"Are you sure you are okay?" Edlyn asked as they sat in their embroidery cla.s.s. Ariana peeked around and saw that some girls were whispering and murmuring to one another as they sat in their groups of four. "Yes." Ariana sighed as she brought her gaze back to her own work."I don"t know." Ariana she then said as her grip slightly slacked on her embroidery ring. She thought back to last night and recalled what had happened.
...
"What did you just say?" A girl asked breathlessly as her eyes turned round and wide, they trembled slightly at the sight of Ariana. "I am a survivor. I was lucky though. I was able to be rescued before me virginity was taken but at the same time unlucky as my attack was not a secret. Not to me, not to Mrs. Dabney, not to the Headmaster, Mr. Dabney, my best friend, my mentor or Cayden." Ariana said as her voice slowly cracked. She tried her best to hold herself together as she held her head up high.
No one said anything. Vera and Edlyn hung their heads down and could only hug themselves as a horrible chill ran through their bodies. "W-w-what of the attacker?" A girl with twin braids asked. "Nothing." Ariana said in a low voice but her words echoed relentlessly in the corridor.
"Then what do you want us to do? Why even tell us something so horrific? I can understand why you wanted to educate us but why tell us this?! Especially if they didn"t punish the person!" A girl in the back shouted. Ariana steeled her gaze and looked at everyone. "I"m not the only one! He told me he has his collection." Ariana said aggressively causing the girls to pale.
"I wanted all of you to know that you have the right to say no and you have the right to find love. No one can take that away from us, we can only take that right away from ourselves." Ariana said as her courage slowly started to gain momentum.
"I wanted to let you all know that I will always be someone that you can talk too. It doesn"t matter about what, if you want love advice, tactics or just talk about what happened to you.... I will always be a confidant. If you are not someone who wants to talk but want to take action... Well like I said Mr. Dabney knows of my situation and is giving me extra self defense cla.s.ses." Ariana took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She heard her heartbeat ring in her ears for a fleeting moment, this was getting too real and she needed to see it to the end.
She then opened her eyes and felt her courage grow. "I am a survivor, I will become my own warrior! I will never allow that b.a.s.t.a.r.d or any other b.a.s.t.a.r.d to touch me without my consent! So with Mr. Dabney"s extra cla.s.ses I will improve. I will not freeze up because of my fear. Instead I will protect myself and let him know that my no means NO!" Ariana shouted with conviction.
The girls in the room looked reluctantly at one another. She could see some were a little envious. Ariana smiled after she took a deep breath, her heart was racing. She had no idea if any would want to talk to her or be curious about self defense but she had to reach out. "I"m sure Mr. Dabney would welcome new comers. Self defense cla.s.ses are Monday and Wednesday night from 8 to 9."
....
"I think what you did was really brave." Halina whispered as she reached her hand out and gently touched Ariana"s. "Ya... My parents never talked to me about those kinds of things but then again.... With my gang I knew about the bad stuff. I never knew that women had a real choice or that... People who lived through that should never be looked at as victims, rather survivors." Talisha said softly as she pulled at the frayed edges of her project.
"Not many do.... But that wasn"t my purpose last night. I just wanted to gather the girls to do a giant vote on the hottest guy!" Ariana cried out loud as she tossed her head back. She then brought her hands up and covered her face. "You wanted to do what?" Edlyn asked in disbelief. Ariana groaned and brought her head back.
She moved her hands so that she could talk. She then made a small gap by spreading her fingers so she could see the girls. "I wanted to do a ma.s.sive vote with the girls. A who is the hottest guy in a uniform poll. But nope!" Ariana shouted as she threw her hands in to the air, completely disregarding her surroundings.
"I just had to open my big fat mouth and say something like that! And do you know why?" Ariana said sarcastically. "Because that p.r.i.c.k told me that I wasn"t the only one! When I saw everyone"s face I knew he wasn"t lying and I couldn"t stop me mouth. I became emotionally invested and poof my reasoning flew out the window." Ariana said as she brought her hands together and made a poof like gesture.
The entire cla.s.s turned silent. "You wanted to do a poll?" Edlyn asked as a smile slowly spread across her face. "Is that what"s really important?!" Talisha shouted. "Well this is Ariana we are talking about." Halina said as she rolled her eyes. "You"re right! A jump in head first kind of person!" Edlyn laughed.
"No you don"t get it! It was the best way to de-stress after such a serious conversation! S*x education is very important and should not be taken lightly b-u-t when else would I have such a great opportunity to ask girls on their thoughts about the most gorgeous guys in the school wearing high position uniforms! I have already seen Cayden and Xander in the guards uniform! I need some more eye candy! Make my imagination go wild so I can recall those mental pictures late at night when I want to unwind!" Ariana shouted in exasperation.