Chapter 40

"I'll meet you in the music room for lunch." Brandon said before leaning in to give her lips a peck. He offered her a smile before disappearing into the crowded halls.

Callie started for her locker to place the books she no longer needed away. The halls began to quiet as the late bell approached. Callie was in no rush as she had a free period. The bell rang throughout the school and the few students left strolling the halls scurried to their classes. Callie closed her locker, grateful for the empty halls. The news of Vico's sentence had spread after the hearing nearly a month ago. The stares and whispers that had become a normal occurrence for Callie only grew worse and it was becoming exhausting. She started towards the gym to take the shortcut to the beach, knowing there was no gym class during this time.

She was a quarter of the way through the gym when she heard the door click behind her. She whipped her head around to find three of the wrestling team members standing in front of the door. Her heart quickened.

"Juvie girl." Tommy Walker spat with narrowed eyes.

She straightened her posture and turned to continue on her way, but the door in which she was headed to clicked open and the rest of the wrestling team entered. Her heart tripled in speed. Both of her exits were blocked and she was trapped alone in a room with ten wrestlers who clearly had something planned. Her breathing hitched as they moved in closer, forming a circle around her. The capabilities of the situation were swarming. She'd been a victim more than once; she knew what men were capable of. Especially the wrestling team who had made it known countless times that they didn't care about her wants; who had threatened her multiple times to drop the charges against Vico. She gritted her teeth. She couldn't show her fear. "Get out of my way."

"I don't think so. You ruined our wrestling team." Tommy growled.

Her hands trembled at her side. Her legs felt frozen. Oxygen flooded in and out of her lungs. But she tried to keep her face hardened. "Vico ruined your team."

Peter, standing beside Tommy, scoffed. "We all know you asked for it."

"So now you have to pay for it." Kyle added.

Callie's eyes darted around the gym. She wasn't sure if she was better off standing there or trying to make an escape. Fear clouded her mind, but she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to fight against ten wrestlers. Not only was she way outnumbered, but they were trained to fight; trained to take down their opponents. And all of them were double her size easily. "Brandon is supposed to meet me."

"Actually, he's in music class. And he won't find you here anyway." Tommy smirked, and Callie felt her heart stop. The malicious gleam in his eyes was unmistakable.

Multiple hands were suddenly grabbing at Callie. Her eyes grew wide as she thrashed against them. One cupped over her mouth, muffling her scream for help. Her bag fell off her shoulder as she fought against the multiple wrestlers, who began to drag her to the boy's locker room. Tears sprang to her eyes. They dragged her to the locker room, where they continued to hold her. Her throat burned as she continued to scream against the hand over her mouth. She squirmed as the hands began to grope her chest. How was this happening yet again?

The hand left her mouth, but she knew nobody would hear her from the locker room. "Get off me!"

"Oh no." Tommy shook his head as he unbuttoned his jeans. "You're going to give us all some favors to pay for it."

She shook her head frantically. She couldn't breathe. This couldn't be happening. Terror coursed through her veins. How was she supposed to escape this? She couldn't fight off Liam a few years ago. She couldn't fight off Vico and Liam at the winter ball. How was she supposed to fight off ten wrestlers? "No, no, no."

"C'mon Callie. You need to make up for what you did." Tommy's eyes glinted with malice as his jeans dropped from his waist and pooled around his ankles.

Callie darted for the exit, but she barely took two steps before hands were grabbing her again. Two of the wrestlers held her roughly as she thrashed against them. "Let go! Let me go!"

Her back was slammed into the lockers and she was suddenly staring into the wild eyes of Kyle. He pressed his body into hers and grinded against her. She pushed at his chest, but her attempts to escape were futile. The laughter and encouragement from the other wrestlers assaulted her ears. Kyle's hands slid down her body roughly. "Loosen up, Callie."

"Stop! Please don't do this. Please." She pleaded desperately. The plan to not show her fear was completely gone.

"C'mon Kyle, share her." Peter pushed him aside, taking his turn grinding against a crying Callie. One hand slipped beneath her shirt, fondling her bra. The other hand grabbed her wrist and forced her hand below his waistband.

Bile rose in her throat as she felt the bulge growing beneath his pants. She tried to pull her hand back, but his strength overpowered hers. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "Stop it! Please stop!"

"C'mon be the good girl you were for Vico." Peter smirked. The grip on her wrist grew tighter as she continued to pull away.

"Let go!" Callie shouted, but it fell on deaf ears. The groan that left his throat as he continued to rub against her made nausea swirl in her stomach. Another set of hands were grabbing her. A small whimper left her lips when she was shoved face-first into the wall. A large body pressed against her from behind and she tried to escape from beneath it. The set of hands slithered down her body to her butt and squeezed it tightly. Another frantic cry emitted from the brunette. "Stop!"

"C'mon, baby. We know you like it rough." The gruff voice moaned against her ear. The feeling of his hot breath against her skin sent unnerving chills down her spine.

His body left hers and her feet were quick to scramble towards the exit. But once again, she was yanked back and tossed towards the circle of vengeful wrestlers. She stumbled at the forceful motion and plummeted into the bench before collapsing to the hard floor.

The adrenaline coursing through her veins blocked any reaction and she tried to get up, but Tommy was hovering over her. He shoved her onto her back and was suddenly on top of her. She couldn't breathe. Images of Vico and Liam in this same position haunted her. She struggled beneath him as his hand groped her. A horrified gasp escaped her lips when she felt his hand between her legs. "Get off! Get off!"

"Dude, I think we have to cut out the foreplay if we all want a turn." Scott spoke up.

The weight of Tommy's body left her. She wanted to be relieved, but Scott's words accelerated the terror pumping through her veins. She jolted to her feet, but there was nowhere to run. They had formed a circle around her again. The sound of her heart pounding against her rib cage echoed in her ears. She made the attempt to push past them, but harsh hands were suddenly grasping at her again.

"Get her on her knees," Tommy demanded.

"No, no, get off! Get off me! Let me go!" She shrieked hysterically as two of the wrestlers dragged her closer to Tommy and shoved her to her knees. The desperation to end this was overwhelming. She tried to kick, she tried to punch, she tried to scream, she tried to escape, but it was no use. The strength among them was unfightable.

The tears finally left Callie's eyes as Tommy's bare waistline was suddenly before her. The sound of zippers in the near distance assaulted her ear. Oxygen flooded in and out of her lungs. A burning sensation tightened in her chest. It felt as though her heart was going to explode out of her body. The rate it was pumping could not be healthy. She writhed in a failed attempt to free her hands from the wrestler who was holding them behind her back.

Everyone seemed to freeze at the sound of the door opening, followed by the clicking of heels.

"What is going on in here?" Lena shouted with wide eyes as she tried to take in the scene before her. Her stomach plummeted. A trembling, distraught Callie darted away from the group of wrestlers, some of whom were pulling up their pants. Nobody said a word.

"What were you guys doing?" Coach Spears spoke through a clenched jaw as his eyes scanned over his team. "All of you on the bench! Now!"

The team scattered to sit lined on the bench.

Lena took a step towards Callie, who cowered away. She feared to find out what happened. "Callie, what happened? You're bleeding."

Callie's eyes failed to meet Lena's. She reached up to feel the sticky substance on her forehead. Her chest heaved up and down. Terror continued to torture her stomach. She couldn't form words.

"What happened?" Coach Spears repeated harshly, but to his team.

Silence filled the room for a moment before Tommy spoke up. "She felt bad that we lost our best wrestler so she was…giving us favors."

Lena had to bite her tongue. As a mother, she would have unleashed a furious wrath on the boys, but she knew doing so could put her job in jeopardy.

"Cut the crap!" Coach Spears growled furiously. "She looks terrified. You'd be in a boatload of trouble if that was true and I think we all know it's not, which means you are in even bigger trouble. Did you boys know that there are cameras in the gym and this part of the locker room?"

The look that crossed all ten of their faces confirmed that Callie was here against her will.

"I'm going to take her to the office. Keep them here for now and start calling their parents. At the very least you boys are suspended, but right now you could be looking at expulsion and depending on what you did charges." Lena glared at the boys fidgeting on the bench. Lena approached Callie slowly. "Cal, can you come with me to my office?"

Callie nodded hesitantly. She followed the older woman out of the locker room and through the quiet halls to her office. Lena motioned for Callie to sit as she closed the door. She sat in the chair beside her and scooted sideways to look at the distant brunette. In addition to the bloody gash on her forehead, Lena could see a bruise developing on the side of her face. "Callie, please talk to me."

Her lower lip quivered as tears swam in her eyes. "Th-they…"

"They what?" Lena asked when Callie's husky voice trailed off. Lena was trying not to fill in the blanks. Some of the wrestlers had their pants down and that made Lena sick to her stomach. Callie's clothes were disheveled, but still on her body, which Lena wanted to take as a good sign, but she had no idea how long they were in that locker room. "Did they hurt you?"

Callie quickly wiped at the tears trickling down her pale cheeks. "I'm fine. I'm okay."

"Hey, don't do that. Don't put up walls." Lena said gently. "I need to know what happened. Start from the beginning. How did you get into the locker room?"

Callie hesitated as she tried to gather her thoughts. Her mind felt jumbled. She explained the events leading to the locker room: wanting to go to the beach, cutting across the gym, and becoming trapped by the team. "I tried to fight them, but they were too strong."

Lena closed her eyes for a moment. Of course, they were too strong. Callie probably wouldn't have been able to fight against one of them. "You shouldn't have had to fight against them. Did they touch you?"

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Callie whispered. Her head pounded. Her chest ached. Her stomach was still in knots. She didn't want to rehash the details; she just wanted to forget.

Callie's avoidance made Lena's heart quicken. "Yes, we do. I need to know what kind of punishment they need or if I need to get the cops involved or if…if I need to get you to a hospital to…collect evidence."

"They didn't…they didn't go that far. But I think they were going to." More tears erupted from Callie's eyes. The very thought shook her to her core.

Lena's face softened and she reached across to take Callie's trembling hand in hers. She was so grateful for walking in when she did, but she was horrified by what almost occurred in her own school. She was horrified that she had multiple students that were capable of this; that she was not aware of the severity of bullying and harassment occurring in her school. "How far did they go?"

Callie swallowed the bile rising in her throat. "Th-they touched me over my clothes and were trying to get them off. And they were trying to make me…t-touch them."

"Why are you bleeding and bruised?"

Callie wiped at her dampened cheeks again. "I don't know. I mean I was fighting against them and they were rough. I fell, I think."

"Maybe we should take a trip to the ER." Lena suggested but earned a head shake from the brunette.

"No, I'm fine." Callie said quickly. She hated the hospital; it brought back too many bad memories. "Can I just go get ready for my next class?"

"Callie, this is considered assault. I have to involve the police. And after everything is sorted out, I want you to go home. What happened would be traumatic to anyone, but I can't imagine how much it was for you after everything you've been through." Lena released her hold on Callie's hand to reach on her desk for her cell phone. "I'll call Mom, okay? She was home with Frankie today and taking a later shift. They're going to want to see the video evidence as well."

"No, please don't." Callie whispered as her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. She didn't want anyone seeing that, especially not Stef or Lena.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. But this will make things easier. They can't twist this around if it's all on video. But if I see anything in the video that suggests you may have gotten hurt, we're going to the hospital." Lena frowned as she stood with her cell phone in her hand. "I'm going to call Mom. Wait here."

Callie leaned back in the chair with defeat as Lena left the room. She just wanted to move on and now she was going to have to repeat what happened to multiple people. Callie inhaled shakily before a sob escaped her lips. The reality of what was going to occur in that locker room was hitting her hard.

She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands. The fear and anxiety swimming in the pit of her stomach failed to ease. Shame was brewing inside her. How did she end up in this situation again? Why was she the target of more abuse? What would people say when they found out? The school was sure to find out that something happened if the entire wrestling team was suspended or maybe even expelled. She could only imagine the wrestling team spreading lies about what actually happened in the locker room. The harassment and bullying would get worse.

Callie's chest tightened and her breath got caught in her throat as her thoughts spiraled. She clutched her chest and tried to slow her breathing. Lena would probably return soon and Callie didn't want to see her falling apart. She wiped at her dampened cheeks and inhaled shakily. Being alone with her thoughts was dangerous and she tried to distract herself. Singing a song in her head, counting, practicing breathing techniques were all failed attempts at distracting herself, of keeping the anxiety at bay. No matter how hard she tried, her mind couldn't seem to focus on anything but the events of the past half hour.

Thanks for reading! The next chapter should be up soon. I mean it this time-most of it is already edited. I hope everyone is staying safe and sane during this time! There's been a lot of hate out there (I'm a teacher and we've been getting bashed lately) and I just want to remind everyone that they are worth it. It may seem weird since I don't personally know any of you, but I am offering my ear to listen if anyone feels they need to talk about anything. Please stay safe, stay healthy, and spread kindness!