me.”
She fell against my arm and I wrapped her into a hug while she cried into my shoulder.
“Why would people laugh at you, sweetie?”
“Because I did something stupid! There was a guy at the party. A guy I liked a lot. He’s a year older than me but I didn’t think it mattered since one of my friends is dating one of his friends. I thought we could go on double dates and stuff. At the party, he asked me to go upstairs with him where we could be alone.”
Instinct made me force her – carefully – away so I could see her better. “Did he hurt you?”
Kayla shook her head again. “No. No. He didn’t… he didn’t make me do anything. We were making out and he asked me if I’d-” she stopped, her cheeks colouring. “I can’t tell you. I’m such an idiot.”
I got the horrible feeling I knew where this was going and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear, but she was afraid. I needed to know why. And whether I needed to alert the police to keep her safe.
“Kayla, come on. I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”
She stood up and walked to her window seat where she picked up one of her cushions and hugged it to her chest.
She stared out of the window and I waited. Jesse was right to call me because Kayla did want to talk, but in her own time. I shuffled backwards on her bed, my back against the wall and my feet dangling over the edge. While I waited for her, my eyes drifted around the room. Above her desk she had a pin board crammed with brightly coloured post-it notes, letters and photos. Up in the top left corner I spotted a newspaper cutting of Jesse. A photo of him in a white football strip, the only word visible on the folded page was “Warriors”. The clipping had faded slightly, and I guessed it was the news report from when Jesse first got signed to Westberg. Sweet. Kayla would never have admitted it out loud, but that one item amongst all her other things showed her pride for her big brother.
“He put my hand down his pants,” Kayla said, making me snap my head towards her. “Damon. He put my hand down his pants and… I was sort of okay with that but then he asked me to… he wanted me to-”
“I get it,” I interrupted. “I won’t make you say it. Did you?”
“I didn’t know how.” Her forehead thudded against the window. “I get the theory and everything, but I didn’t want to do it wrong. He laughed at me. Called me a tease and a slut. I touched him a bit, that’s all! I didn’t really want anything more to happen. I was happy with kissing.”
A tease and a slut? Okay, that didn’t even make sense. I wriggled off the bed and stood beside her.
“What did he do next?”
“He said he couldn’t believe he’d wasted the evening on me and he thought I was a sure thing because of the way I dress. After he left I stayed in the bedroom for a while, feeling like a loser for not doing what he wanted and when I went back to the party, he’d obviously told his friends. They were all laughing and by the time I left, everyone knew how pathetic and inexperienced I am. I’m scared when I go back to school it won’t be over. Everyone will still be talking about me.”
Geez. It hadn’t been that long since I was in high school but things sure had changed. So many things troubled me about what Kayla told me. Some idiot boy judged her based on her appearance? What the hell was wrong with her clothes anyway? She wore jeans and tank tops most of the time. How was that an indication of how far she would go? And since when has any fifteen-year-old been an expert at giving head?
I knelt down so I was closer to eye level with her, even though she still wasn’t facing me.
“You know your clothes are no excuse for the way he treated you, right?”
She nodded.
“Kayla, you did the right thing by saying no to him.”
“I know but now everyone thinks I’m some kind of prude. I literally went from being one of the cool kids to being a nerd in one evening. My friends just joined in
She fell against my arm and I wrapped her into a hug while she cried into my shoulder.
“Why would people laugh at you, sweetie?”
“Because I did something stupid! There was a guy at the party. A guy I liked a lot. He’s a year older than me but I didn’t think it mattered since one of my friends is dating one of his friends. I thought we could go on double dates and stuff. At the party, he asked me to go upstairs with him where we could be alone.”
Instinct made me force her – carefully – away so I could see her better. “Did he hurt you?”
Kayla shook her head again. “No. No. He didn’t… he didn’t make me do anything. We were making out and he asked me if I’d-” she stopped, her cheeks colouring. “I can’t tell you. I’m such an idiot.”
I got the horrible feeling I knew where this was going and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear, but she was afraid. I needed to know why. And whether I needed to alert the police to keep her safe.
“Kayla, come on. I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”
She stood up and walked to her window seat where she picked up one of her cushions and hugged it to her chest.
She stared out of the window and I waited. Jesse was right to call me because Kayla did want to talk, but in her own time. I shuffled backwards on her bed, my back against the wall and my feet dangling over the edge. While I waited for her, my eyes drifted around the room. Above her desk she had a pin board crammed with brightly coloured post-it notes, letters and photos. Up in the top left corner I spotted a newspaper cutting of Jesse. A photo of him in a white football strip, the only word visible on the folded page was “Warriors”. The clipping had faded slightly, and I guessed it was the news report from when Jesse first got signed to Westberg. Sweet. Kayla would never have admitted it out loud, but that one item amongst all her other things showed her pride for her big brother.
“He put my hand down his pants,” Kayla said, making me snap my head towards her. “Damon. He put my hand down his pants and… I was sort of okay with that but then he asked me to… he wanted me to-”
“I get it,” I interrupted. “I won’t make you say it. Did you?”
“I didn’t know how.” Her forehead thudded against the window. “I get the theory and everything, but I didn’t want to do it wrong. He laughed at me. Called me a tease and a slut. I touched him a bit, that’s all! I didn’t really want anything more to happen. I was happy with kissing.”
A tease and a slut? Okay, that didn’t even make sense. I wriggled off the bed and stood beside her.
“What did he do next?”
“He said he couldn’t believe he’d wasted the evening on me and he thought I was a sure thing because of the way I dress. After he left I stayed in the bedroom for a while, feeling like a loser for not doing what he wanted and when I went back to the party, he’d obviously told his friends. They were all laughing and by the time I left, everyone knew how pathetic and inexperienced I am. I’m scared when I go back to school it won’t be over. Everyone will still be talking about me.”
Geez. It hadn’t been that long since I was in high school but things sure had changed. So many things troubled me about what Kayla told me. Some idiot boy judged her based on her appearance? What the hell was wrong with her clothes anyway? She wore jeans and tank tops most of the time. How was that an indication of how far she would go? And since when has any fifteen-year-old been an expert at giving head?
I knelt down so I was closer to eye level with her, even though she still wasn’t facing me.
“You know your clothes are no excuse for the way he treated you, right?”
She nodded.
“Kayla, you did the right thing by saying no to him.”
“I know but now everyone thinks I’m some kind of prude. I literally went from being one of the cool kids to being a nerd in one evening. My friends just joined in
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