Leah Walker has been going out with Mitchell Kendrick since the middle of their sophomore year at Pace Academy. Their dates often consist of outings to movies, or school sporting events, or restaurants, usually with several other of their peers. She likes him but mainly connects on an intellectual level. This hasn’t been for want of trying on Mitchell’s part, and he’s always inviting Leah over when he’s certain his family isn’t home.
They have a shared assignment early in their junior year, and Mitchell finally convinces Leah to come over one afternoon to work on it. She’s wary of his desire to study in his room, so they sit on the couch in the living room.
“When’s your family getting back?”
“Not for a while. Glenda’s working and Mom and Dad have stuff to do later and probably won’t be back before tonight.”
“We should get started on the assignment.”
He slides over and puts his arm around her. “What’s the rush? Let’s just hang out a while.”
“Hang out? The assignment is due Monday.”
“You work too much. Try having some fun for a change.”
He leans in to kiss her, but she turns her head and leans away from him.
“We’re not going to have that kind of fun.”
Mitchell removes his arm and slumps down. “Stewart was right about you.”
“Stewart? What did he say?”
“He said you don’t like guys.”
“What does Stewart know about who I do or don’t like? Why the hell are you even discussing me with him?”
“He said you and me have been going out long enough that we should have done it by now.”
“That’s stupid. But I expect stupid stuff from him. Since when are the two of you such good friends anyway?”
“We were just hanging out one day and he started saying you don’t like guys. I said we were going out and he asked if we’d done it.”
“That’s none of his damn business.”
“He said a real man would be able to straighten you out.”
“What does that even mean?”
Before she has time to consider any of this further, Mitchell pushes her down and holds her there with his right arm. He uses his left to undo her jeans.
“Stop that!” Leah tries to get away, but Mitchell uses all his weight to pin her down. She struggles to breathe and bats at him with her fists. He responds by flipping her over onto her stomach.
Half of her face is pressed into the sofa cushion making it more difficult to take a breath and she’s afraid she’ll lose consciousness. She’s violently trembling and finds she can no longer form words, so she just screams as loud as she can.
“Knock it off, will you?”
Leah can hear him undoing his belt.
“Be quiet!” he yells as he yanks down her jeans. “Shut the hell up.”
Suddenly, there’s another voice, a woman’s voice.
“What’s going on in here?” A pause. “Mitchell! Let her go.”
The weight on Leah suddenly eases and she falls sideways off the couch. She grabs for her jeans and pulls them up then rolls over and sees Mitchell’s sister, Glenda, standing in the doorway.
“What are you doing here?” Mitchell says. “You’re supposed to be at work.”
Leah gets to her feet, still shaking violently. Glenda approaches.
“Are you okay?”
Leah stares at her, words fail. She starts to nod then grabs her book bag and jacket. “I — I need to leave.”
“Are you sure you’re all right? You don’t look all right.”
“I have to go.” Leah hurries out of the living room. Behind her, she hears Glenda tear into Mitchell.
“What the hell is wrong with you? What were you planning on doing to her?”
Leah rushes out onto the porch. She can’t catch her breath and stops, taking in gulps of air as she tries to calm herself. She’s still trembling and realizes her face is wet with tears. She manages several deep breaths as she wipes her cheeks with the palms of her hands, then tentatively takes a few steps off the porch to the walkway and away from the house.
At dinner that night, Alyssa is her usual animated self. “Leah, will you read to me tonight?”
“Not tonight, Princess. I’m not feeling well.”
“What’s bothering you?” Melinda says. “Is it your stomach? I noticed you didn’t eat very much.”
“I’m just not hungry.” Leah rises. “I’m going to my room.”
Throughout the weekend, she finds it hard to sleep and dreads going back to school.
On Monday, when she sees Mitchell at his locker, she starts trembling again. Catching sight of her, he heads over like nothing has changed.
“Thanks for getting me in trouble with my folks.”
Leah steps back. “Stay away from me.”
“What’s your problem? I’m the one getting grounded because of you.”
“Don’t touch me, and don’t come near me.” She moves around him and heads to her locker.
“Nothing happened. What’s the big deal?”
She hurries away without answering him. The whole day at school she’s on edge and avoids every attempt by Mitchell to talk to her.
Leah refuses to say anything to either of her parents. With each inquiry by her mother, she can sense the urgency increase in Melinda’s voice but deflects each question with a vague excuse and otherwise avoids the subject. At dinner, she continues to pick at her food, excusing herself to go to her room after hardly eating.
After a few days of this, Melinda follows Leah to her room and closes the door.
“Mom?”
Melinda sits beside her and takes her hands.
“Leah, did something happen to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Did someone do something to you?”
Leah looks away and shakes her head. “No, Mom. That didn’t happen.” She turns back, her voice shaky. “But it almost did, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.”
She breaks down and Melinda hugs her tightly. Leah tells her about the incident with Mitchell.
“I was so stupid to go over there. I shouldn’t have stayed when he told me no one else was home.”
“No. You do not blame yourself for this. It isn’t your fault; do you hear me? You did nothing wrong.”
“On some level, I know that. I certainly didn’t encourage him. We’ve never had that type of relationship. I was as much surprised as scared.”
“Do his parents know?”
“They know something. His sister caught him. I don’t think they know the full story.”
“I can call them.”
“I’d rather you didn’t. I just want to forget this whole thing. I’m just happy it wasn’t worse. I’m thankful Glenda was there and heard what was happening.”
Melinda hugs her. “I wish I could tell you that you’ll put it all behind you and everything will be okay again, but it won’t. You never really get over it.”
“Perfect. How do I live with that?”
“Day by day. I’m here if you need to talk. And I’m here to listen and not judge, okay?”
“I appreciate that. But you know me, Mom. I feel like I need to do something, because right now I don’t feel safe anymore. I don’t know what I should do, just something.”
Melinda puts her arm around Leah and gives her a kiss. “I know you’ll figure it out. I’m here.”
“Sure, Mom.”
Several days later, Leah’s having a snack in the kitchen when Melinda comes in holding a folded section from the Atlanta Journal. Without saying anything, she goes to Leah, hands her the paper, and walks away.
“What’s this?”
“Something.” Melinda leaves.
Leah looks at the page and notes a quarter page ad for Joe Corley’s Karate School. She looks after Melinda.
“Thanks, Mom.”
That same day, she drives over to the Midtown location and signs up for classes.
By the time Leah graduates high school, she has achieved her brown belt in Karate and added Judo and Aikido to her repertoire. She goes on to get her red, then black belt in her first year at Wellesley and becomes an instructor at a local dojo.