I Told Them, "Shut Up!"
Chantel's POV
He said he loved me.
A stupid grin etched across my face, nothing can bring me down from the high.
Not even Chase could stop me.
"What the fuck is this bitch smiling about?" Said one of Tasha's goons as they stopped in front of me, in the hallway.
I almost laughed. If only these bitches could find a man half that Sebastian was.
I sobered my face and moved close to the girl. Her blond hair was flat against her head, perfectly straight. Her face was layered with foundation and her lips glossed over with a piece of hair stuck to it. I saw her blue eyes slightly widen until they shifted to humour. This girl found the situation funny.
I inched closer to her and gave her the rudest glare I could muster. I slowed my breath and through gritted teeth, muttered, "I heard you're dating Josh Ewells."
Her brows furrowed together as she stepped back, crossing her arms. "Yeah," she huffed before smirking, "You're just pissed you can't have him."
I snorted. "Your man looks like a naked mole rat."
She recoiled in anger before moving to my face. "Bitch, I will knock your fu—"
I pushed her off of me. "Maybe you're only bitchy because he doesn't want you," I sneered before pointing behind her. She followed my finger, slowly turning around. There he was, Josh Ewells in all of his glory, making out with a brunette girl. In all honesty, they were going at it.
She screeched his name. He jumped off of the girl he was kissing and looked at his girlfriend.
"You fucking manwhore!"
"Baby, I can explain!"
I howled, tapping my fingers together. As a storm raged on behind me, I walked away, evilly cackling to myself.
***
I was still laughing when Sebastian joined me on my walk to class.
His lips titled up when he saw me. He draped his arm around me as he let a small chuckle out.
"What are you laughing about?" He asked, smiling. His eyes were sparkling. If I wasn't laughing, I would've kissed him right now.
"I think I caused a war back there. Josh's girlfriend came up to me and tried to bring me down. I didn't let that happen this time," I laughed.
He smiled, teeth and all. "That's my girl. I'm glad I don't have to intimidate girls anymore."
While blushing, I continued, "Basically, it so happened to be that when she bitched at me, Josh made out with another girl! Literally right behind his girlfriend!"
"I pointed behind and she caught him. She fucking screeched his name!" I snorted, wiping an imaginary tear from my eye. He slightly smiled before resuming to his bored expression and I couldn't care less. We all knew that Sebastian was a lovey dovey guy, all deep down.
I was riding on a high and from that point on, I was invincible.
***
I was catching up on months' work of homework in the library when Sebastian plopped down next to me. Gelled back hair and slightly drooped eyes, he looked stunning.
I bit down on my lips and casted my eyes back at my page. I literally need to stop lusting over this poor guy. He must feel so uncomfortable.
"Don't act like you didn't just check me out," Sebastian said, a cocky tone to his voice. I snorted, a smile tugging on the corners of my lips. Maybe he likes the attention.
I sobered my face and looked at him, eyebrows raised to mimic my lack of interest. "You sure I wasn't checking out good ol' Tim behind you?"
Sebastian played along as he turned around. Tim was sitting behind our table, minding his own business and listening to music. I envied how he was so oblivious to everything.
He turned back around, his azure eyes glistening. "Chanel, I am so hurt. I thought I had finally broke my way into the walls of your heart."
I chuckled, reaching out to his face. My heart beat hard against the wall of my chest. I love him so fucking much, with everything that he does.
"I love you so much, do you know that?" I whispered, my face moving closer to his. His small subtle grazed my lips as I moved my lips closer to his ear.
I felt his breath hitch in his throat and I moved close enough to the pinna of his ear. His cologne wafted its way up my nose and I closed my eyes, enjoying the scent of him.
"I love you in everything that you do. From the way that your shirt hugs the biceps of your arm to the way that your eyes turn to different shades of ocean turbulent." My hand snaked up his bicep, gently squeezing on the upper portion of where his arm met his shoulder.
I titled my head slightly, his eyes locking with him. It was too tense and it was too bad we were in a library. He nibbled on his bottom lip as his eyes danced from his eyes to my lips. It was taking every ounce of myself to not clutch his shirt and make out. It was too much for me to display PDA in public. I found it to be rude and disrespectful to others around us.
He seemed to mirror my thoughts because he started packing up my things for me. "Let's get out of here." He spoke with a raspy tone. Handing everything to me, I tucked my items in my bag before slinging it over my shoulder.
As we broke out of the library doors, Sebastian grabbed my hand in his and guided me through the stairs. I followed him suit, wondering why we were heading upstairs. Soon enough, after turning through a bunch of hallways, we stopped in front of a fire exit.
I tugged on his sleeve. "Sebastian, don't open it, the alarm will go off."
He chuckled and shook his head. "No it won't."
An urgent feeling found its way into my heart. "Seb, please."
He kissed me on the cheek and said, "It's broken, trust me, I would know!"
I bit down on my lip as he push on the door. Clenching my teeth, I expected the alarm to go off.
It didn't.
I breathed out a sigh of relief before feeling alarmed. That isn't safe at all.
Bright daylight entered my vision as we stepped out to the back yard. It was secluded and I haven't seen the area before. Must've been a secret exit. We were surrounded by fencing and it was quiet, meaning that no classes were around.
I looked at him, quietly laughing to myself. "I don't know if I should happy or worried that the alarm didn't go off."
He smiled at me, "the alarm hasn't been working since the 1800's."
I laughed, pulling him close to me.
He embraced me harder before stepping back slightly to lift my chin up, our lips meeting. As we drew back, he chuckled.
"What's so funny?" I asked, a small smile playing on my lips.
He smirked. "Don't you find it so weird how everything played out? We started out as two reclusive individuals and discovered our mutual hatred for Chase and then fell in love. Funny how fate works, huh?"
As I was going to kiss him once again, a loud commotion came from behind the door. Sebastian and I looked at each with panic as he grabbed my hand and pulled me down besides a dumpster with him. Just as I sat down, the door swung open. A familiar voice broke through.
"Come here babe, no one knows about this spot." He spoke, tugging some girl behind him. His familiar mop of blonde hair glistened in the sunlight as he slammed the girl against the wall, aggresively kissing her. She reciprocated his desperation, equally attacking his face. I turned to Sebastian in horror as he shook his head, telling me to not do anything rash.
Chase was kissing some freshman as their kiss developed into something more. I didn't want to witness this and I saw Sebastian growing weary too as he stared at me. His pained expression indicated that he was tempted him to stand up and knock out Chase.
I dreaded what would come next, but then the girl pulled from the kiss, breathing heavily.
"I'm not ready, I can't. I don't want to go any further than making out," she explained, rubbing her arm up and down.
Chase chuckled, groping her up. "Please Ella, you know you want this. You had no problem expressing your need for me over text." He moved in closer to her, tugging her shirt up.
Ella pushed him back, fixing her shirt in place. "I know and I'm sorry, I just don't think I am ready. This is happening too soon. I'm really sorry Chase."
I watched his smile morph from an smirk of enlightenment to an angry and monstrous gnarl. His lips curled back in disgust as he moved closer to Ella. My eyes welled up as I tried to get up but Sebastian held me down gently. He shook his head at me. 'Not yet,' he mouthed.
I bit down on my lip so hard, it started to bleed. I started scratching against Sebastian's arm as he painfully looked at me. "If he does it again, I'll tackle him." He whispered.
I turned around in horror, staring at Ella, who was reduced to a fragile little lamb. The big wolf maniacally took a step towards her, "You led me on, Ella. You told me you wanted to fuck."
Ella whimpered. "I said I'm sorry," she whispered, tears streaming down her face. Chase stalked towards her and I saw Sebastian's nose flare up. He shot up, tackling Chase from the side. The two wrestled on the ground, huffs and groans rising up. I grabbed Ella's hand and ran back into the building, zip lining into a random bathroom two floors down and then rushing into a handicap stall. I locked the door behind us, slamming my back against it as I wheezed. I looked at Ella, her broken tears streaming down her face as she shakily fixed her clothes.
"Are you okay?" I asked her. She looked at me and nodded her head, her lips trembling despite her devious body language. Seeing her look so fragile and broken triggered a pang in my heart, reminding me of the days where I was forced to swallow my suspicious feelings regarding that night with Chase and still kiss him on the lips. I think, in a way, I'm grateful that I lost some part of my consciousness that night. If I was fully sober and conscious, I don't think I would have been able to repair myself. I don't remember getting drunk but somehow, Chase found a way to intoxicate me... Another alternative is the power of the mind. Maybe I blocked the memories out due to the traumatic stress?
Once tears began to roll down Ella's cheeks, I snapped out of my dazed state and clutched her in my arms. I rubbed up and down her back as she let out broken sobs, her hands fisting around my shirt. I ignored it though, as nothing compares to what she just went through.
"This is all my fault," she whispered through her sobs. Outraged at the way Chase managed to manipulate the poor girl, I shook my head feverishly and pulled back, looking at her with a determined and stern face.
"Ella, you cannot think that way! Even if you told him you wanted to go far on text, you changing your mind is perfectly acceptable! Chase should've complied with your change of mind because in that moment, you did not want to have sex! There is nothing wrong with that! It is his fault! You did not lead him on, you did not play him, you did not do anything but try to create a line of boundary for yourself!" I pressed as I expressed each point significantly. I don't want her to be like me — not finding a way to stand up for myself and feeling like I had to accept my fate in order to move on.
But I wish someone told me it didn't need to be like that. I could've went to someone, told my parents, told the fucking police if I knew that I had the support I needed — if I had realized that it wasn't my FAULT. My pants, my shirt, what I wore... That doesn't matter. I wasn't all for him and he wasn't all for me, we had to know that we did not belong to each other but merely complimented each other. This is why consent is so fucking important.
If only I knew.
She nodded, slowly taking in my words. "What should I do?" She asked, her hands beginning to shake a little.
I offered her a small smile. "You don't need to be silent about what happened to you. You can start by telling someone you trust; like a trusted adult such as a teacher or a parent. You need to tell someone if you want help. If you decide to go to the police about this incident, you'll need evidence and you'll also want to hire a lawyer—"
"No! I am not going to report him! Anything but that! He'll kill me!" She screamed, scratching away at her arms. "Oh my God, he's everywhere, I can't get him off of me. He has touched all of me."
I tried to calm her down. "Ella, please calm down. Take it easy, he's not here. You're safe, he is not here."
As her breathing normalized, she looked up at me. Pain, disgust, and anguish. She was suffering, it was clear to see. Knowing you can but you can't. "I cannot tell anyone what happened, Chanel. He'll ruin me. He'll take away everything that matters to me and turn it into dust. Please, don't tell anyone what happened. I don't want him to be anywhere near me, even if it is in a courtroom."
"I won't tell a soul but Ella, you can prevent this from happening to others. I can be your witness—" I protested before being stopped again.
"Chanel, please, no more. Thank you for your help but I need to go home and figure myself out. I need to be left alone." Ella stressed, wiping away her tears as she unlocked the stall down. She gently and timidly walked down the bathroom and looked back before exiting, her eyes glistening. I watched her hair leave the view.
I know I was being selfish but I cannot help myself. I have seen it happen too often without any justice being served. How many times will this happen? How many times is this going to happen? How many broken girls before the next one is a rape victim?
Are there any rape victims of Chase? Has he ever made it that far without being uninterrupted?
Wiping away my own tears, vivid emotions overcame me. I charged to where we were before, my anger boiling. All feelings of sadness and hopelessness had melted away, anger clouding my vision. I busted the door open, spotting Sebastian crouching over Chase, punching his face. I grabbed Sebastian jacket and pushed him off, feeling the need for revenge.
The bitch was still conscious, his head turning to the side to spit out blood. He was cussing but I wasn't hearing what he was saying.
As he turned back to where Sebastian was, his eyes widen in humour, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Jealous, Chanel?" Chase asked, my stomach dropping. As bile rose up my throat, so did the anger. With rage, I drew my fist back and slammed it onto his cheek, him groaning in pain as I did this over and over again. Each time he tried to overpower me, I threw him back on the concrete, praying that the concrete would give him a concussion so intense that he slipped right into a fucking coma. I kept going and going. I didn't even realize that I was screaming stuff out loud, the months worth of anger morphing into an uglier me and coming out. I felt the body form, its bone made out of vicious memories of Chase tugging at my pants. Its skin being the words that I have ever felt, the tongue spewing these horrendous things right back at Chase. Serving justice.
"You fucking monster! You almost raped me! You almost broke me! YOU'RE FUCKING SICK!" I screamed, getting up and slamming my foot into his crotch area. He yelled in pain, clutching his groin area as I repeatedly kicked him all over.
I was absolutely livid. I was seeing red. I was breathing red. I felt like a bull, begin attracted to the red flag and charging at it.
"Why the fuck did you continue to bug her? SHE SAID NO! NO MEANS NO, YOU FUCKING RAPIST!" I cried from the top of my lungs. Sebastian stood and paced around, his body shaking, with anger I assumed.
"You hurt me," I whispered, kicking him one final time. Tired and overwhelmed, I collapsed on the ground besides Chase. He was rolling around in pain, Sebastian's previous pummelling leaving him immobile.
I grabbed his dirty blond mop of hair and tugged at his head, turning him so that he was facing me. His eyes were rolling back as he looked at my eyes, focusing on me.
"Why won't you stop?" I whispered, "Why didn't you stop when I said no?"
He laughed, then he laughed harder. Spitting blood out again, he sneered, "You led me on bitch. Earlier that night, you told me you wanted to fuck. You said you wanted me to fuck you hardddd."
I slammed his head on the ground. "No I didn't! I didn't say anything like that! Even if I did, it doesn't matter!"
He cackled. "Why don't you ask Sebastian what really happened that night."
I turned to look at Sebastian in horror as he stopped pacing around. He stood rigid and straight, slowly turning towards me.
His paled and pained expression was all I needed.
"What is he talking about Sebastian?" I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes.
"I can explain."