Reviewer: vgiv Signed
Date: August 10 2015
Title: Chapter 1: Introduction
I disagree with gadgetmawombo however.
Calling the police would simply worsen Jack. For one, Caitlin is rich, with a well connected father. The police would see the claim as being an attempt to blackmail her, or be a result of a kid with no friends trying to get attention. Plus Alex, Hannah, Caitlin, her rich family, and Amber would all refute Jack. Compared to Jack who has no one. Delon even thought it might be a sick joke, and he was one of Jack's only friends.
Things similar this happen in the real world, but with normal sized people, there is a reason you never hear about it.
Author's Response: This is the sort of thing I'm going for.
In theory, calling the police could easily sort this problem out in a very deus ex machina sorta way - they'd come round to check, find a Beta boy being humiliated by at least one Alpha girl, get him safe and charges might be made if Jack wants to (he might not just so as not to take on the Reids and risk a legal battle). This means that a lot of people get involved, which leaves the story very little breathing room and makes it very complicated to continue without everyone being aware of what's going on - his parents will keep him at home and everyone will know what's happened to him, it'll become all about the aftermath of the event and not about pushing the story on.
In practice, as pointed out in the review, justice is rarely simple even when it should be, and I've chosen to take a more guarded view on the situation to reflect the kind of loaded deck stacked against Jack even if he is 100% honest about what's happened. I've tried to paint the picture that this sort of thing has happened before, and the Reids have managed to evade prosecution and even set up the precedent of people blackmailing them. The police therefore have reason to be cautious in steaming over to the Reid household and gaining entry, and who's to say that they've not been warned or incentivised not to follow through with this kind of claim by a higher authority who has had his wallet filled by Caitlin's father to keep this stuff at bay?