Page 171 of Choosing You

“Don’t fight it, bitch,” Blake says. “You know you want this.”

I try to wiggle my leg free to knee him. It makes him stop grinding for a second, but I still can’t get my leg out from under him. He’s so heavy. I try to bite his hand but he moves it just enough that I can’t get it. I finally just head butt him, which bumps his hand off my mouth long enough for me to scream louder than I’ve ever screamed in my life.

“Jade!” The door bursts open and the light turns on.

I feel Blake being yanked off me. Within seconds blood spatters my wall. Garret is beating Blake repeatedly. I’m assuming the blood on my wall is from Blake’s nose but I really don’t know. Blake tries to fight back but Garret is much stronger and a thousand times more angry. He hits him once more and Blake’s head slams into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Blake is covered in blood. His face is a mess and I’m sure every part of his body is bruised.

Garret races over to me. “Jade, are you okay?”

I hear people running down the hall so I hurry over and grab my jeans and a sweatshirt and put them on. My door is still open and I look up to see Jasmine, my RA, standing there, a look of shock and horror on her face as she takes in the bloody scene. Girls from my floor start to gather around her.

“He was attacking her, Jaz!” Garret says, seeing her reaction.

“I know, Garret. But I have to call it in.” She says it like she feels bad for doing so. Like she thinks telling the police will get Garret in trouble, which doesn’t make sense. Blake’s the one who caused this.

Jasmine gets out her phone and goes in the hallway. The other girls follow, whispering to each other.

Garret’s hands and shirt are spattered with blood and his eye is starting to swell where Blake hit him. He puts his arms around me and holds me tighter than he’s ever held me before.

“Please tell me you’re okay,” he says quietly. “Tell me he didn’t hurt you.”

“I’m okay,” I say, burying my face in his chest.

Within minutes, we hear sirens. An ambulance takes Blake away just as the police come into my room. Before I can even explain what happened, an officer comes up to Garret and cuffs his wrists.

“Garret Kensington, you’re under arrest for the assault of Blake Edwards, the third. . .”

The officer keeps talking as I stand there in complete disbelief. This can’t be happening. This isn’t Garret’s fault. This is Blake’s fault. He caused the whole scene. Garret was just protecting me.

“No! You can’t take him!” I scream at the officer. “Why are you doing this? He was helping me!”

“Jade,” Garret says calmly. “It’s okay.”

One officer takes him away while the other one stays behind.

“I need to fill out a report.” The officer stands there with a clipboard and a pen. “Can you tell me what happened here?”

My mind is racing, thinking about Garret and Blake and wondering how this even happened.

The officer is still waiting for me to respond. I hear his voice again. “Miss, I need you to explain what happened.”

“Yes, okay.” I explain the whole scene, from the second Blake entered my room pretending to be Garret. The officer acts like it’s not that big a deal, which makes me so furious I just want to scream at him again.

“So the boy was on top of you but there was no penetration, correct?”

I feel sick just hearing him use that word. And what does he even mean by that question? If there wasn’t penetration, there was no crime?

“He held me down against my will,” I explain for the third time. “He was trying to rape me. He would’ve done it if Garret hadn’t walked in. Don’t you get that? Garret was getting him off me.”

“He did more than get him off you. That’s what the charges were for.”

“Who charged him? Nobody even knows about this.”

“Blake’s father knows. Your RA called him right after she called us. He’s over at the hospital now with his son.” The officer looks at me, almost like I should feel sorry for Blake. “That boy was beat up pretty bad. Your friend, Garret, has some serious charges against him. Blake’s father is attorney general for the state of Connecticut. That carries some weight.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say quietly, remembering how the system works. Blake’s dad will use his position to do as much damage as possible to Garret.

“If you have anything else to tell me, here’s my card.” He hands it to me, then leaves.

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