In the Absence of Light

19

Happy new year my beautiful angels 🥰 I truly hope 2021 is so much better than 2020... 👀

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Ivy

"Fuck that," Isaac scoffs. "Those cunts have no fucking respect for you or any woman, ever."

"No, they don't," I concur.

"Their dicks shrivel up at even the thought of showing any kind of human decency."

"They don't even know what that is."

"They never should've been allowed into this college, let alone the biggest frat on campus."

"That's what frats are for. They're a breeding ground for predators."

"It's a fucking cult," he spits.

"It is," I nod. I can tell he's heated, but everything he's thinking now, I've already thought.

"Fuck, I can't believe the shit you have to deal with," he says. "Not just you, but every fucking girl on this shithole campus. Those guys treat girls like trash!"

"You know..." I hesitate. "You're one of them, you know?"

"Fuck no! I don't do half the shit they do!" he defends, coming to a standstill. He's clearly pissed by my words.

"But you spend an awful lot of time with them," I point out. "Not just now, but before you went away, too."

"Yeah, because they buy my shit," he blurts. "And if I'm the one dealing to them, I know what they have. I know what products they use and what they don't use. I can keep track of what they're doing and make sure they don't get their hands on anything that can hurt another person so shit like this doesn't happen!"

I don't know if I believe that. He's saying he was hanging out with the frat boys purely for his financial benefit, and to make sure no one gets hurt—to make sure they didn't use their drugs to assault another person.

"I wasn't drugged," I tell him.

"What?" His frown deepens.

"Did you think I was roofied?" I ask. That's how he's making it seem.

"Weren't you?"

"No," I shake my head. "I wasn't drugged."

He stays silent, taking a moment to process it. I understand why he'd assume I was. That's probably what usually occurs in frats. But not in this case. I wasn't exactly sober, but I was present. I'd only had two drinks that night. I remember because I was visiting my parents the next day. I had to drive up to New York early in the morning. I didn't want to be at the party in the first place.

Frat parties were fun in my freshman year. They were crazy and wild, and I loved getting drunk and dancing with the girls all night. But it didn't take long until they got annoying. The boys would get too rowdy and the girls would pay the price. Every night, someone would end up sick or injured. The boys would fight, and a group of girls would end up crying in the bathroom with their makeup running down their face.

They just stopped being fun.

And then Trey Fuller and Matthew Campbell started harassing me. They got their friends to join in, too. It started off with just little things to antagonise me, but it just kept getting worse and worse until I didn't want to be around them anymore.

I never should've been at that party.

"Oh," Isaac says, his tone now much calmer than it was before. "I just assumed..."