"Lily, phone!"
"Okay!" Lily wiped her cheeks, rubbed at her nose, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Lil, what's going on?"
"Hey, Travis. Not much."
"You know, Buddha teaches that dishonesty to your friends is the path to dishonesty to yourself."
"I know, Travis, I know. I just…" Lily sighed. "I just need some time to work things out for myself, okay?"
"Okay, but you know if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen. Buddha teaches –"
"I know what Buddha teaches, Travis. It's just…girl stuff."
"We've established this. You don't know what girl stuff is."
"Well, I know girl stuff when I see it, and this is girl stuff, okay?"
"Okay, okay. Calm down. Y'know, Buddha teaches that calming and meditation is the key to enlig–"
Lily hung up on her best friend. She had dialed six digits of Ray's number before she realized what she was doing. She hung up the phone immediately and put it down, flopping backwards onto the bed. She didn't know why she was acting like this. After all, many women before her had actually been raped and done better than she was doing. All he had managed to do was get her shirt open and her zipper down.
But at the same time, it was worse because he *hadn't* gotten what he wanted, and so Lily never knew if he was going to try again, and this time he would be ready for her to fight. He was bigger than she was, and she'd only gotten away the first time because he'd been careless. She held the glass cat she'd picked up tightly, so tightly that it wasn't long before it broke. She was startled and dropped the pieces of glass onto the floor, telling herself that she'd pick them up later. She flopped backwards onto the bed with a sigh. She hated lying to her friends, saying nothing was wrong, but what else could she say? Oh, yeah, and by the way, I was almost raped at the dance. Yes, that'd go over well. She punched the bed beside her as she felt the tears stinging her eyes. She'd done more crying in the past 3 days than in the past year. Normally she didn't mind crying, but when she was doing so much in such a short amount of time… Usually not even PMS made her cry. She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't know how to deal with the stress. And speaking of stress, she hadn't seen him in school yet. While this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it still made her nervous. She usually passed him in the hall at least 3 times a day. She liked this situation better when she knew where he was. She didn't want it to be like this. She didn't want to have to lie to everyone she loved. But she honestly didn't think she had a choice. There was honestly no one she could turn to. Maybe her sister…but no, even she would go and tell their parents, which was the last thing that Lily wanted.
Lily sighed. She was cried out, and her eyes were itchy and swollen. She pulled herself up and squatted on the floor, picking up the glass cat shards. It was only in a few pieces; maybe she could glue it back together. Before she knew it, there was a line along her palm and blood was dripping from her hand. She swore and went to the bathroom to rinse it out. She only then realized that it didn't hurt. She stared at the cut, watching the blood drip, for several minutes. With the blood, she felt all the stress seeping away. She shook her head, as if shaking it off, and rinsed her hand.
"Okay!" Lily wiped her cheeks, rubbed at her nose, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, Lil, what's going on?"
"Hey, Travis. Not much."
"You know, Buddha teaches that dishonesty to your friends is the path to dishonesty to yourself."
"I know, Travis, I know. I just…" Lily sighed. "I just need some time to work things out for myself, okay?"
"Okay, but you know if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen. Buddha teaches –"
"I know what Buddha teaches, Travis. It's just…girl stuff."
"We've established this. You don't know what girl stuff is."
"Well, I know girl stuff when I see it, and this is girl stuff, okay?"
"Okay, okay. Calm down. Y'know, Buddha teaches that calming and meditation is the key to enlig–"
Lily hung up on her best friend. She had dialed six digits of Ray's number before she realized what she was doing. She hung up the phone immediately and put it down, flopping backwards onto the bed. She didn't know why she was acting like this. After all, many women before her had actually been raped and done better than she was doing. All he had managed to do was get her shirt open and her zipper down.
But at the same time, it was worse because he *hadn't* gotten what he wanted, and so Lily never knew if he was going to try again, and this time he would be ready for her to fight. He was bigger than she was, and she'd only gotten away the first time because he'd been careless. She held the glass cat she'd picked up tightly, so tightly that it wasn't long before it broke. She was startled and dropped the pieces of glass onto the floor, telling herself that she'd pick them up later. She flopped backwards onto the bed with a sigh. She hated lying to her friends, saying nothing was wrong, but what else could she say? Oh, yeah, and by the way, I was almost raped at the dance. Yes, that'd go over well. She punched the bed beside her as she felt the tears stinging her eyes. She'd done more crying in the past 3 days than in the past year. Normally she didn't mind crying, but when she was doing so much in such a short amount of time… Usually not even PMS made her cry. She didn't know what to make of it. She didn't know how to deal with the stress. And speaking of stress, she hadn't seen him in school yet. While this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it still made her nervous. She usually passed him in the hall at least 3 times a day. She liked this situation better when she knew where he was. She didn't want it to be like this. She didn't want to have to lie to everyone she loved. But she honestly didn't think she had a choice. There was honestly no one she could turn to. Maybe her sister…but no, even she would go and tell their parents, which was the last thing that Lily wanted.
Lily sighed. She was cried out, and her eyes were itchy and swollen. She pulled herself up and squatted on the floor, picking up the glass cat shards. It was only in a few pieces; maybe she could glue it back together. Before she knew it, there was a line along her palm and blood was dripping from her hand. She swore and went to the bathroom to rinse it out. She only then realized that it didn't hurt. She stared at the cut, watching the blood drip, for several minutes. With the blood, she felt all the stress seeping away. She shook her head, as if shaking it off, and rinsed her hand.
