Mike straightened his tie.
"Are you sure you can do this?" His dad put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.
"Yeah, This bastard deserves what ever he gets and more." Mike said firmly.
'Alex used to squeeze my shoulder like that. NO. You cant start thinking about him. You can't or you will just start crying again.' He scolded himself.
"Mike?" He snapped out of his reverie of the last time he held Alex by his dads voice. "Maybe we should just go home I don't think you're ready for this." His dad shook his head and looked towards the door.
"No dad, I need to be there." Mike straightened his tie for the fifth time and took a deep breath.
"Alright." His dad nodded reluctantly. They stepped into the courtroom and took a seat. Randall sat on the right side of the room with his lawyer next to him. He had a smug look on his face like he was proud of what he had done. Mike felt like punching the bastard in the face.
The trial went on as a normal one would. They asked questions, Randall answered questions. They questioned teachers and students. Most of which had never even talked to Alex. It was mentioned that he was infected and Mike saw several of the jury get a sick look on their face. Most showed no reaction at all though. One woman looked like she was about to cry.
They discussed the first attack on Alex. And many of the jury seemed to turn against Randall when they found out about the first assault. Mike looked around the courtroom and saw several people, some he didn't know some he did. It was then that he saw Ethan sitting in the back row. His anger flared and it took everything he had to not beat the living crap out of Ethan. He glared at him until he heard them announce they were taking a break for the jurors to make their decision. People stood and headed towards the restroom or to get a drink of water or countless other things. Mike kept his eyes on Ethan the whole time and followed him out of the courtroom. He could hear his dad trying to keep up behind him but was focused only on Ethan's form heading out the door. As the group of people thinned out it was easier to catch up with him. As soon as he was at arms length he grabbed his shoulder and spun Ethan around to face him.
"You piece of shit!" He screamed and pulled his fist back.
"Wait, please!" He threw his hands up to cover his face. Mike hesitated.
"Mike, dude, just wait please." Ethan begged. He winced, still preparing for Mike to hit him.
"Why should I? Did you stop when Alex asked you to? Did Randall wait before he pulled the trigger?" Mike yelled and shoved him with the fist that was holding the collar of his shirt.
"I never wanted that to happen. I really didn't, I swear. I never wanted him to die. I just.... I just wanted-"
"Wanted him to hurt? To suffer?" Mike interrupted Ethan's explanation.
"No! I was just.... I was just mad I don't know. I swear I never wanted him to die!" Ethan kept his hands up near his face, ready to defend against the blows he was sure would come. The rage left Mike in a sudden rush. He dropped his raised fist and let go of Ethan's collar.
"We were friends, man. What the hell happened?" Mike sighed and shook his head at Ethan. He leaned against the wall and sunk to the ground.
"How did it get to this. It wasn't even a year ago we were best friends talking about shitty teachers and hard homework." He put his head in his hands and sighed. He couldn't cry now. If he started now he would never stop.
"I swear, Mike. I never wanted anything like this to happen. I didn't like the guy. That doesn't mean I wanted him dead. I'm so sorry about what has happened." Ethan said honestly. Mike looked at him quietly.
"He was so beautiful. The sweetest, Most innocent, kindest guy I've ever met. It's one thing that hes gone. Its another thing that no one knew he even existed." Mike stood from where he sat on the ground and walked back into the courtroom.
They waited for a while longer and soon the jury came out and decided their verdict. Guilty. Randall was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Mike saw Randall's face drop.
' The bastard actually thought he was going to get away with it.' Mike thought to himself. He knew Randall was arrogant but he didn't think he was that stupid. His lawyer sighed and rubbed took off his glasses to rub his temples. Mike thought it seemed that as soon as someone stepped into the courtroom their finger tips were permanently glued to their temples, rubbing little circles to try and relieve the stress.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Mike remembered his dad bringing him home, and his mom trying to talk to him. He walked past her and straight to his room. He sat on the bed and laid down. He thought about the first time he had made love to Alex here. The time him and Ethan had sat on the bed talking about girls and doing their homework. After Alex had been beaten he had sat on this bed and hugged him while he cried.
So many things had happened in this room, his room. And now he was going to collage. Not with Ethan, not with Randall, and definitely not with Alex. All of his plans, and his dreams, were ruined. Everything had changed so fast. He hardly had time to adjust. His parents had suggested waiting a year until going to collage but he didn't want to get behind, he also didn't want to think to much about Alex.
~~~~~~~~~~
Mike finished packing the last of his clothes and headed downstairs with his bag. The front door was open and he saw his dad packing his boxes into the back of their car. His mom stood in the drive way wiping away tears. Mike put down his bag and went to his mom. He gave her a big hug and kissed the top of her head.
"Mom, we're still at home. You have to at least wait until we get on the campus to start crying." He laughed.
"You know what I don't want to hear it. You've gotten to sit in your room and cry for months its my turn now." She wiped away the last of her tears. Mike laughed and hugged his mom again.
"I'll be fine, mom. I promise to call and come visit." Mike assured her. She let go of him and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue she had been holding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They arrived at the housing office and Mike walked up to the woman at the desk She asked for his name and looked up his room number,
"You're roommate is an infected. If that's a problem we can change it." The woman said after looking at the computer in front of her.
Usually Mike wouldn't have cared at all, But now. What were the odds of him getting a roommate with bird traits? Could he handle that? Either way he couldn't ask to change it. That was just rude. How would the other guy feel when they told him his roommate didn't want someone infected.
"No, that's fine." Mike smiled at the woman.
She gave him his room number and he picked up most of his bags and headed up to find his room. Once he found it he came back down and his parents helped him move the last of his stuff in. After another bout of tears from his mom and his dad hugging him and wishing him good luck he managed to finally get to be alone.
His roommate hadn't arrived yet but he made sure to give him the side closest to the window. And left the top drawers open for his clothing. He looked around the room and began unpacking. He set up the posters of his favorite bands, and set up his movie collection, and his CD collection. He plugged in his laptop to charge and set up the rest of his stuff. He finished hanging up a poster when he heard his door open. He turned around and saw a man about his age standing in the doorway looking around the room.
"Hi, I'm Anthony." He smiled.
"I'm Mike." He held out his hand and Anthony shook it. He noticed he had long claws that tipped each of his fingers. The back of his hand also had a light dusting of fine black fur.
"I'm definitely thankful for being talonless." Alex's voice echoed in his mind when he saw the sharp claws. He winced and pulled his hand away from Anthony's.
