Christine

Raoul and I returned to the party, retrieving my friends. After what had happened to me, there was no possible way that I was staying anywhere near the same place that maniac was.

At last, I spotted them near the stage. I didn't want to break up the fun, but this was an emergency. "Guys," I whimpered.

"Christine," interrupted Jesy. "This is a super swag party. Thanks for inviting us."

"We need to leave now." I grabbed Jesy and Ella, and began pulling them through the crowd.

Cory, Ray and Raoul followed close behind. Everyone was confused, but there was no time for an explanation.

I found the doorman standing at his post, looking bored. "Please bring my limo around the front. We are leaving."

Cory looked at me strangely. "Chris, what's goin' on? Why are we leaving?"

"No time to explain. Not now," my mind was still trying to contemplate the recent event. It was so horrific, I was unsure of ever being able to trust anyone again.

Ella tried talking to me then. "Chrissy, what happened? I can see the fear in your eyes."

With the thousands of people around, I felt it was the wrong place to discuss anything. "Please. Everything will be explained once we are away from here."

Raoul wrapped an arm around me, trying to keep me calm. "It's alright. Everything is fine now."

His touch was making me recall the memory. "No, Raoul. Please, no embrace."

The limo pulled up, and we climbed in together. My heart began to race as Mr. Destler appeared at the door. His eyes spotted us in the limo as we drove away. Luckily, we had gotten away just in time.

Ray touched my shoulder, making me flinch. "Ray, please don't touch me."

Ella leaned forward in her seat. "Chrissy. What's wrong? What happened?"

Jesy joined her. "Whatever it was, you can tell us."

I met the back of my eyelids, replaying the memory through my head. "Mr. Destler. I was on the roof, and he just... Oh my gosh." Tears started forming.

Cory pulled out a handkerchief. "Chris. What is it about Mr. Destler?"

"He... Told me... He... Loved me." It was then my salty tears trickled down my cheeks.

All around me, the air was filled with gasps of concern.

Raoul already knew what had happened. He had walked in on the scene. "When I saw him, he had her restrained with a hand over her mouth. That's all I saw."

Jesy seemed to be interested in this. "Wait. Christine, what did he say to you exactly? Try to remember."

My head shook in denial. "No. I don't want to remember. Don't make me."

"Come on, Chris," urged Cory. "We can't help you unless you tell us something."

Ray collected the attention. "Hold on guys. Let's take this slow. Mr. Destler just confessed that he loved her. And according to Raoul, Erik did not react well to her response. She is shaken up, so we need to let her calm down for a while."

Thank goodness Ray was studying Psychology. If it wasn't for him, I would have probably never been cured.

Once we arrived at my penthouse, the girls made some tea and took out cookies for everyone.

My lips remained still while my eyes were blank, expressionless, yet stunned. No one spoke. The room was filled with silence.

Merlin lay on my lap, drooling all over me. I didn't care. That event on the roof was the only thing on my mind.

My friends stayed over for the rest of the few days off from school. Eventually I told them everything that had happened that night. It was from then on that I was scarred for life. I attempted to do things around the house, and avoided the outdoors at all costs.

When school started, I had packed my bag and headed for the elevator.

My feet stopped, as if they were suddenly glued to the floor. I wasn't ready to go back to school. Mr. Destler was there, and he was the last person I wished to see.

I dropped my bag and plopped down on the couch. Merlin made his way over to me, looking confused.

"Bonjour Merlin. I'm sorry. But, I don't think I can go to school today."

He whimpered, putting a paw on my knee.

"I know school is important, but how can I be in the same school as him. Let alone, be in the same classroom," I sighed. "What he did to me is unforgivable. There is no apology that can fix this."

My phone rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was Cory wanting facetime. I answered, "Bonjour Cory."

"Girl, why are you not at school?" He asked.

Everyone else appeared on the screen. "I'm sorry guys. But, with, Mr. Destler, in the same environment, I don't think that I'm safe."

Jesy snatched the phone up from Cory. "Chrissy, we will be with you every step of the way. Just come to school."

"No. I don't want to be around him. Who knows what will happen to me next,"I explained.

Cory grabbed the phone next. "What if you do something about it? Would that make you feel better?"

"Maybe. But what can I do?"

Ella appeared on the screen. "You could turn him into the police. What he did is-"

"Or, if you don't want to be too rash," added in Jesy, "You could go to the school board and report him."

These two thoughts played through my mind. "I don't know. What if he loses his job? I mean he's an amazing teacher, I just don't want to-"

Ray interrupted me. "You know what? It's up to you. Why don't you sleep on it for a bit, and think about what you want to do."

It seemed reasonable. "Alright. I'll think about it. See you after school?"

Cory nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's not force her to do anything she doesn't want."

Jesy took the phone again. "Just so you know, Christine, none of us are OK with what he did to you. Harassing you, taking advantage of your naive mind. Just so you know, you have every right to take action in order to protect yourself. You have every right to be afraid and concerned. What he did is not OK and inexcusable. Harassing a young lady is against the law. What he did is wrong. You have every right to take action."

I nodded, understanding. "Thank you, Jesy. You always know what say. And I will take appropriate action... Hopefully..."

They nodded, waving goodbye to me. "We'll be there after school. See ya!"

The next day, I attended school, but was staying as far away from Mr. Destler as possible. His class was my first one of the day. I already had a plan in my head. Avoid eye contact, and get out as quickly as possible.

I sat in my place, cleaning the pieces of my flute. I kept feeling Mr. Destler staring at me. However, my eyes were fixed on anything other than him.

The bell rang, sweeping relief over me. As I packed up my instrument, Mr. Destler approached me, causing my movements to speed up. "Christine, I just want to say-"

I locked my case, heading for the door. "Good day, Mr. Destler."

He ran in front of me, blocking the door. "Christine, I wish you to hear me out."

My feet shuffled back, away from him. "Stay away from me. You keep your distance."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Very well. I am keeping my distance. Just hear me out, Christine."

"Why should I even trust you after what you did to me?" I challenged him.

"I wanted to apologize for what I did to you. It was wrong of me, and I am sorry. However, I meant what I said. My feelings for you are strong, and you do not deserve that boy." The anger in him wasn't showing in his tone, but it was clear enough in his eyes.

His words made me nervous, but also shocked. I decided to knock some sense into him. "First of all, no apology, no matter how big, can change what you did to me. Secondly, I don't love you. You are too old for me, and I am too young for you. And, I am not interested. To finish, you have no right to tell me who I am worthy of dating. That is my decision, no one else's."

"Christine, considering you have no parents to guide you, you need help. I am aware of how naive and vulnerable you are," he listed. "I am trying to guide you."

This made anger run through my veins. "I know. You took advantage of me on New Years. Leave me alone. I am mature enough to make my own decisions."

"But, you are still young. People will take advantage of your kindness."

"Exactly, like you did." Right then, no one needed to even be smart to know what he was implying. "Wait, I get it. You think I am stupid don't you? You think because I am so kind, young and naive, I'm going to trust any stranger that walks by? Let me tell you something, you are dead wrong." After saying that, I had made up my mind about my decision. "Stay away from me."

I walked past him, breaking out into tears. My next destination, the district office.

My friends met up with me. "Hey what's up?" asked Jesy. Her expression changed when she saw my tears. "What's wrong?"

"I need to go to the district office immediately."

We received permission to leave the campus and walked to the district office. In my heart, I knew it what I was doing was right.

Raoul suddenly called me. "Christine, how are you? Are you feeling alright?"

"Raoul, I can't really talk right now. I'm on my way to speak with the district."

He sounded a bit concerned from the other end. "Why? Is this about Mr. Destler?"

"Raoul, I would rather not talk about it right now. Could we possibly, meet up later?"

"Sure. How about Juice it Up?" he suggested.

"Sounds great. I'll meet you there in two hours." After saying that, I hung up, entering the building.

While there, my friends sat in the lobby, waiting for me to be finished. I filled out a complaint and told them of the things that Mr. Destler did to me. It was a bit harsh to send him to jail, even though it would have been better for him. However, I was too kind to let him go to jail.