Polaroid

04//Night of the living hell

Exhausted from today's events, I sat crisscross applesauce (I said it, so what?) completing my homework. If it was a person, I'd be in handcuffs and convicted of murder right now.
What pissed me off most was my phone's constant buzzing.
Getting frustrated, I flipped the black iPhone over, the lit up screen revealing that I had 8 voicemails from Gracelia.
I unlocked my phone, and randomly clicked on one of the messages.
"Please answer, I don't know who else to call or what to do!Please! Help me, Ashton!" She sobbed hysterically through the phone. I checked the very first message to see if she said what happened.
"Ashton, h-he attacked me. Can you please come? I'm so scared. It hurts so much. Please." Her voice pleaded. He attacked her? Who's he? Will? How the fuck am I going to...Charlie!
I hurriedly called Charlie as I shoved on my shoes. Come on, pick up.
"Ugh...what the fuck?" He groaned groggily.
"Wake up! I need you!" I yelled, throwing on the oversized and comfortable hoodie I stole from Charlie a while back.
"Why?" He said grumpily.
"I think Gracelia's in trouble." I rushed running downstairs.
"Meet me at the car!" I added. I could hear a belt jingling and grunts through the phone. I need to teach him how to use speakerphone so he doesn't have to balance it between his head and shoulder, whilst putting on pants. Charlie emerged from the brick house glaring at me when he saw that I was leaning against his precious car.
"So? Where is the damsel in distress' location?" He asked raising his eyebrows with an annoyed and tired look on his face.
"Shit! I'll call her!"
I pressed the call button and immediately after the first ring, I could hear heavy breathing and sobs.
"Gracelia? Are you okay? Where are you? What happened?" I asked scared to find out. I hate her being hurt like this...even after what happened.
"I-I'm on 3rd a-and Central. It's by some club called Elysium or something." She managed to answer without too much interruption.
"3rd and Central! Hurry!" I yelled after pulling the phone away from my mouth, so I didn't hurt her ears.
"What happened?" I repeated to her.
"I g-got a-attacked by some g-guy. H-he touched me." She hiccuped through her explanation.
"What do you mean by touched?" I asked furious and fearing what I think she meant.
"H-he molested..." She was interrupted by a loud sob wracking through her body. I will find that poor excuse of a man, and chop off his highly probable micropenis with a pocket knife so help me God.
We finally arrived, and before Charlie even got to a complete stop, I opened my door and jumped out. I saw her sitting down on a bench looking roughed up. Her top was torn, her face was covered with runny makeup and strands of hair. I could see her shivering as I ran up to her and wrapped my/Charlie's hoodie around her shoulders.
"I'm glad you came. I was so scared. I can still feel his disgusting hands." She mumbled into my shoulder.
"Let's get you home, Hun." Charlie said, gently picking her up bridal style since I'm way too weak to even carry a watermelon.
"I can't go to my house, my parents are still out of town. Can I stay with you Ashton?" Gracelia pleaded, leaning her head against Charlie's chest and yawning.
"Yeah, that's fine. I was right Charlie! I told you your chest is comfortable and makes people sleepy!" I cheered hoping it might lighten the mood. Charlie nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. All of the sudden, I hear soft snores coming from the left of me. I look over and see Gracelia sound asleep in Charlie's arms. He gently placed her sleeping figure upright in the backseat and leaned over her to put on her seatbelt. I got in right before hearing the belt click, and Charlie gently closing the door since there were two doors not four. He ran around the back off the car and got in taking off towards where we came from.

I helped Charlie get Gracelia up the stairs and into my room, where he gently placed her on my bed. I got into the bed next to her carefully and placed my soft blue blanket over our bodies.
"I'm gonna go crash on the couch," Charlie whispered, quietly closing the door behind himself.
This moment with her would have been perfect if not for the circumstances. As I finished that thought, I slowly drifted into a peaceful sleep.

I woke to a kick in the thigh and whimpers. Worried, I turned to my side and saw Gracelia, the one producing the whimpers. As I slowly reached over to shake her, a loud scream emitted from her mouth making me jump and fall off the bed. I winced as I heard three sets of footsteps coming towards my room. A shirtless Charlie burst through the door followed by my parents, all of which had worried looks.
"What happened?" My mother asked, genuinely concerned.
"She was having a nightmare." I stated looking at Gracelia who looked embarrassed and afraid. I noticed the baseball bat in my dad's right hand as he rolled his eyes.
Charlie sat on the edge of the bed as my parents left, giving Graciela a sympathetic look.
"I had Ashton's Mom call the school and say we're sick. Get dressed and everything though, we need to go to the police." Charlie mumbled standing up and stretching his arms over his head with a groan.
"I call the first shower. You two need to talk anyway." He added walking out. I shut the door after him and waited for the water to start to make sure nobody was listening. As soon as the water started I could hear Charlie humming what sounded like stay with me.
"I really am truly sorry. I'm just afraid of losing all my friends and everything I've worked so hard for. I dunno, it's stupid." Gracelia explained wrapping her arms around me.
"Let's not get into this right now, I'm gonna go find you some clothes," I mumbled getting up.
After a somewhat long search, I threw a gray t-shirt and a pair of black joggers on the bed. My eyes searched the floor for her shoes, but of course, they weren't here.
"Do you know where your shoes went?" I asked giving up the search.
"I think they might be in Charlie's Jeep." She replied pulling the blanket up to her chin.
"Alright, Charlie keeps a spare change of clothes in the dresser for if he crashes here. If he comes in while I'm gone just cover your eyes, okay? Also, if he does get done go hop in the shower. Make sure you bring the clothes with you. Towels are in the small closet across from the sink." I told her before walking out. I trotted down the stairs and picked up Charlie's keys which were next to the black jumper he had been wearing last night.
I opened the car door and pulled out a pair of pale pink flats. A little childish if you ask me, but I'll roll with it.

As I walked up the stairs, I could hear the sound of Herbert the pervert and laughter. I opened my bedroom door to reveal Gracelia on the bed dying of laughter, and Charlie doing the voice impression while jokingly rubbing his index fingers around his T-shirt covered nipples. I couldn't help but laugh at the scenario playing out in front of me.
"I...can't..." Gracelia trailed off as she burst into another fit of giggles. She had the cutest laugh I'd ever heard.
"Alright Gracelia, go get in the shower." Charlie ordered checking his phone. Gracelia nodded with a grin and got up from the bed. Charlie turned to me with a serious look after she walked out, so I was fully aware he was about to start with the questions.
"Did you guys talk?" He questioned, taking a seat on the foot of the bed and running a hand through his hair.
"No, it's not my number one priority right now. I have to go to a police station because my girlfriend got raped last night. So, no, we didn't talk about our high school drama." I ranted exhausted and stressed out. Charlie just sat there looking at me.
"I'm sorry for yelling, I'm just so stressed out about everything going on." I mumbled looking down and messing with my nails.
"It's fine. We all have to rant sometime. It's better to do it here than at the police station." Charlie reassured me.
"I'm gonna go make food." Charlie added getting up and walking out.
I sat on the bed and messed with the hem of my shirt as I waited to take a shower.

Gracelia slipped her hand in mine as Charlie opened the door to the station for us. We walked in and scooted to the left a little so Charlie could get through the door. He took the lead and walked up to the officer behind the desk.
"Yes, can I help you?" The male asked looking over all three of us.
"I'd like to report a rape."