Tuesday, October 27th
James's POV:
It's early in the morning before school, Megan, Joey, Adam, Dawson and I go over Marisa's to wake her up with breakfast. Something new this year. The guys and I start on the breakfast while Megan wakes up Marisa.
When they come downstairs, we sing happy birthday with a stack of waffles with candles. Her smile is bigger than I've ever seen; it reaches her eyes. I wanna see that smile everyday; I wanna be the reason for that smile.
School goes quickly. And now It's time for laser tag. The first round we are all on the same team; We win. The next round we split into 2 teams; Joey, Adam and I; Megan, Dawson and Marisa.
During that round, I see Marisa sneaking around a corner. I walk stealthily towards her, then I shoot her in the shoulder of her vest.
She turns around and says "hey! It's my birthday, how rude." I laugh and say "what are you going to do about?" She walks towards me until my back hits a wall; she puts a hand against my chest and leans in close to my ear and says "gotcha."
And what I don't realize because I'm distracted by having her this close and the kiss on my cheek is that she shot me in the middle of my vest, and runs away laughing. I shake my head and smile. She's something else.
After a couple more rounds of laser tag, we start to get hungry so we call it a night and go get the food.
After the best Italian food i've every had, it's time for presents. I purposely save mine for last. I hand her a card and she looks at me with hopeful eyes.
She opens it and her jaw drops. "Are these real?" "Of course they are!" She squeals and basically attacks me in a hug, saying "thank you" repeatedly. "This is amazing. When is the concert?" "November 6th, and I thought we could go together." "I'd love that, who else would listen to me endlessly drone on and on about my obsession with queen, and not complain; not Megan, that's for sure." She says "Hey! I resent that, but you're right, I have complained about it." We all laugh. And then dig into the cake and shove on a movie to end her birthday.
Friday, October 30th
Marisa's POV:
James and I make it a point to go to the rest of the football games together to support our friends.
While sitting in the stands during the third quarter,I see my ex friends and the guys from the soccer team surrounding someone. I catch a glimpse of the person, my breathe hitches and I clutch James' arm.
My assumptions are correct when I see Jason Carter walking up to the stands. The flashbacks ensue and a panic attack starts. James is staring at me trying to get my attention.
Jason makes his way up the stands and past me; when he does, he smirks and says "Nice to see you again, baby girl." And the panic attack escalates. The rest of the hour is a blur until I get home.
James' POV:
Marisa is gripping my arm so tight that I'm super worried. I don't know what is wrong until I watch Jason Carter walk up the stands and whispers to her "nice to see you again, baby girl."
Her breathing becomes labored and tears are silently falling down her face. I need to get her out of here. I gather our things and usher her as quickly as possible out of here. I look for her keys and her car. I know I don't have a license, and I'm afraid to drive, but getting her home is more important, she's more important right now.
I get her in the car all buckled up, and then I get in the drivers seat, a place I haven't been since early this year. I take a deep breathe, and look over at the girl who I like a whole hell of a lot; I keep telling myself, I'm doing this for her, I'm working through one of my biggest fears for her until we are at her house.
The tears are still silently rolling down her face. I get her inside and I sit on the couch and pull her in my lap and hug her. I hope this will calms her down; I know it helps me.
It's takes about 20 minutes, but she calms down and the crying stops. She looks at me and my heart breaks; Her eyes are red and tear stains are left on her face. I wipe them away and ask "Are you ok?" "I don't know, but in time I will be, but thank you, thank you for everything." As she wraps her arms around me and hugs me back.
She pulls back and says "I should probably tell you why that happened back there." "Only if you want to, I'm not gonna push you into anything" "James, you've been patient enough; it's time I tell you."
Marisa's POV:
~Flashback~
It's the end of the year party, the one everyone always raves about, the one that's above all the other ones. I arrive fashionably late with my own car since I'm usually the DD. I'm wearing this (see header) and high top converse. When I walk in, Jill, Maddie, Jenna, McKenzie, and Taylor all run up to me as best they can considering it's only 10pm and they are trashed beyond belief. Since I was the last one there, they made me take four shots, its a rule which ever friend is the last, they must do shots. I protest, but I know that I'll never hear the end of it if I don't do the shots. Then they drag me to the dance floor not letting me say hi to Megan, Adam and Joey. In the middle of a song, I feel hands go around my waist and a body press up against me. I'm a little buzzed from the four shots since I'm not a big drinker so I let this person. I grind on them mostly due to the alcohol in my system and how uninhibited I feel. The person leans in close to my ear and says "I didn't know you could dance like this, You're so hot baby girl, maybe we should take this somewhere else." He's clearly turned on, I can feel it against my ass. I turn around, see that's it's Jason Carter, the star quarterback, and say "I'm not looking for a hookup, so no thanks."
I walk into the kitchen and chill with Megan for a bit trying to drink water to rehydrate from all the dancing. When I see Jason coming up to talk to me with two drinks in his hands, he hands me one and says " I'm sorry if I came on too strong earlier, how about we just talk?" I shrug my shoulders and say sure. He hands me the cup and I just set it down on the counter not wanting to take anything from other people. our conversation is interrupted by the game of truth or dare/spin the bottle because the drink bottle lands on me which means that I have to drink the nearest alcohol to me and finish it. So I have to finish the cup Jason gave me. Then I want to go dance again so I leave Jason to find Megan.
On the dance floor after about 20 minutes, I'm starting to not feel well. I'm dizzy, and more tired than before, the room is spinning and my vision is blurry.
Somethings not right, but I'm too relaxed to do anything about it. When out of nowhere, I feel like I'm floating upside down. The room turns darker, my shirt is ripped off and I'm feeling cold now. I feel like I'm being held down by my hips; I hear grunting and feel pain and pressure somewhere I've never felt it before. I try to scream, but over the music, no one can hear. Something is building in my lower abdomen and out of no where, a voice says "come on baby girl, cum for me." And my body responds even though, I have no control over it. Then I feel a blow to my head and everything goes black.
~End of Flashback~
"Joey was the one who found me, all bloody, battered and exposed. He covered me up before the ambulance came. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. I had no memories of that night after arriving at the party. I had sustained a black eye, busted lip, a concussion, scratches, bruises and torn vaginal walls. The cops questioned me, and all the people at the party which is why people hate me now. Plus they think I'm a slut for having drunken sex, but before I was raped, I was a virgin. There were no fluids or trace evidence of who raped me and my memory was too fuzzy for me to be helpful, but little by little as I've been working with my therapist, I've started to remember details, such as who raped me, but there is not enough substantial evidence for a case and it would only be my word against his so it's hearsay."
When I'm done, I look at him and he's crying and angrily clutching the couch. I can't gauge his reaction so i start to get off his lap and I say "And I'll take the silence as you probably don't want to be friends with me anymore now that you know the truth."
His head snaps up to look me in the eyes, his hands cup my face and says "How could you think that? It makes me wanna do the opposite; I wanna take care of you, protect you, I wanna help you heal if you'll let me. I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me to."
