"I can't believe Hope would just run away like this!" Julian stresses out
"So when was the last time you saw her?" Jess asked
"Yesterday. She left right after dinner, and she's been gone since then! My mom is freaking out. We spent the entire night driving around the city, searching for her. Jess, can you help me organize a search team?" Julian begs Jess for help
"Yeah." Jess nodded
"I really hope she's okay. I didn't mean for it to go this far! If we find her-" Chelsea feeling guilty
"WHEN we find her." said Jess
"When we find her, I'm going to tell her I'm sorry..." said Chelsea
"I'm sure she'll appreciate it. But we should find her first." Jess and Chelsea meet up with a few concerned friends. "All right, guys, Hope is missing, and we need to find her. We're going to check all the places she's likely to be."
"I'll check her school to see if she's there." said Autumn
"We know she likes to study at the library. I'll go there." said Payton
"Chelsea and I will check out the cafe where she hangs out." said Jess "Let's move out!"
Jess and her friends reconvene a little while later.
"Any luck?" Jess asked
"No. I searched every classroom at Statton." Autumn shakes her head
"And I scoured every bookshelf in the library. Any luck, Jess?" Payton asked
"No... she didn't go for a coffee, that's for sure." said Jess
A little while later, it starts to rain. Julian meets up with Jess, worried. "She hasn't come home yet, and she's still not answering her phone. Tell me you've found something."
"No." Jess shakes her head
"Nothing." said Chelsea
"She's out there sad and wet and alone ...is there any other place you can think of?" Julian
Jess wrack her brain, thinking of all the places she could possibly be. "Wait, where did Hope say she met Asher? Was it at a beach party?"
"Yeah, it was at a beach party." Chelsea nodded
"You remember which beach? Because that's where we're going!" said Jess
Jess, Julian, and Chelsea arrive at the beach and start searching, though it's hard to see through the rain.
"There! I think there's someone sitting over there! Maybe it's Hope!" Julian pointed
Julian takes off down the beach! Jess and Chelsea take off after Julian as he runs towards a figure in the distance. Julian yells back at them. "It's Hope! I see her! Come on!"
"How did you know to come here?" Chelsea asked
"It was a hunch. This is where it all started. I thought she might be here. Now, come on, let's talk to her..." said Jess
Jess and Chelsea approach Hope, who's sitting down in the rain hugging her knees to her chest. She's wet and shivering. "Julian? What are you doing here? Just... just leave me alone, okay?" Hope sobbed
"Is that all you have to say? After you ran away? Do you have ANY idea what you put me through? What you put mom through? Mom is worried sick, and all of my friends are out in the rain, looking for YOU! Do you know how worried we all were? What were you thinking?!" Julian yelled at Hope
"I'm sorry! I know I was wrong to run... I just didn't know what to do! I'm sorry, Julian." Hope sees Chelsea and stares at her. "What is SHE doing here?!"
"I thought we could talk." said Chelsea
"Hope, when Chelsea heard you were missing, she came with me to find you. I think you should hear what she has to say." Jess explained
"Ok." Hope nodded
"Look, Hope, I know I'm the last person you want to talk to, but I just wanted to say... Uh... I'm... I'm sorry. I never meant for it to go this far. If something had happened to you and that had been my fault... well, I would've felt really bad. I'm sorry about the things I posted. I won't do it anymore, I'll get my friends to stop okay? So just... go home... please." Chelsea begged
"Thank you, Chelsea. I'm sorry too... you must've been pretty hurt seeing the photo of the kiss... I didn't want that for you either." Hope apologised
"Yeah well... maybe it's just time we both moved on..." said Chelsea
"Well, I'm glad THAT'S over." said Julian
Hope's phone buzzes. She glances at it, and a hurt look crosses her face.
"What is it? What's going on?" Julian asked Hope
"There's been another post on my wall on the Statton Gossip Board... 'Hope is DONE at this school... I hope I never see her ugly face again.'" Hope read the text
"I thought you said you'd stopped, Chelsea." Julian glared at Chelsea
"I have! I told my friends to stop too... but it looks like Asher keeps egging them on. Don't worry, I'll handle this. I'll talk to Asher about it. They'll listen to him." said Chelsea
"I want to come with you, but I should take Hope home. Jess, can you go with Chelsea?" Julian asked Jess
"Of course. Come on, Chelsea. My friends can drive us there." Jess and Chelsea get into Payton's car and head towards Asher's house. On the way there, Chelsea checks Hope's page on the Statton Gossip Board.
"They're still posting. I wish they'd just stop listening to Asher and quit it already." said Chelsea
"Do you think if you ask him to stop, he will?" Payton asked
"He'd better. And you know I've really wanted to give him a piece of my mind. I don't know what happened at that party, but if Hope is telling the truth, then Asher had better explain himself." said Chelsea
"You'll get your answer soon enough." said Jess
Jess, Payton and Chelsea arrive at Asher's house where a raucous party is going on! Loud music blares from a house packed with party guests. Jess, Payton and Chelsea find Asher at the center of it all.
"Hey, Asher!" Chelsea glared at Asher
"Hey, babe! You made it!" said Asher
"Asher, I need to talk to you about Hope. You have to get your friends to stop leaving mean posts on the Gossip Board about her." Chelsea glared angrily
"They're not mean, they're funny. Those guys are just messing around. Why do you even care?" Asher asked
"Because I was with Hope earlier today, and she's really upset." said Chelsea
"So? Since when do you care about that crybaby?" Asher asked
"Since I talked to her! And by the way, she told me that YOU hit on HER." Chelsea yelled
"And you're believing her over me? Come on, babe, she's trying to break us up. She's a liar. She was all over me." Asher defended Chelsea
"Stop talking about her that way. Look, just stop posting those things about her, and get everyone else to stop too!" Chelsea ordered
"You can't tell me what to do?" Asher glared
"If you don't stop, I don't know if I can be with you anymore." Chelsea looked sadly
"What does that mean?" Asher asked
"It means we're THROUGH. I rather stare at a wall than hangout with you!!!" Chelsea yelled
"You know, the only reason you were so popular was because of me! I don't need you. I can get with any girl in this school." Asher yelled back
"Oh yeah? Fine! Go and do that. Come on, Jess, Payton. Let's get out of this dumb party." Chelsea stormed off ignores him, turns, and strides outside. Jess and Payton follow. Chelsea slams the door behind her.
"You okay?" Jess asked
"Oh yeah! I'm fine! But that stupid, selfish jerk isn't! I... I can't believe I... I can't believe I just broke up with him. I guess I'm not okay... Payton, can you just take me home?" Chelsea asked Payton
"Of course. What a jerk, forget him." said Payton
"You're right." said Chelsea
A week later, Jess run into Julian at school.
"Julian! How's Hope doing? And Chelsea? I haven't heard from them since last week." Jess asked Julian
"It's not good, Jess... I'm going to meet them now. Come on."
Jess and Julian drive to Statton campus to pick up Hope and Chelsea. They rush down to the car, as the other students watch them angrily.
"It's awful, Jess. Asher and his stupid friends are sending mean texts about both Hope AND me. School's become so stupid!" said Chelsea
"Chelsea, I'm sorry to drag you into this." said Hope
"Hey, it's not your fault. It's theirs. It's Asher's." said Chelsea
"What now? I don't know what else we could do." said Hope
"Actually, I do. I found a list online that tells us how to deal with bullies." said Chelsea
Chelsea brings up a Cybersmile website on her laptop and shows Hope and Jess. "All right, first things first. 'Stop replying or fighting back online.' Well, that should be easy. I never want to talk to Asher and his jerk friends again. Next!"
"'Block and report the cyberbully to the principal.' I guess they can take down the site and handle Asher." Hope read
"What's next?" Chelsea asked
"The next step is to tell our parents and the school! Do you really think we should do that?" Hope asked Chelsea
"Yeah. Things at school have been awful. We need the backup. Our parents will understand. They have to."
"Okay..."
A few hours later, Hope and Chelsea call Jess over.
"How'd it go?" Jess asked
"My parents were really nice about the entire thing. I thought they were going to take away my phone or make me transfer, but they just told me things would be okay." said Hope
"Yeah, I told my parents too. They weren't happy with Asher and his friends. We called the principal together, and he said he'd report it if we have them some documentation that this is really happening. Jess, can you help us get some proof?" Chelsea asked
"Of course. I know just the person." said Jess
Jess and Hope meet up with Tommy at the computer room
"All right. So you need some documentation they've been bullying you? From the looks of it, this'll be pretty easy. I'm just going to take some screenshots of the wall on the Gossip Board... give me just a minute."
Jess watch as Tommy helps Hope and Chelsea document all the evidence Asher and his friends texted and posted. "I think this will be solid in the case against Asher. There's proof everywhere he was bullying you. Your principal can't ignore this."
"Thank you!" Hope smiled
Back at Julian's house, Jess talk to Hope and Chelsea.
"How are you guys feeling? Are you ready to speak to the principal about all this tomorrow?" Jess asked
"I don't know... I don't know if this will make things worse or better." said Hope
"Not saying anything is going to make things worse, Hope. We have to stand up. If not for ourselves, then at least for the sake of the next person who might get bullied. We have to do whatever we can to make sure this stops happening at our school!" said Chelsea
"You're right... we'll go to the principal together. I'll... see you tomorrow, Chelsea." Hope waved
"Yeah. Tomorrow." Chelsea heads home. As soon as Hope goes upstairs, Julian turns to Jess
"I don't like the idea of them going in alone. Want to come with me when they go in?" Julian asked
"Of course. I want to support them too." said Jess
The next morning, Jess and Julian find Hope and Chelsea in front of the principal's office.
"Julian! What are you doing here?" Hope asked
"We figured you both could use some moral support. You're doing the right thing." said Julian
"Thanks. It's pretty nerve-wracking. What if I forget what I'm going to say?" Hope asked
"It's fine, Hope. We'll be okay. If you forget something, I'll be right there to back you up." said Chelsea
"Hey, you two are doing the right thing, and you have each other. It'll be fine. You're both standing up for yourselves, and that's the most important thing." said Jess
"Thank you." Hope smiled
The principal opens his door and beckons them in.
"Here goes nothing."
After about an hour, Hope and Chelsea walk out of the principal's office.
"How'd it go?" Jess asked
"It went pretty good!" Hope smiled
"Once he saw everything, he told us he'd take care of it. He's going to get to the bottom of it. He even said he'd alert the police, if he needs to!" said Chelsea
"You're so strong, Chelsea. I don't think I'd have the courage to do this without you."
"Well, you do. And try not to worry. You'll be okay. We'll get through this."
A week later, while at the bowling alley with some friends, Jess run into Hope!
"Hey, guys!" Hope waved
"Hey Hope." Tommy, Emily and Brianna waved
"Hey, Hope. I haven't heard much from you lately... how are you doing?" Jess asked
"Well... it's a little bit of a long story." said Hope
"Why don't I buy you a milkshake, and you can tell me all about it?" Jess asked
At the 50s-style counter at the bowling alley, Jess get milkshakes with Hope.
"So what happened with Asher?" Jess asked
"Well, about a day after Chelsea and I went to the principal, Asher got called down to the office. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I saw a cop car in the parking lot outside! The principal took down the website made a speech about cyberbullying. Asher definitely staying away from me and Chelsea." said Hope
"So everything's going well now?" Jess asked
"Yeah all thanks to you everything going well, Chelsea and I are friends were better off without that jerk." said Hope
"No worries anytime." said Jess