The Smith's Reasons (13RW)

The Secret Society

"Welcome everyone," I said as I stood in front of everyone sitting on the bleachers. "How is everyone today?" I got some nods in response and some people answered, "Good."

"Tired."

"Sleepy." And they yawned, spreading laughter across the room.

"Okay." I smiled and we were back on track. "I think everyone knows why we are gathered here." They nodded in response. "Let me introduce you to two very important people in this room." I pointed to my Mom and Clay's Mom standing behind me. "This is my Mom and Lainie Jensen. They are attorneys who are going to help all of us achieve the true goal of the formation of The Secret Society - revenge against Bryce Walker."

Just saying his name spread chills around the room. The Secret Society consisted of all the girls that Bryce had dated and harassed. "All of us that are present here have either dated Bryce Walker or been harassed by him. One way or another, all of us have a trauma that involves that monster. So, thank you for coming here despite the secret notes that were passed around. Every single one of us deserves justice, some more than other. And we are going to get it."

Someone whooped and when I saw who it was, I smiled. "Thank you for that." I looked at Hannah. "Let me give it to these guys." I pointed to the two best friends and moved out of way.

"Thank you, Natasha," Mrs. Jensen said.

"As my daughter has introduced us already, I'm going to skip that part." I laughed and so did some of the others. "When Natasha first told me about the plan for forming a secret club for taking revenge, I was against it."

"But once she consulted me, I gave her a nudge to help that girl," Mrs. Jensen pointed to me. "who was only trying to help all the other girls her age in getting justice."

"Bryce Walker is your school mate," my Mom continued. "But he is more than that."

"And we are here to help you get your revenge in the right way - the legal way," Mrs. Jensen said and then looked at me. "We know how hard it is to live in a society that sexualises women. No one should be looked at with second different thoughts in their mind."

"We cannot form a group according to the school rules, which is why we had to call you here on a Sunday," I said. "All of us are going to seal the deal against Bryce Walker by filing a case against him."

"How will a case be any better than taking this directly to him?" Someone asked from the bleachers.

"Like we said. We are going to deal with this legally," Mrs. Jensen said.

"We cannot have the Walkers filing a case against you girls if you take it against them," my Mom said. "Since what we are speaking is not going to leave this room, I feel safe to say that the Walkers have their way around things."

Everyone understood what that meant. "Why don't we talk about what it is that brought us here? All of us have one common enemy. Let's have a PG-16 version of what brought you here."

And then, we started talking about why we were in the Society. We had trouble beginning, which was why I started. "Hello everyone. My name is Natasha Smith. I am here because I founded the society. I'm not taking credit, just stating the fact." People were amused. "I am here because Bryce Walker almost harassed my best friend and Jessica Davis." I said and whispers spread the room. "Jessica is defending herself and her boyfriend, Justin Foley, and doesn't want anything to do with the Society."

"How do you know about that?" Someone asked me.

"Well, probably because I might have prevented it. I knocked on the room that they were in."

"Bryce almost raped Jessica." Hannah helped me out. "If it wasn't for Natasha, we would have been filing a much more stronger case." She explained what happened and then, I continued.

"Bryce has physically attacked me by bruising my hand with his strong hold on my wrist." I said and showed them the fading bruise, seeing many people shudder in return. "I can see that many of you have faced that and I have also punched him, broken his nose a little bit. Who wants to go next?"

"I will." Hannah got up. "My name is Hannah Baker. And everything you've heard about me in this school is not true. But I don't really care." She smiled at me. "I am here because I am the friend that Natasha mentioned who was almost harassed. The boys in this school think too much of themselves and I am here to get justice." She made her final statement and sat down.

Slowly, everyone spoke up. Some cried and some talked about how they were forced into doing things that they didn't want to. "He also took drugs," someone said.

"Are you sure about that?" The attorneys asked.

"Positive," the girl said.

A few people confirmed that and then, we had our case in point. "It's going to be anonymous, right?" Someone asked.

"It is going to be a hundred percent anonymous. The identity of anyone from this Society will not be revealed," Mrs. Jensen said. "It's our guarantee and promise to you." 

"How can you guarantee that?" Someone asked.

"My daughter is a part of this Society," Mom answered. "Why would I want to risk her life after everything she has been through? My son has given me his statement against Bryce Walker. I can assure you that this statement that comes from Bryce's own teammate will help in creating a strong basis for this case."

"And so has my son," Mrs. Jensen added. "There are people out there who want to fight but can't. We have come together to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Here or anywhere ele. You are not alone in this."

"The case is going to be fought only by the two attorneys present here and none of us have to attend the court if we don't have to," I said. "But I do request that no one talk about this to anyone."

"The slightest mention of this could lead us to losing the case," Mom said.

"We would make you sign a legal document confirming that but we trust that you will keep this a secret," Mrs. Jensen said.

"Hence the name," I said. "Let's bring down the reign of Bryce Walker."