"I don't deserve your forgiveness."
--☆--☆--☆--
"This was a terrible idea. I shouldn't be here," Emerson said as she and Nick pulled up in front of the courthouse. From the car they could see everyone walking in, there were kooks and pogues all of them wanting to see what would happen to John B.
Emerson had allowed Nick to come with her to the courthouse even though they were feeling extremely awkward around each other. They were trying to move past Nick's confession, at least Emerson was trying to move past it. Nick was trying to prove to her that he wasn't going anywhere.
"Do you want to leave?" Nick asked her from his spot in the driver's seat of his car.
"No," Emerson shook her head, "No, I have to go in," She replied then unbuckled her seatbelt.
The two kooks got out of the car and started walking towards the courthouse. Nick stepped forward putting his hand in Emerson's. "Just friends, I remember," He told her making her smile slightly as they continued to walk.
What Emerson didn't realize was that the second she got out of the car there was a pair of eyes following her every move. There were many people it could be, and she thought she'd figure out who it was but she never will.
JJ turned around his eyes landing on the Rhodes girl immediately. She looked up a couple seconds later, her eyes meeting his. He looked down, noticing that she was holding hands with her ex boyfriend. JJ could feel his anger building up inside him, but this is what he wanted, wasn't it? Nick was a good guy, he was the better guy, she deserved someone like him.
A small pang of guilt ran through the Rhodes girl in this moment, especially when she pulled her hand away from Nick. He tried to act like it didn't bother him, but it did. Emerson knew she was hurting him and she hated it, he deserved better than to be her distraction. Especially since the guy she wanted was standing only three feet away from her.
"Emerson," A voice made her turn away from JJ and she saw her mother and father moving to sit beside Ward and Rose Cameron. It was at that moment that Emerson realized the courtroom was split down the middle, kooks on one side, pogues on the other.
"Em," Now Sarah was trying to get her attention, making her look in the direction of the pogues.
The Rhodes girl needed to make a decision, but no matter what she chose there would be consequences. Her eyes shifted from the pogues to kooks then eventually back to the pogues. She felt like everyone was watching her, waiting for her to make a choice.
She walked slowly over to the pogues, and sat down. Kiara gave her a quick smile as she and Sarah moved over making room for her and Nick. Despite the fact that she chose the pogues she could feel JJ staring at her from the seat behind her, well more accurately he was watching her and Nick.
Emerson glanced over to her mother and father, both of them had shocked looks on their faces. But both of them concealed it when other people took notice. She could see anger in her father that had never been directed towards her before, and she hated knowing that she was disappointing him.
There were scattered conversations around the courtroom until John B walked out. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and the sight made the pogues sick. The kooks, however, looked pleased to see him like this.
Everyone attempted to remain quiet while the judge came out and reviewed the case. Emerson shook her head every time the woman opened her mouth. The pogues knew the truth, but no one seemed to care in the slightest.
"John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances," The judge announced to the courtroom. "If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."
The second those words left her mouth chaos filled the courtroom. The kooks looked happy and seemed to take pride in the judge's decision. While on the other side the pogues were outraged. All of them standing up and shouting in the direction of the judge.
"Your honor, he's 17," JJ yelled as he stood up from his seat.
"Quiet!"
"He's 17! Are you kidding me?" JJ yelled, ignoring Pope who was telling him to calm down. "Hey, John B, we're gonna figure it out."
"John B! John b!" Sarah yelled as she tried to run over to her boyfriend. "No!" She yelled when one of the officers held her back. John B turned around seeing the girl he loved in distress, hating himself for not being able to help her.
Emerson pushed past Kiara and Nick moved to Sarah. No matter how angry she was with the Cameron girl she'd always protect her, even if it meant pushing a police officer away from her. "Get your hands off of her!" Emerson snapped as she pulled the Cameron girl towards her and away from the cop. "Let's go, Sarah. Come on, let's get out of here." She said, leading her outside.
"Justice is served," A woman smiled as she exited the doors on the kook side of the courthouse.
"He had it coming," Her husband agreed.
"Ist this a joke?" Kiara asked as the pogues walked out the door. "Like, are we in hell or...?"
"We should have never come home," Sarah muttered to herself.
"They're gonna kill him guys. I know it," JJ said.
"We're sorry for what you and your family have gone through," Carter said, putting a hand on Ward's shoulder. "Thank god this system works." He said, making Emerson roll her eyes as all the pogues turned their attention to the two families.
"Can you please shut up?" Kiara asked them, making them turn around to look at the group of pogues. "Of course you think the system works, because it was made to protect you and people like you."
"He'll have his day in court," Carter replied calmly. "It's up to a jury to decide."
"He shouldn't even be in court! You should," Kiara yelled pointing to Ward Cameron, "'cause you're a murderer. You have a lot of nerve showing up to court."
"I know you're upset. I understand you're upset, okay?" Ward walked towards the Carrera girl, trying to calm her down.
"Upset?"
"I know he's got you fooled."
"No, I'm not just upset!" Kiara yelled storming towards the kook families. Shoupe and the other officers acted quickly, pulling everyone on the pogues side away from the kooks before a fight could break out.
"Show some respect!"
"Muzzle your goddamned dog!" JJ yelled, looking right at Shoupe as he pointed towards the Camerons.
"Get off her!"
"Why don't you take the kooks down for a change?" JJ asked him.
"You want to get arrested? Get out! You need to go," Shoupe told the group of teenagers.
"This is bullshit," Kiara scoffed.
"Come on. Look, it's not worth it," Sarah said, putting a comforting hand on Kiara's arm.
"I'm sorry Mr. Cameron, you shouldn't be going through this," Officer Plumb said.
"Thank you."
"It's not a coincidence that both your daughters are sitting with us," Kiara yelled, causing both Ward and Carter to turn around angrily.
Carter locked eyes with his daughter, and just from that one look Emerson knew that she had just dug her own grave. She always knew Carter had a temper, maybe one even worse than Ward's, but his anger was never directed towards his daughter. Emerson always made sure it wasn't, but she crossed a line, and she'd have to face him eventually.
The pogues continued walking until they made it over to Nick's truck. Emerson put her hand on the door, ready to leave with him before she was stopped. She turned around seeing that Kiara put a hand on her shoulder.
"Come with us," She said softly.
"Thought you guys didn't trust me," Emerson replied, looking at JJ and Sarah.
"We do," Kiara replied. "I do."
What Emerson didn't fully realize was that Kiara had been lied to from the start. JJ told her that the Rhodes girl picked the kooks and Kiara made the mistake of believing him instead asking Emerson herself. The truth was that Kiara missed her best friend and wanted to make it right between them. She didn't want to lose Emerson for a second time.
Emerson looked behind her at Nick, who nodded his head, saying she should go with the pogues. "Okay," Emerson replied, as she turned back around to look at the pogues. "But I want Nick to come with me."
"No way," JJ snapped, his eyes fixated on the Porter boy. "He's a kook."
"So am I, apparently," Emerson replied.
"Em, it's fine," Nick said. "Go, I'll see you later, okay?"
"Nick..." The Porter boy walked over to her, putting one of his hands on her cheek. He knew what he was doing. He could see JJ turn his head away from them and he knew his plan was working, of course Emerson realized it too. So before he could do anything she stepped backwards moving out his grasp.
"Stop," She told him, again.
"Sorry," He apologized, lowering his hand. The Porter boy let out a breath, trying his best not to seem upset, but he was. He just put on a small, reassuring smile, telling her it was okay to leave.
"Talk later, okay?" He said quietly.
"Yeah. Yeah," Emerson nodded.
"Em," Kiara put her hand on Emerson's shoulder again, then the group of pogues plus Emerson walked away.
--☆--☆--☆--☆--☆–
"I'm gonna testify under oath. I was there," Sarah announced while the pogues went over ideas about how they'd get John B out of prison. "I just need to get a hold of my sister."
"Sister?"
"Em, do you have your phone? She'd recognize your number," Sarah asked looking towards her best friend.
"Yeah," Emerson nodded, pulling her phone out of her pocket and handing it to Sarah.
"Wheezie is the only other person that knows Rafe wasn't home that day," Sarah informed them.
"Wheezie?" JJ questioned.
"I don't know what else to do. I got us into this mess. I'm gonna do my best to get us out."
JJ scoffed, causing Emerson to roll her eyes at him. "Wheezie? Yeah, that will work. Well, she's right about one thing. We gotta do something. Our boy is a PO-dug right now, okay? He's held captive by the enemy right now, maybe even scheduled for execution. Are we just gonna sit here?"
"Well what's your plan then?" Emerson asked him.
"We gonna kidnap Shoupe?" Kiara asked, as she moved to stand beside Emerson.
"Maybe, like, that's not the worst idea actually," JJ replied.
"Oh, it's not?"
"No!"
"I'm pretty sure it is," Emerson replied.
"That is actually the worst idea I've ever heard," Pope agreed.
"It's pretty bad," Sarah commented from inside the Chateau.
"You know? Please, just stay out of this," JJ shook his head. "Okay, Pope, look, we've been doing everything your way, and how has that been working out?"
"Okay, okay, so what's your plan?" Pope asked him. "You gonna storm a jail, guns a-blazing?"
"Look, Pope, all I'm trying to get you to understand is they got our boy. Are we just gonna sit here and do nothing?" JJ asked them, pausing for dramatic effect. "No! We're gonna go get his ass. We're gonna do something about it!"
"JJ, we're not storming a jail. It's not happening."
"No?" JJ asked. "Fine, man. Sit in your comfy chair. Do nothing. I'm gonna see what I can do. Make something happen, even if I have to do it by myself."
"Okay," Kiara sighed as JJ stormed away from the Chateau.
"Should we be worried?" Pope asked, automatically looking at Emerson.
"Yeah, we should," She answered, her eyes following JJ as he walked away.
Kiara stepped forwards, moving closer to Pope. "Look, I'm gonna hit my parents, and I'm gonna see if I can get money for a lawyer."
"John B has a public defender. He doesn't need that now," Pope replied and Emerson couldn't help but scoff.
"Right, a public defender," She almost laughed, shaking her head.
"Are you crazy? Justice costs money," Kiara said, agreeing with the Rhodes girl.
"You're right. So I'm gonna dig in hard into anything I can find out about this key," Pope told them, "because that tape Limbrey has, that's exculpatory evidence. That can exonerate John B."
"Yeah, we gotta try." Pope took another step towards Kiara putting his hand on her waist. Emerson's eyes widened as she turned around, looking away from them. Kiara put her hand over Pope's, taking it off of her. "We'll talk about it later. Okay?"
"Kie! Wait up," Emerson yelled as she ran past Pope to catch up with the Carrera girl. "I'll walk to the Eight with you."
"Why?"
"Because my dad knows more than he's telling me," Emerson answered. "Maybe he has something that'll exonerate John B."
Sarah stayed behind with Emerson's phone, in an attempt to contact Wheezie while Kiara nodded and the two girls started walking away from the chateau. They were quiet for a minute, neither of them knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry," Kiara finally said. Emerson turned her head to look at her, waiting for her to continue. "He lied to me. I didn't know that..." She paused looking down for a second, "If I knew I never would've left you like I did."
Emerson shrugged her shoulders, "I've sided with the kooks before, it's not like he completely lied."
"It doesn't matter," Kiara replied. "He still lied and he hurt you... we all hurt you."
"You didn't hurt me, Kie," Emerson told her. She turned, moving in front of the Carrera girl, making her stop in her tracks. "You were loyal to your family. Sure it hurt like a bitch," Emerson laughed awkwardly, "but I understand why you did it."
"You should hate me," Kiara told her.
"Do you want me to hate you?" Emerson asked.
Kiara went quiet for a second, almost like she had to think about the answer. "You can't just forgive me, Emerson. I was a jerk and a terrible friend. I don't deserve your forgiveness."
"Okay..." Emerson sighed. "How about this? Once we get John B out of prison I'll go back to hating you guys. I'll call you a dirty pogue and you can say I'm a spoiled kook."
"Okay," Kiara agreed with a small laugh. The two of them started walking again. "What are you gonna do about JJ?" She asked. "And Nick?"
"No clue," Emerson answered honestly. "Nick told me he loves me," She said, causing Kiara's eyes to widen. "He's said it before and I've said it to him but this time... I couldn't say it back"
"Wow," Kiara sighed, not really knowing what else to say.
"He knows why I can't... but he keeps pushing," Emerson told her. "He thinks I'll say it back to him, or maybe he's waiting for me to completely break away from him."
"How do you know?"
"Ever since we were kids Nick's always had this weird way of knowing exactly what I'm thinking," Emerson explained, but Kiara didn't seem to get it. "He knows... he's just waiting for me to tell him."
"Why haven't you?" Kiara asked causing the Rhodes girl to shrug her shoulders. "Is it because you love JJ?" Kiara asked.
Emerson looked over at Kiara, not expecting her to ask that question. She knew it was an appropriate question, she just wished she had an answer. "He hurt me, Kie. In a way I thought no one would ever hurt me. But every time I look at him... I just, I wish I could forget everything he did."
"Because you want him?" Kiara asked cautiously.
"Don't tell him," Emerson requested as she turned her head.
"I'd never," Kiara promised. "But just for the record, he still wants you."
"He does?"
"JJ is my best friend, but he's stupid," Kiara laughed awkwardly. "He's never really had a girlfriend and he spent his entire life hearing people tell him he doesn't deserve anything good. Personally, I'd give him another chance."
Emerson thought to herself and realized Kiara was right. JJ's dad is in prison and everyone tells him that it'll be him behind bars next. JJ never had a girlfriend because he didn't need someone else in his life to let down, that's why he let Emerson go. He didn't want to let her down too.
"I'll think about it," Emerson said quietly.
"That'll do."
[edited]