Monty stared at the floor of the holding cell he was brought into. His situation felt eerily familiar to the one he'd been in a few weeks ago. He never wanted to be back here, yet here he was. It was a different cell this time, much smaller and everything was on the opposite side.
He scratched at whatever uncomfortable material the prison uniforms were made out of. He didn't think he'd miss wearing Alex's clothes, but as soon as they were taken away from him, he immediately wanted them back.
Monty paced around the confined room, before leaning back against the wall. He rested his head on it and closed his eyes. Visions of pretty brown eyes and wavy hair came into mind. He let himself smile as he remembered the way Winston made him feel.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a cell door opening. It was too far away to be his own. When he opened his eyes, he saw someone being put into the cell directly across from him. Monty's eyes widened when he saw who it was.
"Alex?" He asked.
Alex was startled and looked over at Monty. He gaped in surprise, but quickly looked away and sat down on the bed.
"Fuck." Alex mumbled, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his head on them.
"So, you did it? You..." Monty lowered his voice, "You confessed."
Alex was silent for a moment, before nodding, "I had to."
Monty didn't know if he should be grateful towards Alex or be mad at him. If it weren't for him, Bryce would still be alive.
Last year, Monty had thought that Bryce was the only person on his side, but now he realized that that wasn't true. He had Diego, Estela, and maybe even Charlie. Most importantly he had Winston, the one person who made him feel alive and like things would be okay.
"Thanks." Monty said. He immediately regretted it.
Alex scoffed, "Don't fucking thank me. I shouldn't even be talking to you right now.
Monty walked closer to the door of his cell, gripping onto the bars with his hands, "Why not? We're both fucked anyway."
Alex shook his head, "No, we're not. Haven't you heard the plan? I confess, your name is cleared. The end."
"That is most definitely not the end. Even if my name is cleared, I'm still gonna have to do time." Monty reminded him.
"Maybe you should've thought about that before you ra-" Alex cut himself off, not wanting to finish his own sentence.
"I know." Monty said, "I just felt like everything was over for me. He fucked up our baseball season and I... I don't know." Monty stammered out, not sure why he was telling him all of this.
"So why are you even going along with this plan if you think that everything's over for you?" Alex asked.
Monty thought about that for a second, "Because for the first time, I feel like I have something... someone worth fighting for."
Alex looked up at Monty, his eyes full of understanding. He opened his mouth to say something else, but didn't get the chance when two men came to Monty's cell. One of them had a set of keys and unlocked the door.
One of the men came into the cell and grabbed Monty by the arm. Monty was placed back into a waist chain, like he was when his father visited him.
Monty knew he probably should've kept his mouth shut, but couldn't help asking, "What's going on?"
"An attorney has decided to represent you in court, we're taking you to meet with her."
"A attorney?" Monty asked in surprise.
The prison guards didn't bother responding to him. They lead him down a long hallway and into a visitation room. There sat a woman, who looked like she was in her late forties. She had dark brown hair that reminded him of Winston's. He pushed his thoughts aside, when the woman looked up at him.
"Montgomery?" She asked, with a small smile.
He nodded as the guards worked to take off the chains. One of them pushed him forward by the shoulder and muttered something about him having ten minutes.
Monty walked forward and sat down at the table she was sitting at. She had all kinds of paperwork and folders in front of her.
"My name is Beverly Williams, I'm going to be taking on your case."
Monty gave her a look of confusion, "I don't understand. Who's paying you for this?" He knew for sure his dad wouldn't have hired her.
"No one, Montgomery. I've agreed to take on your case pro bono."
"What does that mean?" Monty asked.
"Many attorneys are required to render at least fifty hours of legal services without pay per year. I decided that you would be one of the cases I take on."
Monty was still confused, "Why me?"
Beverly smiled once again, "That's not important right now. What is, however, is getting the facts straight. I'm going to ask you a few questions and I need you to be completely honest with me, okay?"
"Okay." Monty said, even though he was far from being okay.
"Currently, you're being held under arrest for first degree sexual assault against Tyler Down, is that correct?" She asked.
Monty grimaced, "Yes."
Beverly located a piece of paper on the table and read it, before looking back up at Monty, "Now, when Tyler Down filed this report, he mentioned that you weren't alone. Can you tell me the names of the other people who aided you in this crime?"
Monty wondered why Tyler had left out their names and only told the police his, "Taylor Carson and Kenneth Pierce."
Beverly nodded and wrote something down in her notebook.
"Are they gonna get charged too?" Monty asked.
Beverly looked up from her notebook, "They most likely won't, since Mr. Down didn't mention their names in his report."
Monty huffed, "Figures."
"Don't worry, Montgomery. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you get the minimum amount of punishment." Beverly assured him.
"Maybe I shouldn't get the minimum amount." Monty said quietly.
"Why do you say that?" Beverly asked.
"You know what I did." Monty paused, "I don't even deserve to be alive, right now."
"Don't say that, Montgomery-"
"It's Monty." He corrected her. He'd grown tired of hearing his full name.
"Okay, Monty it is." She thought carefully about what she was going to say next. "And yes, I know what you did, but I also know that anyone who says something like that, feels remorse."
Monty didn't say anything to that, but he knew it was true. He regretted what he did more than anything.
"I'm sure you're aware that you were considered a prime suspect in the murder of Bryce Walker." Beverly flipped through some of the pages of Monty's file.
"Yeah, but I didn't do it." Monty said.
Beverly nodded, "I know. A few hours ago, a boy named Alex Standall gave a confession that he'd committed the murder."
Monty pretended to looked shocked, "Wow. I, uh, I can't believe it."
Beverly gave him an unconvinced look, "Your trial should take place within the next few days, maybe even sooner."
Monty watched her gather up her papers, "Wait, that's it?"
"You're more prepared for this than you think." When she saw Monty's confused face, she added, "You regret what you've done, don't you?"
Instead of waiting for a response, she stood up. She took one more look at the boy in front of her, "You deserve to be alive, Monty. I hope you know that."
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Author's Note: I really don't want to lie anymore, but I think the trial is actually going to happen next chapter!
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! :)