"I still can't believe you got a belly button piercing." Troy said as he played with the ring on his girlfriend's navel.

Gabriella had just gotten back from her two month studies in Albuquerque. Stanford let the top honor students spend half a semester studying in U of A as some of the best professors of each major would be teaching at U of A for that time period. The irony that Gabriella would be studying in Albuquerque and Troy in California was surprising to both.

"I hope you like it...I haven't been able to sleep on my tummy in weeks." Gabriella said tiredly as they comfortably lay together in bed watching movies - happy to be in each other's arms after two long months.

"I love it. Still tired from the flight?" He pushed the hair on her forehead to the side as he placed a kiss on that spot making her eyes close. Gabriella nodded her head and snuggled closer into his chest. She arrived at 8:30 that morning and the two went for breakfast catching up on the last two months by 11:30 both were in bed - blankets on top, snacks on the side, lights off, a/c on, curtains closed, and movies playing.

"Wanna nap while I do a pizza run?" Troy covered Gabriella with another blanket after she shivered from the cold and lack of his body warmth. "Margarita style?" Troy laughed and nodded his head. "Of course and with chocolate covered strawberries." Gabriella mumbled an okay as she snuggled into the pillow to use as a replacement for Troy.

Troy walked into the small kitchen, placing the food on the table. He opened the cabinets getting plates and set them on the counter as he heard music coming from one of the bedrooms. He walked down the hallway and into the room him and Gabriella shared. Troy stood back, enjoying the view of his girlfriend dancing to Lykke Li.

"My hips look for the swing. The words are written in the air - dance. I was dancer all along. Dance, dance, dance." Gabriella shook her hips from side to side while putting her hair in a messy bun. She turned around only to jump back two feet and yelp. "My God! How long have you been standing there? You scared me!" Gabriella placed a hand over her racing heart.

"I brought the food." Troy placed his hands on her shoulders, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Gabriella smiled, "Why are ignoring my question? How long we're you standing there?" Both walked into the kitchen serving themselves with food. "Long enough," Troy said knowing the answer would irk his girlfriend. He laughed when Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him.

"You haven't told me what's been bothering you..." Troy started off. He knew something was up with Gabriella and it wasn't in a good way. She was being distant from her phone. Gabriella was always the one to have her phone in the same room as she was not letting it sit on the coffee table - especially turned off.

Gabriella sighed, "Do we really have to talk about this now? Can't it wait?" Instead of eating her pizza she played with the crust. "No because I know something's up." Troy took a bite of his pizza. "Did something happen on the trip?"

Gabriella stalled with taking a bite of the pizza an slowly chewing on it. "Gabriella, what happened?" By the tone of voice her boyfriend was using, she knew he was getting pissed.

Gabriella sighed, poking her tongue to the inside of her cheek as she shook her head - the sparkle in her eyes no longer there. "Fine, we were set up in groups for projects. Three girls and three guys. In the groups we had to partner up. I switched numbers with my partner because -you know- we're gonna be working together so we needed each other's number. We texted and I didn't think anything of it because we had to get to know each other and I wanted to know who I was working with.."

"And?"

"And when we would work together it was major flirting! And all on his part! It was starting to creep out, so I was made sure one of the girls was with me or we worked in public like Starbucks." By then Gabriella was looking down at her hands as she played with them. Troy noticed and grabbed her hands trying to make her look at him. "Is that all?"

"No," was the quiet response for the 19 year old. "What else?" Gabriella brought her thumb to her mouth to bite on. "Last night a group of us went dancing and everything was going fine until he came up from behind us and started grinding against us. We let it go, but then he started groping us and we left after that."

"What else did he do?"

"He just kept texting me." Troy let out a big breath and covered his face. "I'm gonna kill him.."

"No you're not." Gabriella hugged his arm and kissed his shoulder. "Gabriella, he could

have raped you and the other girls!"

"But he didn't. We left right after he groped us and we stayed in one room. We were being careful." Troy sighed and wrapped his arms around Gabriella. They stayed silent. Troy taking in what Gabriella told him and Gabriella enjoying his arms wrapped around her. "I got you babe. I won't let him hurt you."

"Hey Gabs," a petite young woman greeted as she caught up with the 19 year old. Gabriella smiled, "Hey Em. How are you?" both girls gave each other a side hug.

"I'm doing okay," Emily laughed. "What bout you? How is everything?"

Gabriella sighed. "I'm all right. Everything is all right." Emily looked at Gabriella curiously.

Emily and Gabriella met in their honors classes and the two hit it off right away. The first couple months of school the two would shop, get coffee, and talk about whatever came to mind. Now they were practically sisters.

"Everything okay between you and lover boy?" Emily asked as they continued to walk across the campus to reach their class.

"Remember when I told you about the whole Eric thing?" Gabriella hesitated.

"Yeah...he groped all of you at the club. Why?"

"Well, Troy's obviously been worried so the past couple of weeks he's been walking me to my first class of the day and Eric's been seeing this so the text messages have been beyond nonstop! And a couple of days ago when I was leaving Spanish he groped me again." Emily grabbed Gabriella's arm making her stop I'm the middle of the moving crowd. "Gabriella! Report him! Does Troy know this?"

Gabriella waved her hands up and down to try to quiet down her friend. "Shh! And no. The season is over in a couple days and Berkley isn't going to playoffs. I'll tell him when the season is over. The coach is putting a lot of stress on them so they can be better next season. He doesn't need more to worry about." The two continued walking through the crowd as Emily spoke quietly, but strongly.

"Gabriella, he needs to know about this! It's serious stuff." Gabriella sighed, "And you don't think I know that? I'll tell him next week by then the season will be over and —"

"— and Eric would have raped you." Emily finished off for Gabriella with a different scenario. "Oh my gosh, Em!" Gabriella said as she walked a bit faster into the building. Emily grabbed her arm, stopping her friend from entering the room. "I'll tell Troy. I'll tell him right now." Gabriella saw the look in Emily's eyes. Her always hazel eyes were near black.

"Fine...I'll tell him tonight. Will you come with me to report Eric?"


Okay, I am so sorry that this chapter took so long to get out. I rewrote this chapter countless times and school is just hectic. Freshmen year was so much easier compared to Sophomore year. Since early September to last week I had projects like crazy. With homework, compositions, test and midterms to study for, and personal problems. In that time span i was going to bed at 1 a.m. I'm also in journalism which is a 24/7 thing and I'm trying to make a good impression.

Anyway, this chapter is somewhat based on a personal experience. The groping and texting is true. Everything else is from my imagination. I just wanted to bring attention to this because it is a serious issue. This is to all women - don't be afraid to say no. Don't be afraid to tell someone. It's your body - don't let someone think they have control over it because they don't. It doesn't matter if you initiate the actions going on between the both of you - if you feel uncomfortable or not right during those actions say no. Tell someone.

My best friend's - who is practically my sister - little sister - who is practically my little sister - was touched very inappropriately by a cousin who is younger than her. The cousin knew exactly what he was doing to her. She is nine and he is six. She knew what he was doing was wrong and so did he. The cousin knows more about sex than a teenage boy. So this wasn't kids not knowing what they were doing because the little boy did know. My little sister did not tell her parents because she knew her father would get mad. During an argument with the cousins parents my sister saw a look on our little sisters face. That's when everything came out. What happened to my little sister happened to me as well, but with a neighbor who was taking care of me.

If this has happened to you or know someone that this has happened to, please tell someone.

God Bless.