Assault in the Hallway
Chapter 11
Addison’s POV
Trigger Warning s****| Assault
“No, it’s no mistake, babydoll. It was you. The whole school saw it, just like we did. I always thought you were hot, just too uppity. Now that I have seen you, I want to see all of you. So relax. Don’t be uptight. Alden and I just wanted to get to know you better. Just like you let the guy in the video,” Tripp said smugly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. After finding what he was looking for, he turned his phone to my face.
My mind went blank as I watched a video of me taking off my hoodie for Garrett last night. I was standing there in high definition in my lace bra. Thank God I still had my jeans on. It was clearly me in the video, and my face got hot. It was also apparent that this video had been
taken from inside Garrett’s room.
What in the hell is going on? Who took this video? As I looked around the hallway, I saw people laughing at me. Tripp glanced at his phone and said, “This is my favorite part,” as I
removed my bra. The humiliation I felt at this moment was unprecedented. I couldn’t believe someone had recorded me like that. Wait? Did Tripp just say that the whole school had seen it? I could not imagine something more embarrassing happening to me in my life.
Whoever did this ensured I was entirely in the frame but kept Garrett carefully out of it. I felt my face heat as the comments in the hallway soared.
“How could she come back to school after making that video?”
”
“Doesn’t she know that everyone in school has seen it?”
“I thought she was a good girl?”
“I guess you can’t tell who people are anymore. She is not as innocent as we thought she was.
“She hid herself behind those clothes. I thought she was much fatter than she is. She actually has a good figure.”
Demeaning comments were being thrown around as if I deserved them. I tried to defend myself from the crowd. “I was with my boyfriend. I haven’t done anything wrong. Get out of my way; I am leaving,” I told them coldly and stepped around them. The surrounding laughter was upsetting. I have never in my life felt this kind of shame.
VA
+8 Point:
Assault in the Hallway
“Oh, no. Honey, you are not getting away. I would like a chance to try you on for size. You
should be happy. Consider the difference in standing between us. You are lucky I would even
offer to have s*x with you, Addison. Trust me, I will make it worth your while,” Tripp told me as
he pulled me back to him again. I had tried to escape, but he had a firm grip on the bottom of
my hoodie.
“Who said she was yours for the taking, Tripp? She has a brain. She can decide between us. I
am in the same year as her and have known her for longer. Anyway, you can stop lying now,
Addison. Everybody here knows you don’t have a boyfriend. I didn’t know you were like this
until today, but I like it. I’ve always thought you were really cute. I just left you alone as Garrett
was so pissed at you. Now that I have seen you without your hoody, I would like to see a great
deal more of you,” Alden said with a wink.
Seeing that wink reminded me of when Garrett winked at me last night. Wait, was Garrett in on this? Was he just filling me full of lies to get me to sleep with him? Where was he? Why hasn’t he stopped them? Then it hit me: had Garrett. planned this? Had he done this to get me
back for what I said to Tammy? Did my sarcasm deserve this kind of payback? I’ve started to
panic now. I can’t catch my breath. Did Garrett set me up?
“I’m sorry, let me go. I do have a boyfriend, and I don’t want to be with either of you. Please let
go of my shirt. I want to go home,” I told them as I tried to hold my tears back. Most of the
other students got bored with me getting upset and started wandering away to class. Most
couldn’t see me as Tripp and Alden blocked me from their view.
Tripp looked around and said, “Oh, I don’t think we will, Addie Double D. I have seen them, and now I want a taste of them.” My mind reeled in shock as Tripp had the nerve to start pulling
my hoodie up with both hands.
I went to scream, but he used one hand over my mouth and pulled me into him. My back was
now pressed into his chest, and he used his other hand to reach under my shirt and fondle my breast. I was facing Alden and instead of helping me, he used a hand to lift my hoodie higher so he could see me. I was struggling and trying to get Tripp to let me go, but he was a big guy. Even at seventeen, Tripp was well over two hundred lbs. and 6’2” tall. Alden was the same height but just under two hundred lbs.
Tripp had a large hand, and he had accidentally covered both my mouth and my nose with his hand. I don’t think he did it deliberately. He was just trying to keep me from screaming to get help. Because I was struggling with him, I ran out of breath quickly and couldn’t fight against them anymore. When I passed out, I guess that was when Tripp realized what he had done. When I woke up a few seconds later, I heard the sound of a door closing as they entered their next class, as the last bell was ringing.
+3 Point
Assault in the Hallway
I couldn’t calm down. I couldn’t catch my breath. I thought I was having a heart attack until I realized that I was having a full–blown panic attack. I had tears running down my face, and I couldn’t manage to get up off the floor. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I heard a laugh and looked over to see Tammy waving her phone at me.
I guess she saw what just happened and probably got pictures. Wait, no, that wasn’t all she did. Valerie is busy and never goes into Garrett’s room, and neither does Holden. Dammit, Tammy was the one who did it. She made the video. Was she in it with Garrett? But how could they have known I would fall for it and sleep with him?
If Garrett’s parents knew we had s*x, Mrs. Pearson would probably have said something. Who else would have taken that video? That b***h. I have never hated anyone more than I hated Tammy at that moment. She smiled at me before slipping back into her classroom. I guess I have my answer. Garrett may have been in on this with her. Maybe that was his plan all along. How could I have been so stupid as to fall into bed with him like that?
I felt tears fall, and I heard Principal Carson calling out to me. He picked my bookbag up off the floor, helped me up, and took me to his office. I was crying so hard that I couldn’t speak. Principal Carson pulled out his phone and called the counselor to meet him at his office. She was a nice lady, but my mother always helped me with college planning and everything else,
so I had not met her before.
“Addison, I heard about the video blast going around the school. I have contacted the police, but we have no proof of who started it. Are you OK?” Principal Carson asked after the
counselor entered.
I was still trying to calm down, but I couldn’t catch my breath. I couldn’t speak. My mind was racing out of control. Mrs. Abrams held my hands and started speaking gently. “Addison, you are safe. Everything will be OK. Breath in. Breathe out. Count to five with each breath in and
with each exhale. Good, good, you are doing excellent.”
I could see Principal Carson pulling up something on his monitor. I could tell from the expression on his face that he had just seen what had happened to me. “Addison, are you OK with me calling the police? I need to report this. They are not allowed to do this. They will try to do it again if we don’t report it.”
I nodded at him to call. I don’t know if I will proceed with pressing charges against them. I need more information before I decide to do that. My head hurts, probably from being dropped on the floor, as I can already feel a knot.
The police arrived, but I was still unsure of what I wanted to do. They requested that a copy of the assault be burned. That way, the District Attorney could decide if he wanted to press
+8 Points
Assault in the Hallway
charges himself, in case I didn’t. I am honestly scared to do it myself now. Who would protect me when they came to my door if I did press charges? They might do even worse to me if that
were to happen.
I needed help. I needed someone to tell me what I should do. I ordered an Uber. I was not going to call Garrett’s mother back up here. I am not going to have anything else to do with them anymore. I knew Mom had paid off our house after my grandparents paid her for her shares in my father’s company. So I knew it should belong to me. I was torn between selling it and keeping it. I wanted to keep it, it is the only home I have ever known. But I don’t have a job and want to attend school. Plus, my good and bad memories here might tear me apart. Mix.in Tripp and Alden; my only choice was to leave. There is nothing to keep me here anyway.
Garrett probably had Tammy waiting in his room to film me after I said what I said to her. He told me what I wanted to hear to sleep with him. I was too smart to fall for this. I let Garrett
make me believe he wanted me when nothing could be further from the truth. The pressing weight on me is back, and heavier than before. Principal Carson wanted me to call Mrs. Pearson again but stopped talking after the look I gave him. I was done with this school and
this town.
I thanked him for his concern but left when my ride arrived. Gone was the innocent girl who believed that love could overcome everything. I now knew that I wanted to believe him so badly that I was willing to believe the beautiful lies he told me. I will bear the blame as I was willing to participate in it. I wanted to hear exactly what he told me, and I ate it up. He didn’t have to work hard to get me where he wanted me.
For such an intelligent girl, I was really dumb. My Uber driver took me to the bank, the grocery store, and back home. I am smart enough to deal with everything on my own. Whatever I didn’t know, that was what Google was for. I am going to ask Garrett if he was in on it. I feel like I already know the answer, but I am willing to wait and see. I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
