Trial Day One
Everything counts, Juniper thought as she walked up the courthouse steps, side by side with Sophia and Daniel, trailing behind Martinez and Kenery. The sky was a crisp, clear blue, the snow having melted away to reveal the gleaming treads beneath their feet. It was game time, the moment they’d been preparing for, but the flood of media that swarmed them threatened to drown out their focus.
Daniel gestured for the reporters to stay back, his voice firm as he repeated, “No questions.” Martinez and Kenery pushed through the crowd… shoulder to shoulder, they cut through the media scrum at a measured pace, chins up, gazes scanning in controlled sweeps… the vigilance of people who’d mapped every step of this walk in advance but didn’t trust the terrain. The cacophony of shouted questions and camera shutters formed a chaotic symphony around them.
The fragments of overheard conversations reminded them of the international stakes at play. The Central Asian lobbyists were present in force. Juniper didn’t need to look… the lobby tilted at their arrival, its axis shifting to grant them passage.
They scanned through security into a packed lobby that seemed to bear down on them from all sides. International students, live media crews, and wealthy power players - the works. The air hummed. Too many bodies. Too much at stake.
Her step caught. The lobby, the cameras, the stakes… it all landed at once. She could feel Sophia’s knowing gaze on her, and she turned to find her friend’s usually playful eyes deadly serious, stripped of everything familiar. Sophia gave her a slight nod: “Good,” she remarked.
Beside her, Daniel stood composed as always, but Juniper noticed a tightness around his eyes, a tension in his jaw that hadn’t been there before. His breaths came slightly heavier, his chest rising and falling with a carefully controlled rhythm.