Acting Out [Student/Teacher, GxG]

Go Big Or Go Home

I awoke with a start to the glare of the blinding mid-morning sun, and the space beside me was as empty as if I'd dreamed it all up. I turned onto my side, rubbing sleep from my eyes, and yawned. I still felt shaky and gross, but the improvement over the past 24 hours was like night and day.

I reached over to the nightstand and peeled off the pink sticky note that was stuck to the side of it, holding it up in an attempt to read it through my weary vision.

Hope you slept well, off to a meeting but I'll be back this afternoon. Text if you need anything while I'm gone. 

After stretching my stiff muscles, I climbed out of bed, rummaged through my suitcase for my toiletries and something to wear, and started on the journey of locating a bathroom. Following a few dead ends, I found what I was looking for. It was nothing fancy; no rainfall shower-head or built-in sauna, just a simple free-standing porcelain bathtub. I remembered then that there were probably several other bathrooms in the house, a couple of which were likely decked out with the latest innovations in bathing technology. I liked this one the best.

Letting my sore body soak in the hot water, I decided to play the dangerous game of using my phone in the bath. Unable to resist the temptation, I opened Google and typed in 'Steven Harris', bracing myself for what I was about to see.

I clicked on the first headline I saw, 'Media Mogul Steven Harris Found Guilty', and my breath hitched at the picture they'd used. It was Brielle, Claire, and I hugging outside the courthouse. You couldn't see our faces, just three girls with our arms around eachother, clinging to one another like we were the only people in the world. I stared at the photo for a few minutes, my eyes stinging as the emotions came flooding back.

Scrolling down, I read the first part of the article; "The latest victory in the Time's Up movement is one for twenty-three year old actress Brielle Kensington. The Los Angeles native, who rose to fame at just six years old on the Emmy award winning sitcom, 'The Stevensons' (2000-2008), made history once again yesterday morning after taking one of the most powerful men in Hollywood to court — and winning. Since her emotional victory, several other actresses and film professionals have already come forward publicly with their own experiences with Steven Harris, applauding the starlet for her bravery. 'I know in my heart that this wouldn't have stopped if Brielle hadn't done what she did. She saved a lot of people from a lot of pain. When I finally admitted what Steven Harris had done to me six years ago, everyone told me that he was too powerful; going after Steven was a death sentence. I'd lose. I'd ruin my career. I'm sure Brielle was told the exact same thing, and she did it anyway. If you ask me, that girl is a hero.' Claimed fellow actress Kim Sweeny.

After a trial featuring shocking testimonies from the Soft as Steel franchise's Claire Lane, and Steven's own daughter, former Los Angeles socialite Rowan Harris, Steven was charged with two accounts of rape and felony sexual battery, and sentenced to twelve years in federal prison. The three women were seen after the trial sharing a teary embrace, proving once again the beauty and power of women rallying together in support of one another. Rowan in particular is sure to have a long road ahead of her, beginning when she took the stand and shocked all present, speaking those three fateful words, 'I believe her.' Cathy Harris was unavailable for comment, but inside sources say she is now under criminal investigation herself for unrelated offences."

I stopped reading there, electing instead to check Instagram, nearly dropping my phone when I saw the thousands of new followers and messages that awaited me. I'd been tagged in that picture from the trial about a million times, and I couldn't help but stare in wide-eyed shock as I scrolled through. I didn't know how I felt about any of this; I was relieved to see that the vast majority of the posts were about Brielle, but there were a few pointing out the suitcases in the photo, clearly putting two and two together that I'd been disowned and offering me their support. It was shocking, to say the least.