⚠️Trigger Warning⚠️
Third Person POV
"Are you serious? That's ridiculous." Parker sighed after hearing all that went down yesterday.
They had just been informed that Derek King, the boy who tried to rape a girl, was expelled.
He hadn't been sent to prison like he should've, been, not even Juvenile detention. This didn't make Chandler or the other kids too happy.
"Well at least he's not a threat to that girl anymore, Jamie right? I hope she's doing okay." Zay said, trying to stay on the bright side.
"Yeah, me too." Chandler agreed.
"What we talking about?" Laura asked as she sat down next to Chandler.
"That Derek kid. The one that tried to...hurt that girl, Jamie." Parker said carefully. Laura nodded in understanding.
"Is he locked up?" She asked. Chandler scoffed.
"No. Why would he be? The law enforcement in Georgia is so screwed." He said, irritated.
Laura put her hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. He'll get his karma I'm sure." She said. Chandler sighed. He wanted to hurt people like Derek.
It scared him, he had never wanted to hurt someone before. "You alright, dude?" Parker asked, concerned for his friend.
"No. I'm not. People around here can go to prison for life if they rob a gas station but rapists aren't a big deal? It's stupid." Chandler said angrily.
Laura sighed. "It is. Not much we can do about it, though. The thing with murders and rapists is they're smarter, and don't do anything in front of any cameras. And their family will always deny any accusations like that, no matter the evidence. So they get petty charges like 'sexual misconduct'. It's hopeless. " She said.
Chandler scoffed.
"Yeah no matter how badly they've screwed up someone else's life." He mumbled, shaking his head.
"Well on the bright side, I found a really cool place we can turn into our hangout spot, if you guys want." Parker said, excitedly changing the subject.
"Okay. Where is it?" Autumn asked, eager to change the subject.
I found it the other day walking around the woods. If you walk deep enough, you'll find a lake. But it's like...it's a closed off lake with a dock and everything! Isn't it great?" Parker explained happily.
"Well yeah, sure but dude. A lake? It's January!" Zay pointed out.
"Well yeah, I know that but we don't have to swim right away, we can just...hang out until it's warm enough to go swimming, right?" Parker asked and everyone nodded.
They started talking about something else, Chandler stopped listening when he saw a poster across from the cafeteria that caught his eye. Well, truth be told, it was Jamie looking at the poster that caught his eye.
"Be right back." Chandler mumbled and went over to where Jamie was standing.
Once he got there he realized what the poster was.
"Call 1-800-656-4673 if you're a victim of sexual abuse or trauma. You are not alone."
There's that word that stung so badly again. Victim. Chandler looked over at Jamie, who was teary eyed and seemed to be in a gaze.
He grabbed a red sharpie from his pocket and put an ex over the word victim. Above it, he wrote, "Survivor". He didn't really care if he got caught.
Jamie looked at him and smiled, a tear running down her face.
"You know, I never thanked you. For saving me." She said and wiped the tear off her cheek.
"You don't have to." Chandler replied. She thought for a moment. "What made you do it? What made you step in?" She asked.
Chandler thought before answering.
"Because if I didn't, who else would've? B-before I don't know if I would've thought twice about the sounds coming from the bathroom. I don't think anyone would've unless they've lived it." He started.
"A-and people who've lived it don't want other people to live it. So now that you've lived it, I hope you'll be able to help someone before it gets that far." He finished.
Jamie smiled sadly and nodded.
"I never really thought it happened to boys." She admitted.
"Me neither." Chandler admitted back. They sat in silence for a little while, until Chandler broke it. "Watch out, okay? There are more people like Derek, and even worse than just him. Be careful, alright?" He warned. Jamie nodded.
"Thank you." She smiled and went back to her table.
{Fourth Period}
Chandler was sitting in Mr. Addams' office, telling him about how his Christmas break went and asking Mr. Addams how his went.
Mr. Addams let Chandler ramble on, talking with him and answering his questions. Mr. Addams noticed that he seemed a lot happier, probably the most he's ever seen him.
He was being a kid.
For a second Chandler stopped rambling and sighed.
"S-sorry. I didn't mean to talk so much." Chandler apologized sheepishly.
"Don't apologize, kid. It's good to hear you sounding so...happy. It's the way that it should be." Mr. Addams smiles.
Chandler grinned and nodded.
"I think Jamie's doing better. I think you should talk to her." Chandler changed the subject.
"Her homeroom is at the beginning of the day. I do talk to her, but right now I'm talking to you. Are you doing better?" Mr. Addams asked.
Chandler thought about that for a moment. Was he doing better? He still has dreams about Keith, but other than that he seems better.
He's taking his anxiety medicine and his ADHD pill and he's okay for the most part.
He can heal from what he's been through.
"I am. I really am." Chandler smiled. "That's good to hear. Now all you've gotta do is control that temper of yours, don't you think?" Mr. Addams suggested.
Chandler sighed. "Yeah, I know I do. But when I see someone get hurt...t-the same way I've been hurt before it's really hard. It scares me because what if something like that happens to someone I care about? I don't want to hurt people..." He explained.
"I know you don't. And you've gotta try to remember that you don't like hurting people. And you gotta remember how bad you feel afterwards. That's not you, you're a good kid. Remember that." Mr. Addams told him.
"Am I though? I've gotten into so many fights a-and...I don't know. It doesn't feel like I'm a good kid anymore." Chandler shrugged.
"But you are. You've got a heart of gold, and you've experienced pain that no other person should. Which means maybe, the people who hurt you, are also hurting. It's not an excuse, but it's something to think about." Mr. Addams explained.
Chandler hesitated before replying. "I-I know we aren't really supposed to talk about it b-but...you know the man who came here with a gun? A-and took me and Laura?" He asked quietly. Mr. Addams nodded.
"What about him?" He asked.
Chandler sighed. "H-his name's K-Keith. And he's the one who hurt me like Derek tried to hurt Jamie." He started, talking just above a whisper. This is the first time he's really talked about what happened.
Everyone else already seemed to know what Keith did before Chandler really understood.
Mr. Addams looked at him sympathetically and nodded, encouraging him to continue.
"B-but he actually um...n-no one was there to s-stop him. A-anyways..." Chandler wiped his face.
"D-do you think someone hurt him when he was a kid?" Chandler finally asked. Mr. Addams thought for a while.
"I think it's very likely. Maybe when he was a kid he was also sexually abused, or maybe not. Some people are just monsters." He answered. Chandler winced when he said, 'sexually abused', because he hated the fact that's what happened to him.
He didn't have time to respond because the bell rang, cutting off his thoughts.
"Hey, it'll get better, okay?" Mr. Addams said to Chandler on his way out.
Chandler smiled. "Don't worry, Mr. Addams. It already is."
A/N: Hi, hello, sorry this was kinda bad butttt I wanna talk about something serious.
If you, or someone you know is suffering from any kind of abuse, sexual, physical or psychological please talk to someone, an adult or maybe even just a friend.
That's the real sexual abuse hotline number, maybe you can give them a call. Thank you for reading and please stay safe.