Everyone stared at me with horrified expressions. No one said anything for a while. They all just stared at me.

       “What does “raped” mean?” Aliyah asked suddenly. 

       “Nevermind that, Aliyah.” Hayley said firmly.

       “Kassey, why didn’t you say anything about this before?” Cameron asked.

       “Because you don’t just go walking around telling people that you let someone take advantage of you and you didn’t do a damn thing about it! It’s not an easy thing to talk about.” I grunted as the headache came back in a bigger form.

       Jason went out to find the doctor and Cameron grabbed a cup off of the counter and gave me some water. After I finished the water, the doctor came in and examined me. 

       “Her blood pressure is too high, she needs rest. I’m going to have to ask all of you to leave.” She said.

       Everyone looked at each other before filing out the room. I closed my eyes but sleep never came. Everytime I closed my eyes, I could see the attack over and over again. It felt more real each time I saw it and soon, I wasn’t even able to relax. The doctor examined me a few more times before saying it was ok for me to go home. Hayley signed me out and we all rode back to the house.

       It was dinnertime and Hayley told us she was in the middle of preparing when she got the call. She sat us all down in the living room and told us to wait. I could tell her mood was low and I didn’t want to do anything to make things worse than they seemed to be, so I kept my mouth shut and did what she asked. Everyone was nice to me all afternoon by making sure I was comfortable, not piling questions on me, and making sure they didn’t hover too much. 

        While waiting for dinner, I was about to head to my room when I heard someone call my name. Hayley was at the sink washing the dishes, but she motioned for me to come over. I slowly made my way towards her with my guard up. What was on her mind? 

        “Hayley--”

       “I’m not mad.” She cut me off.

       “You're not?” I raised an eyebrow.

        Hayley smiled. “No, I was scared. I didn’t know what happened and...to get a call from the hospital…” She trailed off looking at me with a troubled expression.

       “Well, It’s nice to be cared about. Um, do you need help?” I asked. I wanted to get off the topic while everything was good.

       “No, everything is taken care of. Do you want to go to school tomorrow? I understand if you don’t. I’ll tell them some excuse.” Hayley suggested.

       “No, I’m not shrinking away just because something bad happened. I’m fine.” I said that but felt like I was burned with hellfire. I guess I was hiding my discomfort well since she didn’t say anything...or maybe she saw but didn’t want to press the issue. My foster mother had us set the table and we all ate in comfortable silence.

       After dinner, I decided to go for a walk. I needed to feel the cold breeze on my hot skin. I needed to think things through. I stopped by an oak tree and closed my eyes as I leaned against its bark. The sky was beginning to darken and the sun was starting to set. When I was little, I would climb onto my window and watch as the sun set and disappear, until the sky turned dark. It was my favorite thing to do at night, besides reading the notes and looking at the things my parents left me. They both mattered a lot. 

       “Hey.”

       I opened my eyes to see Jason staring at me. He wasn’t right in front of me, but he was leaning against the side of the tree. I didn’t know how long he had been there, but I wanted to know how he knew I was out here.

       “Did you follow me here?” I asked.

       “Kinda, Hayley said you left the house without saying anything and--”

       “She was worried.” I finished for him and followed with a sigh.

       “For good reason. After what happened today, everyone may be a little on edge for a while. It’s what they do.” Jason explained.

       “How do you feel?” I asked.

       “I want to find the bastard, but the last thing I need to do is make things harder for you.” Jason walked up to me. I couldn’t really see his face, but I saw a little outline of a smile.

       I smiled back. “Jason, did you feel the same way Cameron felt when I first came here?” I was afraid of his answer so I waited for him to think.

       “I didn’t hate you, if that’s what you mean. I wanted to get to know you and I just happened to be the most inviting one, other than Aliyah.” He said with a chuckle.

       “Aliyah is a little angel. She’s been nice, but she’s kinda mature for a seven year old.” I said, remembering the way she talked at the amusement park. 

       “She’s been in foster care since she was born. I don’t think she even knows her parents. She’s been to one other home than ours and it wasn’t really her favorite because she only stayed there till she turned three.” Jason said. His face showed a little bit of anger before it passed. I wanted to ask, but decided against it. It was in the past and I didn’t want to dredge up bad memories. Jason decided that it was late enough for us to go back inside. He took my hand and led me back to the house.