnie had asked what classroom I was in via Instagram. I stayed quiet, but she shortly arrived at my class, picking the lock with a hairpin. I stood and asked her why she was coming after me after she had so clearly injured me more than I had injured her. She said she had come back for revenge. My boyfriend then stood up and asked what was wrong with her. She attacked him. He had the upper hand, but was still fairly bruised after the encounter. My English teacher called police and they took her away. One of the most absurd days of the term so far, I'll tell ya."

They asked a few more questions, I answered. Some of these questions were about minor details and some of our history.

We slowly moved through all the witnesses, including Miss. Schumer. The rest of the hearing was a daze, I just wanted to go home.

"Bonnie Whitehall, I hereby sentence you to 15 years in jail for breaking and entering a school and attempted murder."

Sheldon hugged me immediately. "We did it!"

"Thank you, Sheldon, so much, I couldn't have gotten through this without you..."

"Love you, Micky."

"Love you too, Shel."

We stayed like that for a while, and I think Livia nearly have died of happiness watching us. In the background, she sounded like an actual demon as she screamed. Kat just pulled her into a hug as she calmed down.

As soon as we got home, I went straight to bed, and fell asleep. I'm fucking exhausted.