ONLY YOU

two - bad friend

I head straight to the kitchen where my aunt is. Before my parents died, I never met her. Heck, her name was never mentioned. At the funeral, though, a few of my relatives introduced me to her: Rainey. They said she would be my full-time guardian. Rainey looks older than she actually is. Her hair is about one shade away from being gray, and she is a large woman covered in lots of rings, bangles, and necklaces.

She's drying the dishes when she sees me walk in.

'Rose?' she says, tossing the dishcloth aside and rushing up to me. 'Are you okay?'

My voice sticks in my throat. 'I-I was just attacked.'

Rainey cries at the ceiling. 'Oh gosh! We need to call the police!'

I shake my head. 'No, no, I can't. Nothing happened! He just–'

'What did he do?' She guides me to one of the stools on the island. The place is a mess, as always. Rainey works two jobs, one as a waitress at the local diner, and one at the hospital as a mental health assistant. She only gets one day off a week. Today is that day. I can't help but feel bad for hijacking it with this stress.

'He just...' The details are foggy now. Did he speak to me? Did he tell me his name? 'He just tackled me to the ground but he didn't do anything.'

Rainey strokes my face. 'Did he hurt you?'

'No.'

'Let's call the police.'

I cringe at the idea of the police coming over. They might even think I'm lying. I don't have any evidence to show them. Or what if the guy finds out I contacted the police? What if next time he really does do something? And what even was he? He had red eyes and fangs. A vampire? Come on. It must have been a prank. He must have been wearing contacts and plastic teeth. There's no way they were real.

'I don't want to talk about it anymore,' I say, weakening with exhaustion.

'Rose, we can't just ignore this,' my aunt says.

'I think it might have been a prank to scare me,' I say.

'It doesn't sound like a prank. It sounds like a mugging. Did he take anything?'

I try to think if he did. I check my pockets. My cell is still there. I still have my change.

'No, he didn't do anything.'

Rainey watches me. She shakes her head at me and begins to make me some hot tea.

I head upstairs after my tea and take a shower. While the hot water streams over my naked body, I think about the guy again and how he studied me like a specimen, fascinated by my body.

Ignoring the fear and the shock from the ordeal, I think back to the moment I was very aware of where his groin was, pressing into me. Without meaning to, I find my fingers trailing over my navel and to my vagina.

I jolt into realization, and snap my hands away.

I can't think like that, not about someone who attacked me.

And yet I can't take that moment out of my mind.

While I dry my hair in my room and dress in my pajamas, I realize all I can think about was how his body was against mine. I lay on my bed with my arms behind my head, daydreaming about him. It causes an uneasy, dreamy sensation in my stomach. The fear combined with the intimacy of it only makes me feel hot and embarrassed.

My cell zaps on my bedside table. I jolt awake. I must have dozed off.

I check my cell and find Jared has messaged me:

Heyyyyyyyyy earth to Roooooseeeee

He has sent me at least nine different messages. I reply back with:

Sorry I fell asleep. What's up?

Him:

Want to Facetime?????

I exhale. Rub my face. My thoughts beeline to my encounter with the guy from earlier. Should I tell Jared? He'll only freak out.

I sit up, yawning, and Facetime Jared. He answers. He's sitting in bed, too. His hair is a mess and he looks sleepy.

'Hey, baby?' he says.

I force myself to smile. 'Hi.'

'How ya' doing?' he says.

'Napping.' My smile fades. 'Listen, Jared, there's something I need to tell you.'

Maybe now is the time.

No, not to tell him about the attack. But our relationship.

While I'm still riding on a slight high from the "attack", I should tell Jared how I really feel about him. He's been my friend for a while now. He should understand. I don't know what it is about this attack that has prompted me to tell the truth about our relationship. It has bled some courage into me. A sort of involuntary revulsion to the relationship which only makes me wants to get away from it.

Jared shakes his head. 'Hold on a sec.' He smiles a dopey smile at the camera. 'There's something I've been meaning to do.' He sits up more, and he makes a scuffing noise in the audio. He's back on camera, and he looks even dopier than before. His eyes are wide with excitement, his pupils dilated. He pans the camera down his body and suddenly I'm granted a generous view of a hard, short penis. It pokes out through the gap in his shorts. It's slightly curved, like a hook, and rises out of his groin. With his left hand holding the camera, his right hand slides over it and he jerks the foreskin up and down.

'God, you're so beautiful,' he says. 'I just want to do this one thing.'

I'm stunned. 'Jared...'

'Talk dirty to me,' he breathes out, tugging his penis around more.

'I–' I am so shocked it actually causes me to smile – a genuine smile. I can't help but feel amused at this display of intimacy. I blurt out without thinking: 'I was attacked on the way home from school!'

Jared pauses. He strokes his penis up and down. 'Yeah, let's go with that. What did you do, you naughty girl?'

My chest is about to burst with a desperate laugh – and tears.

'Jared, I really was,' I say.

'Mm hm. Did I attack you?' I can hear him biting his lip and sucking his skin. 'I like that. I pinned you down and kissed you and...touched you.'

My face burns with humiliation for him. I want to cower under my covers and hide from this hilariously fucked up world.

'Jared,' I giggle, covering my mouth with my hand.

His strokes are becoming more intense, faster. His penis is red, hard and shiny.

'Yeah, keep going, keep going...' he says.

'Jared!' I cry out. This is getting ridiculous now.

Jared cries out and the camera drops. I can hear his moans and gurgles as he finishes. I blink at the screen, trying to figure out what exactly just happened, and giggle nervously. Jared's face is back on the screen and he is flustered and breathless. His lips spread into an uneven smile at me.

'You're amazing,' he says. 'You're so, so amazing.'

I realize this is futile. 'I gotta go,' I say, and disconnect the call.