Detoxified

Chapter 4: Episode 4 - Part 1

*AUTHOR'S NOTE* I put "***" where particularly sensitive discussion regarding SA starts and ends, so look out for that in this chapter if you don't wish to read that part. 

Tharn had never been so furious in his entire life. When he'd gone to his early morning classes that day, he'd been hearing faint whispers and conversations about some viral Facebook post that seemed to have taken the University by storm. He hadn't cared to really know what it was about or why it had gone viral in the first place until about noon, when he'd gotten a text from Lhong, and the realization that had dawned on him chilled his blood and had his heart screeching to a halt.

Lhong
Ur roommate's in big trouble, friend. That FB post's
gonna ruin him for sure.

That Facebook post that had been floating around on everyone's minds all morning; it was about Type?

Tharn
What do u mean?

Lhong

See for urself

*Link Attached*

Tharn hadn't known what to expect when he'd opened the link, but a defamation post accusing Type of being a flaming bigot was not at all what he would've guessed. Tharn's blood, which had previously run cold, then ran scorching hot like lava. Reading the statement from the admins' post, he'd known exactly what had happened, just from the implications alone, and he knew for a fucking fact that Type had no fault in the incident whatsoever.

Tharn knew Type felt overwhelmed and uncomfortable around queer people, and especially hated it if they ever got close enough to touch him. Knowing Type, he hadn't shoved that admin away from him for no reason; the likelihood was that they had gotten too close to him and put their hands on him. Also knowing Type, Tharn was absolutely confident that his initial reaction hadn't even been to shove the admin. It had probably been a repeated warning for them to stop touching him.

What Type had done was not inherently homophobic. It had been what most people with strict personal boundaries would've done, regardless of how they felt about the LGBTQ community. Correlation did not equal causation in this case.

And yet, the admins of that Facebook page had immediately leapt to the conclusion that Type's reaction could've only been consistent with that of a dirty, repulsive bigot? Even though what they had done would've been an unsettling violation of anyone's personal space and boundaries?

Not only had those admins been so quick to accuse Type publicly of being something he wasn't and actively promoted and inflamed the slander toward him from the student body, but they couldn't have even bothered to recognize that what they had done to Type in the first place was wrong.

You don't just go up to random people and start feeling them up and begging for photos without their permission!

Tharn had wanted to launch his phone across the classroom when he'd finished reading that post. And he had then wanted to flip his desk over and scream out of pure rage when he'd taken a venture into the comments section.

"Wow, in 2019? Really? We should just start hunting people like him for sport at this point."

"People like him are why the community will never gain acceptance in this world. I hope he rots in hell."

"I wonder what would happen if we took this to the Dean. This guy deserves to be expelled."

And approximately a thousand more remarks, all as hideous and hateful as the last.