Still Life//H.S. [On Hiatus]

Prologue

 I sat in the courtroom, with my lawyer to my left, my father Desmond to my right, and my sister Gemma on father's right. I wasn't listening to anything they were saying, I was not even sure of what was being said  for the most part. I was too absorbed in my own little world for that matter.

I don't want to be the motherfucker that I beat up…

I drifted my gaze to the other side of the room, and allowed my eyes to fall upon where a young boy around my age was sitting, with a broken arm and covered in bruises. Besides the boy was his lawyer and two people who seemed to be his parents. The boy's lawyer stood up and said something–it took me a few seconds to realize he was talking about the boy's injuries, the ones I had inflicted on him. It was not on purpose however; we were kick boxing, and things got a little out of hand. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had already taken my gloves off, screaming and throwing punches at the other boy.

I don't want to be my father, or my sister. Or anyone from my fucking dysfunctional family for the matter.

I turned to my right, where Gemma and father were sitting. They must have noticed my gaze, for they turned to look at me, so I turned to the other side. Not because of shame. It was not at all about shame but because I couldn't stand to look at them right now. I couldn't stand to look at anything or anyone right now.

"May the defendant please rise?" The judge, a woman in her years of life. Deep wrinkle lines graced her face and could not be hidden by any amount of copious makeup. Her emerald eyes reflected wisdom and a proud carriage shown through her demeanor. I would have commented on her beauty had it not been for my current situation.

Both my lawyer and I stood up; the lawyer with a worried look on his face. I knew what was coming next.

"The court declares Mr. Harry Edward Styles, guilty…" and then I stopped listening. I caught a few things like how the judge mentioned something about being 16 years old and being in a youth detention center or paying thousands of pounds.