Ghostly Guitar | Julie and The Phantoms

Chapter Seven : Unwelcome Kisses

Chapter Seven : Unwelcome Kisses
*This Chapter involves Rape and unconsensual intimacy
as well as cutting.This Is a Trigger Warning. Please Read At your own risk*
July 1995

"Yeah. Don't wait up!" Stephanie called to the rest of Sunset curve as they ended a gig. It was funny to her. This gig was at a raging teen club and the last gig was at a damn book club.

She tossed her hair into a lazy point tail. It swag to the left hitting the strings of her guitar and strumming it. Stephanie laughed under her breath, maneuvering around the thousands and thousands of cables backstage.

She slid her guitar into its bag, zipping it up. Her spare strings fell out of their pocket and she sighed picking them up. She could hardly see backstage.

Stephanie's foot got coughs on something and she fell forwards, "Ahh." She let out a small noise before feeling someone's arms holding her up. "Thanks." She hastily whispered before pulling away.

The guy stepped forward, "Yeah no problem. I'm Paul."
"Stephanie."
Paul rubbed the back of his neck, "You guys, were pretty good."
Stephanie played it out a bit, "Pretty?"

"Well, it's just.- I've seen a lot of bands play that stage, and none stood out the way yours just did." He smiled at her, taking a few steps forward.

Stephanie smiled back, "Well thanks. It means a lot." He kept walking forward. Stephanie took a few steps back, giving a nervous giggle, "What are you doing?"

"I mean, you just blew me away."
She laughed again, "It was mostly Luke."
"But I couldn't take my eyes off of you." Stephanie had backed up so far she was now against the black wall of backstage. "I mean forget the rest of the band, you alone could blow the top off this damn place."
"Th-Thanks?" Stephanie was frozen in her own fear. She wanted to scream, yell anything, but she couldn't move. Her jaw tightened till it hurt, and her stomach kept flipping making her want to throw up.

Paul's voice dropped, "Anytime." He placed his arm over Stephanie's shoulder and under her chin, his hand resting on the wall behind her. "I mean-" He bent his head so Stephanie could feel his breath on her neck, "I was so happy when the rest of the band left." Slowly he started to kiss down her neck.

Stephanie's feet began to slip on the floor underneath her. She tried to push him away from him, "Stop-" Tears started to steam down her face. "Get-Get away from me!" She pushed harder against his chest, her vision blurring with the tears.

Backstage started to light up as the door opened, "Hey Steph- WHAT THE HELL!" Reggie and Luke ran back into the room. Luke pulled Paul away from Stephanie, forgetting everything he meant to say when he walked back in here. He was glad when he heard the guy swear as he hit the ground.

Reggie pulled Stephaine into a hug, pushing her behind him. Luke looked ready to punch Paul until he bled on the floor. Instead he just kicked him in the side as Stephanie silently cried into Reggie's shoulder.

As soon as they saw daylight again, Luke ran to the nearest pay phone and called nine one one as Reggie held Stephanie closer. He could hardly imagine how she was feeling right now. Just walking in on the scene made him scared out of his mind.

"Can we-" Stephanie hiccupped as she tried to talk, "Can we just go." She hated how she felt. Weak and broken. Standing here crying in front of some of the few people she actually cared about in her life.
Luke and Reggie hasty shook their heads yes, "Yeah. Yeah of course."

~

Cheryl had fallen asleep next to Stephanie on the couch. The whole band was asleep in the studio. All of them freaked out by what just happened at the club. Stephanie had actually fallen asleep first, but woke up in the middle of the night.

Slowly she walked over to a mirror in the corner of the studio. Her face was still tear stained and mascara ran down it. She was so sick of crying. Sick of everything. Sick of the fact that she didn't know the girl in the mirror. All she knew was she could play a guitar. That was it. And for the last year or so that was all she needed to know. But now?

Stephanie's hand shook as she picked up Alex's raser. She didn't really know what she was doing, but she knew she wasn't thinking about it. She knew it was just happening.

She hissed in pain as the raser made her bleed. The pain is what brought her back to reality. What the hell was she doing!?
She dropped the raser, holding her wrist as it slowly bled. She looked over to her friends before running out of the studio entirely.

The rain outside made most of the blood wash away as she ran closer and closer to the beach. Her right hand was still pressed to her left wrist, her fingers sticky with her own blood.

She hated what she had just done. But somehow she thought it would hurt more. Something in her was fine with what she did. It was something she hated, but still something.

She wished she could run till the end of the earth. Just running and running. Running away from her mother. Running away from Paul. Running away from, well, herself.

Running away from the girl in the mirror who she didn't know. Running until she found the girl she did know. Whoever it may be.

~