“

You did not want this to happen. You didn’t ask for it. You only said no.

“

Blame genetics. Blame evolution. Blame her parents. Blame the planets for the way that they aligned in the sky that night.

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It was a rainy, spring evening when I got the call. It was my mom who told me. She had heard it through a friend of a friend.

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He was a boy and I was a girl; that was the obvious difference between the two of us.

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The burden is not yours to carry, but you carry it anyway.

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Be brave like the survivors, check your biases and be mindful of your need to defend an abuser for any reason.

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I mean, he did try to sell the love of his life as a sex slave for his hotel.

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I spent my whole life guarding myself from boys like you.

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We both didn’t like to use the word “rape,” because saying it out loud would unleash a reality we weren’t equipped to face.

“

I know exactly what to say
because I’m speaking to myself
as I gaze into the eyes of another soul
the soul of my sister