𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

FORTY-THREE| court troubles

THE banging of a gavel drew Eden Bexley out of her head and to the scene at hand.

Two days after John B. was thrown unconsciously into the back of a cop car, it was announced that his preliminary hearing would take place. Eden had been counting yet dreading on the day since Pope Heyward told the group—this gave her a chance to see her best friend again, to make sure he was okay yet at the same time, he was being sentenced. 

99% of Kildare County will find peace in his sentence—the stuck up Kooks, the senseless and closed minded people who sided with Ward Cameron merely because he was Ward, the Pogues who saw John B. as an ally turned backstabber—while the remaining 1%—JJ, Pope, Kiara, Sarah, and Eden—would be left in a mess. 

Eden was sitting in the second row of pews with Sarah at her side—the blonde looked rather tired, yet anxiety was expressed inside of her sunken features. Behind the two Kooks is Kie and Pope, with JJ sitting on the edge of a pew behind them. 

At the front of the room is John B., back turned to the rows of pews and towards the judge.  He's dressed in a bright orange jump-suit and has metal cuffs enabling his hands, which makes Eden feel sick. He shouldn't be there. She should be watching Rafe Cameron get sentenced in handcuffs, not her best friend. 

"John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statue section 14—" the judge begins speaking and Eden's eyes are locked on John B. Her anxiety is running wild as she prepares herself to hear his sentence. "—you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."

Eden feels her jaw drop as the judge strikes her gavel again.

They were going to kill him.  They were going to fucking kill him for something he wasn't even guilty of.

Eden Bexley had just gotten her best friend back—the Pogues had been reunited as a lost family mere days ago—and he was being ripped right from her hold; with no chance of running off to the Bahamas, this time. She was really going to fucking loose him. 

 And while the judge had said 'if convicted', the Bexley knew he would be; Ward would make sure of it. The Cameron man wouldn't stop until John B. Routledge was gone, until he and his son were off the hook completely.

And to make matters worse? John B. was a child. He was seventeen—guilty or not, the death penalty seemed outrageous for a teenager. Eden was pissed off because he was her innocent best friend, sure, but the fact that he was so young and was receiving the ultimate punishment reigned high in her head, too.

 The sentence caused the whole court room to start clamoring in conversation. Some were just as appalled with the sentence, beginning to protest, while others could care less that a child would be killed for a crime he didn't commit. 

JJ's voice rises from behind her, "Your Honor, he's seventeen!"

"Stop." Kiara puts a hand on his chest, trying to stop him from causing a scene.

And while Eden could see why the Carrera didn't want him yelling out to the judge, she couldn't stop herself from doing the same thing as she looks down at Sarah. The blonde shudders and looks on the verge of tears—she was going to loose her boyfriend.

That's all it takes for Eden Bexley to start protesting too, "You—you can't do that! Your Honor, he's seventeen! He's a kid!"

"Quiet in the courtroom!" The judge bellows.

Her words only spurred JJ further, the blonde once more calling out, "No—he's seventeen! Are you kidding me?" His hatred for the justice system burned even more as the judge proceeded to hush the crowd.