“Hi” I hear a small squeak from above me. It’s this kid, he mustn’t be older than sixteen with a head full of sunny curls and sparkling innocent eyes. His irises the colour of the sky after rain.

“Hi?” I say somewhat curious. I look at his tiny frame as it shakes slightly even though he is wearing a hoodie over his shirt. I’m guessing he has nerves rather than feels cold.

“Can I sit with you?” he looks down at his feet as he mumbles and I feel a small smile tugging at my lips. He’s kind of adorable. I mean would never go there but in a cute way. Like you’d look at a little puppy.

“sure, how do you know Roy?” I ask as he hesitantly lowers himself down next to me and curls his legs up into his chest. Circling his arms around them. His shoulders are stooped as he watches the water's surface move, he answers.

“I...I’m a friend...of a friend. Uh thanks for letting me sit, you seemed more approachable than anyone else here. Let me know if I’m bothering you! and I’ll...I’ll go away!” his shoulder dropped even further as he finished his sentence. A friend of a friend huh? Maybe he’s some kid brother? Want to see what a proper party is like?

“Ah nice to know I don’t have a scary mug as I originally thought, also it’s okay, you can stay. I came here with my friend and haven’t seen her nor do I really get along well with anyone else here so the company is appreciated” this was, of course, a lie, I’m far from an outcast at school. But this kid seems to want an introvert, someone like him to be around.

“Oh... what's her name?” he’s looking at me with these wide baby blue eyes and I look away blushing for some reason.

“ah... Liz, she’s a little obsessed with Roy so she’s probably with him right now” I chuckle a little and can’t help a tiny sigh escaping. I mean she was the one who wanted me to come and be here.

“Wait... is she kinda short with red hair and almost like black eyes?” the fuck? Maybe he knows her from school or something?

“ah... yeah, how did you know?” I look at him and he’s chewing on his lip and his brow is furrowed. Dread starts to stir in my stomach.

“why is something wrong with her? Did you see something!?” my voice starts to shake. I grab his arm and he has a sharp intake of breath and he looks up at me, scared. Fuck I’m scaring him.

“shit I’m sorry, look could you please tell me if something happened. I’m just worried about my friend.” I take my hand off of him and place both my hands open-palmed out in front of me to show I mean no harm.

“Uhm...okay, I saw her with Roy a couple of minutes ago” he keeps glancing all around him and chewing his lip. Calm down Jake, she’s probably fine, okay, just breathe.

“He was being kinda insistent and was trying to get her to go to his bedroom… she kept saying no and I….” My breathing stops and everything feels frozen as he says his next words.

“I...I think I saw him slip something into her drink” FUCK, NO! No no nonono. I stand in a flash and clench my teeth. I am going to fucking kill him if he so much as goddamn touches her the fucking bastard. I knew he was low but I never thought he would fucking rape someone.

“ I gotta go” before I know it I’m inside the house. My heart is pounding. I’m storming into every fucking room there is and shouting Liz’s name. People are looking at me but I keep moving and run up the stairs once I don’t find her downstairs. It’s the door at the end of the hallway where I find her. She’s lying on the bed out cold and Roy is above her.

“always such a fucking tease you bitch, you never shut up! You want me but you won’t put out let’s see about that” his hands go to reach up her dress and he doesn’t hear me coming. Having grabbed a vase from the hallway I hit him over the head, with everything I have. My body is trembling from rage, I drop the face and feel tears stream down my face. I manage to grab my phone out of my pocket and dial triple zero.

“you have dialed emergency triple zero, your call is being connected...” the voice is sterile and cold. As it connects I check on Liz, her pulse, her light pink underwear covered in little hearts showing from where Roy lifted the dress. I feel bile in my throat and gently pull the fabric down to cover her before the ambulance arrives. And the police.