Westside

Dylan

"Oh boy."

There's over 1000 kids at this school, plus teachers. This was gonna be a while.

"Imma start with the people I know. So...Reggie! What's up dude?"

"I'm sorry if this is too personal but, how old were you when the...y'know...happened?" He bounces his knee and I walk over.

"Guys, I'm not totally pissed off anymore. I'm still angry, but I took your advice. Don't be scared," I whisper.

"Good," Ryder smiles and kisses my forehead.

"Ok I'm back folks. Sorry I had to tell them something really quickly. Anyways, back to your question Reggie. Technically, I'm adopted. I was given up by my parents when I was three and got adopted by this couple. They abused me lightly at first. Sexual abuse started when I was around...7 I believe. Right, 7?" I do the mental math and nod.

"Are there different kinds of sexual abuse?" Axel asks and as weird as it sounds, I laugh.

"Ax, thank you so much for asking that. That's a fantastic question. How many of you, including the teachers and admin, think there's multiple kinds?"

Only Ryder and Maddy's hands went up. That makes me really worried.

"Ok so that is very concerning. Do we not teach this shit here? There are multiple kinds of ways of abuse. There's violent abuse, where you get physically injured while someone is raping you. There's just forced sex. There's human trafficking, there's human auctions, and a whole lot more." Everyone looks a bit shocked so I call on a teacher. "Mrs. Weatherby?"

"Do you know anything about these...auctions you speak of dear?"

"Unfortunately, I know far too much." I click my tongue and look for a new hand. But that woman is persistent.

"How do you mean?"

"On my 7th birthday, I was sold at one to my now ex boyfriend. My adopted parents bought me back a few months later but I'd already met some people in Ea-in Manhattan so I went back up there frequently."

"Oh god," she puts a hand to her chest. "That's horrible!"

"Well this entire assembly is gonna probably be like this so buckle in or save yourself," I joke. Ry gives me a stern look and I sigh. "Ok, you, in the white dress. It's very cute by the way."

"Thanks. Anyways, did the abuse stop?"

"My adopted parents died when I was 11. I've grown up with Danny here," I yank Danny up to stand with me. "And some other kids. But in the last few months, I was reunited with my real family. I have 4 older brothers, 3 of which are here. Get up here assholes."

Luke and Dante flip me off but stand with me anyway. Some people gasp.

"Yeah yeah Luke Sorelli is my big brother blah blah blah. Trust me girls, he ain't that great," I wink and Luke grabs the mic.

"Hi Luke here. Don't listen to anything negative about me coming from her, it's all lies."

"No, no es Luke. Todos sabemos que es verdad."

[no it's not Luke we all know it's true]

"Babygirl se centra en la presentación," Ryder calls and I laugh.

[babygirl focus on the presentation]

"Sí sí . Anyways, yes the abuse stopped last year when I finally broke up with my late ex boyfriend."