Strive.

Officers swarmed her, they stomped on me as if I were an ant. Then the officer finally crashed into Crovera, knocking her to the ground. The rest of them quickly jumped onto her like a pack of wild dogs.

*BANG! BANG! BANG!* Loud shots rang out in the newly dark alley. "Crovera!?" I screamed in worry, watching crimson blood pool up around the pile of officers. Except it wasn't her who was shot, it was all the officers who jumped on her. Crovera arose from the pile of officers shaking. Blood streaked on her face, making her appear an eerie red. She looked like a demon at that moment.

"SHOT'S FIRED! OFFICER'S DOWN!" the chief yelled into his com system. "Crovera… what have you done?" I asked her weakly. "I-I didn't mean to! They grabbed my chest and I-I-I blanked out!" Crovera shouted, obviously horrified.

"I think her chance at a fair trial might have just been thrown out the window," I thought, still shaking at the events that just unfolded.

I sat there on the ground stunned as Crovera wept, her tears dulled the earth, everything was black and white to me at that moment. I witnessed more officers pull up, arresting Crovera. I saw her cuffed and thrown into the cop car. How badly I wanted to hug her, to tell her it would all be alright, that I would get her out. But I couldn't, all I could do was watch it unfold.

My body had fully processed everything that happened, everything she did. The painful memory of her gun being pushed to my skull kept me from saying anything at all. I couldn't even force myself to speak, every time my voice just stalled in my throat. I knew exactly why she had done it, but I couldn't say anything. It was as if my brain was yelling at me to shut up.

"Just stay quiet," I told myself, watching officers cry over their friend's corpses. Crovera's eyes met mine, and a sense of calm washed over hers, but not mine. I couldn't stand to look at her.

Everything that had gone down was because of her. If she hadn't called the cops on herself, if she hadn't pointed a gun at me, if she had told me the plan beforehand… If she… if she just didn't kiss me at all it could have been avoided.

I finally regained my senses as I sat in my room in my father's" house. "Why?" I asked myself, why was I back with my "family?" It was a worst-case scenario. Granted my luck is the worst all the time. "SHITTY, WORTHLESS, MURDERER LOVING BASTARD!" my "father" yelled at me, and once again my wounds started reappearing. I was bound to suffer no matter what, again and again.

"What the hell am I doing? Why am I lying here waiting to get beaten?" I thought. I knew that I was meant to suffer for eternity, but this was just cruel. There was a burning sensation in my chest, it was yelling at me to fight back. "Why? WHY ARE YOU LYING HERE TO SUFFER!" my mind screamed at me.

"Follow! Follow! Free her! Your grades are more than good enough, become a lawyer! Even if it was all fake, she brought you actual happiness for the first time in forever!" I yelled at myself internally. The only times I was happy recently, was with Crovera. Regardless if it was all fake, she made me happy. She killed people, yet she brought me joy.

"I'm gonna become a lawyer!" I finally decided, my grades were more than good enough. All I had to do was complete one more year of school. One more year, then I would be freed. I could be with Crovera.

"Wait, why do I want to be with a murderer?" I asked myself, still confused about what I truly felt. "Is this another plan of hers? Or do I love her?" I thought, what if yet again I was being played like a fool?

"UGH! Forget it, I'm wasting time wondering about senseless things. I'll free her then figure it the hell out!" I said aloud in annoyance. "SHUT UP!" my "sister" yelled from her room. My talking-out-loud problem had just kickstarted another problem, shocker.

*CRASH!* A glass bottle slammed against my head, shattering everywhere. My "father" had destroyed my trapdoor, obviously drunk once more. "Great, another damn problem," I thought.

*6 months later.* 

"It's Crovera's birthday," I muttered aloud. "The last time I checked she was allowed visitation. Can I do this?" I thought. I was debating over visiting Crovera yet again, not like it particularly mattered, but this time I had to plan. I was going to visit Crovera, I wouldn't get caught, not this time.

"Okay, jump out the window, roll across the ground, don't break any bones, walk to a bike shop, buy a bike, and finally put the pedal to the metal," I concluded in my head, making sure to repeat this exact plan in my head multiple times. "What could go wrong?" I asked myself, although from experience I probably shouldn't have asked that.

So I put the plan into action, and it worked for the most part. Until I got to the pedaling part. "A lot can," I muttered exhausted. 

The juvenile detention center was much further than I had previously thought. Approximately three extra hours of pedaling further. "My legs hurt so bad," I thought, the pain was coursing through my veins, I thought my stamina and muscle strength had increased while I was on the run, but I was mistaken. "Come on dammit! My stamina should be way higher than before!" I yelled in my head, annoyed. 

*RING! RING* My phone rang from my pocket, it was something important. "Crovera Jackson, an 18-year-old girl who killed 16 people, five of whom were officers. Is now awaiting trial at ******* courthouse. It is suspected she will get the death penalty as today is her 18th birthday, and also due to the severity of her crimes-" the news article said, but I turned off my phone soon after reading some of it. 

"DAMMIT!" I shouted. The courthouse was an extra hour away, and I could make it in time. But only if I seriously pedaled faster than ever before. Slowly it began to rain, and my face was soaked. However, my determination was not something that could be destroyed by some rain.