My parents were surprised I was home so early and when I tried to tell them why I was, I got flustered and wasn't able to say what was on my mind. I told them I'd explain it later and grabbed my laptop before heading into my room. I wanted to see for myself exactly what these stupid laws were.
I spent a few good hours looking through government sites and taking notes and trying to put all of this confusing information together. Everywhere I looked it was slightly different, but it basically all boiled down to what the policeman had told me. People under the age of 16 can't give consent if their partner is more than four years older than them. I tried desperately to find some kind of loophole and the only thing I found was something called a Romeo and Juliet exception, but that only applied to two minors, not an adult and a minor.
All I was coming up with was broad, generic info. I couldn't really find anything on my specific case. I hoped that I'd get lawyer or someone to help represent me during the trial. I needed someone who knew the ins and outs of this stuff, someone who could help me.
It suddenly occurred to me that David wasn't a US citizen. Would he still be given the same rights? Was he going to be treated differently? Did they have to bring English laws into this? I was about to look it up when my cell phone rang. I figured it was probably just Cam or one of my other friends calling to tease me about my weekend with David so I ignored it for a minute. Eventually though, my curiosity got the best of me so I picked it up to look at the screen. It was an unknown number. Ugh, if this is a telemarketer or something, I swear...
I hit answer and held it up to my ear. "Hello?"
There was a sigh of relief, "Oh, Angel, I was afraid you weren't going to pick up."
I immediately sat up when I heard his voice and pulled the phone closer. "Charming? Where are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine Princess, but I don't have a lot of time and I need to ask you something."
"Of course, anything. God, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I should've known about the laws, I'm so stupid."
"Angel, please, listen." I fought to shut my mouth and waited for him to say what he had to. "I don't know how long I'm going to have to stay here, so can you ask Speedy to upload for me? He knows my account password and all that stuff so that won't be an issue. I don't have much backlog right now so if you could send him any videos you have with me in them, that would be great. Oh, and the vlog I took yesterday, just tell him to put it on my main channel. If you could get Ash or anyone else to help out too, I would really appreciate it. I just don't want my subs to get worried, you know?"
"Yeah, I know. But what about me? I'm going to be worried sick! How am I just supposed to sit here while you're in... in..." I couldn't bring myself to say jail. It didn't seem possible for him to be in jail. So I changed it to, "While you're there?!"
"Please don't be worried about me, I'll be fine. I'm going to do everything I can to get out of here as quickly as possible."
I chewed on my lip, "I'm guessing you were questioned?"
"Yeah, and it's not looking good..."
I closed my eyes and sighed, "I know, it's so stupid that I can't give consent. But I've been researching all day, trying to look for a way around it. So far I haven't found much, but I'm sure I can come up with something. I'm not going to let them punish you for this, you didn't do anything wrong."
"Angel, don't concern yourself with it. The professionals will take care of it."
"No, I'm not going to twiddle my thumbs and wait for this to magically resolve itself. I'm going to help out in whatever way I can."
He exhaled and I could tell he wanted to protest, but then he paused and groaned. "Ugh, my time is up. Please don't let this bother you, just pretend everything is normal. I love you, Angel. I'll see you soon."
"I love you too. We'll get you out of this, I promise."
"Bye Princess." I heard the click of the receiver and just listened to the dial tone for a minute.
Oh, David. I'm so sorry. I love you so much. They'll see it our way by the time I'm done with them. I just know it...
***
Later that day, I invited all of his friends into a Skype call. Not everyone answered, which I'd expected would happen, but Ash and Sqaishey accepted right away which I was grateful for. Speedy wasn't answering, so I sent him an email saying that it was urgent and that got his attention. Once he'd joined, I took a deep breath and started speaking.
"Hi guys, thanks for answering. I know you're really busy so I'll try to make this quick."
"Take all the time you need," Sqaishey said with a smile.
I let out a low breath, "I'm afraid I have some bad news. It's about Squid." Ash's eyebrows furrowed and I knew he was probably going to flip out at this. I bit my lip and closed my eyes, "He... well, he got arrested."
"WHAT?!" Ash yelled and I heard the others gasp. "What did he do?!"
"I'd rather not talk about it," I muttered. "The important thing is, he's innocent. I know it, he knows it, and we're going to convince everyone else of it too. However, for the time being, he's in jail. I don't know how long he's going to have to stay there, but I'm hoping it's no longer than a week or two."
"Oh, Elsie..." came Sqaishey's sympathetic voice. "Are you alright? This must be so hard for you."
I nodded, "Yeah, I'm holding up." I didn't really want to, but I hesitantly opened my eyes. She was gazing at me with concern, Ash was fuming, and Speedy just looked in total shock. "I called to ask for your help."
"Of course, we'll do anything we can," Sqaishey said calmly.
I looked at Speedy and his blue eyes widened in surprise. I didn't really know him, I don't think anyone did except David, but he was almost always there. Whenever the gang just hung out and played random games he would play with us, but he liked being in the background, just watching everything go down and listening to our conversations. He probably knew more about us than anyone, but we barely knew him. I'd hardly ever heard him speak and rarely took notice of him, so looking right at him like this was a little strange.
"Speedy, he asked you to take over uploading for him. He said you knew his password, is that right?" He nodded. "Good. Try to keep his schedule as normal as you can with the backlog he has. Once that runs out though, I'll have sent you any videos of mine that he's in." I glanced at Ash who looked like he was trying really hard not to explode. "I was hoping you could do the same."
He ground his teeth, "Why was he arrested?"
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, "Ash, please, I'm asking you to do something."
"Elsie," he said sternly. "Tell me what he did."
I shook my head, "He didn't do anything, they just think he did."
I could tell it was getting very difficult for him to not lose his temper. "Then what do they think he did?"
I waved it off, "I'll tell you once we're alone if you really need to know. But please, focus." I looked into his eyes to make sure he was paying attention. "Can you send Speedy any videos you have with Squid in them? Even if you don't have his footage, it's fine. We just don't want his subs to get too worried."
He grumbled something but eventually muttered, "Fine."
I nodded, "Thank you." I turned to Sqaishey, "Could you ask Stampy do the same? I really hope it won't be that long that we'd need more videos than this, but just in case?"
"Sure thing, but..." she glanced at me apprehensively, "he's not going to be any happier about this than Ash is. He'll probably try to get you to tell him what happened."
"I know. Just tell him that he didn't do anything wrong, it was all a misunderstanding. If he really wants to know, I'll tell him, but if you could keep him in the dark I'd appreciate it."
She nodded, "Alright sweetie. Is there anything else you need from me?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Okay, but if you think of anything, anything at all, just let me know. I'm here for you."
I smiled at her appreciatively, "Thank you, Sqaishey. If there's any way I can return the favor, I'll happily do it."
"Oh, don't be silly. You just worry about yourself. And don't think about Squiddy too much, okay? He can take care of himself."
I shrugged, "I'll try not to."
"Bye Elsie," she said with a little wave and disconnected.
I glanced at Speedy again, "I believe that's all I have for you right now as well. Do you understand what you have to do?"
He nodded and looked down at his keyboard to exit, but then he paused and looked back up at me. His expression was sympathetic, but also determined. "Hang in there, Elsie. I know you love him and must be worried sick, but he'll get out of this. I promise, everything will be okay." With that, he left the call.
I was stunned. That was the most I'd ever heard come out of his mouth at once, and it was the first time he'd ever spoken to me directly. His thick accent stuck in my ears like peanut butter to the roof of my mouth and I sat there in shock. He just spoke to me... He's never done that before. In fact, I don't think he's ever done that to anyone before. I guess this must have really gotten to him. Maybe Squid means more to him than I thought. But his words... they were full of sympathy and certainty. He must know how much David and I care about each other.
"Eh-hem." Ash clearing his throat snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at him and saw that his arms were crossed, his knuckles white as he dug his fingers into his skin. "Tell me what happened. Please."
I chewed on my lip nervously and found it difficult to meet his gaze. "Someone heard us... having fun last night. They thought he was taking advantage of me, so they called the cops. He was taken away this morning."
"Didn't you tell them that you're together?"
I sighed, "Yes, but it's complicated. Apparently, I'm not allowed to give consent at this age, so it's rape no matter what we say."
He narrowed his eyes, "Are you serious?" I nodded reluctantly. "That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard!"
I set my elbow on the desk and laid my forehead on my hand, "I know, I don't understand it. I've been trying to find a way around it but it's so hard. The cop said the only way he might be able to get out of it is since I'm turning sixteen tomorrow, they might let me give consent then. But I don't know Ash, it's a lot to hope for." My hand slid down to cover my eyes and I shook my head, "It's all my fault. I got him into this mess."
"What? Why would you say something like that?"
I could feel tears starting to form but I forced them away. "I should've known about the laws. I should've realized there would be restrictions for things like this, I mean I am still a minor. Why didn't it occur to me?" I sniffled, "I was the one she heard. I was too loud. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have known." My lip trembled, "If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't be there."
"Angel, stop talking like that right now. It was not your fault."
"Yes it was!" I blurted. "I said fifteen! Why didn't I just say sixteen? None of this would've happened!"
"You didn't know. You can't blame yourself!"
"Yes I can!" I was sobbing now and I didn't want to stop. "He didn't do anything wrong! He's such a good person and I got him in trouble!" I slammed my fists on the desk, "Goddamnit! I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I know?! Why?!" I buried my head in my arms and my shoulders shuddered with my sobs.
"Oh no..." I could hear the worry in Ash's voice and I knew he wanted to help me, but he didn't know how. "Angel, you can't think like that! It wasn't anybody's fault, especially not yours! Things just happen sometimes, but they're always resolved. This is no different! It'll all turn out okay, I know it will."
At the moment, I didn't care what he was saying. My brain couldn't believe that it wasn't my fault. It was blaming me, and I fully believed it. No matter what he said, I wasn't going to stop thinking that I'd done the wrong thing. He kept speaking, but by this point I'd tuned him out. All I could hear were my shaky breaths and my mind scolding me for doing this to David.
"He's going to hate me," I blubbered to myself. "He'll never forgive me. I'm a terrible person." I'm not sure how long I sat there crying, but with each minute that passed I felt more and more hopeless. David was in jail. David was in jail, and it was because of me.
✧✦☆★✧✦☆★
Aw, don't cry Angel. It wasn't your fault, you can't think like that.
"Yes it was! It was all my fault! Why did this have to happen?!"
I honestly don't know. I was bored, lol sorry.
"What are you talking about?!"
Well, I'm the one that made it happen...
*she narrows her eyes* "How?"
Well, you see, it's kind of complicated but... I don't just stalk you, I kind of control you too. You and all your friends and basically your whole world...
"Ha, ha, very funny. This isn't making me feel any better."
*sighs* Why doesn't anyone ever believe me? Whatever, just, trust me, things will get better... Eventually... But you know what they say, things have to get worse before they can get better. *chuckles to self knowingly*
Thanks for reading peoples ;) ☮ Peace ☮ - Elsie