GLORY AND GORE! ( DEFENDING JACOB )

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

❝ 𝑻𝑬𝑳𝑳 𝑴𝑬 . . .

❝ . . . 𝑾𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑫 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑲𝑰𝑳𝑳 𝑻𝑶 𝑺𝑨𝑽𝑬 𝑨 𝑳𝑰𝑭𝑬? ❞

. . .

a soft instrumental song played quietly under the voices of all the people at the shiva. it felt haunting to madeline to be in the house of the boy who had bullied her for almost two years since freshman year. it was haunting to think that he was gone. a part of her was almost relieved, and that made her feel sick. everyone knew about ben and maddie, it wasn't a secret. but at this point, she got used to the stares and whispers from the teenagers in her class. jacob himself wasn't without stares and whispers either. the kids at their school went crazy on social media after he commented on a tribute post for ben. maddie told him that he was so fucking stupid for commenting that stuff, and he didn't seem to mind. even derek was now not really talking to him, saying to everyone that he knew that Jacob had a knife he had bought.

madeline knew about the knife, she had been with him when he purchased it. but as much to her knowledge, it was hidden away somewhere at jacob's house, since he only brought it to school that one time. he hadn't exactly told her why he needed a knife, but during those times, months ago, some of the popular boys had been threatening him. it was probably just for protection.

"she probably helped kill ben with that barber kid. god, they're twisted," a girl whispered to her friend beside maddie as she sat next to jacob on the couch. he was on his phone, looking at twitter.

she shot a glance towards the two girls, silently telling them that she could hear them loud and clear. their eyes widened and they got up and walked away. jacob was about to leave with his dad, andy barber had gone upstairs to look for jacob's coat but had yet to come down. as far as she knew, nothing had come up about her flannel, it was like the investigators didn't even acknowledge it. maybe they wouldn't. 

still, the guilt of holding such information back was beginning to eat her alive. she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. 

maddie stood up abruptly, causing jacob to grab her wrist and look at her with concern.

"i should go, it's getting late and my parents want me home by seven now instead of nine," she said to him, wriggling out of his grasp, grabbing her bag and beginning to walk her way outside of the house. she heard footsteps behind her, knowing that it was probably jacob coming outside to talk to her. the soft spring air hit her face as she walked out, but as soon as she was going to step onto the sidewalk to get to her car, jacob grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around. "jay, i don't want to hear it. you heard what everyone is thinking. they think i'm a murderer. that i had something to do with this. and once they find out that flannel is mine, i'm done for. your dad interviewed me today and it was so hard-"

jacob leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. it was a shocking move, something that she had not expected. of course she had thought about kissing jacob barber many times, but now he was actually doing it, and suddenly all thoughts about ben rifkin left her brain. she kissed him back, slightly confused at this sudden change in demeanor in the boy.

"jacob? are you ready or do you need more time?" andy barber asked, making jacob pull away from the kiss and look at his dad. mr barber looked at the two of them with a small grin on his face, crossing his arms. maddie felt her face heat up, looking at jacob's father and then shaking her head.

"i should go," she said to jacob, waving at andy as a goodbye and getting into her car. 

as if life couldn't get any more weirder jacob barber, her best friend, had kissed her. he had kissed her outside of the house hosting a shiva for a dead kid in their grade. the same place she had spoken to ben rifkin only two nights earlier, the last night he had been alive.

. . .

a knock on her bedroom door made madeline set down her hairbrush and go to open the door. she hadn't gotten any sleep last night either, despite her mother giving her melatonin to try and guide her into a sleep. nothing seemed to be working, but the school counselor said that that was a normal thing, considering the situation. 

once she opened the door, she came face to face with her father. his face was solemn, pushing the door open enough to step into the doorway.

"you need to come downstairs, mads," he said. his voice was low, looking at her with concern on his face. her heart rate picked up, making her question what the hell was waiting for her downstairs. she didn't reply, only nodded, and slipped on her shoes she had planned on wearing today. maddie walked out of her room and walked down the stairs, seeing Adrian standing at the foot of them. his face looked shocked and saddened, his hand coming up to grab her hand for a second, squeeze it, and then allow her to walk into the living area. 

there her mother was, talking with three police officers standing in the middle of her living room. as soon as she walked in all eyes were on her, like she was some beaten up dog. her eyes looked at the police officers. they had kind faces except for the one in the middle, who had a stern look on his face, his eyes searching her own face for any sign of guilt. in his hands held handcuffs, open and ready to be used.

her mouth was dry, her throat closing up. this was not happening. this was a mistake, they weren't going to arrest her, were they?

"sweetie, the police-" her mother started, but was quickly cut off by the hand of the middle police officer getting held up. 

"madeline anna windsor, you're under arrest for involvement in the murder of ben rifkin," the officer said, walking over and grabbing her wrists. "you have the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney of your choice or a court appointed attorney. anything you say can and will be used in the court of law by the state of massachusetts."

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authors note : hi guys! i hope you all are enjoying the story so far. some of these chapters will be shorter than others, just because of how i believe the story should be told. thank you for all the support already, i'm so excited to tell this story.