Heroes of Justice (MyStreet X SMD)

Chapter 3: Dangerous Buisness

Aphmau's POV

As soon as Katelyn left, I stumbled up the stairs and into my bathroom. The mirror showed quite the miserable site. My black hair framed my face in frizzy clumps. Redness stained my nose and ears, a starling contrast against my pale cheeks. I looked like some high school kids attempt at meaningful art. "My Tears are the Rain" or something lame like that.

I peeled myself out of my soaked clothes and stepped into the shower, turning on the water to near boiling point.

As I scrubbed myself pink, I thought about the trial tomorrow. My stomach churned with nerves. There was no way I was ready to defend someone's life in front of an actual judge and jury. The thought made me nauseous. One mistake and Kala could end up in prison for life, and that's something I wasn't ready to have on my conscious.

An image of Kala in an orange jumpsuit, handcuffed and shuffling down a long hallway of cells filled with criminals flashed through my mind. I shuddered. I could not afford to lose this case.

Stepping out of the shower, I dried myself with a fluffy purple towel before changing into some sweatpants and an old college hoodie, brushing my hair afterward. With a sigh, I kicked open my bathroom door, dropped my dirty clothes in a hamper, and pulled my hair into a ponytail. Time to work.

I flopped onto the couch downstairs, flicking open my case. My notes laid perfectly flat above my past achievements. I couldn't believe I actually kept this old briefcase from my lawyer/judge days. I ran my fingers over the smooth corners like I did in the old days.

For about the next hour, I reread some of my old law textbooks, snickering at some of the things I wrote in the margins. Katelyn still had yet to show up with the food, which was not fine at all. She's been gone for about an hour and a half, and I tried to ignore the horrible pangs in my stomach, but it was kind of hard to when it grumbled every five minutes.

"Hey, Aphmau! Can you help me with the door?" a voice shouted from the front door. I blinked. How long had I spaced out?

"Yeah, one sec!" I scrambled out of my pile of blankets and walked to the front door where Katelyn was holding a box of pizza, a box of breadstick, and a two-liter of pop. We're healthy people, I swear.

Holding the door open for Katelyn, she walked inside.

"Thanks," she breathed.

"What took so long?" I asked, grabbing the box of breadsticks from Katelyn's hands.

"Oh, um," Katelyn hesitated. "Trafic. Trafic was super bad. It took ten minutes just to pull out of the pizzeria."

The slight hesitation in her response and the flutter of her voice was a dead giveaway.

I resisted the urge to narrow my eyes at her, an old trick used in interrogation. Instead, I smiled and forced a chuckle, rolling my eyes. "I've been there before."

Katelyn set the food on the table, taking a slice of pizza. I, too, grabbed a slice of pizza, taking a bite. I casually leaned on the table. "What's up? You seem tense?"

Katelyn looked up then shook her head. "It's nothing."

I leaned forward, wiggling my eyebrows, "Come on, Katelyn, you can tell me."

Her cheeks turn red. She began to snort uncontrollably, "I was just thinking about the murder that happened two days ago. The one that was on the news this morning."

I choked on my pizza. Katelyn looked at me funnily as I tried to stop furiously coughing. Using the table for support, I held up my hand and finished coughing. "Wh-Why the sudden interest i-in this murder?"