Justin woke up with his alarm blaring in his ear, again. It was summer. He didn’t have to go to school. Why was his alarm going off?

“Justin, it’s time to get up. You need to shower before you’re late,” his mom said, coming into his room.

Just like that he remembered he had jury duty. Groaning, he sat up. “What’s the worst that could happen if I don’t go?” he whined.

“Jail. Now get up,” she said.

After she shut the door he got out of bed and stomped to the bathroom. Being an adult sucked.

The shower was quick and same was his shaving. His facial hair grew slow but it annoyed him so he made sure to shave every day. It just made things easier.

“Here, take my car,” his mom said handing him her keys. He had just entered the kitchen. His sister was eating eggs and bacon, his stomach growled loudly.

“I thought you and Molly were going over Grandmother’s?” he asked panicking some.

“Your grandfather is going to pick us up. I’m taking your bag over there with us. I’d feel better if you have a car. Just remember park where they tell you to park on the summons.”

“Yes, Mother. Can I eat now?” he asked eying the bacon and eggs left on the table.

“No time, here take this,” she said handing him a granola bar.

“But, Mom…”

“Don’t but Mom me. You should have got up the first three times your alarm went off.”

Traffic was insane near the courthouse. He found the parking garage that the summons said to park at. All he took with him was his sketch pad, pencil and his summons.

Looking at the crowd waiting to get through security made him wonder why this didn’t happen during the school year. This was going to suck.

A portly man bumped into him before grumbling and cutting line. “Watch it, fag,” the man sneered.

Justin decided it wasn’t worth the headache and let it go. He just wanted to get this whole thing over with. It did make him wonder if the guy knew somehow by looking at him he was gay, or maybe the guy thought it was the worst putdown he could think of.

Going through security was a little scary because the security guard looked like he could tear him apart. He shivered as he was patted down after going through the metal detector, it made him wonder if they were always this careful. He had to show the guard his summons, so he knew where to go.

Checking in was simple, he was handed a questionnaire after and directed to sit down with several other people. The questions were simple, if a little invasive. Mostly about how he felt about certain things, like theft, murder, redemption, the media. What he watched, listened to, etc. Once he was done they took them all into an even bigger room to watch a video. It explained the history of jury duty and it was completely boring so he drifted in and out.

Finally, when it was over they were instructed to wait in the room. They could read, write, play on their phones. That was when he broke out his sketch pad. He started sketching the room and people in the room with him. The old, portly man was in the front row, sighing loudly. Soon he was lost in his drawing.

The door opened back up and a woman in a uniform told them she would be calling names, if she called their name step outside of the room and follow her. It shocked him when his name was called. He caught enough to know this was Voir Dire, whatever the hell that was. Maybe he should have paid more attention to the video.

He was given a number and told to sit in a jury seat, it was scary. He glanced around the courtroom. There was a hard-faced man in a crisp black suit, he had several papers around him on the desk in front of him. The other desk was two men, one looking at paper just like the other desk guy. But it was the guy beside him that drew Justin’s attention. The guy was the most gorgeous guy he’d ever saw in his life. What really threw him though was the anger clearly on the guy’s face. It was frightening to see; the man was terrifying. He wasn’t moving an inch one way or the other, just sitting their glaring at something that Justin suspected only he could see.

“Before we begin, I’m going to read a summary of the information. The defendant, Brian Kinney, is charged with the offense of murder in the first degree. To sustain this charge the state must prove the following things beyond a reasonable doubt. That with the purpose of the causing the death of Kip Thomas, Brian Kinney caused the death of Kip Thomas. This information is just to let you know what the case is about and the defendant name, you should not use that information as any evidence of any guilt. Or any other reason besides to understand why you are here today,” Judge Maxwell said.

Murder. This guy didn’t look like a murderer, but he didn’t know what one looked like. Not a GQ model though. But the man’s glare was still a bit off putting. Justin watched as his lawyer whispered in his ear, the man’s face lightened a smidge.

The judge then read off a bunch of names involved in the case and asked them if they knew any of the witnesses or defendant. A tall man in juror seat four raised his hand.

“Yes, Juror number four?” the judge asked.

“I’ve had sex with the defendant,” he said casually.

Justin’s head swung around to look at him. Did this guy just admit to having a homosexual relationship with the guy? What would people think? Justin looked back at the defendant, Brian Kinney. He looked unfazed by the information. Were they boyfriends? Whatever it was, he would never be able to say he had sex with a man so freely. Although, he never had sex with any man. He did have sex with Daphne once, it was uncomfortable all around and took months for their friendship to be alright again.

Juror number four was excused and one of the non-numbered jurors was instructed to take four’s spot.

After that the prosecutor, Torrent Lewis, stood at the podium and started talking. He explained what Voir Dire was, French for to see and speak. It was basically the attorneys’ questioning the jury. He asked if they had heard about the case through media or friends. None said they did. That was when the prosecutor started to read little more facts about the case. In case they would remember hearing something about it. The prosecutor went on to talk about the police finding the dead man in the home of Brian Kinney. That he was strangled to death, and a scarf was found around his neck. Mr. Kinney was not at the residence at the time. A neighbor had heard noise and screaming and called police. Again, they were asked if they had heard about the case. The answer was still no from all of them.

“Is there anyone here that is victim of a crime?” the prosecutor asked. Several hands went up.

“Yes, Mrs. Yates?” he asked.

“I was robbed at gunpoint ten years ago.”

This went on and on for hours. Little by little the jury changed, but he stayed. Finally, late into the evening, there was fourteen of them left. Twelve jurors and two alternates. Justin sat stunned. This was really going to happen, he was going to be sitting on a jury. Deciding a man’s guilt or innocence. This was so fucked up.