The Art Of Seduction ✓

|07| Enemy

So I was studying english lit and my teacher who's pretty cool came up and started talking, eventually it went to the topic of boyfriends ad rape. So that got me inspired for a bit of the backstory about date rape. It happens. And it's absolutely fine to say no. If he forces you in any way it's rape. So please girls, be aware. It can happen to anyone. But it's not the full reason why Amber is not-in-a-relationship.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

  "Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults "

Benjamin Franklin 

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

THE THING ABOUT rivals, sworn enemies and competitors, was they learnt to read you far better than your friends. Your friends grew accustomed to your moods, to reading you with time. Rivals? Well they forced themselves to pay attention. They learnt your quirks, the way your emotions are played on your face, and read your emotions subtly and far better than your friends. 

Perhaps it was because they were alert. Short, brief interactions but filled with complete focus. You want to mark every emotion you've seen them have so when it occurs again you're ready. You learn the more extreme ones like despair, pain, anger and fear. After all these emotions are what you learn they react to, what you should arm yourselves with.

You're more aware when they force emotions in their face to remain impassive. What separates your friends and enemies were what they had in mind for you. 

The friend wants you to be happy and to be the best version you can be.

The enemy? Well, they want you to crumble and fall and be absolutely miserable. 

Kaden and I were rivals, we fought often. We were far too tuned into each other able to read each other far better than our best friends. We go way back to when we were seven, our last summer before school and before we made our friends and walked our own parts. Kaden and I had long since mastered reading the other. 

So I didn't need to answer his question for him to know the answer. Kaden was, without a doubt, smart. Cold salty drops of water fell from my eyes as I tilted my head down. I didn't need to look at Kaden to imagine his calculative face, the one he had when he was piercing together pieces of me that most had overlooked. I could feel his mind buzzing with energy. "You were fourteen," he finally whispered after what seemed like forever.

I nodded, my arms wrapped themselves around me as I wanted to curl into a ball. I'd never spoken about it, I hadn't even known what it was when it happened. How was it rape when you loved the person? Even my best friend never knew what Kaden seemed to unravel. "I didn't know," I whispered, "Until I was fifteen what he did."

I heard the chair move. He was probably filled with disgust. I should have done something I should have been stronger. The worst part when we had sex ed at fifteen was when I realised, with painful clarity that the blonde boy I loved, had in fact raped me. I didn't consent to sex after our first time and time and time again he raped me. 

I remembered the first time Ashton raped me.He had forgotten to put a condom on. I'd spent two months worrying about it. It didn't help when I missed my period. I was near tears when my period finally came so grateful I wouldn't become pregnant. I didn't know much about sex but I knew enough that you could get pregnant without safety.

I heard the sound of a violent thump, and a sharp bark from Kaden. When I looked up, I saw him punching the wall, his eyes wild. He punched it repeatedly. I watched him, my tears drying as I saw his muscles contract and flex. The sight of him doing that calmed me.