Three weeks later, I was in front of the judge and awaiting my fate.

Now, before you instantly go on a rage that I was going to face down a stern judge who would side with my school and my family for my actions, let me make this clear: this judge (a no-nonsense British transfer who has the disposition of Judge Rinder [look him up on YouTube, folks] and Judge Judy combined) in particular knew of what was going on with my family and school and was instantly briefed by both the DA and the court-appointed attorney as well as the female therapist that I was told to talk with regarding all that I was dealing with. And this particular judge hated my father and the twins on sight.

In short, I got the better end of the stick.

"Your Honor, after what we just heard from Mr. Harding's life with his family and school- the constant mistreatment and abuse he suffered and the way that he was seen as a toy to be used and abused every single day, the court recommends that Wendell is to break all ties with his family and his old school," said Lauryn Dominguez, my attorney. "And since he suffered from the emotional and mental abuse that took a toll on his psyche aside from being pushed out of the closet, the court and the state of Washington recommend that Wendell is to be transferred to an acute-residential therapy center."

"DA, any objections?" said Judge Raymond Atelier.

The older man in question shook his head no, taking a moment to glare at my father who was sporting a nasty head wound from being hit with the baseball bat. "None whatsoever," he said. "In fact, the state believes that not only is Wendell's father and stepmother unfit to be a parent to such an intelligent kid, he and his family in question, as well as the entire student-faculty body at McHenry Academy, are by no means the ones to condemn the defendant on the account that they were planning to kill him."

"Wait, what?" I said, unable to remain silent after learning about the new development.

Judge Atelier's eyebrows went up in interest. "Is this true, prosecutor?"

The DA scoffed. "Your Honor, I was given some new details about what I learned from a few investigators and this is very disturbing," he said. "It turns out that Mr. Harding was making arrangements for Wendell to be taken out of the picture to make sure that all of the assets that he acquired in Wendell's name would be transferred to himself and his family. He planned to hire a hitman on the day Wendell had that meltdown to take him out as soon as the teen arrived home and make it look like a suicide. If it weren't for Wendell making his own plans to off himself in that essay, it might have happened sooner and we wouldn't be here right now."

"That's a damn lie," My father snarled, wincing in pain as he clutched his swollen cheek. "That's a fucking lie."

"Order," Judge Atelier commanded, banging his gavel. "Mr. Harding, I can see why you and your family deserved that beatdown by your son. While I don't condone Wendell's actions, I can emphasize what he went through for so many years. You treated your son like trash and wanted him to die."

"He deserved it," Alicia spat, her boyfriend Corey nodding in agreement. "He can't be a real man if he's not a part of the family by blood."

Now THAT had everyone catching her attention, even me.

"That's right," bragged Step-Mommy Dearest, slurping on her flask. "My husband told me that Wendell is not his son. It turns out that the whore of his mother was forced to have sex with my husband's brother, who was a gay man himself, by orders of my man. And I can see why he wanted Wendell out of the picture- a faggot being the son of another faggot. How shameful. If I were Louis, I'd shoot Wendell when he was only a newborn."

I was numb.

I was speechless like I was Vanjie Mateo when she got the boot on season 10. I wasn't a real Harding? And I was lied to for all these years? It made me want to take a bat and kill these fools if it weren't for the fact that I was in court.

"Wendell, are you okay?" my attorney asked me.

"He looks like he wants to die," Bianca mocked. "He needs to."

The judge stood up from his chair and came over to join me. "Wendell, are you-"

"Don't fucking bother," my father sneered before turning to the bailiff. "Sir, if I paid you one million dollars right now, would you be so kind to put that ratty trash out of his misery?"

The bailiff in question glared at my father as if he'd lost his mind. "No, but I'd put you in the worst prison cells with a rapist who can make you his bitch," he replied. "And if I wasn't on duty, I'd do just that."

"How dare you," Step-Whore hissed.

The court clerk, a tall older woman dressed tastefully in a dark green pantsuit, sniffed in disdain. "Did he stutter, miss?" she said crisply. "I'm surprised that a chicken such as yourself would catch the attention of such an atrocious pig who favors his whorish daughters and plans to take out his son. Shameful, I call it."

"No, old bitch. What's shameful is an old crow who's working in such a dump," Alicia sassed. "What, you didn't try hard enough to be a model like me?"

"Nah, sis. She's way past her prime," Bianca sniggered. "And I bet that she's stuck with lots of cats to pick up their shit after them. She smells like she does."

"And with that, it's time for you to leave," Judge Atelier said primly, snapping his fingers to motion for nearby policemen to escort my former family and the twins' boyfriends out of the courtroom. The guards ignored the protests and jeers as they roughly grabbed my injured family and began to lead them out of the room.

"Wait," I said, stopping the guards. "I have something to say- something that I need to let loose. Your Honor, if I may, I would like to read my now EX-family for filth as a way of me cutting ties with them completely."

"I'll allow it," said the judge.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the court- I present to you all the Harding members of Monsters Inc.," I said, channeling my inner Alyssa Edwards. "Antonia the stepmother: Rotted. Alicia the cum-slut: gutted. Bianca del Taco Stinko: slummed. Marco Artenizo: trashed. Corey Bellevue- the boyfriend who outed me: crashed and thrashed. And finally, the so-called hitman-loving, herpes-ridden prison bitch of a man that I thought I was forced to call my father... never mind."

And the court erupted in laughter, the judge himself trying to hold back the laughs with hints of coughing.

"Well put," my attorney said. "I would read them for filth myself, but it would be like reading a children's picture book- they're just too easy to read."

"Same," the DA added. "They're a striking resemblance to a rejected cast of The Hills Have Eyes 2."

"This isn't over," my father hissed, straining to get out of the beefy cop's grasp. "I will have you killed, you fucking spawn of Satan, just like I did my brother."

"Ah, about that," said the judge as he approached my family. "I'm going to charge you and your family for your atrocious crimes of child endangerment, child neglect, torture, attempted hire to kill, and other crimes that I know you have committed. And although I know that you'll get off with a slap of the wrist thanks to a crooked attorney and a judge that you can bribe, believe me when I say that you will never have contact with your son again. I will make sure of it."

"Is that a threat?"

The judge grinned widely as if he was the predator and my father was the prey doomed to be a midnight snack. "That's a promise," he said. "Bye-bye!"

The guards continued to carry my family out of sight while the courtroom cheered on before settling back to order as the judge took his seat. "Wendell, I just want to know how you survived with a family like that," Judge Atelier asked me. "I know it took a lot of courage to put up with all the abuse that was inflicted on you by not only your family but your school as well."

I took a deep breath. "To be honest, I really can't say how- much less want to say because I was on the edge of ending it all," I replied, all of my bravado from earlier finally flying out of the window. "And when that man I thought was my father trolled my late mother- the woman that I never met, I knew that I couldn't hold back. Same when I was outed the day before I trashed the school. I just couldn't deal with it all anymore. I was ready to die and face the music. Maybe they were right: I don't have a place in this world anymore."

"No they're not," said the judge. "They were in the wrong. You were hurting after all these years and they all wanted you out of the way so they could cash in on the money they earned and placed in your name. If anything, you deserve better.

"And as for the suggestion of you being emancipated from your family and placed in an acute-residential therapy center, it is so ordered. I am sending you to Cartier Valley Academy for Boys- a joint therapy session and boarding school that is sponsored by the state of Washington and chartered-run. And there, you'll find a new beginning. I want you to take this time to let yourself heal and be found a new identity," the judge went on. "Of course, there's a stipulation, two actually. You will be continuing your studies for the summer break with the other kids and you will be watched on your behavior. So, do me proud and prove them wrong, okay?"

I nodded. "What's the other stipulation?"

"Simple. You have no further contact from the pit of vipers that you were stuck with. They are-"

I held up a hand to cut him off. "Don't worry," I assured him. "As far as I am concerned, they are now dead to me. I want nothing to do with them unless they are dying and I plan their funerals."

Judge Atelier grinned. "So ordered," he said, banging the gavel. "You leave for Cartier Valley after lunch."

I whooped as the spectators began to file out. I don't know what would be waiting for me at Cartier Valley, but I was hoping for a boarding school that would just leave me to my devices and not coerce me to talk about my feelings.

If anything, I wanted to be left in the background and just survive. Surely that would happen, right?

Don't be so sure about that, Wendell!

We'll see our hero enter the world of Cartier Valley Academy in the next chapter, so make sure you grab yourselves a snack and hurry back!

Dedication: -pink_bxtch-.

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