24

We survived. Hooray.

I mostly survived thanks to Tom. He sat next to me and whispered compliments in my ear, he told me jokes and even helped me with my Physics problems. I find it incredibly attractive how smart he is. I think it's one of my weaknesses.

Karen survived on her own, but she sometimes asked to hear Tom's jokes too.

After a kiss goodbye from Tom, Karen and I found Suzy and told her our news. She didn't react, but we decided to go and visit Sarah. Of course, Karen had to make a dramatic announcement.

"On Wednesday," she says. "We strike."

Suzy knocks on the door, then takes a step back. Soon, we can hear steps approaching from inside and suddenly the door opens. Standing in the doorway is a blonde woman, about forty-something years old. Her expression doesn't say much, but I notice that her eyes are a little red.

"Hello, Suzy," she greets. "I'm guessing you're here for Sarah?"

Suzy nods then points at Karen and me. "These are Emma and Karen. They are good friends with Sarah too. I hope it's okay."

"Actually," Sarah's mom says. "I'm not sure any of you should go upstairs. Sarah is in a really fragile state right now. It's been tough for all of us."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Figgs, but what happened?" I ask shyly. "We haven't heard anything, and we're worried about Sarah."

"How sweet," she says. "And please, call me Sophia. We're all worried about her." she takes a deep breath. "But okay. You can go upstairs to see her. Suzy, you know the way."

"Thanks, Sophia," Suzy says.

"Thank you," Karen and I say in unison as we walk in. I have to admit, I'm not really paying attention to the house. I'm more eager to see my friend.

Suzy stops in front of a closed door, and knock lightly. "Sarah? Are you there?"

No answer, but we hear something shifting.

"Sarah, please. Emma and Karen are here too. We're worried about you." Suzy says.

"Sarah, we're here for you," I add.

We here some more shifting, then the door click open. Behind the door is Sarah, but not the one that I know. Her eyes are sunken and tired. Her hair is frizzy and uncombed. Her makeup is smeared. Her clothes are baggy – Sarah would never wear something like that – and they look dirty. Even though she looks like shit, it's probably not a good idea to point it out. Fortunately, the others seem to have the same thought.

Suzy, without saying a word, rushes towards Sarah and hugs her tightly. "What's wrong?" Suzy asks.

Ignoring Suzy's question, Sarah says, "What's all this? Why are you here?" Her tone is friendly, but I think I can sense a little bit of resistance.

"You know why we're here," Karen says. "But we don't know why you're here."

Sarah seems to understand what we want. She sits on her bed, then covers her face with her hands. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Sarah, please," Suzy begs. "We didn't come here to cry with you. We came here to help you. Let us help you."

Sarah looks up at her best friends and sighs. "Okay, I'll tell you." she sits up straight as Karen, Suzy and I sit on the floor, ready to listen.

"Well, it started when I went on a date with… Liam." she seems to have trouble saying his name. Sarah looks at Karen and me, hoping for a reaction, but I tell her that we know already.

"We know that you went on a date. We know that while you were eating, you got a phone call. And we know that you acted differently after the call." I explain. "We talked to Liam on Monday, and he told us." At the mention of Liam, Sarah shudders.

"Okay… well, yeah. I got a phone call, but it was just my mother. At first she asked if everything was going okay, but then she told me the best news ever: we were going to the Caribbean in the summer. I've always wanted to go there; it was my dream vacation." she cracked a smile. "Anyway, when I got back to the table, we kept talking. He said I was acting differently? Yeah, I guess it was because of the good news: I was ecstatic."

"Liam then told us that after lunch you went home," I say.

Sarah scrunches her eyebrows. "No, that's not what happened," she says. "He invited me to his house. He told me he wanted to show me his vacation posters. He said…" she hesitates. "He said he went all over the world, and he bought a poster from every place. Stupidly, I believed him."

An idea starts to form in my mind, but it's surely not true. Something that bad couldn't be happening. Not again.

"So, we went to his home. He – he brought me to his room. Only later did I realize that he had locked the door." Tears are now streaming down Sarah's face. "He – he," she stammers between sobs. "He attacked me. He pinned me to the bed. I couldn't – I kept thinking, 'Not again, not again.' But he didn't stop." Sarah covers her face again. "He was almost about to… do it… when someone knocked at the door. The noise momentarily distracted him, so I was able to slip off from under him and run away." she's crying heavily now, and Suzy stands up to hug her again.

"Oh my god, Sarah," I say. "I'm so sorry." I stand up too and hug her. Shortly after, Karen joins us. And for what seems like an hour, we all stay there, enjoying each other's company in silence.

What happened to Sarah really angered me. She was one of my best friends, and I can't live knowing that the pervert that tried to rape is still around. Especially since that perv goes to our same school.

So, as soon as I get off the bus, I storm off towards a particular group of people. I spot Liam and without giving it a second thought, I approach him angrily. Without saying a word, I punch him right in the face, hitting his right eye.