Chapter 9 Silent Stacks #3
“So, I just make my decision?” I ask Aaron and he nods.
I look back at the guys and sigh. “They shouldn’t be on probation for a one-time lapse in judgment.
They were cooperative with the person who caught them.
They were respectful and didn’t lie. I think they handled the situation appropriately and are accepting of their wrongdoing.
Therefore, I am deciding that they are not placed on academic probation. ”
“Okay,” Aaron says with a smile. “Boys, next time buy her flowers or something instead of beer. The results are better when you take the time to show her you care about her.”
“Thank you, Dean Mathers,” Connor says.
“Yeah. Thank you,” Dillon says. “And thank you, Chloe.”
“You’re welcome,” I say with a smile. “Am I good to go, Aaron?”
“Why do you call him Aaron?” Connor asks.
“It used to be Uncle Aaron until she started here,” Aaron says.
“He was my father’s best friend before he died,” I say.
“How did he die?” Dillon asks when I stand.
“Brain cancer,” I say. “I’m going to go get dinner. I’ll see you all later.”
“Have a good night, Chloe,” Aaron says.
I walk out of his office and make my way outside.
As soon as I stop in front of my building I sigh.
I never grabbed my keys this morning. I was thrown off when Aaron called me.
Now I can’t get into my building, and I already know that no one will let me in.
Last time they called me a beggar and even went as far as making a sign that said, “will fuck for food”.
I ended up just getting maintenance to come open it, but it took an hour.
“Fuck,” I sigh and pull my phone out.
“Awe. It’s the beggar,” a girl says from behind me.
“Forget your keys again, beggar?” I ignore her and move off to the side of the building, so I’ll be out of the way.
The girl comes around and has two guys with her.
I recognize them as the guys who were banging on my door at two in the morning, drunk off their ass.
They tried to get in thinking it was someone else’s room.
They told everyone I stole their wallet and said I’d give it back if they fucked me.
I don’t know their names, but occasionally they will fuck with me for fun.
“Oh look, she’s all alone,” one of the guys says. The moment the other guy goes around to approach from the other side, panic begins to bubble up inside of me. The girl hangs back, and it gives her a view of anyone approaching.
“Think she’s a fighter or a screamer?” the second asks.
“Please leave me alone. I’m just waiting on someone,” I lie.
“Liar,” the first guy laughs. “You never talk to anyone. Are you too good for us, beggar girl?”
“I never said that.” I say as I back away from him. I forget about the other guy until I feel his hand on my waist. I instantly freeze and the first guy steps close and cups my cheek when tears well up in my eyes.
“Aww, what’s wrong, Chloe? Don’t you want to play?” he asks. “I’ll make you a deal… you get on your knees and open your pretty little mouth for us… we will consider unlocking the door for you. We’ve got to fill our favorite little beggar with our come before we can be generous.”
Please leave me alone,” I say tearfully.
“Who are you supposedly meeting?” the guy holding my waist asks.
“None of your business,” I say.
“Liars get punished, Chloe,” he says, running his thumb across my trembling lip. He brings his other hand up and roughly squeezes my breast. A voice cuts through it all and I sigh in relief.
“There you are,” Connor says. He swiftly grabs my hand and pulls me to him before wrapping his arm around my waist. “Everything okay, Chloe?”
“I forgot my key in my room,” I say quietly.
“Oh, Max, Elias, and their whore Lydia can open the door for you,” Dillon says. “Isn’t that right, guys?”
“Uh. Yeah. No problem,” Lydia says. I don’t think she saw Connor and Dillon coming but thank fucking God they did. Lydia walks over to the front and unlocks the door.
“Give us a second and we will walk you up,” Connor says, and I nod. Connor and Dillon step away from me then grab Max and Elias by the front of their shirts before slamming them against the brick building.
“You ever fucking touch her again, it’ll be the last motherfucking thing you’ll do,” Dillon growls. “Believe me when we say they’ll never find your body. Understand?”
“Y-yeah,” Max says. “We didn’t…”
“Shut the fuck up,” Connor snaps then turns to me. “Come on.”
I am on the verge of hysterics, but I hold it together until the elevator door shuts and Connor hugs me.
I immediately start crying. Once the floodgates open, I can’t shut them back.
Dillon pulls the emergency stop and joins the hug.
I don’t know how much they saw but I haven’t been that scared since I was raped in high school.
“What room?” Connor cups my face to make me look at him.
“F-Four T-Twelve,” I stammer. He nods and Dillon starts the elevator. When it stops on my floor, Connor urges me forward. When we get to my door I fumble with my phone so I can unlock my room remotely. “You can come in… if you want.”
“I assume they know what room yours is?” Connor asks as they walk in with me.
“Yeah. They’ve fucked with me in the middle of the night before,” I say with a shaky voice.
Instead of sitting down I start pacing and fumbling with things.
I’m trying to relax but I can’t. Connor and Dillon sense that I am far from okay and about to spiral.
When they both stand, I start crying again.
“Chloe,” Dillon says softly.
“I’m sorry,” I cry.
“Shh. It’s okay. You’re okay,” Dillon says as he holds me. “Come sit down.” They lead me over to sit on my bed. Dillon keeps a hold of me as Connor takes my shoes off.
“I just froze,” I say through tears. “I fucking froze again. Why don’t I just fight?”
“It’s not your fault, Chloe. It’s just trauma response. You don’t get to choose how you react,” Connor says. “Your brain did what it could to protect you and that’s what it did.”
“They were going to hurt me,” I whisper.
“We saw. I’m sorry that happened,” Dillon says. “What can we do?”
“You’ve done enough. I’m sorry if I fucked up your night,” I say.
“You didn’t,” Connor says. “Did you not get dinner?”
“No,” I sniff and sit up to wipe my face. “I was just going to eat noodles or something here.”
“Nonsense. We will order a pizza and hang out until you either fall asleep or feel better,” Dillon says.
“You don’t have to do that,” I sigh.
“Chloe, the second we leave they’re going to come up here. We all know it,” he says. “Why don’t you talk to the Dean about them?”
“It’s never been this bad before,” I say. “I try to stay out of everyone's way, but I was in a rush and forgot my key. I was just going to call maintenance, but they cornered me.”
“Call the Dean,” Connor says. “If he’s like family he should have no problem helping.” I nod and get my phone, then call Aaron.
“Hello?” he answers.
“Hey,” I say with a shaky voice.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” he asks concerned.
“Uhm… are you still on campus?” I ask.
“Yes. Are you okay? What’s wrong, Chloe?”
“Can you come to my dorm? It’s… it’s just easier than saying it over the phone,” I say.
“Okay. Give me just a second. I’m close by,” he says before ending the call.
“He cares,” Connor says.
“Uh. Yeah. He was the one I called when I was raped. I knew he and his wife were on vacation close by. He’s the one who got to me first,” I say. ”My dad was second. I still think he broke every law to get to me.”
“I bet. How old was your dad?”
“Forty-five,” I say.
“Damn,” Dillon says. There is silence for a second before I speak.
”We weren’t always struggling for money, ya know…
Mom and Dad were doing well until the cancer.
He fought so hard but all it did was take every penny out of their savings,” I say.
“I paid for the funeral with my college tuition. My grades were great so I applied for scholarships. Luckily the school accepted mine, so I didn’t end up at community college.
I didn’t have a backup plan because I wasn’t allowed to go where my dad went…
I’ve been tormented for four years because my dad died of cancer. ”
“I’m sorry,” Dillon says. “Truly…”
“I know. You are annoying but you’ve never hurt me or carved whore into the side of my car,” I say. “I appreciate you guys saving me back there.”
“Anytime,” Connor says. “Although, I’d much rather that never have to happen again.”
A knock at the door makes me jump. Connor stands and opens it a little then pulls it open. “What’s wrong?” Aaron asks as he comes into the room and squats down in front of me.
“Max and Elias… they uh…” I stop and drop my head, not knowing how to say the words.
“They were about to rape her, I think,” Dillon says. “We were out walking and saw they had her trapped between them. Max had a hold on her waist and Elias grabbed her… we stepped in and got her up here. Lydia was there and keeping watch, but she didn’t see us sneak up.”
“Are you okay?” Aaron asks me. “I uh… that triggered some awful flashbacks but… I’m okay. This has just been going on for a while. They’ve tried to get into my room before at night.”
“Why do I feel like you’re holding back?” Aaron asks.
“Because I am,” I whisper.
“Tell me, "He says as he sits on my computer chair and pulls it close. I go through everything that happened over the last four years. I leave out what Connor and Dillon have said. They just saved my ass, so the least I could do is not rat them out.
“Will you please let me put you in an off-campus apartment?” Aaron asks. “That’s where you were supposed to stay anyway.”
“I don’t want to make things worse for myself. It’s already humiliating that I have to clean the goddamn school to be here,” I say.
“I know,” he sighs. “If you will let me pay your last semester tuition then you won’t have to.”
“Aaron,” I sigh.
“If you don’t let him, we will do it for him,” Dillon says.