Chapter 1

I sat on the foot of my bed and stared at the dress hanging on my closet door. I haven't worn a dress like that since I was nine or ten years old! It was frilly and feminine and as modest as a dress could be. I would not normally allow myself to be caught dead in a dress like that. But today I had no choice. I was going to court today. My sister and I were finally going to face the judge.

Our parents had selected the new dress that I would wear. The dress had been strongly recommended by the lawyer that the court had appointed for me.

My sister had her own lawyer, also court appointed. And she already owned clothing that was appropriate to wear to court. She was a much more conservative person that I was and it was reflected in her wardrobe.

Everyone was aware that my sister should never have been charged. It showed in their faces whenever they looked at me. This mess was entirely my fault.

I felt bad about letting my parents down. Well, actually, it was more like I had confirmed what they already knew about me. But it was so much worse that my sister was in trouble because of me. She isn't the type of girl that screws up and she only got in trouble because she was trying to get me to do the right thing.

It isn't so much that I am a bad person. I'm not a criminal or anything, not really. Well, I guess I am now. I'm just one of those people that doesn't look into the future very well. I don't take stock of an activity I'm enjoying and think, "If I do A then the consequences could be B or C." I don't think about consequences until they are raining down on me.

I stood up and reluctantly pulled the dress on. I stood in front of my mirror and stared ruefully at my reflection while I struggled with the zipper. Unlike most girls my age I was not used to wearing modest dresses and I was not used to dealing with zippers behind my back.

I had just begun to struggle with the zipper when my bedroom door opened and Laura came in. She grinned at me. She always found my attempts to act like a normal girl amusing. She crossed the room and zipped up my dress.

Our eyes met in the mirror and she said, "You are hopeless!"

I turned to face her and for the thousandth time I said, "I'm sorry, Laura."

She replied quietly, "I know."

She seemed calm. But she was terrified. She had never been in trouble before. Neither of us had ever had to go to court before. But I was always getting in trouble, either in school or at home. Not for anything really bad. I cut class now and then. I got caught with cigarettes once. They weren't mine. I tried smoking once. I couldn't even do it. But I was holding my boyfriends cigarettes in my purse for him and my mom saw them when I opened my purse to get my keys out.

I've tried alcohol. It was no big deal. I'm pretty sure that most kids my age have tried alcohol. I liked it better than smoking. But I didn't actually like it all that much either. I decided that I'd rather leave it than take it. I don't use drugs. I smoked pot a couple of times. It was fun. But it was even harder than smoking cigarettes and it was so damned expensive!

The things I did were just silly kid things. I didn't steal. I didn't do anything to hurt people. I had some friends that were borderline criminals I suppose. And it was largely their fault that I spent so much time doing things I shouldn't. I guess I was more amenable to peer pressure than was good for me.

But I wasn't a bad person. Hell! I'm still a virgin! I'm not all that wild!

I grinned wryly and said, "I'll get you out of this, twerp. I'll explain everything to the judge. You can count on me. I'm used to being in trouble. I'm good at it."

She grinned and said, "You've had enough practice."

We went downstairs. My parents were sitting at the kitchen table. They looked us over when we went in. My parents were only just barely talking to me. They said only those things that had to be said. They were mad enough at me for screwing up again. But they were furious at me for getting Laura in trouble.

I didn't blame them.

For the first time I felt bad for something I've done. But I had already apologized until I was blue in the face. The only thing that I could possibly do to make this right was to square things in court today. Once everything was explained to the judge he would have to see that Laura was a good kid and that I was the one they needed to be concerned with.

In my defense, I should like to say that I had no idea that I was doing something that night that might result in an arrest. I knew that I was doing something that might get me grounded. I snuck out of the house that night to see my boyfriend. He called me on my cell phone and told me he was parked up the street.

I was already grounded. But I snuck out all the time without getting caught. I had no reason to believe that this time would be different.

This time turned out to be different for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that my sister heard me sneaking out and followed me to try and talk some sense into me. She came to the car that I was sitting in with my boyfriend. We, Don and me, were already kissing passionately and feeling each other up when she knocked on the window. She scared the hell out of us.

I told her to go back to the house but she insisted on talking to me. So I told her to get in the back seat. She insisted that I come back to the house with her. I insisted that she go back to bed and leave me the hell alone.

She was upset. She was upset because she always did what she was told and obeyed all the rules. She couldn't stand it that I wasn't as fond of the straight and narrow.

She was even more upset because just like my parents, she had a strong dislike for my boyfriend and she agreed with our parents that my boyfriend was too old for me. I recently turned sixteen. He just turned eighteen. I had been ordered never to see him again. That was why I had to sneak out. I loved him and this was the only way that I could be with him.

But the main reason that sneaking out to see my boyfriend this time was different was that shortly after Laura climbed into the back seat, the car we were sitting in was surrounded by cop cars with flashing blue lights and we were suddenly surrounded by cops with their guns drawn and pointed at us.

That was when I found out that we were not sitting in a car that Don borrowed from his uncle. He had taken it from a used car lot!

The cops arrested all three of us and carried us off to jail. When our parents showed up at about two o'clock in the morning they were furious and very nearly left me to rot in the cell. They might have if Laura hadn't interceded on my behalf.

It didn't help that Don refused to talk to the police. He wouldn't even tell them that Laura and I had no idea we were sitting in a stolen car. All of a sudden I wasn't so fond of the bastard!

The next six weeks were very unpleasant at our house. Our parents were just about ready to give up on me. They would never forgive me if Laura ended up being punished for trying to get me to do the right thing.

They might have been a little harsh on me since that night. After all, I only snuck up the street to see my boyfriend. But I couldn't argue with their logic. I wasn't a career criminal. But I was a screw up and they were getting tired of dealing with me. I suspect that if the courts could find some way to straighten me out they were ready to give just about any solution a try.

But they could not accept such a fate for their precious Laura. I was pretty certain that I could straighten this out, at least as far as she was concerned. To be honest, that was more important to me than getting my own ass out of trouble. I loved my sister and it was unfair that they had charged her even after they knew what had happened that night. The District Attorney didn't care if Laura was innocent. He just decided to charge all three of us and let the judge sort it out.

Don was charged as an adult. He had recently turned eighteen and he had a record for pot possession, as well as joy riding. I knew about the pot. I didn't know he had stolen a car before. I guess it wouldn't have mattered, though. He was so handsome and so cool. I really had the hots for him. I had already decided that I was going to go all the way with him the first chance I got. I figured that I was just about the only sixteen year old virgin in town. I was ready to change that.

That had all changed now, though. Don had turned out to be everything that my parents said that he was. I was very disappointed in him.

The funny thing was, I didn't start getting really nervous until we were in the car on the way down to the courthouse. No one said a word all the way downtown. I could feel my parents' anger. It was a dark red cloud in the air around them. It made the air thick and hard to breathe. But at least they had stopped yelling at me, for the time being.

I'd never been in a courtroom before. None of us had. We arrived early. My dad had a thing about being late, like a phobia or something. We always got everywhere early.

We went to the fourth floor of the courthouse. It was reserved for Family Court. We sat on a bench, still in silence. Laura sat between my parents and they put their arms around her. I sat alone on the end and basked in their anger.

When it started to get late and our lawyers still hadn't shown up, everyone started getting even more nervous. But just before the appointed time they came strolling casually down the corridor together. I heard them talking about a college football game. They didn't have a care in the world.

We were the first case on the docket today. Well, we were the first and second cases on the docket today. When it was time we went inside. The gallery was empty and that was a relief. I didn't want this drama playing out in front of a bunch of strangers who were just here for to enjoy the soap opera.

The bailiff came in after a few minutes and nodded at the attorneys. A few minutes later a woman came in and sat down near the judge's bench. I think she was the court reporter.