Tristan sneered at Brooke from the chair she’d been put in, a massive police officer seated beside her to make sure that she and Brooke stayed away from one other while they each got to make their phone call. She could overhear Brooke talking to her parents about her- saying that she’d just been attacked by this awful girl who was after Nick. Tristan rolled her eyes and sighed, she had a feeling that if anyone was going to get blamed it was going to be her. She’d given her statement as soon as they’d arrived at the station, and had immediately noticed the officer seemed more amused by the story than convinced she was telling the truth, even though she’d given him the straight story.
Tristan finally got her turn at the phone, dialing her apartment to talk to her roommate. The phone rang several times and finally she heard “This is Angela and Tristan, we’re obviously not here.. but leave us a message and we’ll get back to you eventually!” Tristan kicked at the floor with her foot, ‘Now she decides to go out!’. Figuring she may as well explain she wasn’t coming home, she waited for the beep, “Ang… It’s Tris… ummm… I won’t be home tonight .. I .. uh… kind of got arrested…”
“What the fuck?!?!” Angela yelled, grabbing the phone.
“Oh.. hey… um, yeah… I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.. evening something like that…” Tristan said. “Actually, shit.. can you come pick me up over here? My car is at the club, still…”
“What the fuck happened?!?” Angela asked again.
“I kinda got into a fight at the bar.. so I got arrested, and they’re keeping me in jail overnight.. but I guess I could be here longer if that little bitch somehow convinces them it’s my fault and presses charges or something…”
“Off the phone, miss” an officer told Tristan, putting his hand on her shoulder.
“Ang.. I gotta go.. I’ll try to call you tomorrow when I get out.” Tristan said, hanging up the phone.
“Follow me, miss.” The officer said, walking past a cluster of desks and down a hall to the holding cells. He opened one of the barred door of the cell and gently pushed Tristan inside.
She trudged across the tiny room and plopped down on the bench, and looked up across the hall- to find that she was directly across from Brooke who was sniveling in the corner of her cell. Tristan couldn’t help but laugh at her- this must have been like culture shock to her or something- she seemed like the kind of girl who’d been raised in a world where nothing bad happened and if something did- it could always be fixed by money.
Brooke glared at Tristan and then turned away to face another wall.
Tristan just shook her head and tried her best to get comfortable on the bench, figuring she was going to be there awhile anyway. She must have dozed off for a while, the next thing she heard was the sound of doors clanging open. She looked up to see Brooke’s door being opened and an officer telling her that her bail had been posted and she was free to leave. “Figures” Tristan mumbled to herself, getting up and walking over to the bars.
Brooke made a face at Tristan as she walked off down the hall, whining about how unfair it was that she’d had to stay in jail at all.
A few minutes later the officer that had escorted Brooke out came back to stand in front of Tristan’s cell. “Miss Hahn… as of now, both you and Miss White are being charged with disorderly conduct… but according to witnesses at the club, the scuffle appears to have been your fault, so Miss White has the option of pressing charges of assault against you.”
Tristan knew it was in her best interest to not argue, so she just nodded. “Fine.” She watched him walk down the hall and disappear, and rested her forehead against the cool bars. She’d sort of always wondered what things would look like from a jail cell, but had never actually expected to find out.
She paced around the cell for awhile, thinking the worst part of this entire experience was going to be finding a way to pass the time. She wondered what her mom and dad were going to say about this. She knew her dad wasn’t going to be able to say much- she remembered him telling her about a couple of bar fights he’d been in, although to her knowledge, he’d never ended up in jail over them.
When she’d about become dizzy from walking in circles around the tiny room, she dropped back down onto the bench. She wished she’d worn a watch so she’d have a clue what time it was.. how long she’d been there and how much longer she was going to have to stay. She stretched out along the bench again, figuring sleeping, or at least trying to, would be the best way to pass the time.
~~~~
“Miss Hahn!” The officer repeated for the fourth time.
Tristan nearly fell off the bench at the sound of the officer’s voice echoing off the walls. “What??”
“You’re free to go.” He said, opening the door to the cell.
“Huh?” She knew she hadn’t been asleep that long, had she?
“Your bail has been posted, you’re free to go.”
Tristan’s jaw dropped. How the hell had Angela managed to find the money to post her bail? She walked out of the cell and down the hall to the office area, looking around for Angela. She didn’t see anyone except for an officer sitting behind a desk typing what was presumably information on her and… that blonde guy from the bar. Tristan blinked a few times, sure she was seeing things. She took the papers the cop standing next to her was handing her and walked through the gate into the area where the blonde guy was standing. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting you out of jail.” He replied, smiling.
“But… I… “ Tristan couldn’t even think of anything to say as he opened the door and led her outside. She’d been furious with him a few hours ago and now.. well.. not so much. “Uh, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” He said. “You need a ride back to the club to get your car or anything?”
“Um.. actually… yeah…” Tristan looked around the parking lot and saw the only car besides the police cruisers was a green BWM.
“I’m over here.” He told her, pointing to the Beemer.
“Yeah, I figured you probably wouldn’t be behind the wheel of one of those Crown Victoria’s with the stylish red and blue lights.” Tristan remarked, then thanked him as he opened the door for her.
He chuckled and paused before walking around the car to let himself in, “Hey.. I’m Nick… what’s your name?”
“Tristan.”
“Cool.” He got in the car and waited for her to get in and buckle up before starting the engine.
She turned to look at him, “Why did you do that?”
“Do what?” Nick asked, turning out of the parking lot.
“Bail me out.”
Nick stopped at a stop light and glanced at her, smirking. “You promised to tear me apart the next time you saw me… so here I am.”