A HEART BUILT ON PAYBACK

The mask party was still going strong, and it didn’t look like it was going to end anytime soon. Cassandra looked around once again to see if she could spot her best friend Becca. She didn’t find her. She might have left with her boyfriend. Becca was the one who had dragged her out to this party, and now she had abandoned her here alone — in exactly the kind of place Cassandra wasn’t used to. She would have to deal with Becca tomorrow. Cassandra slowly made her way through the crowd until she finally broke free of it. She sighed as the fresh night breeze washed over her skin. It had been suffocatingly hot inside. She dug through her purse and pulled out her phone. The screen lit up — 2:00 AM. Where was she supposed to find a taxi at this hour? She instantly regretted coming. She should have stayed home, even though home was its own kind of nightmare. She stared at the road stretching ahead of her — at least an hour’s walk to her house. She sighed, slipped off her heels, and started walking. She had been walking for about thirty minutes when she spotted a black car parked along the roadside. She didn’t know much about cars, but even she could tell this one was expensive. Her feet were aching, and without much thought, she walked over and knocked on the window. The car door swung open and slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. Before she could process what was happening, hands reached out and pulled her inside. A sweet cologne hit her nose. She tried to look up, but in that same moment she realized her pants had been pulled off. Panic flooded her chest. “Hey — stop!” she screamed, thrashing against him. But the man clamped his large palm over her mouth. Then her dress was shoved up. She kicked wildly, desperately, but she was nothing against his size and strength. He overpowered her completely, and then she felt him force himself inside of her. Tears streamed silently down Cassandra’s face as he moved. He didn’t notice. He didn’t care. Every thrust felt like a blade tearing through her. The thought of losing the virginity she had guarded so carefully — to a stranger, in the dark — was the last thing she remembered before everything went black. Cassandra opened her eyes to find herself lying in the parking lot. The black car was gone. If not for the pain radiating through her lower body, she might have convinced herself it was a nightmare. She pushed herself slowly off the ground. Her purse was lying nearby. Inside it, she found cash — her attacker must have left it. A hollow, bitter laugh almost escaped her. No one would believe her if she went to the police. Nobody ever did. Tears blurred her vision. And the cruelest part of all was that she had no one to call, no one to run to. She made her way back to the place she reluctantly called home.