It's Complicated

Chapter 23

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"He has been proven not guilty on account of instinct and pity for his student, but will still be inprisoned for 10 months and then on probation for 2 years," He said, and then sat down. There was murmuring throughout the courthouse and the judge hit his gavel down three times in a quick motion.

"Order in the court," He called. "It's settled. Scott Hoying admitted to taking pity on his student when questioned yesterday, but he still has to face consequences on account that he knew what he was doing. His sentence is 10 months and 2 year probation, along with suspension of his teaching license and has been dismissed from his teaching duties in the Martin High School district."

I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream. Scott was getting the worse end of the stick, and I hadn't even heard what would be happening to me but I was fully aware that the decision made for me would be 100x better than Scott's.

I thought back to the stuff I had been trying to block out and not remember from the sesssion. But it just flooded back to me.

"My client Scott Hoying has decided to plead guilty on account that he felt pity for his student. Mitchell wasn't a good student when they became acquaintances, and the fact that his motives and adademic decisions began to change when he spent time with Scott made Scott feel like he had obligations to Mitch," Scott's lawyer said. I stared at Scott in disbelief. Was that really what he believed? I tried to meet his eyes, but his head was hung as his lawyer spoke. I wanted to run over to Scott and yell at him for lying to me, but I also wanted to beg for him to tell me that it was all a lie.

He didn't mean any of this, I thought to myself. Our love was real. Our love IS real.

Or so I had thought, until he had admitted to only doing all of this out of guilt. What'd that make me? A fool?

Did it make me a victim, like I haf believed I was not?

The judge snapped me out of my thoughts. "And as decided by some of your teachers and consent of your temporary lawyer, we would like you to see a personal therapist each week so you can talk to them about what happened between you and Scott. We just want what's best for you." I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes but instead gave him a curt nod. Anna nudged me and I sighed.

"Yes, your honor," I said. I allowed myself to look at Scott one final time. If he was looking at me, I would walk out of here feeling accomplished. If he wasn't, I would be assured that he in fact, didn't care about me. I raised my head slowly and almost gasped. Scott's blue eyes were on me, and he looked intent on whatever was going on in his thoughts. I swallowed and held his gaze. He broke away first and rose from his seat. His lawyer grabbed his arm but Scott shook his head.

"Your honor, is there one more thing I may address?" Scott said. Everyone was staring at him.

"I suppose," The judge said.

"I don't know if you knew, but Mitch wad also bullied by Jonah Taylor. Jonah punched and kicked Mitch on multiple occasions, something Mitch confided in me," Scott said evenly.

The judge chuckled slightly. "Maybe you are just upset that Mr. Taylor turned you in, but I doubt he would ever do that. Sure, he explained to us that himself and Mitch didn't get along too well, but he was looking out for his soon-to-be step brother," He said. Disbelief crossed Scott's face, but he composed himself.

"Check the hidden camera in the North Wing, Main Hallway," Scott said, and then sat down. I looked behind me at Jonah, and he was still slouching back but he was squirming. He shot me an angry look but turned away from me.

"The tapes will be checked. If you are lying, you will also be guilty of false accusation," the judge said.

Even when he was about to go to jail, Scott was still looking out for me. His undying love was something I didn't deserve. I wanted to mouth thank you, but his head was hanging again, his gaze never meeting mine.

It's not as good as I'd like it to be because I'm about to go to a party and writing it on my phone.

Love you guys!