Juvenile Delinquent

I hear the door crack open and glance over to see my lawyer walk in. The first thing I notice is that he is definitely cute, about 24 years old, with gray eyes and sandy blonde hair. He strides across the floor and holds out his hand to shake. I stare at it as if it could somehow bite my arm off to the elbow. He grins.

"I don't bite."

What the heck? So now he reads minds?

I cautiously take his hand and grimance. Hopefully this would work out well.

He places his briefcase on the wooden table and I tip my head to read the name engraved on it.

Crandall James? That sounds like the name of a juice factory. I snicker and he glances up as if knowing what had caused my mirth.

"It's my grandfather's name." he explains, "It's one of the traits I wished hadn't been passed down through the generations." He rolls his blue eyes and passes me a slip of paper which I quickly run my eyes over it. It looks like a test. I hate tests.

"Just answer everything truthfully, and we can get out of here as soon as possible." He informs me leaning back in his chair far enough so he can rest his feet on the table.

"Oh, and by the way, you can just call me James."

I snickere again, louder then before.

Sure James, anything you say.

The answers seem easy enough and I breeze through them, only lying slightly on the ones which ask who was involved.

• Full name? Cassandra Jean Marks.
• Age? 17 years old.
• Grade? 12th
• Height? 5"4
• Appearance? Layered brownish, reddish hair, seven ear piercings, and green eyes
• Family? Dad, Mom, (Divorced), Aunt Jackie, My cousins Reese and Chris.
• What is the offense you caused? Pulling a fire alarm and ruining my high school.
• What were you feeling at the time? I think I felt thrilled? But I had to pee too.
• How did you feel after? I don’t know? Like the spraying water wasn't helping my pee problem?
• Who else was involved? No one, just me.
• Was it your idea? Absolutely, even the peeing part

I glance up when I finish and notice him intently watching me. I slide the paper across to him and watch as his eyes skim down it; waiting for him to judge me. His eyes widen at the piercings and I notice him glance up at me for a second before continuing, his eyes crinkling at the last few questions.

"Do you get along with your family?" James asks suddenly, placing the paper genlty back to the table.

I sigh and say with a shrug, "I guess."

"Who do you get along with most in your family?"

"Simple. My aunt Jackie and my cousins." No need to tell him I hadn't seen them since I was seven.

"And why don’t you get along your parents?"

I hesitate and lock my eyes elsewhere, suddenly interested in the paintings on the wall.

"Ah, I see. Did the divorce take a toll on you?"

I nod slowly. I had never told anyone else this before. Even Matt and Jamie. They were close enough to me to know how upset it had made me without having to ask.

"Okay, so tell me more about your aunt and your cousins."

"Well," I say tipping my chair back to match him, "They get me." I cock my head. "You know?"

He nods as if to tell me to keep talking.

"Also, they don't judge me." I run my hands down my band tshirt and skinny jeans with a grin. "I hate labels but I'm not exactly prep, if you know what I mean."

"They are more a family then my family is. I always wished that they were my real family." I continue, imagining them as I had last seen them, a decade ago.

"Would you go stay with them if you could?"

"In a heartbeat," I reply without thinking. It wasn't hard considering I had always wanted Aunt Ellie as my mom anyway.

"Well if you’re good, I might be able to get that to happen."

My jaw drops I try unsuccessfuly to hold back a shriek of pure delight.

"Are you serious, like for real?" I catch myself and lean back again in the chair, trying to be aloof but failing miserably.

"Yep, now let's go talk to the judge." He says pushing back his chair and grabbing his brief case. “You’re going to have a lot of sucking up to do.” He warns me with a grin and ushers me out the door.