Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story, they belong to Jay Asher.

Warning: This Chapter briefly mentions rape and consent.

Chapter Fourteen-

The wait is long and agonizing, how long will it take for them to get back to us? It's been 4 days and we haven't heard anything, well at least us teenagers anyway. I think that it's best for Lainie to deal with it because if we did, i think it would end in a complete disaster. These last 4 days have been draining emotionally and mentally. Jess and Justin have been staying at Clays with me at his parents, Lainie thought it would be better for us to stick together during this time, which i cant blame her for especially for Justin's sake with Bryce. If Bryce got to Justin after speaking to the police he would more than likely be dead or tortured in some kind of way, with boy code or them being "boys". I'm just glad that we are all here together and safe.

We are all at the table eating some of what Lainie and Matt had made for breakfast, well as much as we can face eating anyway, when Lainie comes in the room.

"Hey girls, i just got off the phone with the D.A and with all of the collected evidence they have from us and the doctors, its enough for a criminal conviction"

Silence. You could hear a pin drop. The air yanked out of my throat and lungs. Jessica's fork clunking onto her plate. Gasps from around the table. A chair scraping the floor. My body dropped to the floor. Shock. Tears. Lots of tears and they were not just my tears. Jess, in the arms of Justin, is sobbing her heart out. Like myself she is pretty unconsolable, the way she is clinging onto Justin and crying into his chest shows that. Clays cradling me in his arms, quietly crying on my shoulder, even his mom is silently crying into Matt's shoulder. The amount of pressure that this has caused is unbelievable. Hearing those words is like a breath of fresh air.

It takes a while but once we have all calmed down Lainie takes us all into the little sitting room so we can all talk about what is going to happen now.

"So the D.A said that they interviewed Bryce in a way that wouldn't make him suspicious about you girls and he denied knowing about any rapes or that he raped anyone. They let him go while they were collecting and going through all of the evidence and while they were doing that they put a tap on his phone".

"Wait, they did what?" Justin said, choking on his water.

"Yeah, they wanted to be sure. Turns out they were right to. Apparently they have recorded a conversation between him and someone else, who that person is i'm not sure, but turns out he talks about being with the police and he mentions some girls that he's been with and in a non consensual way too. This along with all the other pieces of evidence, this means that there is a high possibility for him to be sent down for this".

"So he could be sent to prison?" Clay asks next to me.

"There is a high chance yes, a police officer is on their way to Bryce's home as we speak to arrest him for lying to them and for indecent assault on numerous girls with you two being the main ones. They will be putting out a statement in the press about his arrest, not mentioning you girl, but asking for any other girl who has been a victim of Bryce Walker to come forward and talk to them. Once all that is over then they will set a date for a hearing to see how he wants to plead, then they will head to trial because there is no way his lawyer is going to be able to get him out of it, especially with the two recorded confessions that he doesn't know were recorded. All we have to do now is wait to find out the date of the trial because you girls will have to testify but don't worry we will be able to put things in place for you so that your identity will be covered in the courtroom, only the jury, the lawyers and the judge will be able to see your faces, so you won't have to see his face."

I hold onto Jess's hand and give her a reassuring nod. We can do this. Together we can do this. She looks apprehensive but she gives me a shy smile in return.

"Now Justin, my colleagues and I have sorted out a deal for you. I explained how you didnt say anything due to being scared for your life with Bryce and how his threatening persona stopped you from coming forward and how it has put a strain on your relationship with Jess. You will have to testify in court about what has happened and to save you from doing time yourself for knowing about Jess's assault and not stopping it you will have to do community service and attend a course on abuse protection, you may also have to do a little time in the county jail and by that i mean maybe a month or two as part of your community service but it won't be as bad as being in the county prison. You will be well away from Bryce and in a section for your protection, you can finish the rest of your school work for this semester while you're in there so you don't miss out on your schooling. I know this may sound harsh but there isn't anything else i can do to help, i might be able to get your community service reduced but that is the limit to what i would be able to do. After you're done in the jail you can stay with us, Clay mentioned about your home situation, we can move things around and move the office into the out house so you can have your own room. Don't say no either because me and Matt have talked about it and we won't take no for an answer and clays also agreed to it so don't worry about him". Lainie says looking at clay.

Clay's response was to just hold up his hands in defence.

It's been about 4 hours since our chat in the sitting room and here we are again in the sitting room only this time we have been told to look at the news by one of Lainies colleagues. Matt turns on the Tv and puts on the news ready for it to start while we all sit on the sofas waiting. The news starts with a loud booming noise and the words Breaking news big and bold on the screen.

BREAKING NEWS….. This just in local school football and baseball co-captain was arrested at his home this morning. Bryce Walker a senior from Liberty High school was arrested this morning on suspicion of Indecent assault and Rape. More news will follow as it comes in to us. We will be speaking to a detective on this case tomorrow evening about this arrest. Also is pollution in the lake at its high…...

Oh my. This is it. It's happening. We're finally doing this. We're going to get justice. I turn to Jess who has stood up and we both open our arms and we hug each other while sobbing.

"We can do this Jess, for us".

"No not just us, for all the girls, we can do this" she replies in a strong voice.

"For all the girls" I say, returning her strength at this moment.

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