Unsure what to do with the polaroid I placed the small picture inside of my bag and decided to add it to my collection at home with all the mysterious pieces of evidence that keeps turning up to me.

Whoever this mystery whistleblower is clearly has the same agenda as me in wanting to bring Bryce Walker down. I just hope whoever it is can come forward to me and we can talk about how to bring justice to all these girls, he clearly knows more than he or she is letting on

'So what are you going to do now with that polaroid Mason' Clay asked

'Not much I can do really other than add it to the pile of evidence'

'You should go to the police Mason and report it'

'It's not my place to do anything Clay, I can't pressure the victims to come forward if they don't want too'

'I just feel so guilty with all this evidence we have and we can't do anything about it'

'I know how you feel Clay and I'm sure whoever this whistleblower is does as well' I exclaimed. 'We just got to hope something changes in someone to finally put Bryce where he belongs'

'Can I have another look at the polaroid again Mason'

'Sure'

I nodded my head and retrieved the photo again from my bag, Clay took the photo from me and examined it thoroughly. He took a while looking at the photo before pointing out some things in the background of the photo to me

'Does that look like the clubhouse to you Mason?' he asked, showing me the picture

'No it doesn't the clubhouse is a bit more dingy. It looks like somebody's house'

'That doesn't really narrow it down where this picture took place, the jocks have parties every other week but the girl does look familiar. she kinda looks like Pablo's sister''

'Then that leaves me with no choice but to ask Pablo's sister about this picture and does she recall it ever being taken'

'Have you ever met Pablo's sister?'

'Once when I went down his house to hang out with the boys from the team'

'Well she's in Mr Roughan class for homeroom if you want to meet her before school starts tomorrow'

'She's probably got a free period tomorrow so I'll see her then'

'But you will have a gym class tomorrow and she's in the year below, our timetables don't match the sophomores'

'Then I'll just ask Coach Patrick if I can bail out of tomorrow's class'

The doors to the locker room twitched open and Jessica and Hannah poked their heads through, seeing only just us they entered the boys locker room as I quickly grabbed the photo from Clay and placed it into my pocket

'What are you boys up to in here' Hannah asked

'Come on this is the boys room you know you're not allowed in here' Clay protested

'Like we haven't seen anything before'

'You wish I would show you more Hannah' Clay smirked

'Gross' I muttered. 'Thanks for that Clay, anyway how was kitchen duty?'

'I swear cleaning that kitchen has put me off school food for life, packed lunches all the way for me now on'

'That bad was it Jess surely not' Clay interjected

'You boys had it easy just putting air into a ball, we had to work our asses off in the kitchen. We got it worse compared to you boys'

'I think you owe us one Mason' Hannah teased

'Do I now?'

'If it weren't for you we wouldn't be in detention right now'

'I love how none of you were against going to Southhawk but the moment we get busted it's all my fault all of a sudden'

'Make it up to us and we might forgive you for ill judged actions then' Jessica smirked

'How about a hot chocolate at Monet's, it's been a shitty day and we could do with one'

'You're gonna have to do better than that'

'What about some cakes as well to sweeten the deal then'

Clay and Hannah looked at each other and were silently agreeing which type of cake they wanted. 'We want double chocolate cake' they cried in unison

'That's fine with me and what would you like from Monet's Jess'

'I want red velvet cake with my cup of hot chocolate Slick'

'Come on then let's go to Monet's now' I exclaimed. 'I'm done of being here for the day'

Clay placed his arm around his girlfriend's waist as they exited the locker room together first, I placed my arm over Jessica's shoulder as she wrapped her arm around my waist. We had gotten a bit more touchy feely with each other and I loved that we could be close like that, no awkwardness at how close we were even when we were not together; I wanted to change that after the dance…..

The next day I had easily gotten out of my gym class to meet with Pablo's sister Mari in the school library, she was busy with some assignment paper she was writing up. Pulling up a chair and seating down opposite her I gained her attention as she was disturbed by my presence, Mari dropped her pen down on the desk and met my gaze

'Can I help you?' she asked kindly

'Do you know who I am'

'You're the new kid in the year above and a friend of my brother' Mari stated. 'I know who are you Mason Baker'

'Glad to know that we're on first name bases Mari' I smiled weakly. 'There was something I wanted to talk to you about'

'If it's something to do with the team or my brother then go and speak to them'

'Oh I don't think you would want me to do that Mari, it would cause too many problems right now that nobody would want' I admitted, fearing the fall out it would cause. 'Take a look at this'

Reaching into my bag I pulled out the polaroid from a zip pocket and slid it across the table face down, we both checked our surrounding areas that the coast was clear before Mari picked up the small photo and examined it closely

'Where did you get this Mason' she accused, dropping the polaroid

'So you do recognise it then Mari'

'I remember that night partially but who gave this to you Mason? I need answers'

'I'm afraid I can't help you there as I found the polaroid in my locker yesterday, someone must have slipped it in while I had detention'

'I'm gonna kill whoever gave that to you Mason. No one can ever know what happened that night you hear me, not even my brother for god sake'

'The polaroid will stay safe with me Mari I can assure you that but you gotta tell me what's going on in the picture'

'I know jocks can be dumb sometimes but isn't it obvious what's happening in the picture'

'A picture does tell a thousand words but I'm only interested in your side of the story Mari. What's going on in the polaroid'

'What I tell you must stay between us and no one else. Pablo can never know what Bryce had done to me ok'

'I promise Mari I won't tell a soul, I know it will be hard but you just gotta trust me on that'

'Ok Mason' She sighed deeply, taking a moment to compose herself. 'That polaroid was taken a year ago before the start of the academic year, it was a party at my house for all the popular kids'

'And all the jocks, cheerleaders and popular kids turned up that night right'

'Pablo made a breakthrough in the team and was getting recognition from the others, we thought it would be a good idea to throw a party so I could get to know some people before I started my freshman year'

'It's ok Mari if you don't want to go into detail with me about that night'

'I feel like if I don't talk about it then I'm just kidding myself that it's my fault what happened that night'

'It was never your fault Mari. You didn't force him to do anything to you'

The stories we're getting more familiar with each girl that I sat down to talk with about their rape, my heart hurt deeply for Mari as she was the youngest victim so far of Bryce Walker that I knew of. I dread to think if Bryce was that disturb he could possibly go for even minors and not have a care in the world who he was hurting

'I had gotten friendly with Bryce when he showed up to my house, we stayed by each other's side most of the night and Bryce told me he recently broke up his girlfriend'

'Was Amanda there that night of the party?'

'Bryce asked me to play along with him and pretend to flirt him whenever Amanda was around so just to piss her off'

'Then what happened'

'As the evening drew to a close I had rejected his advances a couple of times that night and went up to my room, I thought I would be safe from him in my room but I was so wrong'

'So it was your room in the background of the polaroid'

'Bryce waited for nearly everyone to be passed out drunk or heading home before he came lurking up to my bedroom'

'That's where he raped you Mari'

She nodded her head as a few tears left her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, staining them as she tried to keep some sort of composure in front of her peers in the library. I reached into my pocket and handed Mari a clean tissue to wipe away her tears

'He took my innocence away from me that night Mason'

'I am so sorry that your first time was like that Mari, you deserve so much better and so do so many other girls here for a matter of fact'

'Everytime I close my eyes and think about ever being intimate I can feel him inside of me, how hard he pushed himself inside of me, it never goes away those thoughts'

I reached over the table and placed my hand over Mari's. It was hard for her but Mari had wanted to tell me how Bryce raped her. He had choked Mari till she was out cold and would regain consciousness every now and again during her ordeal till Bryce noticed and put her to sleep again

I was left with no words and felt sick to my stomach hearing Mari's attack. Left with nothing but rage again I wanted to kill Bryce, god only knows what Pablo would say or do if he were to ever find out his little sister was raped.

'Why did he have the camera with him? That the one thing I don't understand' I proclaimed, creating Mari's attention as she had zoned out. 'He sure loves to photograph his victims'

'His dad was about to throw out the camera in the trash but he decided he could have better uses for it so Bryce brought it to the party'

'Your polaroid was the first of his collection then'

'You could say that Mason and I'm guessing you know of the other polaroids'

'It's not just them Mari there's other evidence of his dirty deeds on video, Bryce has recorded some of his rapes as well'

'Oh my god' she gasped quietly, fresh tears spilling from her eyes again

'What I've told you Mari must stay between us ok, no one else knows about the videotapes and I don't want Bryce to get suspicious and burn the evidence'

'My lips are sealed'

'Have you ever thought about pressing charges against Bryce?'

'I have thought about it loads of times in the days after my rape and I really wanted to do it'

'So what stopped you then if you were so willing to take him down?' I questioned

'I just couldn't bear to put my family through a court hearing about what happened at the party. The jury were never going to believe me when there was no evidence to put forward other than my allegation'

'You can never know that Mari'

'How many times have you seen a jury convict a defendant without any solid proof given to deliberate about'

'None'

'And that's why I decided I couldn't go to the police and make a report against Bryce, no one will take me seriously Mason other than you' I'm on my own on this'

'You're not on your own on this Mari and I will try to support you in anyway that I can from now on'

'Thank you Mason for being so kind and understanding about everything' she sighed deeply. 'It felt good to finally be able to tell someone my story of that night. You promise you won't tell another soul what I've told you'

'I promise Mari'

Mari smiled weakly as I got up from my seat at the table whilst she tried to continue on with her paper assignment, I bid her goodbye and went back to my gym class for the remainder of the hour. For someone so young I admired her strength at wanting to bring down Bryce Walker, I would have her back if she wanted to try again someday…

School had finished for the day at the end of the week and everyone will be getting ready for the winter formal this evening. The four of us had agreed to carpool together to the dance so if we got bored or wanted a change of scene we could leave together at any time and make our own fun

Clay had arrived at the house at a quarter to seven and was waiting outside on the porch with Uncle Andy, I had walked down the corridor to Hannah's bedroom and knocked on the door lightly, waiting a few seconds before entering her room

'Clay's here' I stated the oblivious to her

'How do I look' Hannah asked nervously

'You look great in the dress Hannah, Clay is going to love it for sure'

'You don't think it says I'm trying too hard do you? I don't want to make a fool of myself or embarrass Clay for wearing something a little revealing'

'That's nonsense Hannah and you know it. Who says that your not allowed to wear a dress as gorgeous as that just because some guys can't control themselves and want to make themselves utter twats in front of you'

'I guess you're right Mason' she smiled happily. 'I should wear what makes me happy instead what people might think of me wearing a certain type of clothing'

'Fuck um that's what I say' I exclaimed, a small laughter escaping my lips. 'Say it with me Hannah'

'Fuck um'

We both replied in unison and a small fit of giggles followed right after we said the curse word together. Hannah finished touching up the final details of her makeup in front of the mirror and then we soon left to meet our guardians and Clay outside on the porch. Aunt Liv and Uncle Andy gasped in awe at how stunning their daughter looked

'You look super pretty babe I'm so glad you bought that dress' Aunt Liv gushed lovingly

Hannah stood in front of Clay waiting for any kind of approval from him, the boy couldn't take his eyes off his girlfriend as he eyed Hannah from her head to her toes. The look of pure love and devotion plastered across Clay's face as he finally took his girlfriend's hands

'You look really beautiful tonight Hannah in that dress'

'You like it? I chose this starry one just for you for your love of astronomy'

'I mean I like the dress and you know how much I can daydream about the stars but I love you more Hannah, more than anything in the world'

Clay dropped his hands from Hannah's grasp and placed them on the sides of her cheek, slowly drawing her closer to him and connected their lips together softly, the young couple shared a sweet and quick kiss together and rested their foreheads against each other.

I handed Clay his corsage box that he was going to present to Hannah to wear for the evening, he slipped on the flower bundle of red and white roses on Hannah's wrist. Before we were allowed to leave for the night Aunt Liv wanted to take some photo opportunities, I knew I would have to do the same again when we drove to Jessica's to pick her up for the night…..

After picking Jessica up and going through a photo shoot again with her parents we arrived on the school premises just after seven, Hannah parked up the Jeep in an empty spot near the school gates for a quick exit. The four of us entered the school gymnasium together to see the room was filled with large decoration everywhere you turned

The hall was dimly lit with lights flashing off the disco ball with crowds starting to gather in the large room, tables were set up in the back if you wanted to have a seat and catch a breather from tonight. We were greeted by various friends as they were scattered around the gymnasium and talking amongst themselves, Clay and Hannah decided to peel away and go and catch up with Tony who was working on the dj booth with Caleb

The jocks and cheerleaders claimed an area of the hall to themselves as we walked over to our friends. I greeted my core group of friends amongst the jocks that I could stand daily and was proud to call them my friends to anyone who asked

'Looking fly tonight Mason' Pablo proclaimed, flashing me a wink

'Thanks, you boys are looking dapper tonight yourselves'

'Do you fancy a drink?' Liam asked

'Sure why not'

'If you want to have a really good night then have the strawberry punch, if not stick with the fruit like the rest of us'

'Are you trying to say the bowl has been spiked'

'All I'm saying is that the jocks were already here first way ahead of time and the strawberry punch taste funny'

'Thanks for the heads up'

Going over to the refreshment table I picked up a plastic cup from the table and poured myself a cup of fruit punch. Clay and Hannah came to the table seconds later and were about to have some strawberry punch

'I'd stay clear of the strawberry if I were you'

'Why what's wrong with it?' Hannah proclaimed

'It's been spiked so unless you want to have a really good night then go for it'

'Thanks for the look out' Clay replied. 'Oh and I have sorted it with Tony for later'

'What are you boys planning now then' Hannah quizzed

'Wait and see babe and you'll be surprised as well'

'I hate when I'm kept in the dark from the both of us, I want in from now on' she chimped, feeling annoyed

'Ok no more secrets between the three of us now but I can't promise we'll end our bromance anytime soon' I teased

'You guys are just the worst I can't even….' Hannah groaned

'But you love us really' Clay proclaimed, winking at her

'You so have a lot of making up to do Helmet and you can make it up to me tonight for a start'

Hannah grabbed Clay by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer to her as she whispered something in his ear only for him to know, Clay's eyebrows shot up and was surprised what his girlfriend might have suggested. Their hands intertwined together as Hannah lead them back to the dancefloor

'We'll catch up later Mason' Clay stated, being pulled away by his girlfriend

I nodded my head and filled another plastic cup full of punch, walking back to my date for the evening I handed Jessica a drink, we took a small sip each from our cups and watched as couples made there way to the dancefloor for the slow songs being played

'I hope you're not going to abandoned me this evening Slick'

'I'm all yours for the night Jess'

Jessica leaned her head over so it rested against the side of my arm, there was no way I would be abandoning her tonight if not forever; I would show her tonight how much she meant to me…

As the evening drew on Clay and Hannah dragged the both of us away from the jocks and made us come dance with them. It was nice change of pace for the night whilst a song from Lady Gaga was played over the speakers, it was hard to hear the song from all the laughter we were having trying to throw some shapes

'You are still just as bad from before Slick' Jessica giggled

'It can only get better trust me'

Looking towards Clay I winked at him to which he gave a signal to Tony at the DJ booth that it was time, the pop song slowly faded out and a familiar song started to play over the speakers; if anyone loved old 80s songs then they would recognise this straight away.

True by Spandau Ballet had started and the people who came to the dance as couples started to pair up as the singletons walked off or came together with their friends for a slow dance. I turned to my date and placed my hands on her waist whilst Jessica looped her arms around my neck

'I haven't heard this in forever' Jessica whispered. 'I could dance to this all night, that's how good it is'

'I asked Tony to play this song for us tonight I kinda made a special request for it'

'Well I'm glad that you did Slick'

'There was another reason why I had asked for this song'

'Which is?' she questioned, raising a brow and totally unaware

'I wanna dance to this song with you Jess'

'But you don't know how to dance'

'I've been taking lessons for the last couple of weeks and I've had a very good teacher'

Jessica moved her gaze away from me and looked over at Clay and Hannah who were wrapped up into each other. Clay looked over and gave a quick wink before turning his attention back to Hannah. I dropped my hand from her Jessica's waist as our hands intertwined together

My body knew what to do after all the lessons I had from Clay, there were no nerves going through me as I drew Jessica away from me and gave her twirl before pulling back to me again. Our bodies were in tune with one another as I led us through a small dance with a couple of twirls

Coming to the end of the song I dropped a shoulder whilst Jessica fell back for a moment as the dance came to an end, pulling her back up to me I kept my arms wrapped around her waist

'Where did that come from Mason? A few weeks ago you couldn't even do a simple step'

'I wanted to surprise you Jess'

'Well you sure did that I didn't expect a dance out of you tonight'

'Well you go that extra mile to learn something for someone you love'

'You love me?'

Instead of answering her question I decided to show her instead as I bent my head down, our foreheads touching each other's gently. I didn't care that people were watching us as I made the first move, slowly pushing forward and connecting our lips gently, everything in that moment felt right and I didn't want the kiss to end, pulling away breathlessly I looked into her eyes

'I could get used to this' she sighed happily

'Me too'

This was the moment to finally make my move and nothing was going to stop me doing so,I wanted Jess to know I was serious about her. Cupping the sides of her face with the both of my hands I passionately kissed her again and put everything into that kiss, She was the only one I wanted…...

The dance had drawn to a close and we were on the drive back home to Jessica's, our hands were still locked together as we sat in the back of the Jeep. The ride didn't take long and eventually Hannah pulled the car over outside of Jessica's home to let us out, Jessica had invited me inside for a coffee to which Clay and Hannah had declined and wanted to call it a night. Jessica and I waved them off before entering her house and going into the main living room

'Everyone all asleep are they?' I asked

'Actually I've got a free house this weekend, the family have gone camping'

'Lucky you then'

'And while I've got a free house I want to make the most of it'

'Oh yeah and what will be doing?'

'Let me show you upstairs Slick'

A seductive smirk played across Jessica's lips as I felt her grab my shirt and pulled me closer to her, Looking into Jessica's eyes I knew what she desired and I wanted to fulfil that need. Without a second thought I sent my lips crashing down against Jessica's and kissed her passionately, our clothes were flying off bodies as I felt my suit jacket fall down my arms and hands started to pull down the zip on her dress. Jessica flew herself at me and wrapped her legs around my waist tightly as I carried her upstairs to her bedroom…..