He came back with snacks and soda for us, closing his room back. I thought nothing of it because this was Tony, my boyfriend. The boy who had been nothing but kind to me for months. I had no reason to think anything of him closing the door because we were studying and having snacks.

Tony started out on his computer chair, and then he moved toward the bed. We started making out, something we’ve done plenty of times. His hands would roam my body, and I never minded.

It made me feel good.

He continued to kiss me while his hands went up my skirt, and I removed his hand. His hand was right on the edge of my panties, and I wasn’t ready for that. I remember him sucking his teeth and becoming irritated while pushing my hand on his dick, showing me that I got him all worked up.

The knock at the door saved me, or so I thought. His older brother popped his head in and smiled when he saw me. He, too, closed the door behind him and my chest was slamming against the inside of my chest. Why were they staring at me like rabid dogs wanting to rip me apart?

Tony and his brother sexually assaulted me that afternoon. Had it not been for their mother coming home and singing their names, it would have gone further. What made things worse is when his mother found me in the room with him and his brother, she treated me like a whore.

Told me that I shouldn’t have been anywhere with two boys. Acted like her boys were innocent angels and I was the harlot that tried to take advantage of them, when they took advantage of me.

Tony held me down while his brother rubbed between my legs and licked my nipples. I had tears in my eyes, my eyes were red, and my clothes were disheveled, and she blamed me and put me out of their house.

I remember riding the train home feeling so violated and sad. My mom knew something was wrong with me, still, I never told her what was wrong. The next day Tony roped his arm around me while I headed to second period and told me that if I told anybody what happened, I would look like the fat whore, and he would tell everyone that I fucked him and his brother at the same time.

It was already hard being the Black girl who wasn’t Black enough because I was different. Then, I was too Black for the White girls. Hell, even the Asians, though a few, didn’t even want to hang with me.

I spent the majority of my time trying to blend in so I could graduate and never look back at high school again. Since then, I never spoke about what happened to anyone except Priscilla. I protected my heart and my virginity like it was a blood diamond. In my eyes, men sucked, and no one deserved to have me in that way.

“You excited to meet Zay?”

Cornell’s voice brought me back to reality. “Yes… I love his music.”

He nodded his head, and his hand found its way onto my lap.

It’s alright, Stevie. It’s a hand on the lap, relax, I reminded myself as I continued to enjoy the ride to the arena.

“My sister and her friends got a suite, so we gonna hang with them for a bit, and then we’re going to see about going backstage.”

I wanted to correct hissee, because last we spoke, he said we were going to be backstage. Zay was one of my favorite rappers, and I wanted to meet him.

He was so humble and talented that it didn’t make sense how much of God’s favorite he was. On top of being humbled, and talented, he was fine. My mom always said it was dangerous when a man knew he was fine, too. Zay knew he was fine.

“Sounds great.”

He smiled at me, and I continued to enjoy the ride while anticipating meeting his sister and her friends. Women, even grown women, could be so catty and still hold onto that mean girl behavior.

It was harder meeting friends as an adult than a child. At least you had crayons and your favorite cartoon to bond over. As an adult, making friends was hard, and made you want to be alone forever.

The minute I mentioned I watched Anime, or made a reference to it, they gave that signature awkward eye roll and politely dismissed me. It was the reason that me and Priscilla became friends.

She didn’t treat me like that. Sure, she said I was different, but she also said she liked it because people often got boring, and I bought some fun into her life.

We went through the back entrance of the arena and through security. Bypassing all the suites, I had the urge to pop my head into one suite when I saw Berkeley talking to a man.

I loved her celebrity vlog and kept up with it often. She was talented because one second, she could report on celebrity news, then the next she was into politics, and then world news. Her pen was multifaceted, and it was amazing. She captured the news in a way that made you care about it, especially when most people hated to read the boring stuff within the media. Not since everything happened with Vincent Morgan, the man that was running for mayor.

“Sasha, what up?” Cornell said as we entered the suite.

A short light skin woman turned around and smiled, rushing into Cornell’s arms. “I didn’t think you would come… you know since you traveling the world with Zay.”

“I make time for you anytime.” He kissed her cheek, and she looked over at me with a warm smile. “This is my friend, Stevie.”

She extended her hand. “Hey Stevie, help yourself to anything you want… the show is about to start soon.”

“Nice to meet you, Sasha. Thanks so much,” I bit the inside of my cheek, hoping I didn’t sound too corny.