The Girl Across the Street

The Girl Across the Street 19

            Once we pass a classroom or two, Emma lets go of my one arm but Kate remains clutching my left arm. As we get farther away from him, my body relaxes more and I unclench my fists, opening and closing my hands a few times to regain the full feeling in my hands.

            "Who was that?" Emma whispers.

            Kate responds quietly, shocking me. "He's a scumbag senior that I slept with over the summer." Her squeezes my hand quickly before continuing. She knows I have this story more than anything. "Dylan was away with his family and I was invited to a going-away party for one of this year's would-be seniors. I didn't want to go at first, but Dylan knew I had been good friends with the girl so he told me to go on without him." She hesitates and glances at me. My shoulders are tense again and I'm walking straight without looking for her. "So I went to the party and I had a couple of beers, nothing too bad. I didn't want to get wasted because I was going to the beach with my family the next day. Then Greg comes over to me while I'm standing in the kitchen, looking for something healthier than chips to eat.

            "I'm sure you noticed, he is obviously an attractive guy, especially when you're a little drunk and he's older than you are. So he starts to talk to me and gradually leads me closer to the keg. He pours himself another cup of beer score taking my almost empty cup and filling it almost to the top. He talks to me for a long time. I can't really remember just how long, all I remember is the he kept filling my cup. Even when I out it down to stop myself from drinking, he filled it and handed it back to me." She stops for a moment but keeps walking slowly down the hall beside me. "Somehow, we ended up on the second floor, outside of a bedroom. Greg suggested we go in, it would be easier to talk, you know? So I followed him. At this point I was pretty drunk so my decision-making skills are way out of tune. I followed him in and we sat in the bed. At first we did talk, but then, all of the sudden, he kissed me hard and sloppily."

            I tense up, hating that I have to hear this story again. When Kate told me the first time, I was ready to rip off his head. He purposely got my girlfriend drunk, knowing full well that she was my girlfriend, and coerced her into a bedroom with him.

            "Basically after that, we made out, then he undressed himself, then me and we... we had sex." Kate's voice lowers to a barely audible whisper by the end of her story and I hear a small sniffle. She looks up and continues her story, talking to me. "It was the dumbest thing I ever let happen in my entire life. My worst and biggest mistake and I regret it every second."

            I nod stiffly, acknowledging her words. She once again directs the conclusion of her story to Emma. "Since, I hadn't had more than one cup at a party and while dating someone, I have not attended a party without them. I never want anything like that to ever happen again."

            Emma nods gently, taking in all of the information just thrown at her. "So you were dating Dylan at the time. Greg got you drunk so you would sleep with him, so that's why Dylan hates him so much, right?"

            I nod and add, "Kate isn't the first girl he's done it to, nor the last. He doesn't care who she is or who she's dating, if there's a pretty girl he can get drunk, he will and he does and he takes full advantage of it. And it makes me so mad I could just-"

            Kate tightens her hold on me again. "Dylan, calm down. She gets the point."

            "And what happened with Will? Wait, who is Will?" Emma asks, totally confused.

            "Will is my mom's roommate's son. He's the goalie of the varsity soccer team and he's the one that had gotten into the car accident. His family is like my second family." I explain. "When he found out about Greg and Kate, he went after Greg. Greg ended up with a broken nose, two black eyes and a bone bruise in his arm. It could have been worse, but Will knew it really wasn't his fight so he didn't let it get too personal."

            "Wow, what happened to Will?" Emma asks quietly, wide eyed.

            "He was basically fine. A bruise on his cheek but Greg hardly got a punch in edgewise. Plus, Greg really isn't a good fighter so he really had no chance against Will, who had been consistently getting into fights since his parents got divorced when he was in seventh grade."

            Emma nods softly and processes all of the information. "So Greg obviously wasn't happy about it." I shake my head. "But he never went after you?"

            "Nope. He knew that Will would back me up if he tried to come after me and if Will could do that much damage on his own, Greg didn't find out what I could do if I helped."

            "What would you do?" Her question surprises me. Usually, when people tell that story, why Will beat Greg up, they don't ask how I would have done in the fight. I guess they just know.

            I shrug. "I mean, I'm not a great fighter. I can hold my own, but I couldn't do the damage that Will could do." Emma nods but doesn't ask any more questions. We've been standing outside the lunchroom for quite a while now and we enter together. Emma starts to break off to where she usually sits, but I stop her. "Do you want to come sit with us?"