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v. james dead daydream
It never stopped. It would never stop.
"John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina Section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty."
She heard the words over and over again. Echoing the tunnel of her memory. The striking of the gavel thundered, threatening her eardrums, and still, even hours later made her have to cup her hands tightly over her diamond-studded ears in hopes to drown out the sound of the people she'd once considered classmates and peers cheer and clap for the possible death of the boy she loves.
Nova Scott's body had collapsed onto her bed. Her legs curled up immediately and her head turned, burying her face into a tear-soaked pillow. Her fists closed around the fabric of her comforter and loud sobs filled the silent, closed-off bedroom. Nova gasped, her chest burning and lungs aching for her, but her breaths only came in short cut-off cycles. Her throat began to burn and her entire body seemed to be shutting down at that very moment. She didn't know how much more of this she had left in her. Nova didn't know how much longer she could keep from going into a complete collapse.
She remembered the way he'd turned back to look at her. As the officers escorted him toward the door that would take him away from her again, John B. glanced back over his shoulder, the chains on his feet could be heard scuffing the wood as he slowed to a near stop. Nova watched him, tears welling in her eyes, throat burning, wanting to scream. But she didn't move. While the world had roared to life around her, Nova remained motionless, completely unmoving. Except for her heart which gave a slight jump, just like it always had when he looked at her. But she blinked, and when Nova opened her eyes, John B. was already gone.
It hit her then, what if that was it for them, their last shared moment together?
There wasn't much she remembered after that. Everything around her suddenly became mute. The noises slowly died out and Nova's mind had gone elsewhere, lost in the depths of all the hurt. Her brother and dad led her through the shouting crowds and cameras being pushed into her face, looking for a newsworthy shot of a tearful girlfriend.
Nova didn't stop to be with her friends. She didn't turn her head or try to find them in the rioting crowds outside the courthouse steps. What could they have done for her at that moment? What could she have done for them? Nothing – that's the answer, none of them could do anything. So, instead, she let the hand on her back guide her down the concrete path, out and away from everyone else.
When they were home, and the large oak doors to her front doors were closed, that's when hell swooped down upon her, that's when Nova crash-landed into the fiery pits.
