My Favourite Escape

Chapter One

Ana was lying in bed, reading a book when her phone bleeped beside her. It was her best friend Alice, texting to ask if Ana would like to accompany her to a party that evening. 'You have to come tonight, it's going to be insane, and Erik will be there', the text read. Smiling slightly, Ana replied. 'Yeah, I suppose I will come then, but you have to pick me up, I'm not paying for a taxi!'. 'I'll see you at 9!' Alice replied.
Ana threw her phone on charge for the evening to come and went to jump in the shower. It was already 5pm so she would need to work fast to be ready for Alice picking her up at 9pm. Ana loved showers, it was the most peaceful place, where she could think about anything and not let it worry or stress her, knowing she could get out at any time and leave all the bad thoughts in the shower.

Ana wrapped herself in a towel and dried her hair off as best she could, she could fix it later, and went to pick out an outfit for tonight. She applied her makeup, taking care to use the same lip colour that Erik had commented on the other day. This thought made her smile again. Ana had liked Erik for a little over a year now. Nothing much had happened between the two but things had been slowly progressing in the past month and they had shared a first kiss just three days prior. Ana was hoping for another tonight, not wanting to take things too quickly. She finished off her hair, and got dressed.

Before long, it was ten minutes to 9 and Ana was waiting by the front door for Alice to arrive. She could hear the music before she saw the car. She locked the door behind her and ran over to greet Alice.
'Hi there!'
'Hey Ana! That's not the same lip colour is it? You're so predictable' she laughed, making Ana worry that Erik would also notice what she had done.
'Oh really? I hadn't noticed' she played it off and Alice seemed to believe her.
'Hmmm well we better go, let's not keep the boys waiting!'

The party was huge, much bigger than Ana had anticipated, but she tried to ignore her inner fears and worries and walked through the crowd with confidence. She spotted Erik and swiftly made her way over to him.
'Hey Erik!' She said, as she hugged him tight.
'Hello beautiful' Erik replied, and Ana could hear the slight slur of his words.
'Are you drunk already?' She asked, trying to laugh it off.
'Of course not!' He replied, but this time Ana could smell the alcohol from his breath and knew he wasn't being honest with her. She brushed this off though, everyone drinks, just because she hated drinking early and ending up being so wasted you can't see your feet by the end of the night, doesn't mean others didn't enjoy that feeling.
Ana settled herself into the party vibe, grabbing a drink and joining a round of truth, very typical of these parties.

Not long into the party, Ana noticed Erik was acting really off, he was drinking way faster than he normally would and was quickly becoming a little too intoxicated for her liking. Ana decided, instead of being annoyed at him for having a good time, she would instead drink a little more as she knew if she was just past the point of being tipsy, she wouldn't worry so much about Erik and it would allow her to enjoy the rest of her night.

A little over two hours later, Ana noticed that Erik hadn't returned from upstairs. Curious, and a little worried he was off with another girl, she went up to have a look and see if she could find him. Needless to say, she found him. Making out with another girl. Ana swore she felt her heart break in pieces in that moment. But it just got worse. When the girl turned around, Ana was met with Alice staring at her in horror. Regret was etched across her face but it was too late to do anything about that now.
'Are you fucking serious? Alice? What the hell!'
'Ana, oh god, I'm so sorry'
'Please don't, I'm just going to go, enjoy your night' Ana said, with rage in her voice.
'No wait, I can explain, Alice can you give us a minute?' Erik asked.
'There's no need for that, I just want to go'
'Ana please, let me at least try and fix this?'
Ana was too soft, but she always felt like she should at least hear two sides to the story.
'You have ten minutes', Ana stated, as Alice gathered her belongings and left the room.

'You're the only girl I've ever really had feelings for, i was so worried about messing things up with you that I drunk too much. I get so nervous around you, Ana and I thought the drink would help me explain to you how I really felt, but then Alice told me to come upstairs, I barley remember what happened Ana, you have to believe me, I didn't mean it'
'You didn't mean to be in here, half naked, making out with my best friend? You must be really fucking drunk if you expect me to believe that.'
'Please Ana, I can fix this' he said as he moved closer to me and put his arms around my waist.
'No Erik, I need time to think, I need to go home.'
'Let me just fix this now, and then you can think all you want.'
Ana tried to get out of his grip, but he was stronger than her. Panic hit Ana, as what was about to happen registered. She fought Erik, she's screamed, shouted out for help. But to no avail. He was beyond drunk, her best friend had already left and she was in a house full of drunk people that would think the screams were because she was enjoying it. But that couldn't be further from the truth.

The tears kept rolling, she couldn't stop, no matter how many times Erik slapped her, telling her to stop crying and 'just enjoy it'. She had stopped fighting at that point. Her body was sore, and tired and she had given up. She tried to tell herself this is what she wanted, she wanted to be with Erik. But she knew this was nothing like what she wanted. She had wanted a relationship with him, with love and respect. Not to be held down, slapped, punched and, as much as it pained her to admit, raped by Erik.

And so, the minute she could, she ran.