No Longer Afraid (Complete)

          Sadie gracefully stood center stage with a smile on her face. With the spotlight beaming down on her, she addressed the drama department of South Hill High School. “Friends, teachers, and parent volunteers, I am very excited to be taking this journey with you all as your esteemed director of the modern day retelling of Hamlet. This play, as most of you know, is more than just entertainment, it’s art. Art that each of you have contributed greatly to. I am so thankful to each of you for all of your hard work this past week and I encourage you all to keep that momentum going for the next week. Next week, thursday our play will commensurate and all of your determination, all of your long hours of hardwork, and all of your creativity will be on display for the entire community to see. Thank you again everyone. May the show always go on!”, Sadie spoke with such charisma and energy, that everyone rewarded her with an applause. After a few cheers, everyone went to their places and started to work. Sadie carefully looked over everyone’s work and supervised attentionally. “Great work, Rachel! That sash looks great on that dress!...Great Choice, Lawrence! Give the lighting a little more pizazz...Marcy, the tree props for the background are looking a little dusty, can you take care of that for me, please?...”, Sadie spoke respectfully and gently as she gave out instructions and praise. As everyone got on track, Sadie stood back to take the scene in. “Everything is going to look great! I can’t wait to see how--”, Sadie started to say before her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a guitar. She turned around and looked at the open doors of the auditorium, where the music was coming from. “Does anyone else hear that?”, Sadie asked as she pointed to her ears. No one heard her, since everyone was preoccupied with their tasks. She sighed deeply as she turned her attention to the doors again. It was almost like the music was calling to her, sucking her in. She followed the sound out of the auditorium and into the hallway. She continued to walk quietly following the sound of the music until she came to the school’s music studio. She looked into the studio through a small window in the door and saw a guy sitting on a stool, playing his guitar. He had curly long hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. His eyes were an icy blue color that contrasted with his tan skin. He was beautiful, very peculiar looking, but still so beautiful. Sadie listened in as he began to sing. His voice was so smooth and deep as he presented each word clearly and eloquently. He sung a song of love and desire that gave Sadie’s butterflies.           He continued to sing the song with such passion and heart that Sadie was brought to tears. She leaned the back of her head against the door as she listened closely, slowly closing her eyes. After a couple of moments, the music stopped and Sadie felt the door opposite to her open. She could barely open her eyes, the guy that was sing and playing his guitar stood beside her, staring at her. She felt her cheeks blush bright red as she looked into his piercing blue eyes. He looked into hers and a gentle smile slowly started to spread across his face. Sadie stood frozen in shock. What to do? He’s seen her and he knows that she was listening to him. He’ll think she’s weird for sure. “Well, hello there.”, he spoke smoothly. Sadie blinked and swallowed, trying to speak. “Are you okay? You’re...crying.”, he spoke with as he squinted at her. “I-I’m okay.”, Sadie managed to say. He slowly approached her, coming rather close to her face. Strangers aren’t supposed to be this friendly, right?. Sadie blushed. “Just what do you think you’re doing?!”, she asked with an embarrassed tone. He took a small step closer to Sadie and looked down at her. “I was just making sure you were okay...you...you are most beautiful.”, his said. Sadie awkwardly looked away. She then quickly tried to change the subject. “I-I haven’t seen you around here before. Who are you?”, Sadie spoke nervously, as she crossed her arms and looked at him. “I’m Anrian. I just moved here from Canada.” Sadie gave him a slight smile. Suddenly, she was interested and forgot about his obvious flirting. “Welcome, I’m Sadie. So, are you and your folks military or...?”. Anrian smiled as he looked down at the ground. Sadie chuckled at his bashfulness. It was pretty cute. He then looked back at Sadie and responded. “No, my mom thought that life would be better for us in America.”, Anrian spoke in a slightly depressed tone. Sadie picked up on it and asked if he missed Canada. “I do, ha, not going to lie...but now that I think about it, America isn’t so bad.”, Anrian spoke as he took a step closer to Sadie. She felt her heart flutter in her chest as Anrian smiled sweetly down at her. She felt the cold door handle touch her back as she tried to back away again. He was so close to her and she could feel her cheeks growing hot. If Anrian saw the effect he had on her, it’d be all over. She then looked away, clearing her throat and scratching the back of her head awkwardly. “Oooh, I-I guess I should g-get going. It was nice meeting you, Anrian.”, Sadie spoke as she started to walk back to the auditorium but before she could start walking, Anrian gently grabbed her hand. Sadie quickly turned around and tripped slightly, falling into Anrian’s arms. Sadie looked up at Anrian as he laughed heartily. “Well, would you look at that. You’ve already started to fall for me.”, he commented. Sadie couldn’t help but giggle. “Ha, right. Okay, I’ll let you have that one since your new here.”, Sadie spoke as she hesitantly pushed Anrian away. He smiled as he took a few steps back. Sadie then once again tried to leave but Anrian grabbed hold of her hand again. “Anrian, I’ll have to go sometime.”, she spoke sternly. Anrian stared down at her with a smile. “I know but not without a hug goodbye, right?”. Sadie raised her eyebrow as Anrian’s big arms wrapped around her waist. She felt her body tense up as Anrian hugged her tight. “I’ll see you around, I hope.”, Anrian spoke into Sadie’s ear. Sadie hesitantly hugged him back and quickly left, leaving him to watch her walk away. As she rounded the corner, she stopped,leaning up against the wall. She felt like she going to pass out as her heart pounded wildly in her chest. She slowly slid her body down the wall until she sat up against it, with her hands folded together in her lap. She stared down at them as she remembered a painful summer memory.                      The day was very hot and muggy when Sadie received a call from her boyfriend, William. She smiled widely as she answered the phone. He was calling to invite her over to his house tonight. He was throwing a party and wanted his lady to come over, so he could show her off. Sadie giggled at his smooth voice and bashfully accepted his invitation. She then quickly started to get ready for the party. She carefully chose a dress, shoes, and carefully applied her makeup. Since William wanted to show her off, she was going to give him something to show off. She gently put on a tight red strapless dress with four inch black pumps and carefully applied red lipstick to her lips. She posed in the mirror as she checked herself out from head to toe. She knew that William would lose his head as soon as he saw her. She then carefully snuck out of the house and drove over to William’s house. His lawn was littered with bottles of liquor, intoxicated teenagers, and loud music blasted from the front door. She stared at the scene in disbelief. What was going on here? Did William do this? She raged into his house. She looked all around her and noticed that these people weren’t from South Hill High. None of her friends or even William’s friends were there. These were college kids. She quickly ran throughout the house, looking for William. When she found him, he was madly drunk and half naked in his game room. She gasped as he looked over at her with a groggy smile. “Daaarling!...Baby Sadie...where have youuuu been?!”, he spoke as staggered to his feet. Sadie shook her head in shock. Three other guys were there along with one other girl. They weren’t nearly as drunk as William but you could say that they were getting there. “William!...What is this?”, Sadie spoke, trying to hold back tears. William chuckled deeply. “This...this is the life...welcome to happiness...you and I...and these guys...are-are going to get...WASTED!!”. The other people started to cheer as the girl handed her a bottle. Sadie shook her head and slowly started to leave the room. William quickly followed her out. He called her name as she was making her way out of the house but before she could make it to the front door, William pushed her into another room. She grunted as she landed on top of a table lamp. She then felt William’s hand tightly grip her throat. He brought her to her feet and slammed her onto his pool table. She struggled under his strength as he brought his face closer to hers. “You’re not going anywhere…”, William spoke in a whisper, surprisingly calm. Sadie choked from his grip on her throat. This can’t be happening. William was always such a sweet guy. What could possibly cause him to act so...angrily? He then quickly placed his hand over her mouth pressing very hard against her face. Sadie fought back, flinging her fist and her hands in a wild ferocity but it didn’t help her. William unzipped his pants and pulled Sadie’s underwear off. As soon as he released her mouth and pinned her down, she screamed as loud as she could but no one heard her. He r***d her that night and there wasn’t anything she could do about it. William wasn’t who she thought he was and there was no way she could’ve known.           She returned home that night broken, confused, and hurt. Her dress was torn, her massara was running, and one of her shoes were missing. She of course told her mother what happened, who then immediately called the police and had William arrested. He was convicted and was to spend nine years in prision for r**e and underaged intoxication. Sadie’s stomach curled as she recalled that horrible night and quickly made up her mind that Anrian would never see her again. She hugged her knees to herself as she tried desperately to regain her composure and positive attitude. “It happened. It’s in the past and so is Anrian. William is in the past...and so is Anrian.”, she repeated to herself over and over again. She then headed back into the auditorium to help with the play.