“You mean go to the police?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Emma,” says Jen. “I’m just not that brave. I want to believe what you say. I know you’re probably right. But what if we lose?”
I think about that. She has a point. We could lose. Even with Alex as a witness, Ross could get off the hook, and our names will get dragged through the mud big-time.
“I think we have to take that chance,” I say. And I realize I finally mean it. “Otherwise, nothing is going to change. Keeping quiet is like saying what Ross did was okay. Don’t you see? If we don’t fight back, guys like Ross will keep on hurting girls like us. I don’t want to live the rest of my life being afraid. We need to put the blame where it belongs.”
We’re quiet for a couple of minutes, both of us caught up in our own thoughts. Finally Jen says, “So how do we do this then?”
I put down my tea and look her straight in the eye. “You want to take Ross down?”
She bobs her head.
“You’re sure?”
She nods once more. “Yes. You’re right. We have to. It’s the only way I’m going to feel like me again.”
“Once we start this, there will be no going back.”
“I know. But like you said, there’s already no going back.”
I stand up, grab Jen’s hand and pull her to her feet. “There’s a police station on Second Avenue.”
She pulls her car keys from her pocket, takes a deep breath and says, “I’ll try not to speed.”
Kristin Butcher is the author of several books for young readers, including The Trouble with Liberty and The Hemingway Tradition in the Soundings collection. Kristin lives in Campbell River, British Columbia.
orca soundings
For more information on all the books in the Orca Soundings series, please visit orcabook.com.
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