The Sheenite

Objection overruled√

Matilda woke up from sleep and stretched her bones yawning. She journeyed to the rest room. Opening the door, she saw me underneath water inside my bathtub.

"Sapphire?" She called and pulled me out it water by my shoulders.

"What?!" I asked as I woke up.

"Are you okay? Why where you under water?!"She asked.

Oh no, she caught me!

What will I tell her now?

I don't know how to lie!

And I can't tell her the truth either!

"Um... well... I was trying to cool my head... and meditate on today's case." I said it was actually the twisted truth.

"Okay." She nodded looking directly to my eyes unconvinced.

"I'm fine." I said and wiped my face making her take her hands of my shoulders. I was trying to avoid another question like 'how long have you been in there' Then, I might be forced to say the truth since I don't lie. Lieing was never my thing and I didn't know why.

"I'll let you take your bath first since you are already wet." She said and left the bathroom.

"Sure." I said to myself as she had already left.

7:00am.

Edville High.

I Vanessa and Matilda where in our Justice department putting things together.

"I invited Regina over." I said.

"What?! Why would you do that? You wanna support her too?" Matilda asked annoyed.

"No, we are on the side of the truth, your side. But the fact still remains that she is a student of our school, under our coverage as the Justice department, we should see what we can do to safe her from whatever is coming for her if she gives in to our demands." I answered.

"Sapphire is right. And it's alright if you can't stand her, you can go stay in that room." Vanessa said and pointed to a room.

"That's better." Matilda said and excused herself. Simultaneously, the main door opened.

"Good morning Regina." Vanessa greeted standing by my side. I sat on the chair and played my fingers on the table as I watched Regina's expressions.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Well..."

"Nothing." I interrupted Vanessa. "We just wanted to know how your case was going? If you need our help with anything don't hesitate to call us!"

"I don't need your help, maybe Matilda will." Regina answered taking her leave.

"It's not right to put the blame on someone for the sin you committed." I said and brought her to a halt.

"Suit yourself." She replied and left.

"What did you do Sapphire?" Vanessa asked me confused.

"I don't know, I just thought we should take her by surprise. She shouldn't know what's coming for her so she doesn't brace herself. An unexpected hit, is the most painful hit. Atleast, she offered she doesn't need our help and our department won't force herself on her. We just have to help who requested for it. Matilda." I said and Matilda came out.

"Is the witch gone?" She asked.

"Yes." Vanessa answered.

Immediately the door opened again revealing a lady in her late thirties. She was a pretty woman putting on a white and black. I creased my forehead as I tried to recognize the human before me.

"Attorney Mary Fernando." I muttered.

"Britain's... Queen Elizabeth's top lawyer." Matilda completed still in shock.

"Good day ladies, good day My Lady. You sent for me." She spoke to Vanessa as she walked in.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for the disturbance and thank you for turning up in such a short notice." Vanessa said and offered her a seat. She sat and dropped her handbag on the table.

"Don't mention."

"I know you've given me a rundown of everything, but I'll like to see them for myself." Mary said and we handed her the evidence we've put together.

"This will give you a upper hand in the case." She said after watching the videos. "All I must do now is to prepare you on how you are going to speak, behave and act in court. The court doesn't base on emotions, but on facts. So you must know how you speak and answer questions. Understood?"

We all nodded.

"Good. First I'll like to ask you miss?"

"It's Matilda." She corrected.

"Good. You need to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth. So I can know how to help you. Did you do what you where accused of?"

"No."

"Where were you on the night of the incident?" Mary asked softly though apathetic.

"I logged at a hotel, didn't go home."

"How many people were aware of that fact."

"My nanny, I told her I wasn't coming home, that I was going to pass the night in the hotel. My driver, he drove me there. And I also told my elder brother, Abraham."

"Why did you pass the night in a hotel, what did you do there?"

"Nothing, I passed the night there because I didn't feel like going home. I do that on a regular basis. Everyone in my family knows that."

"Do you take drugs?"

"No, I've never taken drugs in my entire life."

"And you are sure about that?"

"Yes."

"So, are you brave enough to undergo a drug test."

Matilda took a deep breath. "Yes I am."

"Okay, we'll head straight to the police station to get a drug test done. Meanwhile, we'll need your brother, your nanny and your driver. And also, we'll need the footage of the hotel to prove you actually spent the night there. The rest, leave it for me to handle."

Immediately, Vanessa took her phone.

"The Hotel?" She asked.

"JK hotels." Matilda answered.

"I've ordered someone to fetch it, it will be with us sooner or later."

"Lastly, I'll need to speak to that blogger."

"Steve Mann?" I asked.

"Hmm." Mary nodded.

Mary left with Matilda to go get the test done after meeting with Steve. He refused to appear in court but gave us the necessary information we wanted. I and Vanessa were meant to join them in court later. No one should see us together since no one was aware that our department was involved. After a few lessons, It was 10:0oclock time for music class, we needed to be in court.

The both of us walked out and got by the rocking wave rehearsal hall. They were having rehearsals, obviously for the upcoming music competition audition.

"Gosh! they rock! And I won't doubt, Stacy is a good lead singer." I admitted.

"Yeah, they are good! But don't forget, they are evil." Vanessa whispered to my ears.

"Yeah, which is why we need to get outta here." I said and we left.

Evan stopped playing as he saw Sapphire and Vanessa pass.

"Dude, what's up, why did you kill the vibe!" Aiden said as he twirled his drum sticks.

"That's bad." Zoey added.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'll be back." He said and hurried out.

"What's wrong with him?" Tatiana asked and Jeffrey shrugged his shoulders.

"Sapphire! Sapphire hold on!" Evan yelled bringing me and Vanessa to a halt.

"Did he just call my name? How did he know my name?" I muttered as we turned around.

"Don't worry, I got you covered." Vanessa said and stood before me.

"Hey Sapphire." He asked.

"Hey." I answered behind Vanessa.

"Do you mind?" He said to Vanessa so she could leave the way.

"No, so you better go to where you are coming from, because I'll never let you hurt my friend."

"I'm not gonna hurt her, I just wanna speak to her about something, please?"

Vanessa gave a 'did he just say please? look.'

"It's fine Vanessa." I said rubbing her arms.

"You sure?"

"Yah." I nodded.

"Okay, I'll wait for you at the car." She said and gave Evan a i'm watching you stare before gorgeously walking away.

"Good friend you have there." He said as we both watched her leave.

"Yeah, I'm lucky."

"Well." He cleared his throat, cutting my attention off Vanessa. He gently pushed his guitar that was hanging on him behind him.

"I wanted to say thank you." He added and took a few steps towards me. I felt my heart skip a beat. He was really close but I tried to keep my cool.

"It's nothing, I'm glad I.. could help." I said and turned away from his captivating gaze blinking severally. My throat suddenly felt dry. I swallowed hard.

"What are you?"

My eyes widened.

"What did you do?"

I looked at him confused. Did he find out about me being extraordinary?

"My arm." He said and lifted his injured arm.

"It's gone." I said and touched his arm to ensure my eyes weren't deceiving me. When I realized I was touching his arms, I immediately withdrew it like I just touched fire. I could see the sad expression that stroke his face at my reaction, but still he acted like nothing happened.

"It was too deep, to just disappear in a few hours without a trace not even a scar."

I was silent, I didn't know what to say.

Was healing someone also one of my many talents?

I knew I was a fast healer, whenever I get hurt, it always heals after a few seconds. But healing someone else?

"I... I... may.." Oh God what do I say, I can't lie!

"Did you add something to the handkerchief that made it heal so fast? I mean, being so intelligent you can do something like that."

"I'm not sure... I don't know." I said wondering.

"It's okay, I'm sure you're still putting your experiments together." He said and grinned revealing his dentition. Gosh! He was perfect.

"Where are you going?"

"To court, for Matilda's case."

"Matilda? You are helping Matilda?"

Oh no, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that. I touched my neck to see if it could relieve the pain in my throat. My eyes remained down.

"It's okay, I understand you don't want anyone to know. I won't tell them either. Good luck." He said walking backwards.

"Thank you." I finally said and looked up as he moved away from me. He just smiled and turned.

I walked briskly as though I wanted to leave that area to get some air in my throat.

How did I heal him?

Even seeing in the dark yesterday was something I've never experienced.

And that weird feeling after I met Matilda at school? What's wrong with me? I think i need to see the doctor. I thought and entered the car.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" Vanessa asked. I knew it was about Evan.

"It's nothing."

"Spill."

"Okay!" I replied and laughed as the car drove out.

•••••••

I saw my mom and dad standing at a corner, they waved to me and I waved back. Matilda's parents and siblings where there. I looked at her dad with so much scorn. How could he severe all ties with his daughter for such an issue. Or maybe he didn't say that from heart. If he severed all ties with his daughter, he wouldn't be here. The reporters kept flashing their camera lights to my face as we walked in, it was blinding. As we walked in, I saw Vanessa's parents.

"Your parents came too?"

"Yes!" She answered grinning widely. "I told them to come. They wouldn't want to miss how amazing their daughter will be in court." She said and waved to them.

"Whatever happens today, remember I am your partner. We share no other relationship than that." I whispered to her ears and she just nodded smiling. I knew she was trying hard to look good before the cameras.

"We need to go in now." Mary said.

"Okay." We said and walked into the court. We had a very high security, there were lots of figures in court today. I saw shock in everyone's eyes when they realized that Mary was our lawyer. Should I say shock, or fear. Mary has a reputation, she never failed a case and for her to be here, there was trouble.

We took our seats while the clerk read our case file and Matilda was invited to the stand to be questioned by Regina's lawyer, Mr Roberto.

"Matilda, please, do you know Regina personally asides from being school mates?"

"Yes, she was... my best friend."

"What?! She didn't tell us about that." I whispered into Vanessa ears.

Mary stared at Matilda as she said this. I knew she was annoyed at Matilda for skipping that part, but her face didn't show it.

"Good. Since you said 'was,' does this mean you are no longer friends?"

"Yes."

"How did you break up, was it with a fight or did you separate in peace."

"We had a quarrel."

"Was this why you tried to blackmail my client in your deed for revenge."

"No! I will never do that!" She yelled in anger.

"Order!" The clerk shouted.

"I would like to ask Miss Matilda, where you at the party that night?"

"No." Matilda answered gaining composure.

"And have you ever taken drugs before?"

"No."

"So you are telling the court today that you didn't go to the party and you've never taken drugs before?"

"Yes."

"I would like to show this to the court." Roberto said and brought out a tiny sack containing something in white. "This is cocaine and it was retrieved from Matilda's school locker by the police during their investigations." He said and handed the sack to the judge. Noise and chatter rose in the hall.

"That's a lie!" Matilda yelled.

"If you weren't at the party that night and you said you've never taken drugs before, then why would such a substance be found by the police in your locker."

"Someone must have put it there!" She yelled.

All the while, Mary remained apathetic as though nothing was happening.

"First you lied to the court that you weren't the person in that video that was clearly obvious it was you and today, you claim you weren't in the party and have never handled drugs before but a hard substance like cocaine was found in your locker. You claim someone put it there, I would like to ask you, who else has the key to your locker?"

"Just me."

"Where you present the day the police visited your school and searched your locker?"

"Yes."

"Did they find anything?"

"Yes, but I didn't know what it was, no one did."

"Since then, have you noticed any force entry to your locker."

"No."

"You see, the court has seen today that Matilda is the culprit and my client is innocent.

Mr Roberto concluded and sat while Mary took over.

"Matilda, where were you on the night of the incident?"

"I was at a hotel, JK hotels."

"A hotel? So this means you didn't spend the night at home."

"Yes."

"How many people were aware of this fact?"

"My elder brother, my nanny and my driver, he drove me there."

"I would love to invite her elder brother to the witness box."

"Where you aware that your sister wasn't going to be home that night?"

"Yes, she called me and told me."

"You are Matilda's nanny right?" She asked her as she was in the witness box.

"Matilda claims you were aware that she wasn't going to be home, is that true?"

"Yes, Matilda always tells me her whereabouts, as her nanny, she knows I always worry about her, and she never lies to me."

"You are her driver right?"

"Yes attorney."

"Around 10:00pm three days ago, where was your boss?"

"At JK hotels."

"I'll like to show the court a run down of the call logs of this three people." Mary said and handed papers to the judge.

"In there, it shows the calls they made for the day of both the brother, the nanny and the phone of my client and around 9:45, there was a call to her brother and 9:50 there was a call to her nanny. I also like to show the court the CCTV cameras that was retrieved from JK hotels." Mary said and handed a flashdrive to a worker who put it in a computer and it showed in the telecast.

"Here, the court can see that Matilda was obviously at JK hotels, she had dinner there and slept there. So if she did spend the night In this hotel why should my client be blamed for something when she wasn't present!" Mary said and handed another paper to the judge.

"In that paper, it was clearly stated by JK hotels that My client signed in into room 214 around 7:00pm and signed out around 7:30am in the morning. The CCTV footage says she didn't leave her room, and three witnesses claimed she called them and told them about her whereabouts at exact time the incident happened. So it is obvious that my client is falsely accused. If you honor will permit me, I would like to invite Regina to the stand.

"Permission granted."

Regina entered the box.

"Regina since you claim that you weren't at the party that night, where did you spend the night then?"

"At Babylon.My dad did a campaign there so we spent the night there."

murmurs rose in the hall.

"Really, but if I'm not mistaken, this campaign took place in Valley stream. So how can you say that it took place in Babylon? And also state that you spent the night there when the campaign didn't happen there. That is to say you cannot defend yourself of where you spent the night on the day of the incident." Murmur rose in the hall.

"Objection your honor." Roberto said and stood up.

"Objection overruled." The judge said.

Oh God I'm loving this woman. Her authority, her calmness, everything. I might change my mind on becoming a medical doctor to be a lawyer because of her.

" If you would permit me your honor, I would like to stop here and invite students of Edville High to take over the questioning for me.since they are students of the school Regina attends, and also belong to a department of Justice, I think they should be given an opportunity to speak.

The judge nodded.

I and Vanessa stood up and went to the stand. Vanessa stood inside the box while I stood outside by her side.

"Thank you your honor..." Vanessa said.

"Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Vanessa Scott and with me here is...my best friend Sapphire Davis."

She said gesturing to my direction.

I clearly told her to call me partner. I thought and shut my eyes tight at what she has done. I opened them to see the chattering people and reporters.

"Vanessa Scott? Isn't she Britain's crown princess."

"She is really beautiful in person."

"That explains why Mary Fernando is here."

"What is the crown princess doing in court."

We are the Justice department of Edville High school, the same school of the accuser and accused and we will love to ask Regina some questions." Vanessa said returning silence to the hall.

"I'll like to show the court some evidence that was discovered by our department in the course of our investigations." Vanessa said and handed a file to Sapphire who was besides her. I sat on the chair and plugged the flashdrive into the laptop on the table before me and the video was telecasted. It was the real video of Regina dancing in the club. She staggered and scattered everywhere laughing stupidly and dancing.

"That's a lie! That is not me! This video is false!" Regina yelled.

"Objection your honor." Roberto said on his feet.

"Objection overruled." The judge spoke. I'd say he was sunken deep in admiration of how Vanessa spoke and acted.

"This isn't you, you say? I'll like to show everyone in court this." She said.

"Go to the next video." Vanessa said and I clicked the next video. This time, it was the fake video of Matilda dancing.

"The court can witness with the difference between the two. The first video." She said and the video appeared on screen.

"Was the original video of Regina dancing. Everyone can see that the person in this video is 164cm in height. It is obvious that this person is shorter than this." She said and the next picture appeared. Everyone could see it was obvious.

"In the photo that contained the drunk Regina, her guards where holding her and it's obvious. I would plead with everyone to look clearly at this one." Vanessa said and Matilda's photo appeared on the screen.

The difference was obvious now. In this one, the face of Matilda blurred but the faces of the guards where so clear it was like her photo was I puted thre. The men where supposed to be holding Matilda in her arm but now, they were holding the air, like they were holding an invisible person. And when the video was played, it was so obvious that the video was edited. If one didn't look closely they would think the security men where trying to hold Matilda, but they didn't touch her but held something else. Regina! Everyone muttered as the real video of Regina was played again.

"This is a lie, they are trying to frame me."

"Really?"

"Yes, otherwise, how come no one has seen this fake video of me dancing in that club. You edited it!" Regina yelled trying to confuse people's minds.

"I will prove to you and everyone here who the real editor was." Vanessa said and gave a sly smile. Gosh! She was killing it.

"Everyone knows the blogger that goes with the name 'MIST' Three days ago, he uploaded a video at 11:00am." She said and pointed to the screen and the records of Steve Mann's video upload was shown. And three minutes later, it disappeared. The video was there, but whoever tried to watch it, it will show unsupported file. According to his records, he uploaded this video five more times but it was removed without a trace." Some people nodded and began whispering to themselves.

"It's true, I saw a video MIST posted but I couldn't watch it, it kept telling me unsupported file, and soon I didn't see it again."

"The princess Is right, I did see something like that."

"Objection your honor, this students obviously look like they have a feud with my client and I won't let them slander against her..."

"Objection overruled I hope you can stay put Roberto and allow the students finish. This will be your last warning." The judge interrupted and Roberto sat down.

"Your honor but they are lieing against me!" Regina said.

"Order in court!" The clerk called.

"Attorney Roberto." I said and stood on the box though I wasn't inside.

"I demand an apology for regarding my partner, best friend and my department as bearing a feud with your client. We are the Justice department and only stand on the side of truth. Therefore you have stepped on the dignity of purpose of our department."

Immediately Roberto stood up.

"I apologise." He said and sat. I knew ordinary he wouldn't do that but everyone was against him now in court. He was taunting this amazing kids, us of course! And they didn't like it. He had no other option. I smiled satisfied and came down gesturing Vanessa to continue.

"I would like to show the court the CCTV footage of the club on the night of the incident. I guess if I should lie about a video, not a footage." Vanessa concluded and a CCTV footage was shown, it captured Regina from when she entered the club to when she took drugs and began misbehaving. Mr Gregory eyes widened in shock as he was present all the while.

"This is impossible, I made sure I wiped the footage out of that system how did they get a hold of it." He thought.

Just then Regina's dad gave him a 'what is the meaning of this look' and he bent his his head in shame.

"This... this... isn't possible... stop lieing Vanessa! stop lieing!" Matilda screamed and jumped out of the box to go and hit Vanessa, but the security caught her before she could do anything.

"Let go of me! Let go of me!" She screamed as she struggled to free herself.

"Miss Regina calm down, this isn't good." Roberto whispered to her.

"Order in court."

"You say I lie Regina, then why was Mr Gregory your Father's assistant at the club yesterday and in the security room, it only means one thing, he was there to get rid of the evidence." Vanessa said and a video of Gregory in the computer room appeared on the screen, though it was dark, it was no doubt that it was him in the video and to crown it all, he spoke, it was his voice! Noise rose in the hall, everyone, angry. The truth was obvious now. And I'm sure if they left them, they would throw a thousand and one things on both Regina, her family, her lawyer and Mr Gregory.

I saw a smile strike on Mary's face, she was enjoying herself and was still as calm as ever.

"Order in court!"

And silence fell again.

"I would also like to bring to the notice of the court that Regina here didn't just take drugs, but also sold them." Vanessa said and I clicked on the video where Regina sold drugs to a boy at the club everyone opened their mouths in shock. Regina fell to the floor as the grip by the security men wasn't hard on her. She had defeat all over her face.

"I hope with the evidences given, Justice will be served rightly. Thank you your honor and everyone for your listening ears." Vanessa said bowed slightly to the judge and everyone before leaving the box.

Attorney Roberto took over.

"I'll like to invite Matilda to the box." And Matilda walked to the box while Regina took her seat.

"If you say you are not guilty of this crime, then can you explain how cocaine was found in your locker?"

"Someone would have put it there." Matilda spoke calmly.

"But earlier you said you were the only one with the key to your locker."

"No I'm not, Regina also had the key to my locker."

"You are definitely trying to frame my client here as this wasn't said earlier on."

"That's because I didn't remember and also didn't remember how despicable Regina can be. We were best friends and she was the only one asides me who had the key to my locker, that only explains it, she was the one who put it there." Matilda said staring at Regina with so much fury in her eyes.

At this point in time, I could see helplessness all over Roberto's face.

"You lie!" Roberto still tried to be on the defense.

"Objection your honor." Mary stood up to speak.

"Granted." The judge said.

"I won't allow Roberto force words into my clients mouth. My client went to the police station to get a drug test done earlier today. I think Regina should also undergo a drug test too."

"I won't have you force my client to do what she doesn't want to." Roberto defended.

"I will do it!" Regina said standing up.

"To prove to everyone here, that I am innocent." She added.

"Stop the charade Regina." I muttered.

"I have a confession to make." Matilda said diverting everyone's attention. "It's about Regina." She added.

"Go on." The judge said.

"Thank you your honor." She said and swallowed hard.

"Regina isn't a minor as we think she is. She isn't 16 years old as we all think, she is 18years old."

Murmur rose in the hall, and Regina's family all grimaced. It was obvious that it was the truth.

The deep secret, the secret they were trying to hide was Regina's real age! And Matilda knew all along.

"I'm sorry Regina, but you forced me." She said and turned kept her face down.

"Since she isn't a citizen by birth in USA, it wasn't hard for them to manipulate it. I was her friend, so I know. She received an award when she was thirteen, when we were both graduating from primary school as the strongest kid. It's on the internet, you all can check yourself. Now she's in her final highschool class, I guess everyone can do the mathematics. So no matter how many times they've changed her age, they couldn't hide all of it. I hope I will be given the Justice I deserve. Thank you." Matilda said and bowed before leaving the stand.

"As a result of the awaiting drug test, this case will be adjourned till tomorrow for my final verdict." The judge said and hit his gavel on the sounding block.

"Court!"

And everyone stood after him and he left.