The day after, Jedda knocked at Sally Ann's door, carrying a bunch of flowers under each arm. A woman in her mid-forties opened the door.
"Hello", Jedda said. "I'm…"
"You're the friend who drove my daughter back home last night!" the woman said with a broad smile. "Thank god, I'm glad there are still people like you. Come, Sally is upstairs."
Jedda entered, went upstairs and knocked at Sally's door. Her room looked like a classical teenager's bedroom with clothes all over the floor and posters on the wall. Sally was sitting on the bed, wearing an old bathrobe. Her eyes were red with tears.
"Please, don't speak too loudly", she whispered. "My head hurts. Are these flowers for me?"
"Of course", Jedda said. "The red and white ones are from Rick, L.J. and me and the tiger lilies…"
"From Timmy", Sally Ann said.
"How did you guess?" Jedda asked.
"Well, he asked me out six months ago. I told him I wasn't interested. Then he sent me tiger lilies. Then he sent me more tiger lilies. And then he told me I had to give him a chance because he had sent me those flowers I hadn't asked for."
"I don't understand", Jedda said. "You can buy food, clothes and many other things but feelings cannot be sold or bought. Did he really believe he could buy your heart with those flowers?"
"Of course!" she said. "Boys don't understand these things. What happened last night? I don't remember everything."
"Sally, I'm sorry. Be strong. Timmy tried to assault you."
Sally Ann started weeping. Jedda dropped the flowers and embraced her. Sally was shaking and trying hard to utter a sentence. Her friend stroked her hair.
"It will be OK", she said. "Everyone saw what happened. It was his fault, not yours and anyway, he didn't… you know."
"Everyone will call me a whore, now", Sally stuttered. "I… I'm so stupid! Why did I drink?"
Jedda sighed. This was not going to be easy. What could she say?
"You know", she said slowly, "I went drunk once, too. It's a really, really bad memory. I shouldn't have done that and I shouldn't have put myself in danger that night. But everyone makes mistakes from time to time. They shouldn't call you a 'wall' or whatever this weird word means just because you made a mistake once, and Timmy shouldn't have taken advantage of it, anyway. HE was wrong: a real gentleman doesn't do that kind of things. You're a human being with feelings and rights, remember? Alcohol doesn't make you less of a human being."
"Jedda, please!" Sally Ann shrieked. "Do you really think a boy can keep calm and say "I'm fine" when a girl turns him down?"
"Of course. In Bengalla, we believe each soul has a special vibe. When a woman turns a man down, she just says their souls don't have similar vibes so they wouldn't be happy together. He accepts it and he starts searching for someone with a, well, more matching soul."
Sally looked at her friend incredulously and started laughing nervously.
"Then I want to live in Bengalla!" she said. "It sounds like the best place on Earth!"
"It is."
Sally Ann wiped a tear, bent down to grab the flowers and looked at them thoughtfully.
"You can tell your friends I love the flowers", she said. "White is my favorite color. On the other hand…"
An envelope fell from the tiger lilies and she didn't finish her sentence. Jedda grabbed the envelope and frowned.
"It seems that he sent us a letter", she said. "Would you like to read it?"
"No! You can read it if you want but I don't! I mean, not now. I'm not ready."
Jedda nodded, read the letter and frowned.
"He apologizes", she said.
"What?"
"He apologizes to the two of us. I don't understand."
"Is this letter really from Timmy Higgings?" Sally asked, puzzled.
"Is this his handwriting?"
Sally grabbed the letter and read.
"Dear Sally Ann and dear Jedda. I apologize to the two of you. I shouldn't have called you sluts and I shouldn't have tried to undress Sally. I drank too much and it made me act stupid. I'll never drink again. Now I hope you won't hold a grudge against me and you won't tell anybody. It's just a teenager thing, there's no need to tell adults about it. I'm sorry. Bye."
"That's so unlike him…" Sally said. "Do you think someone threatened him?"
"No. Just before I left someone mentioned my father in front of him and he calmed down. I think he's afraid of my father, that's all. This is sad as he seems to believe we're another man's property but on the other hand, he won't bother you again"
Sally wiped a tear. Maybe everything was going to go back to normal, after all.
"Thanks", she said. "You've been so nice with me! I'm sorry, you have to fight Ming the Merciless all the time and now there's that boy Timmy…"
"I never realized it before", Jedda said, "but there's one single thing I appreciate about Ming. At least he's honest about himself. He doesn't pretend to be a misunderstood victim. Are all boys in Central City like that Timmy?"
"Not all boys but… well…"
Sally started crying again and Jedda embraced her.
"Cry now", she said. "Tears clean the heart and make you feel better."
A few minutes passed and Sally eventually calmed down.
"I'm OK", she said. "Can you please leave now? I'd like to shower and do stuff, you see?"
"Of course. You know, maybe you should sue him."
Sally Ann laughed nervously.
"Sue him? Everyone will say I'm a gold-digger who makes false accusations to ruin the baseball captain's reputation! They'll call me 'slutty Ann' forever!"
"You have witnesses: Rick and me! We'll stand by you whatever happens!"
Sally wiped a tear. For once, it was a tear of joy.
"Thank you very much", she said. "But I don't feel strong enough to do that, you see?"
"I see. Just call me if you change your mind."
The girls hugged again and Jedda left. In her room, Sally was getting ready to shower.
The end.
Author's note: I know this is a very creepy fanfiction. Unfortunately, it was inspired by real-life events. In 2013, in Steubenbille, a rape survivor was actually blamed for ruining her rapists' reputation. In Canada, a girl call Rehtaeh was also raped and eventually committed suicide at 17, and people also blame her. R.I.P. Rehtaeh.