Surviving This Life by Salice Rodgers, N. Nieto

yells. “I didn’t touch her! I apologized to her,” he looks at his feet, “for everything”
    I let out a sarcastic laugh. “You think one apology will make up for you raping her?! You have got to be kidding me!”
    “Excuse me? What did you just say?” Prego looks over to me and asks.
    “Grant here,” I point at him, “raped my best friend in high school and if it wasn’t for the kind hearted person she is I would have castrated him a long time ago. But she wouldn’t let me go near him.” I roll my eyes.
    She pulls away from Grant and looks at him with tears in her eyes. “Please tell me she is lying. Please Grant tell me it isn’t true,” she begs.
    He looks down at her and he says all he needs to say with the guilt ridden look plastered all over his face. “Melody I can explain.” He reaches for her and she steps back out of his reach. “Please Melody,” he begs and tries to touch her again.
    She is shaking her head from side to side, “No. No. No. No. No.” She takes a step backwards with each no she says. “DON’T TOUCH ME! DON’T EVER TOUCH ME AGAIN!” she screams at Grant then turns and runs back up the stairs.
    “Melody wait!” Grant calls to her and takes off after her.
    I look over to Cade and he is shaking his head at me.
    “What? What did I do?” I say shrugging my shoulders.
    “She didn’t know any of it. Hell I didn’t know until Willow told me.” Cade looks at me.
    “Well if you ask me she deserved to know what kind of sick pervert her fiancé is. He is a rapist and a liar!” I spat.
    “I know, I know,” he says with a sigh.
    “I am going to check on Wil.” I bypass Cade and run up the stairs until I get to Wil’s room.
    I softly knock on her door. “Wil, it’s me are you okay?” I ask.
    “I am fine.”
    “Can I come in?”
    “Are you alone?”
    “Yes I'm alone.” I roll my eyes.
    “Fine come in.”
    I open the door and see Wil lying across her bed with fresh tear stains on her cheek. I sit down beside her. “Are you sure you are okay? I know seeing Grant after all this time can’t be easy. But I promise you I will not let him touch you ever again.”
    “It was shocking at first, but he said sorry and the way the world is now I felt like it was time to move on. Ya know?”
    “I don’t know cause I still hate the fucker. But that’s your choice. So if you forgive Grant then why are you crying? Did Cade do something or Melody?”
    “I took his apology Liv, but that doesn't mean that all is okay. I wanted us to be able to live here in peace. I don’t know how to say it Liv I mean no sorry will take away what he did. But he has a girlfriend and a baby and I just want to live.”
    “Yeah I get it. But I will never trust him nor will I leave u alone with him. Is that all that is bothering you?”
    “The way Cade was so protective over me... It made me think of how much Dev would have been the same way. I miss him so much Liv,” she cries out and it breaks my heart to see my best friend in so much pain.
    I put my arm around her pulling her close. “I miss him too,” I whisper as the tears fill my eyes. “He would have killed Grant if he would’ve known.”
    “Yeah, and as much as I thought about it then, what would his pregnant girlfriend and unborn child go through without him in this world? It would be worse now the way the world is and neither of them asked for this.”
    “She didn’t know about what Grant did to you. He never told her. She knows now and I don’t think they will be the happy family like they thought. She was pretty pissed off.” I look at Wil.
    “Well, if I said I wasn’t just a little happy about that I would be lying,” she giggles.
    I can’t help but laugh. “Now I remember why we are best friends.”
    “Because we are both cold hearted bitches?” she asks laughing.
    “Bingo!” I double over in laughter.
    “Are y’all okay in there?” I sit up as I hear Cade’s deep voice penetrate through the closed door. I look