Everything's Alright

Chapter Three

"Well, it all started when I was in the seventh grade. I had met this kid in my neighborhood. His name was Seth. He was already in high school, so I already was way into him than I should have been.

"But we grew apart when school started up. He had a lot of problems at home and he was bullied a lot in school. I tried to help him the best I could, along with the other kids in the neighborhood. But, it didn't work. He committed suicide on September 28th..." I hadn't really looked at Mark while I told the story. And at this point I was just staring into the fountain we had sat across from.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah..." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and gave him a small smile and a nod, then continued with my tale.

"At the funeral and reception, I met this girl named Luna. She was hilarious and we became fast friends. We did everything together and we liked to think Seth forced us to be together.

"Summer before freshman year, we both met a guy. Mine was named Alvaro and hers was named Manuel, but went by Manny."

"You girls liked the Hispanics didn't you?" Mark teased. I giggled, but gave my head a slight shake.

"Alvaro and I didn't last long, just a few months. I had never particularly like Manny. He just seemed like the biggest douche. Anyways, we got into a huge fight over it. That, and I was starting to figure out my bisexuality that I had a crush on her.

"That fight ended terribly. She walked off in one direction and I in another. We were so pissed at one another.

"The following week at school, I found out that she had died in a car accident. She and Manny had tried to run away together. He lost control and it ended up with her dying on impact." At this point I was starting to cry again.

Mark put an arm around me and rubbed my back. He didn't say anything, just comforted.

"Fast forward to May of the following year. All the kids in the neighborhood that knew her were throwing a party in her honor, as her birthday was just a few days after and that was the only way to get everyone together.

"Since we were a bunch of teenagers, and some college-aged kids, there was drinking. I only had one cup, making sure I was taking small sips. I couldn't get caught drunk while trying to sneak back into my house.

"Manny is getting steadily drunker as the night goes on. So I, being nice to the one person who might know what I was going through, decided to help him upstairs to where he could sleep and not puke his guts out.

"I lied him on the bed but the next thing I knew, I was the one on the bed. It all went in a blur. He had tied my hands to the bedpost with what I would later find out was his belt. I felt his hands running up and down my body. I tried to fight, but he was too strong. I tried to scream out but the music was too loud. There was nothing I could do as he....raped me..." The last words were said in a hushed whisper. I looked down at my lap, unable to look Mark in the eye. But he took my hands in his own and reached underneath my chin.

"You are so strong..." He pulled me close to him, letting me cry silently into his typical flannel. I was shaking from telling my story. I hated telling it, I always then felt like it was going to happen again. But somehow...

Somehow this time was different.