Incest My Sister in Waterfall rewritten

[neerathemall]

2


I pulled food for lunch out of my backpack -- salami and tortillas, with some lettuce and cheese -- and passed some to Sara. We ate lunch together, slowly, admiring the scenery, saying nothing at first. Finally, I broke the silence.

"Are you looking forward to starting your sophomore year of college?" I asked her.

She didn't answer right away.

"I guess."

Her answer surprised me.

"Something wrong?"

She looked at me, a question obviously hanging over her. She seemed to wrestle with herself before replying.

"Christopher, why are guys such assholes?"

I didn't expect that answer.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Did something happen?"

"I'll tell you," she said. "But I don't want you to tell Mom and Dad. OK?"

"Sure, whatever," I said.

"I had something happen last semester," she said. "With a guy."

My skin grew cold. Alarm bells went off in my head.

"What do you mean, something happened? What is it, Sara?" She put her hand up.

"It's OK, now," she said. "I'm fine."

"What happened?" I asked again.

"There was this guy," she said. "He was a senior. We met through friends. At a party. I liked him, at first. He was cute, and smart. And he was funny. He invited me to watch a movie at his apartment. Then . . . he started rubbing my back. I didn't ask him to, and it felt . . . I don't know. Like he should have asked. I was uncomfortable. But I let him do it. Then, like, suddenly, he started kissing my neck. I tried to push him away, nicely. I said something like, 'Woah, I'm not ready for that.'.

"And then he changed. He said, like, 'I'll tell you when you're ready.' And he grabbed both my arms, hard, hurting me, and pushed me back on the sofa and got on top of me. He started grinding on me.

"I said, 'No!' several times. Louder each time. I think I almost screamed. But he stayed on top of me. He slapped me on the face. I was shocked, and so scared. Somehow, I kind of wiggled out from under him and I fell off the sofa and rolled on the floor. Then I looked up at him. I was terrified but I tried to look as mean as I could and I said, 'I said "No!"'"

I was shocked to hear Sara's story. I had no idea she'd gone through this and felt horrible for her.

"What happened then?" I asked.

"He looked at me, and he had this look on his face, like it was full of hate. Like he was a monster. And he said, 'What's wrong with you?'

"I said, 'What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I said, "No!"'

"He shook his head, like I'd said something stupid, and he said, 'Fucking bitch.'

"I ran out. I ran back to my dorm. I cried all night."

"Did you do anything about it?" I asked. "Tell the security officer? Report him to the university?"

"No, I didn't. Thought about it. I talked about it with some of my girlfriends. They've been great. They won't have anything to do with him. I haven't seen him since. But I didn't report him. I just wanted to forget about it."

"He shouldn't get away with that," I said. "What an asshole."

"No, he shouldn't," she said. "But I didn't have the heart to go through reporting him. He would have denied it. I had no proof. He's popular and well-liked. I just didn't want to go through it all."

"I understand," I said. "I'm so sorry, Sara. I had no idea."

"You'd be surprised how common it is, Christopher. I hear it from my friends all the time. There are a lot of asshole guys out there. They think they're entitled."

"I guess you're right. A lot of assholes."

She looked up from her feet at me, in my face.

"But not you," she said. "You're not an asshole."

"Well, I've never done anything like that. That's for sure. Never. We're not all like that."

"I know that. Sometimes it's hard to tell who the good ones are and who the assholes are. I haven't dated since that happened. Still trying to build up my trust again."

"So sorry, Sara. Really sorry."

"I know. Thanks."

We spent the rest of lunch in silence. I felt terrible for my sister, and I felt guilty, after listening to her ordeal, about having ogled her during the hike. That was the last thing she needed.