❁ • 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 • ❁ a pope heyward fanfic

𝟹𝟾 ❁ 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘

Kayanna sat, her eyes trained on the hand cuffs around her wrists.  Her left knee bounced quickly.  How much time had gone by?  There were no windows in the holding cell they had placed her in.  All she knew is she'd had a lot of time to think. Too much time. Now she was restless. Where was John B?  Had he gotten caught? Would it matter if he had? The gun should clear both their names. These and more questions filled her mind as well as possible answers.

She leaned back against the wall behind her.  Her head ached from stress.  The motion sent an unexpected wave of exhaustion over her.  Her eyes fluttered shut, just for a moment.

• ❁ •

A loud buzz startled Kayanna awake.  She sat up straight again, her eyes finding the bars that held her back from her freedom. She heard footsteps and anticipated what was coming next. Had John B done it? Had he cleared their names? Was Lana being escorted in to take her place in the holding cell?

Her questions were answered when an officer appeared before the door with a certain Deion next to him. Kayanna's heart dropped. In all her time to think, the Deion's generosity towards her had not even crossed her mind. What would they do with her now that she'd been arrested? That wouldn't be a good look for them. A whole new set of questions tore into Kayanna's mind.

The officer pulled a key card from his pocket and slid it through the reader. Another buzz cut through the air, as if signaling to everyone in the building that a criminal would soon be walking in their vicinity.

Beware! She's coming!  It warned them.

Kayanna shook the thought away. She didn't do the crime she was convicted of.

But she almost did.

The officer stepped before her and slid a key into her handcuffs, releasing her wrists from their captured state. He then stepped out of the cell, holding the barred door open for her.  Kayanna stood and stepped towards the door.  Her legs felt heavier with each step.  When she made it out the door, the officer began to walk in the direction he came in saying to follow him and he'd get them checked out.  Mrs. Deion went first and Kayanna trailed behind.

The officer led them to the front desk where he took care of a few things in order to check Kayanna out.  Soon she was following Mrs. Deion out the front door.  As the two walked to Mrs. Deion's car, Kayanna tried to read her face.  Was she angry? It was dark out, which made it difficult for her to tell.  She seemed calm as far as Kayanna could tell. She couldn't be calm though. The whole point of her adopting Kayanna was to show everyone how wonderful she was, right?  This would just be a huge embarrassment.

Kayanna stopped at the passenger door of the car. She felt the need to run. She wanted to run away and hide. She couldn't do that again, though. She'd done that the past two days and look where it had gotten her. Her hand found the door handle and pulled.

The two were soon on the road. Mrs. Deion was quiet.  It was driving Kayanna insane.  What was she thinking? She tried to think of something to say but nothing sounded right. Finally, before she could overthink it, she spoke.

"I'm sorry." She's sorry? For what? She didn't kill Ward. Now she felt like she was confessing that she did.

Although her words came out only slightly above a whisper Mrs. Deion heard them. 

"Did you do it?" She responded, her eyes on the road. Her voice held uncertainty. "I'll only ask once and I'll believe what you say."

Kayanna watched her as she spoke. She was silent for a moment. She wasn't sorry for a crime she didn't commit, but she was sorry for being so invovled and therefore involving Mrs. Deion who had done nothing but given her the best life she could ask for. She had everything she'd ever dreamed of there and there was nothing she wanted more than to stay. She had friends there. She had real friends. She had family.  How could Mrs. Deion believe anything she said? Was she something more than a charity case to her? Or was she just hoping for a lie that would satisfy her?