YA fiction
"'So, Arianna, you wanna ditch fifth and...you know. We'll just say nothing happened.' He chuckles, and they all laugh again. Their laughs feel like a bullhorn pointed straight in my face. Everything in my body screams at me to run. Not safe."
Arianna, protagonist of Sonora Reyes' The Luis Ortega Survival Club, is on the spectrum and selectively mute. Home is about the only place she can talk. Her peers leave her alone. So she's thrilled when popular Luis shows an interest in her. Then there's a party where he shows his true colors.
"He didn't even ask me if I wanted to have sex with him. Just kind of assumed. I mean I did...I think. Maybe not, I don't know. He should have asked. Is that a thing? Don't people ask before having sex? It should be a thing if it's not."
Then Arianna, who is triggered by unexpected touching even from family members, becomes the subject of random groping and lewd suggestions in person and on social media. She's sure that Shawni, Luis's girlfriend has spread the rumors that ruined her reputation for revenge...
...until she overhears a conversation between Luis and some of his friends and grasps its implications.
"I thought he just didn't realize I wasn't into it, but no. He knew I wouldn't say no. He took advantage of me.
He knew exactly what he was doing."
Arianna isn't the only one he befriended and violated. His method involves picking girls who don't have a robust social support system, girls who won't be believed...
...if they actually speak up...
...what he hasn't counted on is his victims getting together to bring him down...
...expose a popular boy with a judge father in a school willing to do whatever it takes to avoid offending the rich and powerful or suffering a blot on their reputation.
On a purrrsonal note, Friday was really good. I brought in a bag of critters for Black Bear Animal Shelter. When I opened the box to dump them in I saw two Squishmallows!!! I put them in my bag to go home with me. I stuck around Commuter Lounge for First Friday bagels. Then I went to the Student Organizational Fair. Last year when I tried to work the club and organization contact list to get participants for Black Bears Have ❤️ 💙 💜 💖 💗 I realized it was way outdated. I decided to get updated contact information. So I went table to table explaining what I was doing and asking for club name and current contact person. It turns out a lot of people I talked to had been frustrated by the same thing. They were so appreciative of what I'm trying to do. And a lot of people already know and like me--especially in the sororities and fraternities. I was there all four hours and got almost all the tables. (Jules)
Then she packed to go to 🏕. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to the fair participants.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
