Highly Inappropriate

13.

I was speechless. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't bring myself to speak. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't want to believe it. I was angry and heartbroken at the same time. I didn't know what to do or what to say cause I was afraid to do or say the wrong thing. I just stared at her in utter shock, not sure if I wanted to hear any more about it since I already knew that it would hurt the both of us.

"I..", Ashley started hesitantly, her voice trembling.

"You.. you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.", I shook my head, my eyes closed shut as I brought her hands to my lips and kissed them.

"I want to.."

I opened my eyes and looked at her before nodding in silence, allowing her to continue.

"I was 18, senior year was about to end.", she whispered in a low voice. "Everyone in school knew that I was gay, therefore none of the boys even bothered to approach me in that way. None of them, except for this one guy from my history class. He didn't even seem to process my sexuality. He just didn't give a shit as far as I know..", she paused, taking in a deep, sharp breath. "He would make nasty and dirty comments every chance he had; he would force himself on me every time he bumped into me in the hallways; he would send me nasty pictures on social media along with sexual remarks-"

"Why didn't you report it to the school?", I blurted in shock.

"I did.", she let out a loud sigh. "I did.. I reported it to the school and told my parents. None of them took it seriously, or me for that matter.. you know, 'boys will be boys', right?", she scoffed as I wiped away a tear from her cheek. "So I took down every social media account that I had, I changed my number several times as somehow he always managed to get ahold of my digits, and I tried to avoid him every single day at school. That went well for several months, until one day I saw him in front of my house, waiting for me. At that point.. I had enough. My parents wouldn't listen to me, let alone the school.. so I went to the police. Since apparently there weren't enough grounds to put him under arrest, the police officer that was working my case suggested me to file a restraining order."

"Did you?"

"I did. There wasn't much more that I could do, so I did. Once the restraining order was brought to the school's attention, he was forced to transfer elsewhere. Just like that, he was gone. He was gone and I was able to finally breathe again and enjoy the last few weeks of my senior year.."

She fell silent, her gaze empty as she relived that nightmare. I could sense that the worst was just around the corner and I was bracing myself. I stood up from my seat and sat next to her, her hands firmly placed into mine as I could feel my body starting to get cold.

"So.. a week away from graduation, a girl from our school hosted a party at her house.", Ashley's voice began to break. "I didn't even want to go, but then I thought: 'hey, it's my last year of high school. Why would I bore myself at home?'.. ugh, fuck me.. so I went. Halfway through the party, I really needed to use the restroom. There was a long ass cue to most of them, so my stupid ass went looking for another one in the most secluded part of the house. After I took care of my business, I was washing my hands when... when I heard the door opening and closing behind me. I was about to say something to the intruder, but when I turned around.. there he was. He was glancing right through me, a haunted look in his eyes.. he started walking towards me despite my suggestions to leave. He wasn't having any of it. He started to blame me because I ruined him. He was angry, and drunk. But he knew what he was doing, and I myself knew what was about to happen. I managed to grab my phone and call one of my friends that was also attending the party, hoping that he would answer and hear what was happening. He grabbed it and threw it across the bathroom, but he didn't realize that the call fortunately went through. I started to scream at the top of my lungs as he forced himself on me.."