Noises

There was more than enough on my mind as Ben got out of the car and slammed the door shut, hopping his smart little ass into the little shop we were parked outside of. I didn’t understand why, but suddenly, he had turned quite cocky in the car. Maybe he had realised I was actually on my way to climbing into his bed. Little did he know, I did not want to have sex.

As soon as his figure had disappeared inside, I bent my knees and kicked my feet up onto the dashboard, crossing them at the ankles. My head tilted and rested against the window, and my fingers blindly found there way to the buttons, turning the dial to up the volume of the music a little more. I brought my hand back to rest on my stomach, and just as I was about to close my eyes, something caught my attention.

It was a figure, walking slowly, their feet scuffing miserably against the concrete. Their head was down, and it was evident, to me, who it was. It wasn’t 15 minutes ago that I had those clothes brushed up against my own, and what made me really stare at him was the fact that his hair was incredibly messy. Well, more messy than what it was when I left him in the hallway of the pub.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. It was Joshua Franceschi, his plain shirt screwed at the bottom and his jeans tightening around his legs, with those Nike trainers on his feet. Oh, and that jacket he had over his frame, which seemed to compliment his weight a hell of a lot. Not at all saying he’s fat, but, you know. I stayed where I was, watching him from my hidden self in passenger seat, ‘This is Twice Now’ by ‘Lydia’ playing in the background. My eyes were on him, intently, as he hopped up onto the kerb and entered the store, and I dropped my head back, letting out a quiet sigh, praying that he or Ben didn’t see each other again, in fear of Joshua snapping that he’d kissed me. Then again, Ben didn’t own me, so it would’ve confused me if he had gotten jealous.

It didn’t seem like long before Ben was walking across the car park and climbing back into the car, buckling himself in. My feet fell into the foot well, and my eyebrows rose at the plastic bag he had dropped down beside my legs; it didn’t seem like there was much in there. I stayed silent, though, and leaned into the car door, resting my head on the window again as he began to drive. However, as he reached the exit of the car park, he arrogantly leaned his arm in front of my face, waving at somebody. I turned my head at this, and held back an unsatisfied grunt when I saw Joshua, stood with a tub of Chocolate Ice Cream in his hand.

I lowered my head, then, as Ben drove off, and tried not to think of Joshua as much as we travelled the short distance to Benjamin’s, but it was difficult. The kiss was unusually soft and gentle and unlike any kiss I’d ever been given, it was almost making me want more, even now, in Ben’s car. Absently, my hand rose and my slender fingertips touched my lips, until I realised what I was doing, and that we had arrived at Ben’s - then my hand dropped to my lap, and I unbuckled my seatbelt, him doing the same.

The two of us climbed out and I anxiously, silently stood behind Benjamin as he unlocked the front door, his whistling irritating me, but to work it off, I looked around the estate and mentally hummed to myself, in desperate hope of drowning the sound of him out of my ears. For some odd reason, like said before, he had been getting quite cocky in the car, like his manners and his respect had just disappeared, and because of this, like Josh, he was beginning to easily irritate me. But, considering I’m a lady, I was just trying to get through the night.

The sooner I got to sleep the sooner this night would end.

But my hopes were crushed when we entered his house; as soon as the door was shut, he had pulled out some kind of box from the plastic bag, his free hand pushing me against the wall. Before I knew what was happening, his lips found my neck, and my head was forced back, a panicked whimper leaving my throat. I hadn’t a clue what he was doing, or why, but I didn’t like it.

Finally finding my strength, I grabbed his shirt and pushed him away from me, my eyes landing on the box he had in his other hand. Condoms.

No.

Before I could even object, he had noticed my distaste to his obvious idea for the night, and quickly began to advance on me. With realising this, I panicked all the more, and ducked from his attempt to grab my shoulder, falling to my knees and crawling, hurriedly, in between his legs. Then, I darted down the hall, letting out a small, frightened whimper when I heard him curse and chase after me.

The first thing that came into my head was to run as fast as I could to the front door, but even though we were just in front of the front door, I figured I couldn’t just open it; he would have already caught me. Maybe if I wore him out a little, I could reach the front door and leave quickly enough for him not to follow. But, as I ran around his living room, kitchen, garden, hid behind things and darted away from his horridly fearful snarls, another few things briefly came to mind.

I could phone Megan. But, she’d be just finishing her shift and probably wouldn’t answer. I could phone Tom, but he’d be with Megan, and I didn’t often like the sound of smooching echoing down my ear when I’m trying to get out of a situation that could possibly take away my virginity.

Yes. I’m a virgin.

Fourth quick thought: Josh. And boy, was that a quick one; before I could even attempt to contemplate me phoning him, Ben had grabbed my dress, resulting in me screaming. I tore my arm away from him and began to sprint down the hall, my hand falling onto my bag. I grabbed my phone, already out of breath from the running, and phoned Joshua, darting up the stairs. It only took four rings, and then, as weird as this may sound, I almost screamed with relief when he answered.

“Hollie?” he mumbled, groggily.

“Josh,” I hissed, sharply, slipping into Ben’s room and freezing when I realised where I was. My eyes scanned the room hurriedly, what with Benjamin storming towards the exact same room from down the hall.

“Hollie?” the singer repeated, sounding all the more confused. I rolled my eyes at this, then ran across the room and slid into Ben’s wardrobe, squeezing myself in and having to duck, slightly, peering out of the little keyhole. “… what’re you doing?”

“I need your help,” I whispered, closing my eyes for a split second; I couldn’t even begin to believe that I had just said that. It seemed almost stupid of me. “It’s Ben. I think he wants to, rape me, or something, I don’t know,” I rushed, my right eye staring out of the keyhole. “But he bought condoms-”

“- I saw.” Joshua interjected, quietly, but I hardly took the time to consider what he meant. It didn’t even come to mind how inconsiderate he was; I was on the verge of having my virginity stolen, and he hardly seemed arsed.

“And he’s just been chasing me around the house.” I breathed, swallowing the lump in my throat. The door, which had shut on it’s own after me, was slowly beginning to open, and after a few seconds, Ben appeared in the doorway, scanning the room, cautiously, with a small smirk on his face. I knew that he knew that he’d definitely seen me run in here - and he knew I was cornered. “Meet me at the same shop as before, okay?” I whispered, my voice suddenly all the more hoarse from how nervous I had suddenly become. “I’ll give myself 10 minutes. Maybe 15.”And then, I hung up, sliding my phone into my pocket and moving my foot, which, unfortunately, resulted in it falling in a mess of hangers and clothes all in knots on the floor of the wardrobe.

I cursed, extra quietly at this, and looked down, trying to make sense of how to get my foot out of it in such darkness, however my breath got caught in my throat when, after a minute or so, the doors creaked, then suddenly flew open. Ben, who laughed (probably at how stupid my idea of hiding in a wardrobe was), reached in and roughly grabbed my forearm, yanking me out. I yelped at this, my body getting thrown onto the bed, my head bouncing off the headboard, which I winced at.

It took him seconds to remove his jacket and shirt after that, and whilst shirtless, he leaned down, his hands trying to pull my dress up, but I wasn’t doing this without a fight. I suddenly kicked my legs, aiming for his crotch area, and swung my arms forward, launching my balled-up fists anywhere in an attempt to get him off of me. He grunted every now and then when I hurt him, but that was about it.

Though, just when I thought I was, for sure, going to lose my virginity to some attractive rapist guy named Benjamin, My foot caught him, right in the balls, and he immediately keeled over on top of me. I forcefully pushed him off of me and onto the floor, then scrambled off the bed, my eyes stinging with tears as I sprinted, with a major headache, out of his room, across the hall, down the stairs and out of the house. I let the door slam shut behind me, but that didn’t stop me from running.

I sprinted as if he was still chasing me, although he wasn’t, my arms and legs bare, and my mind repeatedly telling me to just calm down before I fell in my heels and broke my neck. But, what would that even matter? I hadn’t fallen over before now, and even if I did - I’d be well away from Ben.

When I arrived at the shop, I slowed myself down until my body pressed the door wide open, and I stumbled inside, completely out of breath. I leaned against the wall and buried my face in my hands, taking deep, slow, steady breaths, until there was a very light arm around my neck. Without even looking, I turned and wrapped my arms around their waist, exhaling into their chest. Though, when I exhaled, everything I had held back to try and keep my presence unknown in Ben’s room came flooding, and my shoulders began to shake as I cried, quietly.

You see, it wasn’t like me to cry, but when you’ve just been on the verge of being raped, it’s quite okay to sob your heart out. Trust me.

“Come on.” the voice murmured, hoarsely. I knew that voice, and strangely, it was one I had been too relieved to hear. “You can stay at mine for the night - tell me everything when we get there.” he finished, quietly, before unwrapping our arms, and even though my head was hung low, he made the sweetest effort to take off his hoodie and drape it over my shoulders, which resulted in my goosebump-covered arms to warm up, slightly.

Then, keeping his distance, Joshua made sure to stand beside me as we left, and he walked me to his, in silence. And, oddly enough, I enjoyed it. He made small effort to try and create a conversation, but when he did it ran smoothly, and ended without awkwardness trailing after. Oddly, it was something I would have never expected:

Joshua Franceschi to make me smile, genuinely. Joshua Franceschi to take me to his parents’ house, whilst they were away, just to try and cheer me up and give me a place to stay, after days of me just bitching on at or about him.

Personally, I had began to think that, maybe, this Franceschi kid wasn’t so bad, after all. Even if, when we arrive at his, the awkwardness would get the better of us.

Unexpectedly, he actually had began to make me feel a lot better, and I knew that when we got to his house it would be awkward, what after the kiss and such, but he helped me. And even I was grateful for that.