─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

After a long, emotional argument with her mother, Marella was sitting with her friends in the courtroom. The woman didn't even seem relieved to see her daughter after days. She didn't mention anything about her birthday, she just demanded that the girl sat beside her at court so no one asked any questions.

Even Parker showed up from Charleston, wanting to show his support for the boy. While they weren't too close, Parker thought Marella would need someone. So he sat on one side of her, JJ on the other.

"John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty." The judge concluded, slamming her wooden gavel on the mallet.

Marella gasped at the revelation, hiding her head in her hands with distraught. While she kept her emotions within, the boy beside her did the opposite. He shot up to his feet, shouting along with a few other members of the audience. "Your Honour, he's seventeen!" JJ started to yell.

"Stop."

"Quiet down!" The judge exclaimed.

"No, he's seventeen! Are you kidding me?" JJ asked. Pope placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "You're good." He muttered, attempting to calm him down.

Marella stood to her feet, watching hopelessly as the officers escorted John B away.

"Bailiff!"

"Hey, John B, we're gonna figure it out." JJ reassured his friend. Sarah rushed forward, wanting to get as close to John B as possible. "John B! John B! John B! No!" She cried out.

A few officers moved forward, creating a wall between the girl and her boyfriend. "Sarah!" Kie yelled, stepping over to defend her. "Stop! Don't touch her! Let's go, Sarah. Let's get out of here."

"Everybody out. Let's go."

∙ ~εïз~ ∙

Marella walked out of the courtroom with her friends, trying to block out all negative comments people were making. "Justice is served." One said.

"He had it coming." Another agreed.

It was beyond frustrating. They all spoke like they knew exactly what happened, but they weren't there. Marella was. And despite that, no one could take her word for what truly happened.

"Is this a joke? Like, are we in hell or...?" Kie asked her friends. Sarah shook her head. "I should have never come home." She mumbled.

"They're gonna kill him, guys. I know it." JJ stated.

"Sorry for what you and your family have gone through." Someone said to Ward. "Thank God the system works."

"Can you please shut up?" Kie asked, catching their attention. "Of course you think the system worked because it was made to protect you and people like you."

"He'll have his day in court." The man, Marella quickly recognised to be Hugh, argued. "A jury will decide."

"He shouldn't even be in court!" Kie exclaimed before turning to Ward. "You should, cause you're a murderer. You have a lot of nerve showing up to court." She seethed. Shoupe began to call out to them, attempting to deescalate the situation.

"I know you're upset. I understand you're upset, okay?" Ward said, his voice gentle. Kie scoffed, seeing right through his innocent act. "Upset?" She yelled.

"I know he's got you fooled." Ward continued. "He's got you all fooled."

"No, I'm not just upset!" Kie shouted, lunging forward. In an instant, Shoupe and a few other police officers rushed forward to pull her away from the man.

"You need to show some respect, young lady!" Athena shouted.

Marella scowled at her mother with disgust, "None of you deserve her respect!" She yelled back.

Parker didn't hesitate to step forward and push the policeman's arm off of Kie. "Get off her!" He exclaimed, gently pulling the girl back.

"Muzzle your goddamned dog!" JJ uttered, pointing at the officer who was getting too handsy. "Why don't you take the Kooks down for a change, Shoupe?" He challenged.

"You wanna get arrested?" Shoupe challenged. "Get out! You need to go."

"This is bullshit." Kie muttered. Sarah sighed, placing her hands on Kie's shoulders. "Come on. Look, it's not worth it." Sarah explained.

"Yeah, he's just trying to get in your head. He wants to rile you up, don't let him." Marella said to her.

"Look, I'm sorry Mr. Cameron, you shouldn't be going through this." Deputy Terry Plumb said to the man.

"Thank you." Ward nodded.

"Have a good night." She added.

"Get out of here." Shoupe ordered.

"You know, it's not a coincidence that your daughter and God-daughter is sitting with us." Kie called out to the man as he walked away. Both Athena and Ward glanced back at them before continuing to depart.

"Keep going. Nothing to see. Party's over." Shoupe concluded.

"So stupid." Marella muttered to herself. "My mom is literally a disgrace." She shook her head, following everyone else over to the Twinkie.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

"I'm gonna testify under oath. I was there." Sarah said, pacing back and forth on the Chateau's porch. Marella sat beside Pope on the couch, sighing with frustration. She felt restless and useless, she wanted to do something— anything.

Parker was leaning against the wall, silently. He was a little behind on everything happening with this friendship group, so he just wanted to listen.

"I just need to get a hold of my sister." Sarah concluded.

"Sister?" JJ questioned. Sarah ignored his voice. "Marie, do you still have her number?" She questioned.

Marella nodded, pulling out her phone from her pocket. "Yeah, here." She said, placing the device in her friend's hand.

"Wheezie is the only other person that knows Rafe wasn't home that day." Sarah continued, taking the mobile device from the girl.

"Wheezie?" JJ spoke again. Marella gave him a look of disbelief, wondering why he was so confused. "Her little sister. It's a nickname." She clarified.

"I don't know what else to do." Sarah continued to ramble. "I got us into this mess. I'm gonna do my best to get us out."

JJ scoffed as the girl walked away. "Wheezie? Yeah, that will work." He laughed. "Well, she's right about one thing. We gotta do something. Our boy is a PO-dub right now, okay? He's held captive by the enemy right now, maybe even scheduled for execution. Are we just gonna sit here?" He yelled at them all.

"What's the plan? We start by kidnapping Shoupe?" Kie shot back at him.

"Maybe, like, that's not the worst idea actually." JJ said. Marella shook her head. "It is a pretty bad idea. What is with you and kidnapping? It doesn't resolve anything." She told him.

"I agree. It is actually the worst idea I've ever heard." Pope chimed in. Parker nodded with agreement, "It's pretty bad." He said, softly.

"You know what? Please, just stay out of this." JJ said to him. Kie glared at the boy, "Hey! He won't stay out of this, I invited him here." She said.

Marella seemed surprised, she didn't know the two were friends now. JJ just rolled his eyes, uninterested in what ever was going on. "Okay, Pope, look, we've been doing everything your way, and how has that been working out?" He questioned.

"Okay, okay, so what's your plan?" Pope asked, pushing himself onto his feet. "You gonna storm a jail, guns a-blazing?" He asked.

"Look, Pope, all I'm trying to get you to understand is they got our boy." JJ said, standing up straight to face him. "Are we just gonna sit here and do nothing? No! We're gonna go get his ass. We're gonna do something about it!" He shouted.

"JJ, we're not storming a jail." Pope concluded. "It's not happening."

JJ nodded. "No, fine, man. Sit in your comfy chair. Do nothing. I'm gonna see what I can do. Make something happen, even if I have to do it by myself."

"Okay." Kie said, her hands on her hips. Before JJ walked away, he glanced over at Marella, a more relaxed expression on his face. "Am I doing this by myself?" He questioned.

She thought for a moment, ignoring the four disapproving pairs of eyes on her. Marella stood up. "No, you're not." She said. A small smile appeared on JJ's lips, "That's my girl." He said.

"Really?" Pope asked her with disbelief. She shrugged, following him over to the door. "He's right, I can't just sit here. And he can't go off on his own, you know how that's gonna end up." She explained.

"Gee, thanks." JJ nodded, pushing open the door for her. Marella stepped out of the patio and into the rain, rushing over to JJ's bike. He caught up with her, handing her the helmet and pushing himself onto the bike. Marella slipped the helmet over her head before climbing on behind him.

"Don't make me regret this." Marella said, wrapping her arms around his waist. She couldn't see the grin on his face as he revved the bike's engine, but she knew it was there. "No promises." JJ shrugged.

─── ∙ ~εïз~ ∙ ───

After hearing JJ's plan, Marella requested to be dropped off at the hotel so she could see her siblings while JJ went to visit John B in jail. He agreed, promising that he would be back the next day to pick her up once he had secured the ambulance.

The second Marella entered the hotel, she could feel something had changed. Usually, her employees would greet her with warm smiles and kind words, but right now all she received was the cold shoulder. She frowned, not wanting to think too much of it as she made her way over to their section of the hotel.

Instead of going to her bedroom, Marella turned and made her way to Dylan's door. She knocked on it lightly, waiting for a response. "Come in!" Cordelia called out.

She wasn't even surprised to hear her voice, the twins were always together. Marella pulled the door handle down and entered the bedroom to see them both sat on the bed, facing the TV.

"Hey guys!" She greeted with a wide smile. They waved at their older sister, "Hi." Cordelia greeted her.

"Are you in trouble?" Dylan immediately questioned. Marella leaned on his desk, raising her eyebrow with intrigue. "No, why?" She asked.

"Mom told everyone that works here not to talk to you... or they'll be fired." Cordelia informed her. Marella's eyes widened, "What? Are you serious?" She inquired.

Cordelia folded her arms over her chest, "When am I not serious?" She challenged. Marella sighed, "Okay, good point." She nodded.

"Did you guys have an argument?" Dylan questioned. Marella nodded, "Something like that. Look, I'm—I should go talk to her now."

"When will you be back?" Dylan asked her.

"I'll be back right after." She explained. Cordelia shook her head. "You always say that, then we don't see you for so long... and we miss you so much."

"I get scared that you might not come back when you're gone for so long." Dylan said. Marella's heart broke at their confessions. She stepped over to the bed and moved down onto her knees so she could match their heights. "I am so sorry guys. I just— so much is going on right now and I'm trying to make things right." She whispered.

"We understand." Dylan nodded. Marella shook her head. "But that's not an excuse, okay? I will never not come back for you guys, no matter how long I'm gone. Remember that, okay?" She said.

"Okay." They nodded in unison. She sighed, "When I'm 18, I promise you guys that we will live a better life. Away from Mom, away from all of this mess. I've just gotta save up some more money." Marella said.

"We could give you some of our pocket money?" Cordelia suggested. Marella sadly chuckled as she shook her head, "No, no. You guys don't worry, just keep going to school, and playing soccer, and reading your books, okay?"

"Okay."

"And if anything does happen..." She started, moving over to the table to retrieve a pen and paper. "Call this number. It's Pope's dad. He delivers the seafood for the kitchen."

"Mr Heyward?" Cordelia questioned. Marella nodded, scribbling down the man's number. "Exactly that. I love you guys so much, you know that right?"

"I love you."

"Love you, Mella."

She placed a kiss on both of their foreheads before strutting out of Dylan's room. Marella stepped over to her mom's room and since the door was ajar, she pushed it open. The girl peeked in to see her mother laying on the bed and entered.

A loud laugh escaped from Athena's lips when she saw the girl. After embarrassing her in front of everyone at the courthouse, she thought she could just return home like it was nothing.

"Funny seeing you here." Athena scoffed. "Did you just remember that you actually have a home? Or did you get tired of staying at that dirty Routledge house?" She sneered.

Marella shook her head, she wasn't going to let her mother get into her mind. "Why didn't you tell everyone not to talk to me?" She asked. "It's funny actually because I'm sure that's probably the first time you've ever spoken to some of them."

Athena sat up straight. "Wow. Look at you. Spending all your time with low-lives is giving you a backbone. Do you remember when you said nothing and followed orders?"

"Low-lives?" Marella laughed. "Take a look in the mirror, Athena. I mean, look at you. You spend all your time in bed that there's a person sized dent in it! You only leave that bed to do shitty things— grab a new bottle of vodka from the kitchen, try to ship me off to the Bahamas, wrongfully accuse John B of murder."

"Wrongfully?"

"Mom, stop." Marella groaned, pushing her hair back with her hands. "You know the truth, you know I was there. You and Ward can convince everyone that I'm crazy, but I know—I know that I'm not."

Athena let out a sharp laugh, but it lacked humour. "Do you? Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like you've completely lost touch with reality."

Marella's chest tightened, but she wasn't going to let her mom win. "You always do that. Deflect, blame, manipulate. You're so wrapped up in your bitterness, you can't even see what you've become."

Athena's eyes narrowed. "Watch your mouth."

"Why? Afraid of hearing the truth?" Marella's voice rose. "You're not just a bad mother. You're a bad person. You lie, you hurt people, and you drink yourself into oblivion instead of dealing with anything real."

Athena stood abruptly, her movements surprising her daughter. "Don't you dare stand there and judge me. You think you're perfect? Running off to play house with those Pogues, pretending you're one of them? You're just as bad as the rest of us."

"That's not true." Marella shot back, her voice trembling. "I'm trying to fix my mistakes. I'm trying to be better. What are you doing? Just sitting here, destroying yourself, dragging everyone else down with you."

Athena's voice cracked as she spat, "Don't lecture me, Marella! You're not the perfect angel you perceive yourself to be. You're just like me, and you always will be!"

Marella shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes. "No. I'm nothing like you."

Athena took a step closer, her expression hardening into something cold and unyielding. "You are an... an embodiment of everything I hate about myself!"

The words hit Marella like a slap to the face. She stumbled back, her lips quivering as she tried to keep her composure.

That was probably the worst thing her mother, or anyone had ever said to her. She just nodded, accepting her mother's words, before pivoting on her feet and exiting the room.

Athena watched her leave, slamming the door shut and staggering over to her bedside table to pick up the half-full bottle of vodka.

⎯ ❃ jania speaks!
merry christmas guys!!
the hate i have for athena is unreal but she's so important to marella's arc it's annoying...
but im so excited for writing season 3 i have so many ideassss (marella's unhinged era)