Alex sat Indian style on the bed flipping thru a magazine when Nick came out of the bathroom, “So, did you have fun today?” he laid down across the bed on his back and looked at her
“Yeah, I guess.” She answered
“That’s good, I was hoping you would.”
She smiled and Nick pulled her over beside him. He kissed her, and she giggled. Nick pulled her closer and kissed her deeper and then pulled away. He got off the bed and walked over to the window. Alex sighed, “I’m sorry.”
Nick didn’t say anything for a minute, “it’s not your fault.”
Alex sighed, “You know it is.” She answered crawling underneath the covers.
“Lex, can I asked you what happened? I mean, you told me before that something happened, but you didn’t ever tell me what.”
Alex looked off into space for a minute before setting back up against the headboard, “Well, now is as good of time as any.” Nick didn’t say anything and didn’t move but just looked at her. Alex looked down at the ground and began her story, “I was 16 and had been asked to the Senior Prom by one of the guys on the team, his name was Randy, and he was Colby’s cousin. I went with him, mostly as friends. We had a lot of fun and I met several of his friends. They had a party upstairs and we went. We hadn’t been there for an hour when Randy was drunk. He started drooling all over me and was trying to get me to go to a room with him. I refused and told him he was drunk and that I would go home with Colby. He got mad and told on of his friends. Basically everyone in the room was drunk. Randy was a really big guy and it didn’t take much effort for him to drag me into one of the rooms. He told me to take my dress off, and I refused. He started knocking me around. I knew that I had gotten in way over my head and that I was going to be raped. One of Randy’s friends came in and they had me pinned down on the bed. The ripped my dress and kept calling me names. Before they could go any further Colby came in. He had been trying to find me. He started screaming at Randy and his friend, they got in a fight, but Randy was so drunk he collapsed. Colby took me home right away. The next week I ran into Randy, he apologized for what had happened and told me he would have never done it if he had been thinking straight. I told him it was okay, but Colby never allowed him near me again. Colby and I have been really good friends ever since.” Alex’s voice grew quieter and quieter as she told the story, she had never told anyone about that night, neither had Colby. Her parents didn’t even know what happened. It felt strange to tell somebody, but now she knew that chapter of her life was over. She finally looked up at Nick, he was looking out the window. “I’m going to sleep…” Alex trailed off
“You can turn the light off you want, I just need to think for a little bit.” Nick said softly.
“Okay.” Alex turned her light off, but left his on. She turned over and closed her eyes, it still hurt, even though it had been 3 years, it still hurt. A tear escaped down her cheek as sleep overcame her.
Nick stared out the window for the longest time. He didn’t know what to say, or what to think. How anyone could do that drunk or sober was beyond him. It made him mad that he couldn’t do anything about it, but now he understood. He turned to find Alex asleep. He sighed and went and sat on the edge of her bed, he pushed a strand of hair out of her face and just stared at her. How someone as wonderful as she was loved him was beyond his thinking. He lay down next to her and pulled her close, he reached over and turned off the lights. Tonight, he just needed to hold her.
