As we gathered in an office, I prepare myself. "Alright, leave the talking to me."
"Okay." Lex smirks.
On the desk before me, I open one of the many folders piled onto it. I take a seat, in the softest chair I've ever felt, and clear my throat, my heart still racing from the fall. I dail a number of an Emily Cruz on my phone, hearing ringing. My mind goes to my roommates for some reason. I'd have to tell them later, if not I would worry about how they felt. It'll be fair, since I told Jim. "Hello?" A girl picks up.
"Hello, my name is Amanda Joy, and I like you, have been sexual harassed by Mr. Pierce. He will be outed soon on social media. We have files of twenty other girls who have received sexist and disrespectful labeling on their work documents to entertain the freak. We have proof. Will you join this cause?"
There was silence for a few seconds. Come on, my mind pleaded, with much anxiety. "He threatened my family, I can't risk their safety." Lex came around to me and kneeled, pressing his ear to my phone to listen. "I'm sorry, I can't." The call ends. I sit there, my eyes wide and mouth dropped.
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"Try another one." He says, pulling away from the close range he had with me.
"She said he threatened her family." I say in utter disbelief.
"Yeah, I'm not shocked..." He opens another folder. "Try again."
LEX'S P.O.V
I watch as Amanda dials another number, and switch the phone to speaker. What if she loses someone. Even though her parents were dead, she had to have someone she cared about, family wise. Should she even be involved? She doesn't need to get hurt anymore. But how can I make that happen?She'll fight me over it. Maybe I should tell her to get her family someone safe, somewhere off the record. She talks to the next girl. Repeating the same words. Retrieving the same response. "Hey?" I take her phone before she throws it down. "Let's take a break."
"Of course they are scared and protective of him since he has power. Of course. Why couldn't I see that, being a psych student?"
"Listen...he's told them all the same threats. I know he has. I know you want more support with this, but, maybe if we post the files they will have the courage to join then."
"No...that would isolate their willpower and fuel their depression even more. That would force them to come out. No."
"We need to show numbers, you alone won't turn as many heads."
"It's not about attention...it's about feeling safe with the choice to address it!" She snaps. "We're not doing it your way." Amanda opens another folder and punches in a number.
I exit the office. Holding back the anger I felt with my father, with the two girls who opted out. With Amanda choosing to call and get the same response over and over. I needed a new plan. Amanda needs to go to her relatives and bring them here or to a hotel under different names since Bill would suspect this place as being a headquarter. Lizzie and I will have to go. In a library, circled with tall bookcases stacked with literature, I find Lizzie at a table, drawing butterflies. I watch her from the distance, my mind going back to if I should force the victims hands by posting. It'll be a rude thing but it'll pay off, it'll get the world on their side. Or am I being a bully if I do so? Would I be wrong...or right?