“Hey, Rach, wait up,” Chris said, running after her. “I’m really sorry about him. I told you, he’s kind of a sleaze-bag.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, trying hard not to cry as it all rushed back to her. That night had been a total mistake. It was the cause of everything awful that had happened this year. She hadn’t meant to make him think she was ok with going that far. She’d only flirted just like every other girl did. But then it got a little too serious. When they went upstairs all she’d wanted to do was make out with her boyfriend…and she’d thought he understood that.

But once they got upstairs, he’d started moving too fast. She didn’t know what to do, so she just went along with it, till he started taking off her pants. Then she knew it was serious.

She tried to talk to him, tried to be calm about it. She knew she’d said no, more than once. But when he wouldn’t stop, she started kicking him. It was the only thing that made him stop. But it was also the thing that made her next year hell.