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The World as I Know It- Chapter 17
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Prose/Short Stories Chapter 17
Over the following months, we took it slow, at snail speed any other teenager would say. It would be three dates before we even full-on made out. Another three months before Chris got to second base.
But slowly and surely I began to trust again. By then I still had not told anyone what happened, but I was that much closer. One day four months into our relationship, Chris and I watched a movie where a girl was raped. It was powerful story of the crawl out of the pit of degradation. The film reminded me of all that I had overcome these last months. Look where I was now: in a healthy, happy relationship.
When the movie ended, I thought now would be my chance to open up and tell someone.
He gave me the perfect opportunity when he stated that he couldn’t imagine how horrible of a man someone had to be to do something like that to an innocent girl.
I responded that I knew such men. He was confused and aghast. He asked if I went to the police. I said no and that I hadn’t even so much as told someone...until now. He said he appreciated that I confided in him but that I needed to go to the authorities and have at least James arrested.
I asked him what if no one believed me. He said a girl like me would never make up that kind of story. It was a painful thing to talk about that only the coldest of woman would conjure up.
I said we would need to start small. Before I could tell perfect strangers I had to come clean to my parents. Which for all I knew might be harder than speaking to the police about it. They might fall apart just as I had and treat me like I was even more fragile than they already did. I didn’t want things to change. As much as I wished the rape never happened, now was too late to dwell on such thoughts because it occurred whether I liked it or not. I just didn’t want things to change with my family because we were making progress.
