Penny and I are out with his friends, Scott Michaels, Dylan Shaffer, Shane Richardson as well as a few other girls from our hall. I am pretty sure no one actually remembers it’s my birthday except Penny, but that doesn’t bother me. I don’t like drawing attention to myself so it’s easier and the crazy train of college drunks don’t get too riled up.
“Do another shot with me,” Penny says before poking her bottom lip out and making whiney puppy dog noises.
“Girl,” I laugh.
“Please,” she says with her dramatically fake pouty face.
“Fine,” I say. “One more and I’m going back, okay?”
“Yay!” she says, bouncing in place. When she does this it makes her tits jiggle, and her poor dress is hanging on for dear life.
“Let me go to the little girls' room really quick and I’ll be back,” I stand from our table.
“Come back quick, lover,” she says as she blows me a kiss. I laugh and shake my head at her before turning and going to the bathroom in the far back corner of the bar.
When I get done, I wash my hands and walk out of the bathroom. A hand grabs around my bicep and pulls me off to the side, out of view from the bar’s patrons. “Hey,” Penny’s boyfriend, Grant, says. “Can we talk?”
“Right now?” I ask. “What’s up?” I have a problem with telling people no, but I don’t like upsetting people. Nothing good can come from Penny catching me alone in a corner with her boyfriend holding my arm.
“I can’t help but notice how you’ve been looking at me lately,” he says.
“What?” I laugh. He frowns slightly and I realize he’s serious.
“Let me take you back to my place,” he says, stepping closer. “Just tell Penny you went home with some rando, and I’ll tell her I’m with the guys.”
“Are you serious?” I ask, appalled at what he is suggesting. “Grant, you are dating my friend. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression and I am flattered, but I am not interested in you.”
“Come on now, you’ve been a tease all night with that slutty little dress of yours,” he says. Something about how he is looking at me raises a red flag. I don’t recognize this look, but it makes me uncomfortable, nonetheless.
“Let go of me,” I say firmly as I try to pull my arm away. He grabs my waist and I shove him away from me. “Stop it, Grant. Just stop.”
“You don’t have to be a bitch about it, Bekah,” he says as if it’s my fault.
“Look, I am going to go back to my dorm, and you are going to go back to your girlfriend. Just stay the fuck away from me and I won’t tell Penny that you tried to come onto me, kay?” I say with sass in my tone. Grant is visibly mad. I didn’t mean to be so harsh, but can he not just take a hint the first ten fucking times I say no? When he doesn’t say anything, I turn on my heels and run straight into Keith. He looks like a deer caught in headlights and says nothing.
“Sorry,” I mutter, getting away from Grant before he decides he’s not done “just talking” to me.
The cool spring air calms me when I step out of the bar and I’m finally alone. I’m looking at my phone and all of the wait times are almost an hour to get back to the dorm. It's only a mile, if I cut through the park. It’s so early in the night that I shouldn’t run into anyone on my walk, so I decide to not wait for a rideshare.
Once I get to the east side of the park, I step off the side walk to get on the walking trail. It goes around the park, so luckily, I don’t have to walk through the wooded area. I’ll get off the trail at the other side of the park and it’s a straight shot to my dorm building.
I take off my heels and carry them as I walk along the paved path. It is peaceful out here at night. You can hear all of the crickets and a few toads. My footsteps are hardly audible as I pad along. I amtaking my time because it’s such a nice night. I like to come to this park in the afternoons when I am free to study.
I’m next to the picnic table I always sit at when I hear a noise behind me. It sounds like a shoe scuffing along the asphalt and every red flag and alarm bell starts screaming in my head. I go to turn but I don’t get a chance to when someone grabs the back of my neck and shoves me toward the table. I scream and drop my shoes before I try to thrash out of their hold on me.
“Let go of me!” I shout at them. They yank my dress up and the realization of my impending rape is like a punch to the face. “Help! Someone help me!”
More hands are on me as my arms are forced behind my back and based on the buckle I just heard, it’s a belt that they bind my wrists with. Something is pulled over my head, like a large beanie hat, and I can’t see anything now. I continue to scream and fight them, trying to get free. I try to swing my leg back to kick them, but I miss. They grab my thong and rip it off of me before someone puts their hand between my shoulder blades to pin me to the table. I can’t tell how many people are here, but I’m trying to absorb every detail I can while fighting with my brain to not completely shut down. There are at least three, but their noises are surrounding me.
I am sobbing as I hear a wrapper get torn open. When someone grabs my hips, I instantly fall into hysterics. “Stop! Please stop. Please don’t do this,” I beg loudly. My pleas fall on deaf ears and he moves me up on the table so that my feet are now dangling.
“Ow. Stop. Please stop. Please stop. please stop,” I beg over and over again. The more I beg for mercy, the harder he forcefullyfucks me. Pain is radiating though me and all I can do is scream as they pound into my unwilling body. I can’t form any words. I can hardly breathe from how hard I am crying by the time the man grunts as he comes.
For a moment, I think it’s over. I think that they got what they wanted, and they will go away, but more hands grab me, and these are bigger. Their hands are rougher feeling as he spreads my ass and spits on me.
“Please don’t,” I whimper helplessly. “God, make it stop.” I have resorted to outwardly praying as I hear another wrapper, followed by the man slowly forcing his way into my ass. “God, please. Make it stop. Please, make it stop. I won’t tell anyone... just please stop.”
The man ignores my pleas as he starts to move faster and faster. My brain has had enough, and I can feel the moment I start to shut down. My body goes numb as I start to feel detached from what is happening. I know it’s happening to me, but it all disappears at the same time. I stop fighting and begging for mercy. My voice is strained, and my body is weak as the man pulls out of me. I am completely limp as I am repositioned so that I am straddling someone.