Beyond Education [Jemily]

My Rock

tw! sexual assault, attempted rape, use of a homophobic slur

"Well look who it is." He stepped closer to me and looked around before pushing me back into the bathroom, "Get the hell in here."

I tried to scream out, "Hel—" But Will's hand quickly pressed against my mouth.

He demanded, "Shut up!" He backed me up against the wall, hands digging aggressively into my shoulders to keep me bound.

I panted, "W-Will, please, just let me out. I-I don't wanna do this."

His hands dropped down and started unzipping my jeans, "Just keep quiet and take it. I'll show you what it's like to be with a real man and not that fucking faggot you're screwing." Tears streamed down my face as he wrapped his hand around my throat and started squeezing the air out of me. I reached up and loosened his fingers a little, managing to echo out a scream.

— Aaron's POV
"Damn. I haven't clinched a single round today, man." I put my pool cue down in defeat as Derek beat me yet again tonight. "I need a drink." By myself, I started to make my way over to the bar.

I anxiously furrowed my brows when I heard a scream coming from the bathroom hallway, "Help!" I jogged over to the bathroom door and pressed my ear to it, listening in on what sounded like a struggle. A belt unbuckling and the shuffling of two pairs of feet was extremely unsettling.

I knocked roughly on the door, "The hell's going on in there?!"

"Aaro—" The girl's cut off cry sounded significantly like JJ's, and I noticed she hadn't made it to the group yet. I stepped a foot back and got a little leeway to plow myself into the door, forcing the lock to break and causing it to swing open. JJ was pressed against the wall, and a guy who I didn't recognize was standing in front of her with an unclasped belt.

I plowed at him, "Hey, man, get the hell off her!" I shoved him to the side, and he started to rough handle me in return. At the top of my lungs I called for familiar reinforcements, "Prentiss!" The guy continued to try and fight me off as I impatiently waited for Emily to show up, probably accompanied by Derek if she even heard me. Thankfully, the shuffling of two people was swiftly heard outside and then eventually in the bathroom with us.

Emily lunged at the guy at pulled him off me, lifting him off his feet and shoving him into the wall while yelling, "The fuck did you do, asshole?! Now I'm really gonna beat the shit out of you!" Her fist swiped left across his face. Then right. Then left again. Derek and I realized she wasn't going to stop, so we stepped over and pulled her off him, letting him slump to the floor in a bloody mess. Emily ran over to JJ, who was in tears. "JJ? What happened? Did he touch you? Are you okay?" The three of us were relieved to see that she still had her pants and underwear on, although her jeans were unzipped and unbuttoned. We knew that happened without her consent, and we were disgusted.

— JJ's POV
I was frozen in shock. Emily's voice was distorted and warped in my mind as she tried to ask me, ""JJ? What happened? Did he touch you? Are you okay?" My hands mindlessly reached up and attached themselves tightly to her jean jacket, feeling around for stability and reassurance. I looked over at Will, slumped against the wall, covered in blood, and partially unconscious. Emily brushed my hair back and softly  said, "It's over, he's pretty out of it."

I sniffled and studdered, "Wh-Why did he do this to me?" Sobs left my lips as I fell forward and let Emily catch me in her embrace.

She rubbed over my hair and sighed, "I don't know, baby, but I promise I'll never let him touch you again." She picked me up, bridal style, and carried me out of the bathroom while saying, "I'm taking you to the infirmary." Emily carried me all the way to Yale's Health Center, which was actually a couple blocks off campus. I was still in shock but I was vaguely away of our surroundings on Ashmun Street as Emily rushed us around the graduate colleges and passed the libraries to the infirmary. A nurse immediately approached us when we walked inside, seeing that Emily was carrying me and I looked relatively unconscious. She panted and did her best to hurriedly explain, "Sh-She needs an exam, we found her in the bathroom at a bar with a guy a-and we don't know what he did to her." The nurse calmly nodded and reassured Emily before telling her to set me down so I could try and walk to an exam room. Emily put me down on the cold tile floor and asked the nurse, "Can I come with her?"

"What's your relation to her?"

"I'm her girlfriend."

The nurse took my hand and said to Em, "It's best if we do the exam in private but I'll call you in as soon as we're done." Emily swallowed hard but nodded in understanding before pacing around the hallway outside my room. A doctor gave me a physical exam, very carefully and slow-paced, and then asked me some questions about the "incident." My voice was broken and low the whole time. I couldn't understand why something like this would happen, and I never thought it would happen to me. I'm grateful Will was interrupted before he could finish the act, but the lead up to it and simply the fact that I knew what was coming is traumatizing enough. Eventually it was time for Emily to come back, so the doctor opened up the door and let her in. I overheard her telling Emily, "I do think the incentive was attempted rape, but fortunately the offender wasn't able to get there... It does come off as sexual assault though, so she's gonna need a lot of support coming out of this, okay?" What Emily said next was inaudible, but I could tell she was really worried.

She rushed over to where I was sitting on the exam table and stood next to me, "Can I stay in here for the next part?"

I quietly said, "Please." She softly kissed my forehead and established her spot at my side.

The doctor sat down in front of us and explained, "So going forward I'd recommend seeing a therapist about this, there are several great ones I can recommend who commonly work with students on campus."

Emily chimed in, "Do they specialize in addressing issues like this?"

The doctor winced, "Unfortunately, yes. Although incidents of sexual assault are severely underreported on campus we do see a fair share of them."

I sniffled, "Makes me feel less alone, I guess."

The doctor comforted, "Oh sweetie, you're definitely not alone. It's so unsettling to see how common sexual assault is on college campuses, especially among women. On average, female college students are about three times more likely to experience sexual violence than their male counterparts."

Emily sighed, "I fucking hate that."

"Language." The doctor jokingly glared at her.

"Sorry." She cleared her throat, "So uh what do we do about the guy? Permission to personally kick his ass?" I smiled a little at that.

"Well slow down. I don't recommend that. What Jennifer can do is file a police report, although I have to be honest and disclose that police reports don't usually get very far. A more effective route to take would be to file a civil protection order."

"A restraining order?" I softly asked.

"In essence. It's actually better for students, in my opinion, because it's more readily accessible, it doesn't cost anything, and it only incites a criminal record on the perpetrator of they violate it."

"H-How can I get one of those?"

"We can file it for you here."

I looked up at Emily, "Should I do it?"

She rubbed over my back, "It's up to you, baby, but I think it's a good idea."

"Do you think it will work?"

The doctor interrupted, "I find them extremely effective." I told her to help me fill one out and it was surprisingly simple. She also helped me set up a few appointments with a therapist on campus, who I'd start seeing tomorrow. I asked Emily to come with me and she of course said yes. We both knew I'd be asking a lot of her during this healing process, but she promised to be my rock and support me throughout the whole thing.