What Do We Do Now?

(Day 4. Friday evening at the Beach Party Sometime before dinner)
(Joint post with Reds Sword7)

(Trigger warning; Some physical abuse)

Courtney had arrived at the beach earlier. She had ridden with Matt on his motorcycle. Her things had gone in the back of his truck.

She, like everyone else it seemed, got settled and then there was a check-in with the advisors. About 20 min later the Advisors called everyone together to go over the rules, etc.

It was after all of this that Dawn pulled Courtney aside and told her about an encounter Dawn had with Doug last night.

*****
(Flashback takes place the evening of day 3. After the restaurant posts)

Doug had texted Melissa several times while she was at dinner. He wanted to know everything. What she was eating, who she was with, and so on.

The young man was in a fairly good mood as he waited for the shuttle to arrive which carried the girls back to school. After all, he had a decent night.

He hadn't told Melissa he'd be waiting for her but she should expect these things. So, he was surprised when he saw Melissa and Dawn not just get off the shuttle one right behind the other but when they talked for a few moments before Melissa spotted Doug.

His anger started to rise but he knew he couldn't do anything, not here, not in front of all these people.

Melissa went to him, he could tell she was scared. Good. He thought.

He took a hold of her arm and squeezed it not so anybody would notice but to get a point across. He then took her hand and smiled at her. Always putting up a front. He moved in closer so no one but Melissa could hear him. " What were you doing talking to Dawn?" He hissed at her.

"It was nothing, really, Doug," Melissa responded.

He was about to take for another walk when Melissa said," I'm not feeling well I want to go to my room."

Not wanting to make a scene in front of a bunch of people Doug relented. "Fine but we're not done with this conversation." He said in the same low angry tone.

Doug watched as Melissa went back to her room.

Later that night Dawn and April had decided to go to the rec center. Well, they got to the rec center Dawn realized she had forgotten her purse that had her money in it. So she went back to her room to get her purse. On the way back to the rec center she took a shortcut down a back staircase this particular staircase was not used a lot by the students because there were no cameras in it. Something the school was looking to fix shortly.

When she got to the bottom landing Doug was there.

"What are you doing here Doug?" Asked Dawn.

Doug didn't respond verbally however he pushed her up against the wall and held her there." I told you and Zander to stay away from Melissa. I meant that."

Dawn would have been more prepared but Doug had never attacked her physically before. Being shoved against the wall took her by surprise and before she knew it she held against the wall by her older brother and unable to fight back.

Elena was on her way to meet up with Lance he decided she would go out the back way. When she heard someone talking. The tone was one of anger. she peeks around the corner to see Doug with some girl he has pined against the wall. Elean thought for a moment Dawn was her name she thought. This struck Elena strange he was doing this to this girl. What relationship did they have? she asked herself.

"Doug. What are you....?" Then she realized why Melissa seemed so scared of her Doug. Or at least she thought so. "I thought you were going to use her but it’s more than that; isn't it?. Have things gotten this bad?" She was still held by him and it was still scary but Dawn was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear.

"Shut up," Doug said. "You might be my sister but you don't know anything."

"I know that my whole life you've not cared at all about me but you've never hurt me. " Dawn said. "Are you hurting her?" She wasn't expecting an answer but she also wasn't expecting what happened next.

Doug kept her pinned but pulled one arm back. "I told you to shut up." His arm started to come down in a striking motion.

Elena had seen enough and was not going to let Doug hit Dawn. She stepped around the corner quickly running into Doug looking clumsy. She grabbed on to him spinning around so that he faced her. "Oh Dougy, sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Before Doug could complete the strike to Dawn's face; he was being met by Elena clumsily running into him. He had no choice, it seemed, but to turn and face her. This did make him drop his arm and let go of Dawn, who then slide away from him.

Of course, Elena was interrupting but he knew he couldn't actually do anything to Lance's girlfriend. It took Doug a moment before he responded. "No, you didn't interrupt. Are you OK?" He was annoyed and trying to cover his annoyance more than he actually cared if Elena was alright.

Dawn stood there for a moment before it was clear that her older brother wasn't going to do anything to Elena. It seemed as if the accident had thrown him off and calmed him down but Dawn had a sinking feeling it was only temporary.

Elena glanced at Dawn and saw the look in her eyes of relief. She gave a big warm smile to Doug. Her eyes changed from seductive to almost perpetrator her body stiffened some. "Now Dougy, I know you were not going to hit her right? I know you are better than that. You’re too cute to be an asshole" she said straightening his shirt. Besides, what would Lance say? So, I will leave this matter between us. Now if you just happen to accidentally hurt her you and I will have a wrestling match with Lance as the referee." said Elena with almost a cold and unemotional tone and with an evil grin.

Doug stood there for a moment while Elena straightened his shirt and apparently had a few things to say to him. He was a little dumbfounded, at first. "Fine." Was all he could manage to say. Doug stepped back from Elena, glared at Dawn and then just turned and left. He would talk to Melissa later and someplace no one would interrupt them.

Once Doug was gone, Dawn turned to Elena. "Thanks." She sighed. "He caught me off guard."

"Well girl, I know I came across as a rich bitch and don't like the Scholarship kids much. But I will not let a guy Just hit a girl," she said with a smile. "Now if Doug touches you just let me know. I will explain to him how to be a better gentlemen" she said with a wink.

Dawn nodded. She didn't know what Elena had heard and if she knew Dawn and Doug were related. Dawn decided to not bring it up, if Elena didn't. "I'll do that." Dawn was though more concerned about Melissa than she was herself. "Well, thanks again." She checked the hallway and then said. "He's definitely gone." Besides, there were cameras a little further down and Dawn was sure it was safe now. " I should go." Dawn wasn't a scholarship student but she hung out with them and was part of the theater group. She knew that it would be a problem if she and Elena were seen together given the current atmosphere at the school. "I'll let you know if he touches me. I should get going now." With that, she left and headed to the rec center to find April.

"See ya, have fun out there," Elena said as she walked away.

**********

Dawn was concerned that Melissa could be in danger from Doug and, frankly, so was Courtney.

What to do with this information was the question? She couldn't really tell the administration without any proof. She thought back to what Dawn had said.

"Zander doesn't know what happened. I want to keep it that way " Dawn said.

"Why?" Courtney asked.

"Because, as level-headed as Zander is, Doug, crossed the line that would get Zander to not be so level-headed. And while I hate to say it; my twin wouldn't stand a chance against our older brother. I can't exactly go to the administration. Doug is a football star and he's been here longer than me. There is a possibility they might just think it’s a sibling rivalry."

Courtney did understand all of that and she felt sorry for Dawn and Zander she couldn't imagine what it must be like to have a brother like that. None of her brothers were like that and she was incredibly grateful that was the case.

This though also meant that if other girls got in Doug's way, girls that weren't dating Lance, they might also be in danger from Doug.

Courtney didn't know where Conner was at the moment so she texted him asking if he could meet her at the beach in an area that was off to the side so they can talk in private.

Conner had no idea what was going on; getting the text from Courtney it seemed cryptic somewhat. Conner made his excuses to get away and walked to where Courtney was waiting. He looked around to see who might be around. In some ways, he wished JD was around not off with Rose somewhere. JD was better a sneaking around. He walked up to Courtney "Hay girl, what’s with the 007 stuff?" he asked her.

Courtney gave him a smile at the 007 comment which then quickly faded. She took a breath. "I think things with Doug and Melissa might be worse than we thought" She paused trying to figure out where to start. "First, I noticed how tense she seems around him. Then, yesterday, I sat by her on the bus and saw bruises on her wrist. I didn't give her a chance to say how she got them because I figured she would be too scared to tell me the truth. Then today, Dawn told me that Doug confronted her by the backstairs; the ones where there aren't any cameras, he shoved her against a wall. Apparently, he was mad because he had seen Dawn talking to Melissa. Dawn said he almost hit her but Elena stepped in and stopped him." Courtney took a breath. "If he's willing to do that to his own sister what is he willing to do to Melissa?"

Conner looked at the ground thinking Is that enough to report him? "Can we go to admin with this? I know he is privileged but maybe they will keep an eye on him. We can put a few of us with her all the time. but don't know if we can do it. I don't know how JD would take this. We could talk to Elena but will she listen to us?" he said sound more like he was questioning himself. "I would like just to tell JD and have Doug stuffed in a locker. How far do you think he will go? Is she in danger right now? That’s the question. What do you think?" he sounded concerned.

"I don't know." Really that answer was to everything Conner had asked " We don't have any proof so would the admin believe us? I think having someone around Melissa & Doug at all times would help. He seems less likely to do anything to her in front of other people. Something else Dawn was concerned about was that Doug might try to attack anybody who's trying to help Melissa. She said she's pretty sure he didn't try to do anything, partially, to Elena because Elena's dating Lance." Courtney paused. "You know JD better than I do. Do you think bringing him on this is a good idea?"

Conner sighed some "It depends, I have not known him long but if there is a problem he goes at it all out. If he sees Doug as a threat or will harm Melissa like that. JD will intervene and confront Doug in a not nice way. I saw that on the beach this summer. After seeing what he can do it scares me sometimes. A guy pulled a knife on JD. It took JD 3 seconds to disarm him and how did he say it. Ah, make him combat ineffective. JD broke his arm in three places. He also took down 3 of the guy’s friends the whole thing was maybe 30 seconds. It was so fast I could not help him. It was like a movie. Lucky for us there were a lot of witnesses so we did not get into trouble." he paused thinking "OK if we do we need to tell him to hold back and not do anything and report it. He might go along with that." said Conner. Looking up at the sky "I feel we need to report this stuff. I am sure JD will say the same thing." Conner said

Courtney nodded to what Conner said about JD. That could make things complicated. "I showed Melissa an app that can she can secretly store numbers in. I gave her my number in case she needed it." Courtney thought for a moment. "What I don't understand is how it got to this stage so quickly. Even Dawn said she's never known Doug to be violent towards any girls before and he would normally con the girls before using them." A light blub seemed to go on. "You don't reckon that he might have dirt on Melissa, do you?" But Melissa was 14; what could Doug possibly have on her?

Conner thought about it. "Blackmail Hm-mm, you might be right or her family. I could have my roommate Zander see what he can find on the internet. If Doug can find it we can. Maybe I will try to get dirt on him here if he is being like this there has to be other stuff out there on Doug." Conner said with a smile. Then the smile melted away and Conner got a serious look on his face. "Courtney, if you get a message from her and things are bad call the police or security. and if you don't think they will be fast enough JD and I. Not that I don't think you cant kick his ass but we don't know how many are involved or who knows. so don’t go it alone ok?" Conner said.

"Zander is a good idea, being he's involved. I feel bad for him and Dawn; this has to be hard on them." She of course felt bad for Melissa, as well, but that didn't need to be said. She watched Conner's smile fade and heard his words; they didn't surprise her. "Well, ya know me. I'll call you." A smile crossed her lips. "Besides I wouldn't want the lectures I'd get for doing something so stupid." Maybe Conner but definitely her parents and brothers. As long she was ok; she'd never hear the end of it.

Conner went back to his normal kickback relaxed self. "Good knowing this weekend I don't think we will get much done until Monday. but we do have a plan started. We can keep a distant eye on them and hope for the best." Conner suggested.