Stories
I thought Anya was kidding when she said the first thing every girl did was share their story. But Elizabeth confirmed Anya’s explanation.
“Sammy you’re first,” Elizabeth said, looking at the tiny blonde girl.
Sammy pushed a stray blonde lock behind her ear and blinked her grey eyes. “Okay. Um, well I’m fifteen, and I was at a school dance the night it happened. My boyfriend had said that we wouldn’t go that far but when I started to tell him to stop he didn’t listen. He just kept calling me a tease and saying that if I didn’t want this I shouldn’t have led him on, then he did what he wanted and left me in the dark near the dumpsters.”
Elizabeth gently smiled at Sammy. Sammy bit her lip and looked at me. There were tears in her eyes. Elizabeth nodded toward the girl with the black hair. The girl with black hair had a chubby face and dark eyes. The girl cleared her throat and proudly began her story.
“I’m Rochelle, I’m sixteen, but I don’t act it,” Rochelle quickly said. Her voice was filled with attitude. “I lived on the streets, my parents kicked me out when I was twelve and they caught me with pot in my underwear drawer, but that’s not the point. I was sitting in an alleyway, waiting for it to get dark enough so I could start selling some ‘shrooms and other unmentionables and this guy walks up to me, and I tell him that he’s gotta wait for a couple hours, but if he came back I could give him what he wanted, right? So the jerk argues with me saying he needed it now and then he grabbed my arm and said, ‘I’ll pay you twice as much as any other guy’, then it clicked. He thought I was a prostitute,” her voice lowered. “He thought I was a prostitute,” she repeated in sadness, sadly laughing at the idiocy.
“Well I shoved him off and told him to get off of me or I would scream, he laughed. He said no one would help me, that I was just a whore on the street that no one cared about. He dragged me further into the alley and I kicked and thrashed against his arms. I refused to scream, his stupid words got to me. He threw me into my bundle of blankets on the ground, and did what he pleased. Then I did what I wanted.” Her dark eyes clouded with rage. “I wrapped my hand around his throat and squeezed, I killed the bastard. So after this kid’s born, I’m off to jail.”
Rochelle smiled as she finished, like she was happy she was going to prison. I gulped.
“Nice going, Rochelle. New Chick looks like she’s going to pee herself from fright,” Anya snickered. I scowled at Anya. The rest of the girls laughed.
The last girl with the reddish brown hair smiled and started her story. “I’m Janie. My story’s not as traumatic. It was just me and my boyfriend, the condom broke.” She was quiet, she obviously didn’t like being in the spotlight.
“Thank you, girls,” Elizabeth smiled. “Isabelle, would you like to share your story? Or would you like to wait?”
I bit my lip as every girl turned their head toward me. I knew I couldn’t tell them the whole story without reveling Carl’s secret, and if I did tell them anything it would be the crappy watered down version that I had told Anya. My eyes flickered to Elizabeth then to Anya.
“Don’t worry, New Chick, no one’s told their story on the first day,” she said. Elizabeth placed her hand on my knee and nodded in agreement.
“I think I can do it,” I heard myself say. I cleared my throat and fixed my gaze on the tip of Anya’s green spikes. “I have known this guy since we were babies. He and my family were really close.” My voice was just a feather as I revealed everything but his relationship to me. “Out of everyone he had known he always had shown a… preference for me. It was a party, he took me outside,” my voice grew quicker as the pictures of the night flashed behind my eyes, “he pressed me against a tree whispering in that eerie voice that he wanted to play a game, then he did it.”
The girls’ eyes were wide in astonishment; whether it was from my story or the fact that I told it, I could not tell.
“So you know who the guy was?” Rochelle asked. I silently nodded. “And the jerk’s still out there?”
“Yeah,” I sadly whispered.
“Then why don’t you tell someone who the asshole is so he’ll go to jail?” she angrily yelled.
“Rochelle,” Elizabeth snapped, “whether or not to tell someone is Isabelle’s decision and she will make it when she wants to.” She placed her hand on my knee and gave it a little squeeze.
I avoided everyone’s gaze and focused on a loose thread of my sweater.
“But you could prevent it from happening again- like to another girl. Wouldn’t that be worth it, Isabelle?” Rochelle continued. “He wouldn’t be able to get you. The guy would be in jail for a little while.”
“It wouldn’t happen to anyone else. He’s not a repeat offender. He just wanted me- he’s done,” I quietly said.
“You can’t know that-“
“Yes I do!” I interrupted. “He only wanted me because I was unattainable and I because I had rejected him so many times.”
“You’re being selfish!” Rochelle yelled back.
“No, idiot,” I spat, “I’m being selfless. It would ruin his life.”
“Ruin his life?” she incredulously laughed. “He got you pregnant, he got in and got out, his part’s done, you’re the one who has to deal with it. There is no way his life is more messed up than yours.” As I heard the truth behind her words tears sprung into my eyes. “I don’t know how you can just sit there and let him get away with it. You’re so self-centered.”
“You’ve known me for less than a day, you don’t know my story or my reasoning, so shut up and don’t pass judgment on me.” My blood was boiling under my skin. “At least I’m not a murderer,” I growled under my breath.
Rochelle jumped to her feet. I realized she had a huge girth; she was far into her pregnancy. She came over to me, yanked me out of the couch and yelled in my face.
“Hell no! You did NOT just call me a murderer!” she screamed. Anya quickly stood up and grabbed Rochelle’s shoulders and Sammy stood between Rochelle and me. The rest of the girls in the room waddled over and started a chorus of “Fight! Fight!”
“All right that’s enough!” Elizabeth yelled, standing up from the couch. The girls were instantly silent. Elizabeth turned to Anya. “Anya, take Rochelle out into the hall for some air. Sammy, go with them, you know Rochelle the best, you’ll be able to comfort her. As for the rest of you, I am appalled at your behavior- rushing up and screaming for a fight like a bunch of prisoners! Go back to what you were doing before, I don’t want to see this ever again or I will tell each of your councilors.”
With grumbles of disappointment, the crowd dispersed. Elizabeth turned to me.
“Isabelle, I know you just got here, and I know that you don’t have many friends but that is definitely not the way to make them, dear.”
“I know. Sorry. It’s just-” I groaned, trying to find the right words.
“Yes, dear, Rochelle is hard to get along with,” Elizabeth said.
“You have no idea.” I sighed and shook my head, and then left the Rec Room to go to room 626.
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Thanks everyone who has read this and offered their reviews you all have helped so much.
~Dommy
