Therapy
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 2:09 pm
I’m sorry if this isn’t appropriate to post here. If it’s not just tell me and I’ll delete it. Something happened to me pretty recently in high school and I can’t get over it. I can’t sleep or focus on anything cause it’s all I can think about all the time. I can’t bring myself to go to therapy because the thought of actually telling this story in person to someone makes me feel like I’m gonna have a panic attack. I felt like I had to tell someone though or I’d explode so I tried telling people anonymously over the internet. The thing is, every time I tried this, people called me a liar or a troll/pervert/all sorts of things. And...that only made me feel worse. I started thinking that maybe I didn’t need someone to believe me, I just needed to...not be attacked. I just need someone to see my story and not immediately dismiss it. So... I found this forum. I’m not posting this under true stories because I don’t want to be called a liar again, and so that I’m not breaking any rules (I hope), I’m gonna change parts of the story so that it really is fictional. I really wish this story was more fiction than fact, but unfortunately, it’s mostly details that are different. So basically, I’m really gonna unload here. It’s probably gonna be long, and if I’m imposing on this board, please let me know, I’ll leave, no hard feelings.
When I was a kid I really never got embarrassed. I’d slip and fall in mud at school and find it genuinely funny. I didn’t feel any shame cause I mean, who cares if you fall in mud? You slipped up (literally), it’s not like you have some moral flaw or something. I had lost fights, pretty badly sometimes, and I never felt embarrassed about that either. In a fight, someone’s gonna lose, and I tried my best. If you think my fighting abilities are so ridiculously bad that I should be ashamed...ok then, good for you. I really felt like embarrassment wasn’t something I had to deal with. Why should I be embarrassed unless I do something shameful? And doing something shameful was something I had to choose to do, it couldn’t be an accident or something someone else did to me.
And then, in high school, my philosophy shattered. It was girls. I had always been outgoing, but suddenly, I started tripping over my words. Worse yet, I felt like it was my fault when I stuttered or said something stupid. I’m guessing everyone goes through it but, girls were suddenly...so scary. Especially Lizzie. I know it’s cliche but, I didn’t know girls could be that pretty. She was like a drug to me. I would try to sit close to her in class, not next to her, (I was terrified of being obvious), but close enough that every once in a while we would exchange some meaningless “excuse me” or “it’s so cold in here” that would replay in my head all day. The idea that we would never go beyond that physically hurt me, but nothing compared to the terror of trying to actually initiate something.
And then, there was Jess, Lizzies best friend. She was really pretty too (not as pretty as Lizzie in my opinion, but I was probably biased), but she was a bully. No one thought of her as one cause she was so popular, and always managed to get everyone on her side, but she was brutal. I used to have no problems standing up to bullies, even on behalf of other people, but I made sure to never get in her way, which only made the idea of really talking to Lizzie more terrifying. I tried not to think about the fact that I never stood up to Jess, the fact that I was scared of a girl. It made me feel a deep shame in my gut that seemed impossible to get rid of, no matter how much I tried not to think about it. And then one day I saw Jess do something I’ll never forget, that made it impossible for me to not think about how every day at school, I prayed that she would leave me alone.
Both Jess and Lizzie were part of the usual group of students that waited for the bus after school, and it wasn’t uncommon for Jess to get into arguments (and sometimes altercations) with the other students. Well, this one day, a guy named Jake was wearing the wrong shoes.
Jess: “You know your shoes are fakes right, everyone can tell”
Jake: “You know it’s really none of your business”
The crowd instantly went OOOOoo and I saw Lizzie get a smirk on her face. I didn’t say or do anything, I didn’t want to get involved.
Jess: “That’s really no way to talk to a girl”
Jake: “Well that’s no way to talk to a guy”
The crowd didn’t react this time, just waited.
Jess: “Here’s some advice Jake. If you want to keep something your own private business, don’t go showing it off”
And then she...pantsed him...she just casually walked up to him, and in a flash yanked his jeans down to his ankles. My breath got caught in my throat, his boxers got pulled down too...not all the way, just barely far enough for all of us to see the top of his... you know what. I couldn’t believe she could just walk up and do that to someone, and what was he supposed to do? His classmates, who he had known for years, just saw a glimpse of his privates cause Jess decided that over basically nothing, just on a whim, today she was gonna pull down his underwear in public, in broad daylight. I wanted the ground to swallow me up and I wasn’t even the one who just almost got stripped naked by a girl. And what could he do? When he snapped out of his shock (which was not immediate), he pulled up his jeans without even bothering to pull up his boxers, gave all of us one frantic, wide eyed, look, and ran away, not daring to ride the bus home today. I wish I didn’t ride the bus after that either. None of the girls, including Lizzie, could stop laughing and talking about it.
Lizzie: “Oh my god I can’t believe we just saw Jake’s privates! You are, waaaay too savage Jess hahahaha!”
Jess: “Eh I went easy on him, I could’ve ankled his undies too”
Lisa: “Did you see his face? I wouldn’t be able to come back to school if someone...did you know his underwear was gonna come down?”
Jess: “Well I knew he needed to be brought down a peg...or two”
The girls broke out in hysterics again while my insides were going through a blender. What if that happened to me? I suddenly thought I felt a breeze down there but I was just being paranoid. What if I got...pantsed. Even the word made me feel dirty. It wasn’t just the possibility of having my classmates or even Lizzie see my...sorry I don’t know why I still can’t say it. Maybe I do, but i guess that’s later in the story. Anyway, it wasn’t just about Lizzie... you know, it was the idea of getting pantsed, of getting “ankled”. It was something a girl could do to me. It was a huge deal where girls doubt how you’ll even be able to show your face in school again, but it’s also no big deal in that all the girls thought it was hilarious, and Jess was obviously going to get away with it. She just took away Jakes dignity permanently and it was easy. And it was funny. I couldn’t get the nightmare out of my head, of Jess pantsing me in front of Lizzie, and she “ankles my undies” too, and Jess busting out laughing. It kept replaying in my head as I started to feel light headed, and I didn’t even realize I had been absentmindedly staring at Lizzie the whole time. My heart skipped a beat and I quickly looked away. And then my heart skipped two beats. Jess was looking at me. She saw me staring at Lizzie. We made eye contact. She cocked her head and raised her eyebrow. I immediately looked straight ahead at the seat in front of me. I can’t remember the last time my face actually turned red like this from embarrassment.
When I got off the bus I went to my Cindys house, my best friend. After everything I’ve said, that might sound weird, but Cindy is the only girl I don’t get nervous around. We’ve been really close friends since elementary school, and we can pretty much talk about anything. Well, except girls. I’ve never brought up how I feel about Lizzie and either she hasn’t noticed or never said anything. For the past almost 3 years I’ve come over to her house every day after school to hang out in her basement and play video games, board games, hang out, watch tv etc. It might be corny to say but those after school hangouts were really my happy place. I felt like I could really unwind, relax and have fun with Cindy. And today I really needed to clear my mind. I hoped playing some Mario Party could get me to stop thinking about Jess noticing me staring at Lizzie, and letting me know that she noticed.
Her backyard has a screen door going into her basement, and like every day for the past 3 years, I see her waving at me as I walk up and I can’t help but smile.
We just finished our first mini game in Mario Party and I was finally starting to relax. And then,
Cindy: “Hey Riley (that’s me by the way), you know Jess right, she sits kinda close to us in chemistry”
Please, please, please let Cindy not know about what happened at the bus stop today...
Me: “Yeah, why?”
Cindy: “Did you hear about...wait, you take the same bus don’t you?? Oh my god is it true?”
I can feel the knot in my stomach start to tighten and my ears get hot, how does she already know? I try to act cool.
Me: “Is what true?”
Cindy: “Mm I guess it’s not you’d know what I was talking about if it was”
...
Cindy: “Are you not gonna ask what I’m talking about?”
Me: “I...I..”
Cindy pauses the game, and looks straight at me, grabbing my shoulders
Cindy: “Riley......it happened didn’t it”
I don’t know what to say but I can feel my face getting extremely hot, and Cindy clearly notices
Cindy: “Oh my god! I knew it! Did everyone really see his...cause Rachel said she didn’t really see anything but then Sarah said she definitely saw his privates...like not his...balls but just the..”
Cindy couldn’t continue from giggling too hard. I still couldn’t talk but now I could feel my palms drenched in sweat. I stared at her basement wall, feeling completely pathetic, feeling unsafe.
Cindy eventually got herself under control and sat there looking at me. I couldn’t see her expression but when she spoke, her tone was different. I couldn’t quite place it, it was almost just neutral curiosity.
Cindy: “Riley, what would you do if you got pantsed?”
I suddenly got that awful feeling in the back of my throat, where I knew I was one word away from bursting into tears. I had never cried in front of Cindy in my life. It suddenly hit me how important it was to me that Cindy thought I was cool. How I always tried hard to make her laugh and impress her. I couldn’t cry in front of her, so I didn’t talk, but the damage had been done. Cindy had a look of concern on her face I hoped I’d never see.
Cindy: “Hey hey Riley, it’s ok. It’s ok to cry, you can let it out”
Without thinking I started deflecting but I only got two words out, “No I’m...” before I had to stop or I would’ve pushed myself over the edge.
Cindy: “Sorry, Riley it’s ok, just breathe. Take your time”
I know it sounds dramatic, but up to that point in my life, that was the worst moment of my life. I sat there, next to my best friend, for probably at least 5 minutes breathing heavily, as she sat there patiently with what I could only imagine was a caring concerned expression. I couldn’t bare to look her in the face. When my breathing finally returned to normal,
Cindy: “Riley, what’s wrong?”
What’s wrong? I didn’t know where to start, and I couldn’t possibly tell her everything that’s wrong, but I just started talking.
Me: “Jess caught me staring at Lizzie on the bus today”
Cindy: “What? What does that...OH, Riley!”
She cupped both hands over her mouth, then whisper shouted through them,
Cindy: “You like Lizzie!!”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing that being said out loud. I didn’t confirm or deny, just looked away.
Cindy: “Riley that’s great! You’ve never talked about liking a girl before! Come to think of it, you’ve never really talked about girls before! Can you stay over tonight? We HAVE to talk about this”
I was hesitant but Cindy kept insisting so I stayed over. I told her all the things I liked about Lizzie and how she made me feel. I felt like I was blushing the whole time but it did feel good to finally tell someone. Cindy, who was smiling excitedly the whole time, suddenly changed her expression to one of sudden comprehension,
Cindy: “And you think Jess knows. And you think..she’s gonna pants you in front of Lizzie or something?”
That awful feeling was coming back.
Cindy: “Oh come on, I mean yeah she messes with people but she’s only pantsed someone one time, it’s not like she’s going around pulling everyone’s boxers down. I’m sure you’ll be fine...maybe don’t wear sweatpants though”
I was feeling deeply uncomfortable but I kept talking.
Me: “Just, what if she starts messing with me. She knows I know she knows. If she starts messing with me and I stand up to her, she’s definitely gonna tell Lizzie, you know how she is”
Cindy: “Mmm, well there’s no point in worrying about it now. I’m sure you’re blowing this out of proportion. Besides, don’t worry, I’ll be there to protect you”
She gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder as she said it. The idea of Cindy protecting me, especially from a girl, made me feel sick. Luckily, we soon started talking about other stuff, played more games, and eventually fell asleep.
The next day at school was hell. Jake didn’t show up, and everyone seemed to be talking about how he got pantsed and “owned” by Jess. I kept overhearing girls discussing if she really pantsed him “butt naked” or not, but they never got really far before cracking up. Every time this happened I could see Cindy glance at me and my cheeks flushed. Worse that that, my fear came true. Jess knew. She knew I liked Lizzie, and she knew I would die before she found out. Jess had seemingly decided to see how much she could disrespect me before I cracked. I was walking in the hall with Cindy and Jess, sneaking up behind me, grabbed my backpack and yanked it up, causing me to bellyflop in the middle of the hallway. Lots of people saw, and lots of people laughed. Cindy just blushed. In chemistry, before class started, Jess sat down in my lap and erased my name off the homework that was sitting on my desk, wrote her own, and took it. Then she turned around and straddled me, took out a marker, and wrote LOSER right across my face, and then went right back to her desk with a wink. People’s jaws were on the floor. So was Cindy’s. I spent the whole class in the bathroom washing it off. I got marked absent but I didn’t care. As I was waiting in the lunch line she walked by with her tray, and stopped when she got to me. She took her glass of water and splashed it on the front of my pants, feigned a gasp, and walked away. People around me snickered as I got out of line and just sat down at a table, alone. But, as always, Cindy sat down next to me.
Cindy: “Riley, you HAVE to do something”
...
Cindy: “She’s just showing she can do anything she wants to you, and everyone’s wondering why you’re just taking it. People are talking Riley...”
Me: “If I do anything she’ll tell Lizzie...”
Cindy: “Riley, it looks like you pissed yourself. Would you rather Lizzie think you pissed yourself? Just tell her!”
Me: “I...I can’t...”
Cindy: “Well then she’s only gonna keep pushing you till she takes it too far. What’s it gonna take? Her exposing your junk to everyone in school?”
I couldn’t believe she just said that. I heard ringing in my ears and I just wanted to disappear. For the first time in my life, I said something rude to Cindy.
Me: “Please just leave me alone”
Cindy: “Leave you alone? I’m the ONLY one trying to help you instead of laughing at you and you want me to leave you alone? You know what, I hope you do get pantsed, and I hope she pulls EVERYTHING down, so everyone gets a good show. I know I could use a laugh”
And with that she got up and walked away...I just sat there shocked. I had just lost my best friend, and yet the first thought that came into my head was I hoped that no one heard what she just said. I felt like crying again but I didn’t break. I felt extremely depressed the rest of the day and I swear I saw people staring at me in class. Luckily by the end of the day my pants had dried, but it felt like it took forever. I was walking through the hallway on the way to the bus stop when...Jess was standing, in the middle of the hallway, facing me. I looked down and tried to walk past her but she stepped in front of me.
Jess: “Hey Riley, I need 20$ for an Uber. Help a friend out?”
I tried to side step her and she let me...except she quickly reached into my pocket and snatched my wallet. I had like 40$ in there. My depression turned to rage. I tried to snatch it back but missed as she held it up in the air. I jumped for it, and missed again. I froze. I could see a crowd was forming. I could feel their eyes on me. And here I was, jumping like a dog for my wallet from the girl who had been humiliating me all day. Words can’t describe how angry I felt. I felt like screaming but I didn’t want to attract even more attention.
Me: “Give. Me. My. Wallet.”
Jess pretended to look thoughtful for a second.
Jess: “Mmmmmm no I don’t think so”
A laugh rippled through the crowd. I felt so angry but didn’t know what I could do.
Me: “Why?”
Jess: “Cause you have a small dick”
The crowd gasped. There was total silence. I felt that awful feeling coming back. I just stood there. Jess kept driving the knife in.
Jess: “Oh and by the way, when are you gonna tell Lizzie you have a crush on her?”
I felt like I was gonna black out. I frantically looked through the crowd to see if Lizzie was there. Thankfully she wasn’t but it didn’t really matter. She would hear about it. Everyone knew. My life was over, and the crowd was starting to laugh, but Jess wasn’t done.
Jess: “And just so no one calls me a liar..”
She lunged at me, but it was a fake out. I instinctively covered my crotch with both hands and brought my knees together. The crowd was in hysterics. And then she grabbed, not my pants, but my shirt, and lifted it up...she lifted it over my head which brought my arms up and blinded me. And then I felt it...her hands on my waistband. I tried to stop the inevitable by spreading my legs but it was too late. She pulled down my pants...and my underwear...all the way down to my ankles. The fact that my legs were spread only made me more exposed. For one horrible moment time stood still as the realization hit me. I just got pantsed. Fully pantsed. Ankled. In front of a crowd, by Jess. The crowd gasped again, but infinitely worse this time. They couldn’t believe what just happened. And then the hallway exploded with laughter. Fighting back tears I finally managed to bring my shirt back down and reached down to pull up my pants when I saw Jess’s foot resting on top of my jeans and boxers. I pulled as hard as I could but the awkward position made it impossible. For a brief moment I looked between my legs, and saw Cindy, standing in the crowd, directly behind me. Her face was scarlet and she had her hands over her mouth. We made eye contact. This could not possibly get any worse. She tried her best but she couldn’t hold it in, she snorted in laughter, and then she went silent. Everyone did. I didn’t know why, until I heard a camera flash. With both hands still gripping my jeans, I looked up and saw Jess pointing a phone right at my privates, a satisfied smile on her face.
Jess: “Apologize, or I post it”
I had nothing left
Me: “I’m sorry!”
Jess: “Apologize... for having a tiny wiener”
Nobody breathed. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say the words
Jess: “Ok, I’m posting in 5,4,3,2...”
Me: “I’m sorry I have a tiny wiener..”
My conversation at lunch with Cindy flashed through my mind, “...she’s just showing she can do anything she wants to you...what’s it gonna take? Her exposing your junk to everyone in school?...” And now Cindy was standing behind me, watching me apologize to Jess for having a tiny wiener, with it exposed to half the girls I knew in school. I looked down at it. It really did...look small. I swear it didn’t look this small before...I should’ve immediately clapped both hands over it but I was just frozen.
Jess: “Good boy. I won’t post your boyhood...for now. Have a nice day!”
And then before walking away, Jess did one more thing...she gave me a checkup... If you don’t know what that is, that’s what people started calling it after Jess did it to me. I don’t think it spread too far outside my school but I did see a video online once of it being done to someone else. It’s hard for me to describe it. Not because it’s complicated...it’s just hard for me to say what she did to me. I still can’t believe any of it happened, but here goes. She basically did an uppercut slap... in between my legs. It was pretty cold that day, and I can still feel her cold hand on my taint. She quickly brought it up my front...feeling everything... and finally flipped up my privates with the palm of her hand...not hard enough to really hurt...but enough to make them bounce and jiggle...in front of everyone. That was the first time anyone had ever touched me there. I felt so violated...so helpless. She just felt up my most private, intimate areas in front of everyone. But she didn’t grab or grope, she slapped them. It was hard for me to imagine something more degrading, and then she walked away with my wallet, leaving me crouched over, covering my privates, dignity gone. The crowd parted to let Jess go through, and instead of laughing, they actually started clapping. Applauding. Through all the noise I heard a voice, not laughing or cheering, the voice of my former best friend,
Cindy: “Riley, pull your pants up!”
I snapped out of my paralysis and pulled them up. I looked at her. She looked at me. For a second it felt like it was just us two in the crowd and we looked deep into each other’s souls. I turned away and ran through the crowd, past the bus stop, all the way to a park close to my house. I couldn’t go to Cindy’s. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t even cry out of shame. I couldn’t believe what happened, but the laughing echoing in my head was a constant reminder. I sat there for hours. I heard my phone repeatedly buzz at first but I turned it off.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there, but I can’t bring myself to write down what happened next right now. If it’s ok with the people on this board, I will continue this story soon, after I calm down a little bit.
When I was a kid I really never got embarrassed. I’d slip and fall in mud at school and find it genuinely funny. I didn’t feel any shame cause I mean, who cares if you fall in mud? You slipped up (literally), it’s not like you have some moral flaw or something. I had lost fights, pretty badly sometimes, and I never felt embarrassed about that either. In a fight, someone’s gonna lose, and I tried my best. If you think my fighting abilities are so ridiculously bad that I should be ashamed...ok then, good for you. I really felt like embarrassment wasn’t something I had to deal with. Why should I be embarrassed unless I do something shameful? And doing something shameful was something I had to choose to do, it couldn’t be an accident or something someone else did to me.
And then, in high school, my philosophy shattered. It was girls. I had always been outgoing, but suddenly, I started tripping over my words. Worse yet, I felt like it was my fault when I stuttered or said something stupid. I’m guessing everyone goes through it but, girls were suddenly...so scary. Especially Lizzie. I know it’s cliche but, I didn’t know girls could be that pretty. She was like a drug to me. I would try to sit close to her in class, not next to her, (I was terrified of being obvious), but close enough that every once in a while we would exchange some meaningless “excuse me” or “it’s so cold in here” that would replay in my head all day. The idea that we would never go beyond that physically hurt me, but nothing compared to the terror of trying to actually initiate something.
And then, there was Jess, Lizzies best friend. She was really pretty too (not as pretty as Lizzie in my opinion, but I was probably biased), but she was a bully. No one thought of her as one cause she was so popular, and always managed to get everyone on her side, but she was brutal. I used to have no problems standing up to bullies, even on behalf of other people, but I made sure to never get in her way, which only made the idea of really talking to Lizzie more terrifying. I tried not to think about the fact that I never stood up to Jess, the fact that I was scared of a girl. It made me feel a deep shame in my gut that seemed impossible to get rid of, no matter how much I tried not to think about it. And then one day I saw Jess do something I’ll never forget, that made it impossible for me to not think about how every day at school, I prayed that she would leave me alone.
Both Jess and Lizzie were part of the usual group of students that waited for the bus after school, and it wasn’t uncommon for Jess to get into arguments (and sometimes altercations) with the other students. Well, this one day, a guy named Jake was wearing the wrong shoes.
Jess: “You know your shoes are fakes right, everyone can tell”
Jake: “You know it’s really none of your business”
The crowd instantly went OOOOoo and I saw Lizzie get a smirk on her face. I didn’t say or do anything, I didn’t want to get involved.
Jess: “That’s really no way to talk to a girl”
Jake: “Well that’s no way to talk to a guy”
The crowd didn’t react this time, just waited.
Jess: “Here’s some advice Jake. If you want to keep something your own private business, don’t go showing it off”
And then she...pantsed him...she just casually walked up to him, and in a flash yanked his jeans down to his ankles. My breath got caught in my throat, his boxers got pulled down too...not all the way, just barely far enough for all of us to see the top of his... you know what. I couldn’t believe she could just walk up and do that to someone, and what was he supposed to do? His classmates, who he had known for years, just saw a glimpse of his privates cause Jess decided that over basically nothing, just on a whim, today she was gonna pull down his underwear in public, in broad daylight. I wanted the ground to swallow me up and I wasn’t even the one who just almost got stripped naked by a girl. And what could he do? When he snapped out of his shock (which was not immediate), he pulled up his jeans without even bothering to pull up his boxers, gave all of us one frantic, wide eyed, look, and ran away, not daring to ride the bus home today. I wish I didn’t ride the bus after that either. None of the girls, including Lizzie, could stop laughing and talking about it.
Lizzie: “Oh my god I can’t believe we just saw Jake’s privates! You are, waaaay too savage Jess hahahaha!”
Jess: “Eh I went easy on him, I could’ve ankled his undies too”
Lisa: “Did you see his face? I wouldn’t be able to come back to school if someone...did you know his underwear was gonna come down?”
Jess: “Well I knew he needed to be brought down a peg...or two”
The girls broke out in hysterics again while my insides were going through a blender. What if that happened to me? I suddenly thought I felt a breeze down there but I was just being paranoid. What if I got...pantsed. Even the word made me feel dirty. It wasn’t just the possibility of having my classmates or even Lizzie see my...sorry I don’t know why I still can’t say it. Maybe I do, but i guess that’s later in the story. Anyway, it wasn’t just about Lizzie... you know, it was the idea of getting pantsed, of getting “ankled”. It was something a girl could do to me. It was a huge deal where girls doubt how you’ll even be able to show your face in school again, but it’s also no big deal in that all the girls thought it was hilarious, and Jess was obviously going to get away with it. She just took away Jakes dignity permanently and it was easy. And it was funny. I couldn’t get the nightmare out of my head, of Jess pantsing me in front of Lizzie, and she “ankles my undies” too, and Jess busting out laughing. It kept replaying in my head as I started to feel light headed, and I didn’t even realize I had been absentmindedly staring at Lizzie the whole time. My heart skipped a beat and I quickly looked away. And then my heart skipped two beats. Jess was looking at me. She saw me staring at Lizzie. We made eye contact. She cocked her head and raised her eyebrow. I immediately looked straight ahead at the seat in front of me. I can’t remember the last time my face actually turned red like this from embarrassment.
When I got off the bus I went to my Cindys house, my best friend. After everything I’ve said, that might sound weird, but Cindy is the only girl I don’t get nervous around. We’ve been really close friends since elementary school, and we can pretty much talk about anything. Well, except girls. I’ve never brought up how I feel about Lizzie and either she hasn’t noticed or never said anything. For the past almost 3 years I’ve come over to her house every day after school to hang out in her basement and play video games, board games, hang out, watch tv etc. It might be corny to say but those after school hangouts were really my happy place. I felt like I could really unwind, relax and have fun with Cindy. And today I really needed to clear my mind. I hoped playing some Mario Party could get me to stop thinking about Jess noticing me staring at Lizzie, and letting me know that she noticed.
Her backyard has a screen door going into her basement, and like every day for the past 3 years, I see her waving at me as I walk up and I can’t help but smile.
We just finished our first mini game in Mario Party and I was finally starting to relax. And then,
Cindy: “Hey Riley (that’s me by the way), you know Jess right, she sits kinda close to us in chemistry”
Please, please, please let Cindy not know about what happened at the bus stop today...
Me: “Yeah, why?”
Cindy: “Did you hear about...wait, you take the same bus don’t you?? Oh my god is it true?”
I can feel the knot in my stomach start to tighten and my ears get hot, how does she already know? I try to act cool.
Me: “Is what true?”
Cindy: “Mm I guess it’s not you’d know what I was talking about if it was”
...
Cindy: “Are you not gonna ask what I’m talking about?”
Me: “I...I..”
Cindy pauses the game, and looks straight at me, grabbing my shoulders
Cindy: “Riley......it happened didn’t it”
I don’t know what to say but I can feel my face getting extremely hot, and Cindy clearly notices
Cindy: “Oh my god! I knew it! Did everyone really see his...cause Rachel said she didn’t really see anything but then Sarah said she definitely saw his privates...like not his...balls but just the..”
Cindy couldn’t continue from giggling too hard. I still couldn’t talk but now I could feel my palms drenched in sweat. I stared at her basement wall, feeling completely pathetic, feeling unsafe.
Cindy eventually got herself under control and sat there looking at me. I couldn’t see her expression but when she spoke, her tone was different. I couldn’t quite place it, it was almost just neutral curiosity.
Cindy: “Riley, what would you do if you got pantsed?”
I suddenly got that awful feeling in the back of my throat, where I knew I was one word away from bursting into tears. I had never cried in front of Cindy in my life. It suddenly hit me how important it was to me that Cindy thought I was cool. How I always tried hard to make her laugh and impress her. I couldn’t cry in front of her, so I didn’t talk, but the damage had been done. Cindy had a look of concern on her face I hoped I’d never see.
Cindy: “Hey hey Riley, it’s ok. It’s ok to cry, you can let it out”
Without thinking I started deflecting but I only got two words out, “No I’m...” before I had to stop or I would’ve pushed myself over the edge.
Cindy: “Sorry, Riley it’s ok, just breathe. Take your time”
I know it sounds dramatic, but up to that point in my life, that was the worst moment of my life. I sat there, next to my best friend, for probably at least 5 minutes breathing heavily, as she sat there patiently with what I could only imagine was a caring concerned expression. I couldn’t bare to look her in the face. When my breathing finally returned to normal,
Cindy: “Riley, what’s wrong?”
What’s wrong? I didn’t know where to start, and I couldn’t possibly tell her everything that’s wrong, but I just started talking.
Me: “Jess caught me staring at Lizzie on the bus today”
Cindy: “What? What does that...OH, Riley!”
She cupped both hands over her mouth, then whisper shouted through them,
Cindy: “You like Lizzie!!”
I couldn’t believe I was hearing that being said out loud. I didn’t confirm or deny, just looked away.
Cindy: “Riley that’s great! You’ve never talked about liking a girl before! Come to think of it, you’ve never really talked about girls before! Can you stay over tonight? We HAVE to talk about this”
I was hesitant but Cindy kept insisting so I stayed over. I told her all the things I liked about Lizzie and how she made me feel. I felt like I was blushing the whole time but it did feel good to finally tell someone. Cindy, who was smiling excitedly the whole time, suddenly changed her expression to one of sudden comprehension,
Cindy: “And you think Jess knows. And you think..she’s gonna pants you in front of Lizzie or something?”
That awful feeling was coming back.
Cindy: “Oh come on, I mean yeah she messes with people but she’s only pantsed someone one time, it’s not like she’s going around pulling everyone’s boxers down. I’m sure you’ll be fine...maybe don’t wear sweatpants though”
I was feeling deeply uncomfortable but I kept talking.
Me: “Just, what if she starts messing with me. She knows I know she knows. If she starts messing with me and I stand up to her, she’s definitely gonna tell Lizzie, you know how she is”
Cindy: “Mmm, well there’s no point in worrying about it now. I’m sure you’re blowing this out of proportion. Besides, don’t worry, I’ll be there to protect you”
She gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder as she said it. The idea of Cindy protecting me, especially from a girl, made me feel sick. Luckily, we soon started talking about other stuff, played more games, and eventually fell asleep.
The next day at school was hell. Jake didn’t show up, and everyone seemed to be talking about how he got pantsed and “owned” by Jess. I kept overhearing girls discussing if she really pantsed him “butt naked” or not, but they never got really far before cracking up. Every time this happened I could see Cindy glance at me and my cheeks flushed. Worse that that, my fear came true. Jess knew. She knew I liked Lizzie, and she knew I would die before she found out. Jess had seemingly decided to see how much she could disrespect me before I cracked. I was walking in the hall with Cindy and Jess, sneaking up behind me, grabbed my backpack and yanked it up, causing me to bellyflop in the middle of the hallway. Lots of people saw, and lots of people laughed. Cindy just blushed. In chemistry, before class started, Jess sat down in my lap and erased my name off the homework that was sitting on my desk, wrote her own, and took it. Then she turned around and straddled me, took out a marker, and wrote LOSER right across my face, and then went right back to her desk with a wink. People’s jaws were on the floor. So was Cindy’s. I spent the whole class in the bathroom washing it off. I got marked absent but I didn’t care. As I was waiting in the lunch line she walked by with her tray, and stopped when she got to me. She took her glass of water and splashed it on the front of my pants, feigned a gasp, and walked away. People around me snickered as I got out of line and just sat down at a table, alone. But, as always, Cindy sat down next to me.
Cindy: “Riley, you HAVE to do something”
...
Cindy: “She’s just showing she can do anything she wants to you, and everyone’s wondering why you’re just taking it. People are talking Riley...”
Me: “If I do anything she’ll tell Lizzie...”
Cindy: “Riley, it looks like you pissed yourself. Would you rather Lizzie think you pissed yourself? Just tell her!”
Me: “I...I can’t...”
Cindy: “Well then she’s only gonna keep pushing you till she takes it too far. What’s it gonna take? Her exposing your junk to everyone in school?”
I couldn’t believe she just said that. I heard ringing in my ears and I just wanted to disappear. For the first time in my life, I said something rude to Cindy.
Me: “Please just leave me alone”
Cindy: “Leave you alone? I’m the ONLY one trying to help you instead of laughing at you and you want me to leave you alone? You know what, I hope you do get pantsed, and I hope she pulls EVERYTHING down, so everyone gets a good show. I know I could use a laugh”
And with that she got up and walked away...I just sat there shocked. I had just lost my best friend, and yet the first thought that came into my head was I hoped that no one heard what she just said. I felt like crying again but I didn’t break. I felt extremely depressed the rest of the day and I swear I saw people staring at me in class. Luckily by the end of the day my pants had dried, but it felt like it took forever. I was walking through the hallway on the way to the bus stop when...Jess was standing, in the middle of the hallway, facing me. I looked down and tried to walk past her but she stepped in front of me.
Jess: “Hey Riley, I need 20$ for an Uber. Help a friend out?”
I tried to side step her and she let me...except she quickly reached into my pocket and snatched my wallet. I had like 40$ in there. My depression turned to rage. I tried to snatch it back but missed as she held it up in the air. I jumped for it, and missed again. I froze. I could see a crowd was forming. I could feel their eyes on me. And here I was, jumping like a dog for my wallet from the girl who had been humiliating me all day. Words can’t describe how angry I felt. I felt like screaming but I didn’t want to attract even more attention.
Me: “Give. Me. My. Wallet.”
Jess pretended to look thoughtful for a second.
Jess: “Mmmmmm no I don’t think so”
A laugh rippled through the crowd. I felt so angry but didn’t know what I could do.
Me: “Why?”
Jess: “Cause you have a small dick”
The crowd gasped. There was total silence. I felt that awful feeling coming back. I just stood there. Jess kept driving the knife in.
Jess: “Oh and by the way, when are you gonna tell Lizzie you have a crush on her?”
I felt like I was gonna black out. I frantically looked through the crowd to see if Lizzie was there. Thankfully she wasn’t but it didn’t really matter. She would hear about it. Everyone knew. My life was over, and the crowd was starting to laugh, but Jess wasn’t done.
Jess: “And just so no one calls me a liar..”
She lunged at me, but it was a fake out. I instinctively covered my crotch with both hands and brought my knees together. The crowd was in hysterics. And then she grabbed, not my pants, but my shirt, and lifted it up...she lifted it over my head which brought my arms up and blinded me. And then I felt it...her hands on my waistband. I tried to stop the inevitable by spreading my legs but it was too late. She pulled down my pants...and my underwear...all the way down to my ankles. The fact that my legs were spread only made me more exposed. For one horrible moment time stood still as the realization hit me. I just got pantsed. Fully pantsed. Ankled. In front of a crowd, by Jess. The crowd gasped again, but infinitely worse this time. They couldn’t believe what just happened. And then the hallway exploded with laughter. Fighting back tears I finally managed to bring my shirt back down and reached down to pull up my pants when I saw Jess’s foot resting on top of my jeans and boxers. I pulled as hard as I could but the awkward position made it impossible. For a brief moment I looked between my legs, and saw Cindy, standing in the crowd, directly behind me. Her face was scarlet and she had her hands over her mouth. We made eye contact. This could not possibly get any worse. She tried her best but she couldn’t hold it in, she snorted in laughter, and then she went silent. Everyone did. I didn’t know why, until I heard a camera flash. With both hands still gripping my jeans, I looked up and saw Jess pointing a phone right at my privates, a satisfied smile on her face.
Jess: “Apologize, or I post it”
I had nothing left
Me: “I’m sorry!”
Jess: “Apologize... for having a tiny wiener”
Nobody breathed. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t say the words
Jess: “Ok, I’m posting in 5,4,3,2...”
Me: “I’m sorry I have a tiny wiener..”
My conversation at lunch with Cindy flashed through my mind, “...she’s just showing she can do anything she wants to you...what’s it gonna take? Her exposing your junk to everyone in school?...” And now Cindy was standing behind me, watching me apologize to Jess for having a tiny wiener, with it exposed to half the girls I knew in school. I looked down at it. It really did...look small. I swear it didn’t look this small before...I should’ve immediately clapped both hands over it but I was just frozen.
Jess: “Good boy. I won’t post your boyhood...for now. Have a nice day!”
And then before walking away, Jess did one more thing...she gave me a checkup... If you don’t know what that is, that’s what people started calling it after Jess did it to me. I don’t think it spread too far outside my school but I did see a video online once of it being done to someone else. It’s hard for me to describe it. Not because it’s complicated...it’s just hard for me to say what she did to me. I still can’t believe any of it happened, but here goes. She basically did an uppercut slap... in between my legs. It was pretty cold that day, and I can still feel her cold hand on my taint. She quickly brought it up my front...feeling everything... and finally flipped up my privates with the palm of her hand...not hard enough to really hurt...but enough to make them bounce and jiggle...in front of everyone. That was the first time anyone had ever touched me there. I felt so violated...so helpless. She just felt up my most private, intimate areas in front of everyone. But she didn’t grab or grope, she slapped them. It was hard for me to imagine something more degrading, and then she walked away with my wallet, leaving me crouched over, covering my privates, dignity gone. The crowd parted to let Jess go through, and instead of laughing, they actually started clapping. Applauding. Through all the noise I heard a voice, not laughing or cheering, the voice of my former best friend,
Cindy: “Riley, pull your pants up!”
I snapped out of my paralysis and pulled them up. I looked at her. She looked at me. For a second it felt like it was just us two in the crowd and we looked deep into each other’s souls. I turned away and ran through the crowd, past the bus stop, all the way to a park close to my house. I couldn’t go to Cindy’s. I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t even cry out of shame. I couldn’t believe what happened, but the laughing echoing in my head was a constant reminder. I sat there for hours. I heard my phone repeatedly buzz at first but I turned it off.
Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there, but I can’t bring myself to write down what happened next right now. If it’s ok with the people on this board, I will continue this story soon, after I calm down a little bit.