Chapter 13

Alicia and Megan had reluctantly parted to their respective dorms after leaving Meredith’s house the night before. Alicia felt like she was walking on air. Any residual jealousy Megan had toward Adam and Carlos had been snuffed out by the passion they’d shared. Megan had been quiet on the ride back to the college, but her irrepressible smile spoke volumes. All during the night, Alicia would rouse with a smile at the thought of the bits of Adam and Carlos she carried deep in her body.

As she arrived for her English class the next morning, she tied her hair back in the familiar ponytail despite the yellowish healing bruises on her face. She refused to continue to be ashamed by what Dillon had done. Between reconnecting with her girlfriend and their budding relationship with Adam and Carlos, she felt grounded and secure for the first time all week.

“Alright, settle down,” Matt called out to the class. As teaching assistants went, he was one of the better ones. He tapped a key on his laptop and a quote from the Scarlet Letter popped up on the smartboard.

‘Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!’

“I want to start our discussion this morning with this quote. It comes at the end of chapter 24, the chapter that follows the ghastly miracle revealed on Reverend Dimmesdale’s chest. What was that miracle?”

Matt waited until he had a few hands to choose from. “Camden?”

“Like, uh, the letter A?” the young woman asked with a squint.

“Indeed it was. The letter A cut into his very flesh. Hester wore her fabric scarlet letter on her breast from the beginning of the story where all could see it. Dimmesdale hid his own shame for seven years.” Matt picked up his tablet and swiped to wake the screen. “Listen to how Hawthorne describes his ending. ‘For an instant, the gaze of the horror-stricken multitude was concentred on the ghastly miracle; while the minister stood with a flush of triumph in his face, as one who, in the crisis of acutest pain, had won a victory. Then, down he sank upon the scaffold!’“

Matt looked around the room as he lowered his tablet. “Why did he die?”

No one raised their hand, so Alicia spoke with confidence. “It was the price of keeping his sin a secret.”

“How so?” Matt asked with a subtle smile indicating to Alicia she was right.

“The quote,” Alicia said and nodded at the smartboard. “The moral of the tale. Hawthorn hated the hypocrisy he saw and was making a statement. Everyone around him acted like they had nothing to hide, but they all hid who they really were.”

“Does that kind of thing still happen?” Matt asked, his eyes locked with hers.

“All the time,” Alicia said and then raised her hand to her eye. “My own letter will heal, but I’m not hiding it anymore.”

Whispers started when she made that comment, but held her head up and ignored the burning flush she felt on her face from their scrutiny. She looked around to see if anyone would dare meet her eyes. Only Jerry held her gaze and nodded at her in support before she looked away. He’d been the asshole in Monday’s class who thought Hester deserved her shaming but had obviously changed his mind. His support emboldened her.

“Do you know what my girlfriend’s father told me?” Alicia asked Matt. Perhaps it was the public admission she had a girlfriend stopped the whispers. He shook his head. “He said that my promiscuity will make it hard for people to take me seriously because God is against fornication. I have a handprint-shaped bruise on my upper arm and a black eye, but he believes it’s my promiscuity that’s the problem with people taking what happened to me Friday night seriously.”

“That’s bullshit,” Jerry muttered.

“What do you think the problem is?” Matt asked

“People lying about who they are. I won’t lie anymore; I like sex. The guy who did this to me likes hurting people. It’s time for him to admit that and face the consequences just like I have.”

The rest of the class had a lively debate about public shaming and how that could be viewed as a kind of social violence. By the end of class, Alicia had gotten so caught up in the discussion that she’d forgotten for a moment about her bruised face, the impending trial, and her rapist. She was quickly reminded of all three when she exited the classroom.

In the hallway, a few girls were following a guy she vaguely recalled as a witness to her Friday night assault. Each girl was holding her phone out toward him. That clued Alicia in who the guy was when she realized he was heading toward her.

“How’s it feel to be on the other side of the camera?” she asked the guy with a burr of anger in her tone.

“Look, I’m sorry I ever recorded you and I was a total asshole to post it. I admit it.” He glanced back at his video crew capturing this particular interaction and paled.

“So what do you want from me?” Alicia asked as she adjusted her book bag on her shoulder with a snort of derision. “Sympathy?”

“No, I don’t want anything,” he said and extended a small memory card in her direction. “Just take this.”

“Why should I?” she said as she stared at the card like it was a snake.

“It’s the card from Dillon’s surveillance camera. The one in his room.”

Alicia felt her mouth go dry at the thought of him recording what he did to her. Did it show her kissing him? Sucking him off? Did it show that horrifying moment when he hit her hard enough to knock her down and then force himself inside her? She raised her eyes to stare at the guy in horror.

“He recorded me?” she hissed.

“Not just you. Others. Take it.” He waved the memory card at her again, his eyes filling with tears. “Please. My mom won’t let me come home anymore. My sister blocked me online. I have to do something to help you.”

Alicia reached out with trembling fingers and snatched the memory card from his hand, then she turned and fled. She had to get this to her attorney before Dillon’s father found out she had it. She stuffed the memory card in her jeans pocket and yanked her cell phone out of her back pocket. A few swipes later she pressed the phone to her ear.

“This is Jennifer,” her attorney answered after a few rings.

“It’s Alicia. I have to see you right now.”

“I’m on campus in the administrative building. Where do you want to meet?”

“The cafeteria just outside of there on the green.”

“I’m heading there now.”

Her heart was pounding in her throat. She had no desire to see what was on the memory card, but if it really had a video of her assault then the issue would no longer be a case of he said, she said. As she jogged across the green, she fought the urge to throw up. Others. He’d said the card had others on it. Maybe Rachel from the dorms could finally get justice.

Jennifer was waiting outside the entrance to the cafeteria looking worried as Alicia raced up.

“What’s wrong?” Jennifer asked as soon as Alicia was close enough to hear her.

“I may have proof of what happened,” Alicia said as she dug out the memory card. “The guy who filmed me in the hallway Friday night just gave me this. He said it was from a surveillance camera in Dillon’s room. He said it has a video of my assault.” Alicia swallowed hard. “And others.”

Jennifer took the memory card and looked it over. “So you didn’t steal this?”

“No. Some students are still following the guy around and even filmed him giving it to me.”

“Did he admit he stole it?

“Not directly. He just said it was from the camera in Dillon’s room.”

“Don’t talk about this with anyone.” Jennifer had a shark’s grin on her face. “I’ll take it from here. Your hearing will be tomorrow at one unless this little bit of dynamite blows things up faster.”

“Are you going to show it to Dean Evans?” Alicia asked, a little worried at the idea of random people watching her assault.

“Don’t worry, no one will see this outside of law enforcement.” Jennifer let out a relieved sigh. “Well, I might show an edited version to that insufferable bastard Douglas McGregor. He offered to settle this morning out of the blue. I wonder when Dillon realized the memory card was missing?”

“I have no idea,” Alicia said. “I just want this over with and Dillon expelled.”

“Hang in there,” Jennifer said and touched Alicia’s arm in a moment of solidarity, then turned back to the administrative building.

The idea of people watching her being assaulted brought reflexive panic and shame, but Alicia pushed it away. The people most important to her already knew the worst and still loved her despite it. The smell of food from the cafeteria was nauseating instead of appealing to her, so she headed toward the Chemistry building.

There was no one waiting at the entrance as there had been on Monday so she made it to the large lecture hall without an issue. Taking a seat in the back, she brought up the Chemistry textbook on her laptop and studied the portion she missed on Monday. By the time the class started, she had caught up and was ready to learn more about intermolecular forces.

After class, Alicia made her way to Megan’s dorm. They ran into each other in Megan’s hallway and greeted each other with a kiss.

“How was your day?” Megan asked as she opened the door to her dorm room. She stepped back to let Alicia inside.

“Pretty good. We’re studying the Scarlet Letter in English and the discussions have been awesome. Then I learned more than I wanted to know about intermolecular forces.” Alicia kept her voice level as she dropped her bombshell. “Oh, and the creepy guy that posted the video of me crying in the hallway gave me a memory card from the surveillance camera inside Dillon’s room.”

Megan froze and turned away from her desk with an expression of horror on her face. “Seriously?”

Alicia kicked off her shoes and crawled on Megan’s bed. “Yup. I gave it to my attorney at lunch without even looking at it.”

“That fucker recorded himself assaulting you?” Megan’s face was flushed with her anger.

“Apparently. Jennifer is taking it to the someone she knows in law enforcement. The guy said there was more than just me on there, so maybe Rachel and the others will be able to prove he assaulted them as well.”

“Holy shit,” Megan said as she joined Alicia on the bed. “Staying in college will be the least of his worries now.”

“It depends on what’s on the memory card. It could be blank for all I know.”

Megan slipped an arm under Alicia and drew them together for a deeper kiss. Alicia let all the anxiety and anger she felt float away under Megan’s soft kisses. As they warmed up, Alicia moved a denim-clad knee between Megan’s thighs. They moved together as the mutual pleasure ramped up.

“God, you know just how to get me going,” Megan whispered and gently bit Alicia’s earlobe.

“I’m still going from last night,” Alicia said with a shiver. “My panties are wrecked.”

“I still can’t believe we did that,” Megan said as Alicia pushed her over on her back.

Alicia pressed her knee into the joining of Megan’s thighs as she placed soft, wet kisses down her neck. When the skin was damp, Alicia whispered into it, “I loved watching you ride Carlos. Seeing him slipping in and out of you, all wet and dripping.”

Megan whimpered and pushed harder against Alicia’s knee.

“And you let him cum in you,” Alicia whispered, rocking her body against Megan’s motions.

“Well, they’ve only been with you,” Megan hissed as she arched her back.

“And now they’ve both been with you, too,” Alicia teased.

“I get it now,” Megan whispered as she pulled on Alicia’s shoulders. “I’m sorry I judged you.”

“Cum for me and all is forgiven,” Alicia said as she ground her knee harder.

“Fuck,” Megan whispered, then shuddered in Alicia’s arms with a low groan.

The door opened and Megan’s roommate, Crystal walked in. “Christ, Megan, put a sock on the door or something. It smells like a French cathouse in here.”

Alicia buried her face in Megan’s neck and chuckled.

“Sorry,” Megan said, trying not to laugh.

“Hey, Alicia,” Chrystal teased as she plopped down the other narrow bed in the room. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No, we just finished,” Alicia said as she sat up and straightened her clothes.

“And it was a wonderful finish,” Megan said as she gently shoved Alicia’s shoulder.

“Oh my God! The puppy love,” Crystal said as she covered her face. “Keep away from me in case it’s contagious.”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe. I only lust after Alicia,” Megan said.

“We’d better head out,” Alicia said with an amused spark in her voice. “We’ve got tutoring tonight.”

“Leave the door open, please,” Crystal begged as they left. “The room needs to air out.”

They were still laughing about being caught when they arrived at Meredith’s house. When they rang the doorbell, Meredith opened the door and hugged them both together.