Vulnerable [13RW]

Chapter 4 - Protect

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Justin Foley. Justin and I have been friends since kindergarten. He was always quiet. Much quieter than Bryce and I. He stayed in the background, kinda desperate to fit in and to be liked. It used to annoy me until I realised he just needed love seems as he never got that at home.

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8AM AND IM AWOKEN by the sound of my phone. Bleary eyed, I reach for the source of the wake up call and see that I have a new message from Clay. It reads call me. Just call me. He's a man of many words Jensen. Removing Zach's arm from around my waist, I dial Clay's number and wait for the answer. He quickly explains that he's got an idea where Justin has been hiding, from spotting a postcard in Jess's bedroom yesterday. He invites me along due to the fact I'm more likely to convince Justin to come back home. I throw on some clothes, leave a note for Zach and jump into Tony's famous red car.

"Ok so let me get this right, you want to find Justin so he can testify? How do you know Justin wants to be found?" Tony enquires.

"He doesn't" I but into the conversation.

"But he reached out to Jess. He sent her a postcard"

"That doesn't mean he wants to be found Clay"

"Look, Jess doesn't know that I know but if we find him, she'll have a witness and we can report Bryce"

"Then what? We just deliver him to Mrs Baker so he can testify?" Tony asks unconvinced.

"That's the plan"

"This is stupid. You can't force Jess to go against Bryce. This needs to be her decision" I sigh.

"Ok. I'll talk to my probation officer, he deals with runaways and homeless kids"

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Justin has always relied on Bryce, hung on his every word. Bryce has helped him out so many times. Brought him new shoes pretending they're just spares, got him onto the teams that Bryce got into, fed him when his mom chose drugs over feeding her child, gave him a bed when his mom's various boyfriends were over. No matter what Bryce does, Justin will always feel like he owes him something.

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THE FIRST STOP we make is to talk to said probation officer. We end up at a shelter that houses homeless kids and makes sure they are fed and well. The man explains that he doesn't recognize Justin from a photograph but suggests looking in the city shelters. We are about to give up when Tony describes Justin's varsity jacket.

"Wait jacket kid? Yeah ok. He was here a day or two ago but I asked him to leave. He had an incident with a girl here"

"Can we talk to her, please?" I beg.

"You can try"

"He got a bed night one which never happens but he went out and brought back a cocky skater asshole. He started giving hassle to two friends of mine, insulting them. We told jacket he could stay but he was too loyal and took off" The young girl explains.