After me ~ Pretty Little Liars Fanfic

fifteen

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I sit in wait for the jury to return to the room with the final decision. After a solid 14 hours in this room the jury is finally making their choice. Everyone in the room is currently taking a break so I'm the only one in here. I sit, staring at the jury's station. Today I've met 3 of Sara Harvey's friends who are all testifying against me. Apparently, one of them is the one that supposedly saw me with Sara that night. I never saw her though. Why is she lying about this?

"Hey" I hear behind me. I turn in my seat to see Ezra sat in the front row where my family previously sat, trying to draw the least amount of attention to themselves as possible. I didn't see him here earlier.

"Hi" I smile. I've never had a one on one conversation with Mr Fitz before. All I know is that he wrote some book about Alison before he was with Aria and everyone thought he was A for a bit. Now he's going to be my teacher next year whilst Aria goes off to college.

"How you doing?"

"I'm apprehensive"

"I thought you might want to hear this from an adult who isn't secretly disowning you" He starts. My face shifts into a shocked expression as I realise he's completely right. I've tarnished the perfect Hastings reputation and completely ruined all privacy my family previously had. I heard a mutter from my father about the reporters sat outside on our front lawn right now, waiting for the family's return and to see if I'll be with them or not. I can't see this going my way. All the evidence seems to be pointed against me but I know I'm innocent. "You're going to be okay." He assures me, and for the first time, I actually believe it. "You're a strong girl and you're going to fight through this"

"Thanks Mr Fitz" I smile appreciatively. I don't think he'll ever know how much that means to me.

"You're welcome Kenz. I look forward to seeing you in my class on the first day of next year." He smiles before standing and retaking his seat towards the back as the rest of the courtroom fills up. I stand as the judge enters and my mother appears next to me.

"You've got this" She whispers with a slight smile.

"Don't jinx it" I whisper back. The judge sits on his podium and the whole room sits down.

"Due to a new piece of crucial evidence. The jury have asked for a few more minutes to come to their decision." He states. I look to my mom as I hear the doors open again. I turn in my seat to see Caleb striding in. He sees me looking and gives me a small wink before sitting next to Hanna, wrapping an arm around her and leaning in to whisper in her ear. Wait, Caleb did it? He found the file?

I wait for another 30 minutes before the jury enter the room again. They all sit but one spokeswoman stays stood. I hold my breath as I await her announcement. Please, please, please.

"We, the jury, find the defendant, Mackenzie Hastings to be..." The whole room seems to take a deep breath. "Not guilty" She finishes. Did she just say-? What? This has to be some kind of mistake; they can't seriously think I'm not guilty. I mean, obviously I am but I thought it would be an easy option to put me back in jail to rot. I sit back in my seat, unable to wrap my brain around what's just happened. Suddenly, all the tears I've stored up over the last month come flooding out.  All the pain, all the sleepless nights, all the hurtful words get released. I finally start to feel like myself again. I look through blurry eyes to my mom.

"You're free Mackenzie" She beams.

"I-I-" I stutter, choking on my tears. I don't know what to say. A huge wave of relief washes over me as the judge stands and walks out of the room along with the jury. I give a nod of thanks to them all as they walk past me. My mother leads me out of the room and I wait in the foyer for my parents to sign my release papers. I won't get to see Alison again.