The Power Academy

Chapter 21- Guilty

~Recap~

"We the council, in the trial between Kayla and Gregory, find the Defendant Gregory....."

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Kayla's PoV:

As the noise around me roars, my mind dulls it to a quiet murmur. the sound of my heartbeat overpowers any noise the my classmates are making, each breath harder to breathe. As much as I have thought that it would come my way, I was always scared that they would find him innocent. The fact that the council took my side has shaken me to my core, and while the rest of my classmates are celebrating, all I can do is sit here in shock.

People pat me on the back and I feel shaking from behind as people try to congratulate me and see how excited I am, but their efforts fade into the background as I try and wrap my mind around what just happened. I don't know what punishment Madame Carter assigned to Gregory or what is going to happen to him; all I can do is sit in my chair, frozen as time passes me by, and people begin to leave the auditorium.

Eventually, only Sasha and I remained in the auditorium. While he is obviously estatic over the victory he sits down beside me, realizing how overwhelmed I am. It feels as if hours pass with Sasha and I sitting there in utter silence,  the challenge to breathe being hard enough, let alone trying to have a conversation. Rather than pushing me to talk, he sits beside me, understanding what I'm going through, and simply being there, just making sure that I know that I'm not alone.

Sasha sighs heavily, as he gets a call, "Yeah... No we aren't in the dining hall... Yeah no we're still here... Yup.... I don't think... Okay, I will see you soon then," he sighs as I stay almost frozen in my seat. Eventually I hear the door open and someone walking towards us. Sasha stands, and walks off, wanting to leave me alone with whoever walked in.

After placing a dinner tray on the table in front of me, Jasper crouches in front of me, resting his arms criss-crossed on my lap, "You know, with how often I'm bringing you food, you should start calling me Uber Eats," he laughs to himself and looks up at me for a response, "Nothing?" He sighs and sits down next to me, pulling my body so I turn to him. Why am I acting like some frozen doll?

"I'm not hungry, Jasper"

"And she speaks!" He teases me as he puts a bite on the fork, "Now, you may not be hungry, but by Daddy law, I gotta make sure you at least eat a little," he tries to joke with me as I look away. Jasper grows more serious and worried, "Kayla, darling you're in shock, I get it, but you need to eat. I don't know where we stand or what your arrangements are going to be after this, but that doesn't change how I feel for you. No matter what you will always be someone I care for and want to protect. For me, there is only you, unless you want something more and we can talk about Gemma. Now for the love of everything that is good, could you please eat a stupid ravioli so I can stop going crazy with worry?"

I don't respond, but I open my mouth so he can put the ravioli that's already on the fork in my mouth. As I chew the ravioli, Jasper starts to make cringy Dad joke after cringier dark humor dad joke. Normally these jokes would have made me roll on the floor laughing, but I feel as if I am sinking further and further into my own head.

"Fuck it," I hear Jasper say as he gently pulls my face towards him. He leans in and looks at me, "Don't get mad, but you need to get out of your own head," he pulls me in closer, he kisses me like I've never been kissed before. The emotion, the desire, the depth behind this kiss shook me out of the state of shock that I was in, and as Jasper pulls away, I begin to sob uncontrollably. Instinctively, Jasper pulls me out of my chair and into his lap, rocking me back and forth as I let out days of pent up hurt and emotion, finally feeling the freedom and ability to express the pain I had experienced.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, Jasper holding me as I cried, but he never let go until I finally calmed down. Jasper rests his forehead on top of mine, and I see that he had been crying too. "Kayla, I don't know how, but I promise you that you are going to thrive from this"

The gravity of the conversation that I had with Madam Carter earlier weighs on my chest. I had just committed to being the first single student of the academy, and here is Jasper pouring his heart out to me. The pain coming from hearing him, once again, encouraging me and assurring me that he is going to be here with me, only makes me feel more like the decision made today.

Guilty.

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A/n

Y'all I may be a tease, but I'm not evil, couldn't leave ya on a cliff hanger too long.... Then again... After this chapter I honestly may very well be just plain evil.
Love you always!
Lizzie