The Story of Thia

Shadows

Landon's POV
It's 7 a.m. on a weekend, why must my internal clock wake me up so early!!!?? Well I guess I'll take a shower. I bet no one is up, so the shower is most likely unoccupied. I walked into the long bathroom and started to make my way to the shower, slowly untying the drawstring on my sweat pants. Once I was done taking my clothes off I wrapped a towel around my waist. I started to walk a few feet in a fog of random morning thoughts when suddenly I felt an object which felt like a body press against me, soon followed by a hand coming to my abs to brace the object I hit for its crash against me. There I saw Thia clad in a towel with wet hair. My brain soon shot into overdrive thinking of ways to make this less awkward for myself. "Like how they feel?" I asked while motioning my hands to my abs. Just as she was about to mutter a response I interjected by saying "you know you haven't given me my hug for the day." I followed that sentence by pulling her into a tight yet gentle hug, pressing her close to me "ahhhh brotherly sisterly hugs....mmmm." As I was drawing out the mmm she interrupted by pulling away to say "we're not siblings yet! That would be weird anyway...."
"We're not? Then I need an explanation for this.....did Santa come early this year? Cause I see the present I want to open first...." I teased while giving her a sly smirk and setting my gaze to her towel. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable with our current clothing situation. After a few minutes of observing her actions, my eyes moved to her hand that was oddly gripping her opposite arm slightly below her shoulder. "Why are you holding your arm like that?"
"No reason" she said coolly trying to sway my curiosity.
"Move your hand then..." When she didn't move her hand I placed my hand on hers and started to lift it as it clung tighter, but shortly released in defeat. "How did you get those scars on your arm?" I questioned as I noticed what she was trying to hide.
"ummm uhhh---It's nothing, a--a--a cat did it...?"
I pulled her back to me again to place my forehead against hers as I looked in her eyes and asked again "Thia what really happened?"
"Nothing." She walked out of the bathroom, into her room, shutting the door behind her.
After I finished my shower I went to her room with jeans and a black t-shirt on, my hair still wet.
"Thia I know a cat didn't do that to you and those scars are definitely not nothing. Something caused them and I want you to know you can tell me. Please trust me."
She walked over to me and looked at the ground as she stuttered "I-I-I-I was...."
"Raped?" I asked with concern when she didn't continue.
She nodded her head as tears started to run down her cheeks. I brought her against me and held her tightly as her whole body shook from the tears.
After a few minutes of her crying I asked "how did it all happen?"
Her voice quivered when she spoke "It was one night when I went to the ally without Josh."
' "Hey boys, miss meh?" I said to the usual group Josh and I hung out with. They disregarded my rhetorical question and went on to ask me if I wanted any of what they were smoking at the moment. I nodded my head coolly and took it from one of their outstretched hands. I started to think to myself 'why was Josh so paranoid, things are perfectly fine without him here to "protect me". But that was the drugs talking. I got up after an hour or so of hanging out with the guys and told them I was going to get going. "You better watch out on your way back to the little hole in the wall you live in, these streets are a pretty sketchy place for a tiny chick like you."
"Thanks for your concern, but I think I can handle it" I replied, confident in my ability to eliminate any danger that could come my way. I turned away from them and soon found myself 3 blocks from the ally I had just left. I had ended up in probably one of the sketchiest parts of town, known for its crime rate but nothing else. As I made my way past multiple dark openings created by the spaces in between buildings I felt uneasy. 'Maybe Josh was right...'. I was about to pass another one when I was torn back by a firm grip on my arm, pulling me deep into the ally, before the right arm was tightly restraining me by wrapping its self around my chest with the hand digging it's nails into my right arm. "Let me----!!" The captor placed his disgusting hand on my mouth. I tried biting it, but he only squeezed tighter with his nails on my arm. I already felt blood trickling down my left arm as a result of his daggerish nails penetrating my skin, so I stopped resisting. If he got any deeper I would have fainted from the pain.'
"I think you can guess the next part of the story and I just don't want to have to remember it, so I'll go on to the ending..."
'Just as quick as he had captured me, he left. I never saw his face or heard his voice, leaving me with no evidence that any of that had actually happened aside from the permanent scars that would be on my arm, reminding me of that horrible night, but no one would ever believe me. They would just think I was cutting myself again. While all the thoughts ran through my head I ran through town, heading towards my house. When I made it to my house I decided to go through the window instead of the front door, to avoid any confrontation from my mom. I climbed the tree and slid in through the window into my room. Once inside I landed on my bed in a fit of tears, torn about how I was no longer a.....a.. I couldn't even think about admitting it. What would Josh say? What would he think? Surely he would know how I got the scars on my arm. He wouldn't want to ever be with me like that, only a creep in an ally would want me....
Josh confirmed my suspicions the next night when I told him I was ready. Before we had started to mess around with drugs, he had wanted to, but always respected my feelings about waiting. When he took off my oversized t-shirt I was wearing on top of my cami his eyes quickly shifted to the scars. "Thia we shouldn't..." he said solemnly as he examined the cuts. I didn't ask him why he didn't want to all of sudden, cause I guessed the answer on my own. No one wants to be sloppy seconds...especially since I was Josh's first serious girlfriend. He probably wanted someone just as pure as him, and I wasn't anymore because some filthy ratty ally creep. I nodded my head in agreement and we continued hanging out for the rest of the night, as if those scars didn't exist...'

Thia's POV                                                                                                                                                                   "Thia," Landon said as he grabbed my hands in his "you had no control over it, it's not your fault." I looked into his eyes as I argued his statement. "Yes it is. If I wasn't so stubborn to go alone one night without Josh, it wouldn't have happened. If I fought back more despite the guys grip I may have been able to run away. Landon there were so many things I could've done!! But I didn't..." He looked at me, his eyes filled with sincerity, replacing the usual glint of flirtatiousness in them. "You should go Landon" I said regretting it slightly. It was for the best that I was telling him to leave, he had been making moves on me whenever he saw me. I was in the kitchen cleaning pans from dinner one night when he came from behind me and pressed himself against my back, while wrapping his arms around the front of me as he exclaimed in a teasing and overly joyfully voice "time for my sisterly hug...". It was kind of disgusting that he would always joke about me being his sister. That was definitely something I would have to comment on at a later date. Maybe next time he says it. So knowing how he is----probably next time I see him.

Why, of all people, did I choose to tell Landon about that night?!! No one else knew. He was the first person I had ever told, but instead of immediately thinking of that night after I told him about it, I was thinking about him. Like how he would always tease me and flirt with me, leaving me flustered after every encounter. But as soon as I stopped thinking about him I'd start thinking about what I had just admitted to him. It didn't seem like he judged me any bit for anything I did. He always pushed it aside and went on to making me feel better instead of worse for what happened.
I jumped up from my bed and ran out the house, to head to Philia's, it was the only place where my thoughts could turn into something less painful, with no interruptions.