A Rumba From Hell

Prologue

I was 17. Senioritis was in full swing as graduation was 5 months away. We all were in such a hurry to grow up and truly start our lives. Ready for college life. I wasn’t a popular kid in school, but that didn’t mean everyone didn’t know me. When you went to a small art school, you tended to at least know everyone’s name and what they were there for. Piano was my forte.

I’d had one boyfriend my junior year, which ended right after he took my virginity. If you could actually classify it as that… I couldn’t feel a thing. Terrible, I know. Finding out he was cheating, I took it into my own hands.  Consent or not, the law looks down on eighteen year old guys going after fifteen year olds.  I wasn’t afraid of getting my hands dirty. Guys didn’t flock to me, apparently i was “intimidating.” Little 5’ 3” me was scaring the guys away. Of course, I’d been told I was cute, gorgeous, attractive.. But truth be told, I could’ve hit the gym a bit more. That’s where the dancing came in. I had started ballroom dancing about a year earlier, it got me out of my shell. Made me feel more confident about myself when i had guys asking me to dance with them, one after the other. I felt sexy. Wanted. What every girl my age wants to feel. A sexy cha cha, a passionate tango, a flirty salsa. It didn’t matter, I did it all with some flash. Each dance was a story. A journey. I thrived on the dance floor, I was good.

I’ve always been a tough girl, taking care of myself. Fighting my own battles, never being tied down, always fighting back. I looked down on the girls that were in those abusive relationships with a guy, saying how they should just leave them. It’s easy. Why are they staying? Whether it be physical abuse, emotional, verbal… until you’re in one, you understand why it’s so hard to get back out.

Looking back, I wish I would’ve been more cautious about the attention I received. Who was truly watching me without me really acknowledging it. Maybe I could’ve stopped this from happening even before it got started. I’d still be myself. But that all changed because of one simple dance.

A rumba.

Author's Note

very very rough draft. Deciding if I want it in a high school or college setting, so some ideas on that would be great.

Reviews

[James Whitefall]

I would really like to read a more thought out version of this. I'm interested in seeing what this character is like, but these sentences are to scattered to create a cohesive timeline. But hey, that's only my opinion. Either way, I enjoyed the read. Thanks.