Silence is the worst thing (Emison)

Chapter 8

Chapter 8
"Your Honour, please, how can anyone possibly believe a girl, who doesn't remember any details of the night in question. Surely, she would recall some form of activity between my client and herself."
I sat in the court, all eyes on me. It was unbearable. The man that was on the defence constantly pointed at me as he continued to say his final speech before calling his clients to speak. I wanted to runaway the shame was that bad.
"Defence, who do you call to the stand?" The judge finally spoke when the defence had finished talking. He stood from his chair that he had momentarily sat on to look through papers.
"I call to the stand, Emily Fields." As I stood from my seat and walked over to where I was told to go, I could feel every single eye on me but I could only look at my parents. They gave me an encouraging nod as I took an oath before sitting down again.
"Ms. Fields tell me, what you did on the evening of Friday the 21st?" The lawyer walked from his table and in towards the area where you could only walk past if you had permission, I had no idea what it was called. Everyone looked at me waiting for an answer.
"I was at a party."
"Yes? Whose party were you at?" His questions were so picky and I knew they hadn't even started yet.
"I'm not sure; I just went along with my friends. I wanted them to think I was cool." I realised in that moment how stupid it sounded and I wished I could take it all back.
"Okay. So why, if you wanted your friends to think you were cool, why did you leave the party prematurely?"
It was like watching a tennis match, eyes darting from one person to the other as they threw tennis balls of question and answers across the court room.
"Because a boy tried to make advances on me and I said no but he kept trying. I got scared and left." I stuttered many times throughout my answers, so nervous I couldn't even look up from my hands.
"And so you just left your friends?"
"Yes. I knew they'd be okay and they were having fun without me anyway." The defence lawyer nodded his head a few times and placed his hand to his chin as if he was thinking of his next question.
"So what did you do after you left the party?" He finally asked as he paced back and forth. I would've found it annoying if I wasn't terrified.
"I began walking home."
"I recall, in your police statement you said it was raining that night. You walked home in the rain?"
"Yes, I was too afraid to call my parents and I couldn't afford a cab." My answers were just as rehearsed as his questions; my lawyer had told me that these questions would be asked and that I should practice. Though my answers were all true I still felt like a robot, just passing on a message.
"Okay, so what happened next?"
"I was probably half way home, when I noticed someone following me."
"Half way home you said? How long had you been walking before you realised someone was following you?" His words were strong and demeaning, it made it hard to form any real sentence.
"About forty minutes." I remembered to the dot how long it had taken me before I realised he was following me.
"And you told police that it was my client that had followed you, yes?"
"Yes."
"You see Ms. Fields; I have several eye witnesses saying that they saw my client still at the party when you told police you saw him following you." He hadn't asked me a question, I didn't know what to do in this situation, and I felt tears form in my eyes. I knew for a fact that it was him following me, I remember his face hovering over me, I remember him saying my name. I remember him holding me so I couldn't run.
"Objection your honour, is there a question?" My lawyer jumped from her seat, saving me.
"Sustain your honour. Ms. Fields, I just want to know the truth. How is it that so many people said my client was there and you're saying he was following you?"
I wanted to crack; I wanted to scream at this man for making me feel so horrible! For making that boy look innocent! I hated him, and I hated this.
"Objection your honour, leading the jury." My lawyer jumped up again, she could see me struggling but it was hard to even be remotely close to strong.
"Sustain. Mr. Laurens, may I remind you; that you are here to defend, not to prosecute."
"Sorry your honour. No further questions." The defence lawyer walked back to his table and sat back down next to his client. It was the first time I had even looked at him since I'd entered the room. The boy stared at me and smiled. His smile was a trademark. I hated looking at him. It made me want to cry.
"Prosecution, do you have anything to add?" The judge looked over to my lawyer; she stood with confidence and walked in front of me.
"Yes your honour." She smiled softly and it relaxed me slightly.
"Ms. Fields tell me what happened once you realised someone was following you?" I had tried desperately hard for months to forget what had happened that night. But here they just kept bringing it back up. Making me remember every single detail!
"I tried walking faster but he caught up to me and I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head..."
'Emily sweetie... I'm sorry.' Pam watched as her daughter read over the court report and connected the dots that formed in front of her. Her eyes filled with tears and her anger worsened at the memory of what happened so many months ago.
Alison's father! He was the lawyer that stood in that court room. He said she was the liar! He explained that what happened that night was Emily's fault! The brunette couldn't control her anger anymore; she crumbled up the court files and threw them to the ground. She ran out of the kitchen and outside to her car.
As Emily drove she found herself constantly thinking of Alison. Emily didn't even know if Alison knew what had happened with the brunette's court case. Surely, if her father worked on it so much Alison would've asked what had happened. The case was practically viral; Emily didn't understand why no one had picked up on who she was. Yes it had happened over eight months ago but it was on the news and in papers.
The brunette drove for almost two hours when she finally arrived at her destination.
She pulled up down the road from a large sign that read "Philadelphia Adult Correctional Facility", contemplating whether or not her next move would be a smart decision. After several minutes of an inner debate Emily turned her car on and continued through to the prison.
She knew she would have to do this eventually.
Parking with the other visitors, Emily got out of her car and walked to the allocated entrance. As she went through the procedure to visit an inmate, the brunette repetitively told herself to stay strong. A guard told Emily to place all her metals and any other belongings in a tray and then to follow him. Quickly she handed over her wallet to another guard behind a barricaded desk and pursued the first guard.
As the two walked the man went on about all the rules and regulations Emily had to follow and then as they reached a large door he asked if she understood. She nodded softly. He banged on the door and Emily heard a loud buzz followed by a clicking sound. Shortly after, the guard opened the door and walked inside. Emily assumed to follow and headed into a plain grey room.
'You have a visitor.' The guard spoke as Emily looked around the room. It had a single metal table in the centre and four cameras in each corner. There was a mirror on one wall that Emily assumed could be seen through on the other end, she had seen rooms like these in crimes shows on television all the time.
When Emily drew her attention back to the guard she noticed his tone was almost mocking. It was clear that the person would not be in the room for any other reason.
'Well, lucky me.' A deep voice replied. The guard moved from in front of Emily and moved to the far corner. Emily was slightly relieved he was staying in the room with the pair.
Finally, for the first time since the court case, Emily laid her eyes upon the boy. He looked away from the guard and towards Emily, giving her his trademark smile. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and his hair was un-kept and long but Emily recognised him instantly.
'Hello Emily.' His voice was deeper than Emily remembered but the way he said her name wasn't any different. She heard it constantly every day over and over in her head since the day she had met him. Even behind bars this boy was haunting her thoughts. The brunette felt as if she were shrinking; the room was becoming bigger as the boy continued to smile.
He had no remorse; it was like he believed his own lies. Telling herself to remember who the bad guy was, Emily straightened up and sat down at the metal table across from the boy.
'Hello Jason.' She murmured, hating the fact that he was still smiling. As the brunette sat down, she could instantly tell that Jason Laurens was definitely Alison's brother. They had the same face. The same smile.
That same damn trademark smile that made you disintegrate underneath its pressure.
'You finally decided to come see me. Been missing me have you?' He spoke with a devilish tone and tried to stare down Emily, but she stood her ground. She was kind of used to Alison doing it to her.
'Why did you change your last name, Jason?' His smile immediately disappeared but, like Alison, he recovered quickly.
'I don't know what you're talking about.'
'Yes, you do.' But Jason merely looked through Emily as if she was a mirror. 'Jason DiLaurentis. Was it because your father was ashamed to have his son disgrace the family name? I know you got away with what you did to me but you deserve to be in here.'
'I suppose. But at least I'm only in here for five years instead of twenty five.' Emily cringed at the difference in sentence. She had read in the papers that about six month ago Jason had been accessory to a robbery that happened at a major bank.
'Why rob a bank when you had already been in trouble with the law?' Though Emily didn't come to see Jason to ask him questions, she was curious and all but mostly she just wanted closure.
'Should I have my lawyer present Emily? You're asking me a lot of questions.' His smile stretch across his face, he thought he was so clever.
'No I hear your lawyer dropped you after my case. Only your mother see's you now, right?' Emily was surprised at how confident she was. Jason had also picked up on how much she had changed in just under a year. She was strong. But her comment angered him, how did she know about his father? And his mother for that fact.
'Why are you here, Emily?' Jason's level of interest was slowly starting to diminish.
'I wanted to see you slowly rotting away.' Emily's words were harsh but Jason didn't budge, he merely chuckled slightly and leaned closer to Emily.
'Ah. Closure.' He laughed softly and winked at Emily. 'How's this for closure? I'll be out in five years, probably less with good behaviour. I'll pay you a visit and give you some closure.' As the words Jason spoke spread through Emily's body she stood and walked away. Even in prison he remained a monster. She couldn't believe how he spoke. It was all just a game to him.
The guard banged on the door again and as it opened Emily turned to face the boy that had stolen a part of her.
'I'll be long gone. Good bye Jason.'
When Emily arrived home it was the early hours of the morning. The lights inside her home were extinguished and the brunette assumed her parents must have gone to bed. It wasn't a frequent occurrence for Emily to disappear but when she did go off in her car she would always return. That gave Emily's parents some closure. They knew she would return when she was ready. It was not however normal at all for Emily to go see Jason and she knew her parents wouldn't approve. That was the first and the last time she ever hoped to see him.
When the brunette walked inside and made it into her room she couldn't be happier to just fall asleep but she noticed on her bed a small envelope. On top there was a small piece that had her mother's handwriting.
Alison dropped this over for you while you were out.
I hope you're okay. Sleep well
I love you. Mum x
It was comforting to know that her mum was thinking of her. As Emily sat on her bed she opened the envelope that Alison had left for her. There wasn't a lot of writing but Alison clearly said what she needed to and it couldn't wait.
I won't draw this out but I'm mad at you. You should have stood up for me. Whatever your mum has against my dad, sort it out. Don't bother calling me.
-Alison
Emily was so mad at Alison; her words were harsh and un-necessary. She had no idea what Emily or her mum had against her father but Emily believed it was a fair feeling to have. As the brunette read over the note several times she could feel herself getting more and more flustered and upset.
Alison had no idea!
The next morning Emily contemplated not going to school but she didn't want Alison to win. Not after the letter stunt. Emily would go to school and stand proud. She decided in that moment, that she would not stand down to a DiLaurentis anymore.
By the time Emily had gotten ready her parents were already gone. The brunette wanted to apologise for what had happened last night but she decided not to dwell on the matter. She would apologise later.
As Emily drove to school she was half expecting to find Alison and Noel joined at the hip but instead Alison stood with her three friends and Noel was nowhere to be seen. Emily was slightly relieved but at the same time she desperately tried not to care. She did not care who Alison was with.
She couldn't...
Walking passed the group with confidence pretending as if she didn't see them at all had caused a lot of curiosity to spread through Alison's three friends. Especially since everyone always saw them.
'Okay, I'm not even going to try to be subtle about this. But what was that?' Hanna asked as she watched Emily walk away and towards the girl's bathrooms. Hanna thought she could see the brunette holding back tears but she wasn't sure.
'What was what?' Alison acted as if nothing had happened between. She was merely continuing her day as if Emily didn't exist. Even if it would be the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.
'Seriously! What happened? If looks could kill Ali, Emily would be dead ten times over. What did she do to piss you off now?' Hanna was beginning to feel frustration spread through her; she could see that Emily made Alison happy. Alison was just too proud to admit it.
'Hanna! That's enough. We aren't talking about this anymore.' Alison almost shouted towards the other blonde. Alison's loud outburst silenced both Aria and Spencer but Hanna wasn't in the mood for giving in on that particular morning.
'Fine. I'll go ask Emily.' Hanna turned and headed towards the girls bathrooms.
'Good luck. She only talks to me.' Alison tried to speak with confidence but she knew it was a lie. Emily was becoming more secure about whom she could talk to and the blonde could tell.
'Well it's better than getting my head bitten off by you.' Hanna walked away not saying another word. But she was sure that if indeed looks could kill, she would be dead a million times over. Hanna knew Alison was not happy with her but it irritated the blonde profusely that she acting so odd about Emily.
Opening the door to the bathrooms, Hanna walked in to find Emily franticly trying to hold back tears. She looked towards the door suddenly to find Hanna smiling at her empathetically.
'It's okay. I'm not here to like make you talk or anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Since Ali wasn't going to do it. Geez! What's her problem sometimes anyway? I mean seriously, one day she's fine and the next – BAM! It's practically World War One! And she's Hitler!'
Emily found Hanna's ranting extremely funny and it lightened her mood instantly, she laughed at the blondes rambling.
'What?' Hanna said, all of a sudden back from her monologue. She didn't realise how nice it was to talk without being interrupted.
'Hitler rose to power in World War Two. I mean he was in the army in World War One but was with the Nazi's and everything in the Second World War.'
Hanna was mildly shocked that Emily was speaking to her but also rather shocked at how wrong her facts were.
'Well thank god I don't do history!' Hanna exclaimed.
Both girls laughed and Emily found that she was no longer focused on Alison and her brother. It was nice to have a clear head for once.
'I'm Hanna.' The blonde formally introduced herself to now relaxed Emily. She had spent time with Emily constantly throughout the last month but never once had Emily actually spoken.
'Emily.' The brunette replied happily.