Report him

Nadia

I excused myself from my friends to go to the washroom before lunch break came to an end. When I entered the washroom, Kaia appeared to be startled by sudden presence, considering how she quickly wiped away her tears.

I contemplated if I should ask what was wrong with her. I quickly finished my business in one of the stalls to still find her staring at herself in the mirror as the tap water kept running down the sink. Kaia appeared to be lost in thought.

"You okay?"

I asked, washing my hands under the running water.

"How's that any of your concern?"

"I just wanna make sure you're okay. You don't look that way."

Kaia scoffed, abruptly turning the tap closed. She turned to face me. "Who knew it'd take my tears for the mighty Nadia to finally have a decent conversation with me."

"Forget I asked." I decided to leave her be.

"He tried to touch me inappropriately."

I stopped in my tracks. I turned to face her. She wiped another tear from her face. He?

"Mr. Fitzgeraldd." She elaborated.

I closed the distance between us to comfort her in any way I could. "We need to report him."

"We?"

"Yes. I'll come with you to the principal's office."

"Wait. Who said anything about reporting this to the principal?"

"What? You've got to be joking. Perverts like Mr. Fitzgerald need to be dealt with right away when it comes to issues like this. Who knows how many victims he's done this to." I sighed, placing my hands on her shoulders. "You need to speak up, Kaia."

She swatted my hands away from her shoulders to glare at me.

"I didn't tell you about it so that I speak out. How will everyone look at me after that? Have you thought about that? No, I'm not going with you."

"Kaia."

"If I hear if this from anyone, then I'll know that it's you." She brushed past me, going to class, just as the bell chimed.

I could only sigh in defeat. How should I make her understand just how important it is to speak up about this. I speak from experience. We're the victims, so why should we hesitate to report those who make us uncomfortable in any way just because we don't want everyone to know we're victims?