Title: My One True Love
Author: asiangurlinlove
Type: original story
Reason: writing contest entry
Note: I have a writing contest up and the first place winner of each prompt gets their story featured in this book. This prompt was plot twists.

Brandon Novan sat in his cell, thinking quietly. Why was he in there? What wrong had he done? All he had done was love someone he could never have. . . .

"Novan!" A prison guard's face appeared between the bars of Brandon's cell. "Stay where you are," the guard barked as he unlocked the cell, "or I'll be forced to sedate you."

Brandon shivered involuntarily but remained in his spot against the wall. After his first experience with a sedative, he had woken up in the very cell he was in. He hadn't been given a trial or a lawyer, he had just been placed in here eight days ago.

The guard fully stepped into the cell and walked towards where Brandon was sitting. Pulling out two pairs of handcuffs, the guard quickly snapped one over Brandon's wrists and the other over his wrists, and pushed him forward.

"One wrong move, and you're getting sedated, no matter what," the guard warned, a needle in his hand. "The first time, you ended up in a jail cell. Who knows where you'll go after the second time?"

Brandon's eyes widened slightly in fear. There was only one other place worse than the prison -- the mental institution. Only crazy people went there, and Brandon wasn't crazy.

"Wait here."

Brandon immediately obliged, barely even breathing. He was in front of a door, through which no sound at all could be heard. Was it the door to outside? Maybe they realized that they had a mistake and were now letting him go. Maybe the people behind the doors would be there to take off his handcuffs.

Just as Brandon was feeling hopeful, the doors opened, revealing what looked like a court room. He was disappointed at first, but he perked up again when he realized that this was a trial for him. He could prove that he was innocent, and he would be set free.

The guard pushed Brandon roughly in the back, but Brandon walked into the room with his head held high and a huge smile on his face. In just a few minutes, he could leave the building. And then, he could go find his true love. Although she had reported him to the police, he would forgive her.

"After punishing her a little, of course," Brandon thought out loud with a soft chuckle. "When she finally admits she was wrong, I'll forgive her and be with her forever."

"You see, Your Honor?" An unfamiliar man dressed formally stood up next to Brandon and gestured at him. "Based on what he just said, I feel no further questions are necessary. I am sure the jury has already made up their minds."

"Sit down, Lawyer Kingsworth," the man in the center of the room said with a scowl. "We shall need more proof than that."

Brandon watched the man remain standing with a victorious smirk. "Judge Larson, I call Elizabeth Rose Octyle to the stand."

"Liz?" Brandon also jumped up in his seat to stare at the girl who walked into the room. To stare at his true love, the one who still refused to understand that she didn't love him. "Liz, it's me!"

However, the only response Brandon received was a banging of a wooden object from the man in the center. "Sit down, sir!" the man said, the same scowl on his face. "Unless you want to be sedated again, and waste the time of every single person in here."

Brandon sat down immediately, but he still watched Liz step up to the man in the center and place her hand on the bible.

"Elizabeth Rose Octyle," Lawyer Kingsworth said as he stepped up to Liz. "Would you please tell us your relation with the defendant?"

"He was my stalker."

"She's lying!" Brandon jumped back up and pointed a finger at Liz, who hadn't turned around to stare at him once. "I never stalked anybody in my entire life!"

The man banged the wood again, but much louder this time. Slightly afraid, Brandon sat back down, although there was a frown on his face. When would he be allowed to talk? The way this was going, Brandon wouldn't be able to leave the prison, and everyone would think he was a stalker, which he wasn't.

"Miss Octyle, what made you believe Mister Novan stalked you?"

For the first time, Liv turned around to stare at Brandon. However, instead of the happy smile she usually had on, her eyes looked cold and her voice was tense as she answered.

"He kept coming up to me with jewelry, and stuffed animals and dolls, even though I told him I didn't want them. When that didn't work, he kept grabbing my wrists until they were bright red. One day, he stopped coming, and I thought it was finally over, but then he gave me a box filled with pictures he took." Liz's voice had dropped as she continued speaking, but everyone in the room held his breath so they could hear every words. "The box was filled with pictures of me: Outside hanging out with my friends, inside watching TV, in my bedroom as I slept."

At her last sentence, everyone in the room turned to glare at Brandon. All, except for Lawyer Kingsworth and Liz, herself.

"That doesn't make me a stalker!" Brandon stood back up, even though the man made that banging sound again. If he didn't speak now, he would never have a chance. "I gave her everything to show her how much I cared about her, and they were expensive things. I only grabbed her left wrist, and that was only when she tried to walk away from me. The pictures were to show that I was thinking about her all the time, and that I will always love her, no matter what she does! That doesn't make me a stalker, that only makes me someone in love!"

"Your Honor," Lawyer Kingsworth said with a smile. "After these two confessions, I do not understand why you choose to drag this trial on. Clearly, no ordinary person would think the way Mister Novan here does. Henceforth, I repeat my claim that this man is insane."

Insane? They were calling him, Brandon Novan, insane? He was not insane, he was normal. It was everyone else who were insane. They were all insane for choosing to believe Liz and twisting his words like that.

"I am not insane!" Brandon jumped across the desk in front of him and ran to Lawyer Kingsworth. He grabbed the collar of the man's suit and began shaking him back and forth. "I am not insane, you are!" was the last thing Brandon remembered before blacking out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOVAN BOY UNFAIRLY SENT TO ASYLUM

Yesterday, July 13, 2017, at 5:07 pm, Judge William Larson sentenced 17 year-old Brandon Novan to the state's asylum. According to one witness, the judge "did not look happy with the statement he made. It looked as if he didn't want the boy to go to the place."

Brandon Novan was sentenced to the state prison eight days prior on account of stalking Person E. His reason for having such a late trial was due to his refusal to work with authorities. This automatically resulted in him being sedated and being kept under control for more than one week.

Ten years ago, Novan had been a national representative of our state, the youngest to do so at the age of seven. However, an "accidental" slip into the river creek caused him to bump his head, and he has been declared mentally unstable ever since. Although many people had considered putting him into the asylum or hospital since the beginning, many more people protested, claiming it was no place for a "minor who had once been high respected in the community." Despite these protests, Novan was eventually sent to the asylum, despite his still being underage. His current guardian, Miss Jamie Ingrid, allowed her consent for Novan to be sent to the asylum, despite some loud protests many heard the boy shout.

"He's never wanted to go the asylum, Brandon," a neighbor was eager to share. "The first time he heard of that place, he tried to be on his best behavior so he would never have reason to go there."

According to the law, if an adult legally related to Novan believes he should not remain in the asylum, that adult may take Novan out of the asylum. As Miss Ingrid is only a caretaker and Novan is a minor, an actual relative's request would overthrow the jury's ruling. However, this must be done before Novan turns eighteen, when he will be forced to stay in the asylum forever. If a relative steps forward, he or she must be willing to take full custody of Novan and make sure he never --

Judge William Larson put down the paper. It was clear the reporter thought Brandon didn't belong in the asylum, and the judge agreed with the woman. He was only a boy, someone who could have been someone, someone who could have made their state famous. Instead, due to an incompetent adult's mistake, he was forced into the one place he didn't want to be in.

The judge looked down at the picture of Brandon. He was nine years old in the picture, the last time he would allow someone to take a good picture of him. He was smiling proudly in the picture, holding the gold trophy he had won in the competition he had won the previous week. As a reward, his father had taken him to the river creek, a dangerous and forbidden place no one was allowed to go to.

If only he hadn't taken Brandon there. If only he hadn't run away, leaving his unknown and powerless brother as Brandon's only relative. If only the brother hadn't changed his last name. If only the brother had fought harder to help Brandon, even after he became a famous and powerful judge. If only the brother would speak up and be willing to give up everything to take care of Brandon. If only William Larson would, for the first time, admit that he was the only one who could help Brandon.

Brandon's uncle looked at the picture of Brandon in the newspaper for one last time, before folding the newspaper in half and throwing it into the trash.