Princess Love

Princess Love - Chapter 16         "You know, no offense to anyone, but I would have rather stayed home." Kim said and tried to stretch in her seat next to Kevin. She had enjoyed every minute that she spent as a teacher and she really hadn't wanted to leave her students.
         "Well... I understand." Kevin said.
         They were sitting in first class. Kevin, Kim and AJ sat together. Across from them was Brian and Elizabeth. Behind them was Howie and Valerie.
         "But it is for good cause." Kevin said and Kim nodded.
         "I guess, I don't want to sound like a jerk or anything though. I bet I will feel better when we get there." She said and Kevin nodded.
         "I feel the same way. This could get very depressing." Kevin said.
         Aj sat by the window in silence. He felt the same way, but he didn't say anything out loud. He hoped that the trial wouldn't be overly emotional.
         "How come you didn't even mention to me that the trial was going to start?" Brian asked Elizabeth as he looked at her and she brushed back her long blonde hair.
         "I don't know. I was going to tell you, because I have to testify next week."
         "You didn't tell me that either." He said and she shook her head.
         "I was going to." She said.
         "I have to ask you a question and I don't want you to take it the wrong way." Brian said and looked at her in the eye.
         "What is it?" She asked.
         "Well, Jen and Nick are good friends. And as you knw, Jen is the daughter of the guy who shot your husband, are you going to judge her because of that?" He asked and she raised her eyebrows.
         "Of course not!" Elizabeth exclaimed, surprised that he eve had to ask the question.
         "Okay, just checking." He said and she nodded and looked back out the window.
         Howie and Valerie hadn't talked much since the night before, when she had gotten mad at him. Howie didn't know what to do or say and Valerie wasn't sure what she should feel. She know she loved him, but she didn't want to waste her time on a relationship that wouldn't be more than what it was now.
         The plane landed an hour later and they all ran from the plane into the limosine that would bring them to the hotel that Nick and Jen were staying at.
         They all ran to the elevator and were shown to the room where Jen stayed. Nick had an adjoining room. There were six bellboys standing behind them, carrying all of the bags. Brian leaned over and knocked on the door. A second later the door open and Nick stood their in a yellow button-down shirt and black slacks, his blonde hair falling over one eye. Brian looked
at him for a minute, in the week that he hadn't seen him, Nick looked like he had lost a lot of weight.
         "Hey Frack!"
         "Hey Frick!" They all hugged each other and then directed the bellboys to their rooms. Brian and AJ were going to share a room, Kevin with Kim, Howie with Valerie and Elizabeth had her own room. They put the bags down and went back to Jen's room.
         It was a little crowded but they all found a place to sit and they sat and talked.
         "How are you doing?" Brian asked Jen and she smiled.
         "Okay, I guess. Nick over here has been a great help." She said and gently patted him on the arm, he was sitting next to her on the bed.
         "I'm glad that he could help, he is a good kid." Kevin smiled and Nick tried hard to not blush. Kevin was sitting in a chair next to Kim.
         "What has been up with you guys?" Nick asked carefully, looking at AJ, who was sitting on the floor.
         "Nothing much." He said and Brian coughed. "Fine, as you know Jasmine left. Elizabeth has helped me though and I hope to be back to my old self soon."
         "I can't wait!" Howie laughed and AJ smiled.
         Jen stood up and went over to Elizabeth, taking her hand and shaking it. "I am Jen Thompson, as you probably already know." She spoke and Elizabeth nodded.
         "Yes. I am Elizabeth O'Donnell." She said and the two girls looked at each other and nodded, Elizabeth made a mental note to try to talk to her in private sometime.
         "Are you guys sure you won't be to tired to go to court today?" Nick asked, the flight had led them into the next day.
         "Yeah, we are fine, we slept on the plane." Valerie said. "Right?" She asked and everyone nodded.
         "Well, I just say a couple of things before we go." Jen said and stood up, everyone watched her. "There are going to be two lawyers and I am on the side of the prosecuter. His name is John and I have been talking with him for a little while, he is a nice guy. We are going to do everything
we can to get... that guy... into jail." She said, referring to her father as 'that guy'. "Today will be the opening statements and then the witnesses will begin to be questioned starting tomorrow. I am not really sure when I will be questioned, but I am ready and you should be to." Jen said and looked at Elizabeth who nodded.
         "I am ready." Elizabeth nodded and smiled gently at Jen.
         "What is he up for?" Brian asked about Jen's father.
         "Two counts of murder one." Jen said and everyone was speechless. They all knew that he would end up sitting in a jail cell for the rest of his life, or he would fry on the electric chair.
         "Oh my god." AJ said, he was surprised. "Are you really upset?" He asked Jen.
         She nodded. "In some ways, yes. I loved him for almost my entire life and now I hear that he did these things, I would never be able to forgive him and even though he is my father I want him to get in trouble for what he did. He had no right, who knows, maybe he is even insane." She said
and sat on the bed, she closed her eyes for a second and then opened them, shaking her head.
         "Are you okay?" Nick asked and she nodded.
         "I will be once this is all over." She said. They all got up and went to get ready, they had two hours before they had to leave.
         They guys all wore suits and ties, the girls all wore dresses, they all wore dark colors and solemn looks on their faces. They went down to the restaurant to eat before they went to the courthouse.
         "Ready?" Nick asked as he stood up and everyone nodded and they got in the van that they had rented.
         "Yeah, let's get it over with." Jen said and took a deep breath and they all went to the van. The ride to the courthouse was quick and they were there within a matter of minutes.
         They went to the front door and Nick looked carefully at Jen who nodded. Brian did the same to Elizabeth and she nodded, they all had to be strong. AJ opened the door and they all walked in and went down to the main courtroom which was straight ahead of them. Jen stood behind Nick who led the way down the aisle, Jen said she wanted to talk with the lawyer for a
minute before they sat down.
         Jen walked over to the lawyer, keeping her eyes away from where her father would be. She looked at the lawyer carefully and he looked up and shook his head. He was a young man and this was his first major case and he didn't look like he was starting off on the right foot. He was red-faced and looked near tears. Jen stood in front of him and bent down.
         "What in the world... what's wrong?" She asked and he stood up and pointed to the table where her father and her lawyer were sitting. She opened her mouth and threw her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself from screaming. She looked at Nick, who was wondering what was wrong, he looked to where she was pointing and he opened his eyes, wide and his mouth fell open, as well as everyone else who had come to help Jen.
         "They were supposed to tell you if there was anything like this, weren't they?" Jen asked, surprised that she could even speak. Her voice was shaky and her eyes were turning red with tears.
         The lawyer shrugged his shoulders and bit his lip. "I think so... maybe not."
         Jen looked over, once more, to the table. The lawyer was sitting closest to her. He had a navy blue suit on, a pair of dark rimmed glasses and his grey hair was brushed back. Next to him was her father, she thought.
         He was wearing a black tweed suit and his black hair had specks of grey in it. His face was wrinkled, more than before. Next to him was almost the exact copy of him. He was wearing a grey stripped suit and he wore glasses, but otherwise he was nearly a clone of the guy who sat to his right.
         Jen walked over to Nick and shook her head.
         "This is a nightmare." She said, anger in her voice.
         "Did you know he had a twin brother?" He asked and she shook her head.
         "I didn't even know he had a brother or a sister; let alone an identical twin!"
         The judge came in and took his seat, looking down at the people that filled the courtroom. He looked over at the defendants and didn't seem to notice that there were two of them there, he acted as if he already knew.
         Jen shook her head and looked down at her shoes, this was becoming worse and worse by the minute. She didn't know what she was going to do, she didn't even know who her father was anymore.