and the story continues....

My name is Melinda Sordino and I have just finished my freshman year in high school. I was raped and I survived. My rapist Andy Evans was caught and sent away to prison for a very long time. My parents were very understanding about it all. We all started bonding again like we used to when I was young. For the first time in a long time we all felt like a family. The summer was almost over and I was about to start my sophomore year in high school. One thing was for sure this year was going to be a lot better than my freshman year. I had already called Rachel and we were going to go out together to talk and catch up on what we had missed out. Rachel Bruin and I used to be best friends until the incident split us apart. She ended up going out with my rapist Andy Evans. He was eventually going to get her but I opened my mouth and she confronted him about it. I am so glad that I did that. It eventually led to him coming to me and along with the tennis team we caught him and now he is going to prison for a very long. So I went to hang out with Rachel, we talked a lot like we used to. I had a feeling we were going to be very good friends just like we used to be in middle school. She said “I am so sorry Melinda! I should’ve asked you what had happened.” I accepted her apology. Once school started I took the same old bus ride I had taken last year. This time however I felt happy and excited to be going to school. This year I was not going to be a total outcast. I was not hated by everyone in the school. It was kind of awkward that the whole school knew what had happened but it beat having everyone in school hate your guts. Some people even admired me and called me brave for living what I lived through. There was one person in particular that I wanted to see, that person was David Petrakis. He was the smartest kid in the school but still very likable. I liked him a lot, I admired him a lot, and I thought he was kind of cute. I hoped that I would run into him. In school I saw Heather, she gave me a dirty look. Last year she had used me but I finally stood up for myself and told her no. She got kicked out of the Marthas because of me. Oh well, not my problem. I couldn’t expect everybody in the school to like me anyways. All of my old friends were talking to me again but the damage from last year was still here. They all had grown apart and they all hung out in different groups. It was a bittersweet situation we were in. We would always be friends but we had grown apart. I did not want to join any other group I wanted to go back with my friends. I did not fit in with the foreign students, I did not fit in with the jocks so I decided I would hang out with Ivy and the art students. It was awkward so I decided to leave. Ivy came with me though and so did Rachel who said that the foreign students brought back too many memories. Even Nicole came over to hang out. It was just like old times and nothing could make me happier. Eventually we all had to go to class so we all went our separate ways. I went to my first class which was chemistry and guess who I found there? I found David Petrakis. I went over and sat right next to him and smiled. I said “hello David.” He smiled and said “hi” back. I was so happy to be sitting next to him. He had no idea how much he had helped me out last year. He had helped me out with Mr. Neck, our ninth grade history. Mr. Neck had forced me to give an oral presentation and David Petrakis helped me get out of doing it. Unfortunately I got a bad grade but still. The best advice he gave me is to let my voice come out so that I could defend myself. I eventually did. And so it started, my sophomore year in high school had officially begun. Classes were boring but when aren’t they? Slowly but surely our clan the “Plain Janes” was starting to get back together just like in the good days. David Petrakis or Dave as he told me I could call him kept on talking to each other in chemistry. We were lab buddies so there was a lot of time to talk. He was surprised by how much I would talk now. During my freshman year I never said anything to anyone but I had regained my voice and nothing made me happier. One day me and David were walking home together and all of a sudden he got closer to me. I started feeling nervous. He put one hand on me and I saw he was going to kiss me. I could not control myself and I screamed of fear. I screamed “No!” and ran away home. I was so embarrassed. I just realized how horrible this was. The boy I liked so much was about to give me a kiss and I had messed it all up because of something horrible that had happened to me. I started crying and my mom came into my room. She was surprisingly not at work and she came on over and asked what was wrong. Before I could answer her phone started ringing and I thought oh great so much for having a quality conversation with my mom. She got out her phone but did not answer it. ‘This is a lot more important,” she told me. I told her about what I had done. She told me it was normal for me to be like this because of what had happened to me. She said I had to calm down and apologize to David for what had happened. I was so happy that my mom was actually talking to me and giving me advice. She was actually trying to be a good mom. I felt so happy. I immediately went to the phone and called David and I started to apologize. He said that it was okay and that I did not have to worry about anything at all. He was so nice and understanding to me. I felt so lucky to be his friend. He said that if I wanted to we could hang out at the park on Saturday. So I told him, “sure.” So on Saturday I ran all the way. I gave him a big hug and kissed him and he kissed me back and I said, “ the past is in the past and I have to live in the present. And I want you in my future.” The End.