An Angel Wears Hightops [A Sequel to The Devil Wears Girl Jeans]

An Angel Wears Hightops (Chapter 25)

The excitement over Lacey's engagement immediately wore off the next day, when we were all hit with the realization that today was Sammy's trial. Mickey had drove Lacey, Quinn, Grant, and Gunner here in his car, leaving me no choice but to catch a ride with Tristan and Poe, who had actually managed to sober up for the occasion. To say it had been a really, really uncomfortable trip here, probably would've been the understatement of the century. Tristan had tried to talk to me about last night, of course, but I wasn't really in the mood to hear it. He had a girlfriend now, end of story. What else could their possibly be to talk about?

“Hartley! Come sit with me.” Lacey whispered loudly, patting the seat between her and Tristan. I quickly glanced at the surrounding seats for somewhere else to sit, but they were all full. Just my luck.

I scooted down the row of people, doing that awkward half lap dance thing you're forced to do when there's not enough room between the people and the seats in front of them, which got really awkward really fast, especially when it came time to scoot past Tristan, resulting in me nearly falling on top of him. He steadied me, and I thanked him quickly before moving my shoulder out of his grasp again.

“You ready?” Lacey asked me, fiddling with her new engagement ring nervously as the judge approached his podium. Gunner reached over, his movement restricted by his suit, and put his hand over hers. She immediately stopped fidgeting, almost as if his touch was the equivalent of an off switch or something. It was bizarre.

“Chad Teufel, how do you plead in the case of Samuel Thistlethwaite?” the judge boomed suddenly, causing me to jump.

“Look.” Tristan whispered a moment later, nudging me lightly. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it still sent chills down my spine every time he touched me. How pathetic was that?

Regardless, I turned to see what he was pointing at, only to come face to face with Chad, standing there in handcuffs. It was quite possibly one of the most satisfying sights I had ever seen, but not as satisfying as what came out of his mouth next.

“I plead guilty.”

The judge slammed his gavel against his podium, the sound echoing throughout the room. I didn't want to breathe, for fear that it might wake me up from what was no doubt a dream come true.

“Wait,” Chad said, just as the judge opened his mouth to announce his sentence, “I have something I'd like to say to Sammy's friends and family, if you don't mind.”

Judging by the judge's face, he totally did mind, but let Chad continue on anyways.

“First of all, I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for everything I have put all of you through during this last year. I hope you all have it in your hearts to forgive me one day.”

“No.” pretty much half the room said in unison, and he nodded sadly.

“I understand. I would especially like to apologize to those four over there, though.” he said, a smirk playing at the edge of his lips as his eyes grazed over Lacey, Quinn, Tristan, and me. My heart leaped up to my throat, and I vaguely registered Tristan grabbing onto my hand. I didn't pull away this time, instead holding on tighter as Chad's eyes crinkled with laughter. “Not only did I take Sammy away from you guys, but I took Dallas away too.”

“What?” Lacey screeched, jumping to her feet and lunging towards him. Quinn and Gunner reached out to hold her back, but security was already in front of her seconds later.

“Oh god, no. I think I'm going to puke.” I groaned, burying my face into Tristan's shoulder. He pulled me into him protectively, one hand on the back of my neck, one rubbing slow circles on my back as I started to sob. I'm pretty sure Tristan was crying too, but it was hard to tell from this angle. I assumed he was, because no one is too manly to cry at their best friends murder trial, especially not Tristan.