6. Trial

David and I look down at our linked hands, horrified. In my periphery, some of the class glance over at us curiously.

"Mr. Jung. Looking sharp, as always." Brad says, greeting Mr. Jung, our Peer Communications facilitator, as the latter enters the room gaily.

"Oh. Thank you, Brandon." Mr. Jung says, looking pleased. He presses his hand on his striped black and white suit, which seems a little too zebra-like to me. 

Whatever. I need him to get these guys straightened out. "Mr. Jung, good morning." I make sure to smile at him despite my growing distress. "Can I get a little help here?" I say, shaking mine and David's handcuffed arms in front of him. David grimaces in pain as his shoulders get forced into action. 

Mr. Jung's eyes then travel down to my handcuffed hands. His forehead knotted. "Oh! Is this the experiment?" he exclaims cheerfully.

 David and I look at each other in apprehension.

"Yes, it's the experiment for our social sciences class, Mr. Jung. The one I told you about," answers Ari. I cast her a glance of disbelief. She avoids my eyes guiltily.

"No, Mr. Jung, this is not--"David tries to correct the misunderstanding. But Mr. Jung has already turned to make his way in front of the class, effectively escaping us.

"Dude. What are you doing?" David whispers at Ari, shocked. I commiserate. Isn't this girl supposed to be a part of the student council?

"Please don't tell Seb. I had no choice. Brad has something on me." Ari desperately responds. "So sorry, Dina. I'll make it up to both of you. I promise."

"Dave. My man. Come on." Brad puts his arms over David's shoulders, and reaching across him, grabs my arm as well. "This is all just a little bit of fun."

"Fun for you," I growl at him.

"Brad, now that I think about it. I don't think this is a good--" Kier frowns as he studies David and me, but David is on the move. He swats Kier aside and faces Brad, looking ready to swing a punch. 

"Brandon, I swear to God," David says. Slam! We all jump in surprise as something heavy hits the teacher's table. 

"Didn't you hear me? I said, sit down if you're in this class. If you're not, get out of here." Mr. Jung looks on at us, annoyed now.

I sigh. Great. We just ruined the poor guy's mood. I look around us. The others in the class are getting restless as well.

Ari, still looking guilty, hurries to a seat near the window, the farthest from us, while Brad drags Kier out of the classroom with him, beaming at us like he just won a race. David looks murderously at his friends' back, but he doesn't follow. The boy isn't even in this class, but he is forced to sit down beside me at my desk, much to my chagrin. 

***

"You are so going to pay for this," I whisper to David. I flex my chafed wrists, wincing in pain. A part of my hand grazes his skin and I stiffen.

"Dina, I swear I had nothing to do with this," David replies just as softly, not taking his eyes off the front of the class in case Mr. Jung notices. I ignore him, keeping my eyes in the front as well. I count my breaths to keep myself from creating a scene right then and there. It will not do any of us good if I throw a tantrum. Deep breaths and this will all be over. The class is deathly boring, as usual, but I stay glued in my seat until the bell rings. I wait patiently, tapping my free hand against the table.

Finally, Mr. Jung bids us goodbye, leaving the room first. Our class looks at us with judgment as they exit the room as well, some of them whispering amongst themselves. I ignore them, looking for signs of Ari. But I can't find her anywhere. No matter. I'll deal with David first. 

As soon as the classroom empties, I swing my unencumbered fist at him. David ducks, but I quickly follow it with a kick to the shin.

"Dina-- stop!" grunting, David jumps backward to get away from my attacks. But of course, the movement just drags me to him. I curse as we fall to the ground and I end up on top of him (again). David's back takes the brunt of the impact and he yelps. I thought I should check if he's all right, but I'm too mad at him. Instead, I use the opportunity to wrap my legs around his stomach, pressing an arm against his neck. To my surprise, he grasps my waist and pulls my body towards his, so I am unable to choke him. I hold my breath as our eyes meet, our faces too close to each other. My cheeks redden as he stares back at me, equally surprised, as if he didn't plan that move at all. His fingers tightened on my back and my breath goes out of control, with his heartbeat in such close proximity to mine. 

"Well, this is a new development." Sebastian suddenly emerges from the doorway, entering the room as if he owns it. 

"What the--" 

David and I scramble off of each other in panic, unable to meet each other's eyes.

"Don't call my parents," I tell Sebastian, even though he hasn't said anything of the sort. Yet. 

"Don't call her parents," David says, barely a beat after me.

Sebastian's eyebrows rose at our synchronized protest. Bending down to our level on the floor, he tilted his head in curiosity. 

"Oh, but that won't do. You guys might have gotten away with this the first time. But I think we all can agree. The principal and your parents have so much to talk about now, don't you think?" Sebastian tells me in his no-nonsense voice. He produces a key from his pocket and frees us from the handcuffs. No sooner than the lock unclicks, I am up on my feet, itching to go. 

"Don't be an ass, Seb. This wasn't our doing. You have the key, so clearly, you know that Brad's going around creating chaos again." David said. 

"Oh, so you're washing your hands off of this again? Just like you did that first day?" I challenge David, hands on hips. He just glares at me. 

Sebastian looks deep in thought for a moment, "No, no, he's telling the truth. Brad confessed to all his crimes and will be punished accordingly. But this animosity between you two is clearly getting out of hand." he says, "How about this? The student council will bring you to court and question you about this alleged theft. We will allow you a lawyer, or you can simply defend yourself. If innocent, we will gladly let you off. But if proven guilty, the aforementioned theft, as well as your many violent actions towards David will be reported to your parents. Would you care to be on the stand?"

"Why do you talk like that?" I ask him, my brow creasing. I know the situation is serious, but I just can't help it. Everything he says is so contrived, and it sounds funny with his weird accent.

David rolls his eyes, "He wants to be a lawyer someday."

"What?" I ask, "Lawyers don't talk like that."

"How would you know?" David counters.

I pause at that, pressing my mouth in a thin line. That is clearly a trick question, one that will lead to complications. Damn it. Maybe I do need this trial. 

Sebastian looks at David reproachfully, "Don't you think it's time for you to decide how to deal with this girl? Your conflicting feeling towards her is driving us, your friends, crazy, you know."

Um...what?

I give David a questioning look, but he avoids confronting my curiosity. He glares at Sebastian instead, "Shut up."

"Whatever. The others are waiting for us at the caf." Sebastian replies, seemingly bored now. He points a rather insulting finger at me. "You. So what's it going to be? Just so you know, if you refuse, I will use these handcuffs again."

"What? Am I supposed to be scared?" I snap at him. Sebastian does not even blink at my caustic demeanor, which is impressive. Now I get why he and David are friends. I have a feeling everyone can go berserk around these two and they would just be chilling over cigars and wine like the unfazed jerks they are.

 "Yes, you should be scared. But not at me. You need to be scared of this guy." Sebastian says, pointing a finger at David. His friend blinks at him in confusion. "Because once he gets out of this haze that you've put him in, he's running to the police and you will be in big trouble. In case you forgot, you stole his wallet and attacked him multiple times. We're basically giving you an out by offering to talk it over with us first."

I turn to David, scoffing at him, "I didn't steal your wallet. How many times do I have to tell you that? And have you been telling your friends that I did? No wonder they're harassing me!"

And what haze is Sebastian talking about? This dude is borderline crazy. 

"Hey. I told them it was a mistake, okay? I told them to back off." David counters. I twist my mouth, doubtful. He was definitely onto me earlier today, pulling that boyfriend b.s. with my parents. But he seems sincere now. I scratch my head in frustration. This man's got to be the most confusing person I ever met.

"Well, your boyfriend and your friends are not getting the memo," I tell David through my teeth.

At the corner of my eye, I see Sebastian's brows draw together, "Boyfriend?" he chuckles as he turns to his friend, "You have a boyfriend, now? Are you not telling us something, Dave?"

Oh, shoot. Me and my big mouth. I realize I haven't really confirmed the nature of David and Kier's relationship. I'm just operating on assumptions this whole time.

"Sorry, I just...I thought... and this is completely my fault. I assumed you and Kier were together." I sputter, staring at David with petrified eyes. Dear, Lord. I am not good with awkward conversations. I don't even fully believe it, either. I only think about it whenever I get so frustrated with David. Which probably makes me homophobic. Ugh. Basically, this guy is turning me into a monster.

For a moment, the boys just stare at me in silence, their expressions impassive as they take in what I said. Just then, a chuckle bursts out of Sebastian, and David lets out a pig snort. Sebastian bends down, grasping his stomach as he guffaws louder, egged on by David's laughter. I stand there, lost. I don't get why my honest mistake is extremely funny to them. Clearly, I'm missing something.

"Nice." I remark, "Laugh at the new girl, who doesn't know anything."

Sebastian straightens, still clutching his stomach, "Sorry. We were just..there's a good reason for that, I swear." he tries to explain in between gasps of air.

"Wow. I guess that must have been some abdominal workout." I comment as I watch the both of them, arms crossed. 

"Sorry, Dina. He's right. There's a reason for that." David answers this time, wiping the corners of his eyes. He's clearly in a good mood now. Good for him. "Now, why don't you come with us? We'll tell you all about it."

"No." I only say one word, but I make sure they hear me telling them to go to hell. Who cares about it anymore? 

The animated light in David's eyes dimmed, "Call her parents." he suddenly tells Sebastian with no hesitation. And as if they rehearsed it a million times, the latter grabs his phone from his back pocket.

"No!" I exclaim, barely stopping myself from lunging at Sebastian as I fall into the obvious trap. I glare at David accusingly. He lifts an annoying eyebrow at me, amused. "I'll go with you. Just make it quick." I relent. I'm not exactly sure what this trial is going to look like, I doubt it would be fair to me. But I need to at least try and convince these people to lay off my back. I have more important things to worry about, after all.