⚠️trigger warning, mention of assault
Cheryl POV
"Are you sure you're okay?" Josie asks as I head into our shared suite. None of the girls wanted to go back out after, partly because of what happened to me and partly because they now had no one sober with them to make sure they didn't end up in a ditch somewhere. Veronica remembered she had another bottle of vodka tucked away under the spare bed so her and Betty cheered and stumbled off to her room to keep drinking.
"Little shaken, but otherwise okay, yes. Go with V and Betts for the rest of the night, i'm gonna take a shower." I say to Josie who just nods sympathetically and walks off in the direction of Veronica's room.
I pull off the dress and examine it. A good seamstress could probably make it wearable again, I think, but it'll never look anything like it did before. I toss it down on the bed with a huff. I didn't even want to wear the damn thing and now i'll be buying a replacement with money i'd really rather not spend. My scholarship covers pretty much everything I actually need, and my parents can usually send me a small allowance each other to help with other necessities and a social life, but i don't like risking my safety net to replace a dress someone else forced me to wear.
I shuffle to the bathroom, bringing my pyjamas with me. The water is cool and refreshing but brings into sharp relief the pink marks on my chest from where his fingers dig in before curling into the dress. I frown down at them and give them a careful poke. Are they going to bruise? Then again, maybe that's something of a relief.
With a physical reminder of the attack, maybe I won't feel as embarrassed about being jumpy in the days to come. If the attack leaves visible marks, people are less likely to tell me to get over it already because I wasn't really hurt.
I've never believed that assaults need to meet a minimum limit to be deserving of sympathy, but i've found myself to be in the minority in that.
With no one waiting for the stall, no one to yell at me for using hot water, I lean against the wall and let the water rinse away the smell of whatever he was wearing. The water pressure is a little better than usual, probably because not many other people are showering this late at night.
There's a part of me that wants to yell and rage at the unfairness of the evening, at the wretchedness of not being able to punish the asshole in any way. I can't press charges, and even if i could, they wouldn't stick. Who'd bother to prosecute over an assault that ended with nothing more than fear and a torn dress? Especially if he tried to ignore the fact that I had two police officers as witnesses and claimed that I assaulted him first. I was smart, I was careful, I was sober, and none of it made any difference when a men decided he was entitled to my time and attention.
I think back to Toni. I automatically feel my heart rate slow down as I try to also slow down the rampage of thoughts running through my head. Toni was the only good thing that came out of the night. I dread to think what would've happened if she hadn't of saved me. The very thought made my hands begin to shake again.
I can't stay in the shower forever, though. After drying off and changing into my comfortable cotton shorts and t shirt, I walk back to the dorm, rubbing the towel carefully through my wet hair.
I enter the study room we have in the suite and sit down on my desk chair. Toni's hoodie is folded on my desk, next to my slightly torn bra. I reach for my phone, hesitating as my thumb floats over the screen where Toni's number lays.
Keeping the phone in my hand, I push back from the desk and cross over to my room. I stop in the doorway and sigh at the sight of Veronica sprawled across my bed. "You have your own bed," I say. "Apparently it even has booze."
