Catching Stars

Author's Note: I'm not quite sure what I think of this chapter. I hate some sections and like some. Uh, we'll see.

Sorry I took so long updating!

Summary: What happens if nobody believes you except the one person who shouldn't?

When a girl is raped, conflict arises. Evidence is scarce and she falls for the enemy. Humankind disappoints us repeatedly but faith and hope is always prominent. They are like the stars and they are always what save us.

Warnings: rape, language, domestic abuse, sexual content, homosexual relationships

Fiction Rating: Mature

CHAPTER TWO

Cane was plastered with posters. Streams of white and light blue ribbons hung from the ceilings of every classroom; there were "Come to the Game; Support Cane" posters on the bathroom doors, "See Cane's Sexiest Team" flyers in the student mailboxes, and "Cane Football Men are BAMFs" posters—which were being rapidly torn down by the teachers but not as quickly as they were being put up again. Spirit week was huge. The excitement in the air was contagious; nobody could wait for Homecoming as it came closer and closer.

Homecoming was huge. Especially because it was rumored that Cane would flatten Mountain Valley. The cheerleaders had never practiced so hard. The football team had never been so tired. The teachers had never had so many school brawls.

Girls were asking boys to the dance for that Saturday; boys were asking girls. There were the traditional methods of straightforward questions; there were the less traditional of boys dressing up like gorillas or superheroes and presenting girls roses or bananas—in the gorillas' cases.

In all of the excitement, Juli stayed quiet. She didn't have a date to the dance—or at least a date that she wanted; Summer Regan had made sure of that as she flaunted herself into Jason's grasp. She didn't even know if she wanted to go to the game. Andie refused to go to either the dance or the game, saying that school spirit "restrained her freedom" and Weston was going only to secretly meet up with Tyler.

While everybody else was being consumed with excitement, Juli couldn't have felt more alone.

ooo

Matt stood with his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. He pushed back his tousled black hair and eyed Jason. "Y-your dad was friggin' insane today."

Jason wheezed, pushing a dirty hand through his now stringy, wet hair. Even though it was cold outside, his face still flamed from the incredibly rigorous exercises Bradley had made the team go through. "I know."

"I can't even feel my legs," Matt moaned as he slowly straightened his body, his face a twisted mask of discomfort at every move. "Ugh."

"Yeah man," Jason grabbed his water bottle and chugged the entire thing. "Let's hit the showers."

"Sounds good." Mat nodded as he headed towards the gym. He turned and looked grimly at Jason. "Why was your dad so fucking intense today?"

"I don't know," Jason said with an offbeat shrug of his right shoulder. He dropped his water bottle on the floor as he stripped off his shirt and stepped into the shower.

He'd said he didn't know but as the strong blast of water hit him, he closed his eyes and wished that he could forget.

ooo

It was the Friday of the Homecoming game and the excitement had risen to a level that Juli didn't even know was possible.

She sat quietly in front of her locker, drawing a picture of Jason in her sketchbook. Juli carefully shaded in the creases in his smile; she studied him every chance she got and had developed a high accuracy for his features. Pressing her pencil down hard, she darkened his eyes and then moved on to lightly draw in his feathered hair.

"Hey."

Juli shut her sketchbook, alarmed, and looked up to see no other than her picture's subject himself. Jason grinned easily and smirked, his hand pressed against her locker. He bent over to crouch over her shoulder. "What are you drawing?"

"Uh, nothing."

Jason didn't press or tease so Juli figured he really hadn't seen her portrait. Well at least she really, really hoped he hadn't.

"You coming to our game?"

"Uh… I…maybe." Juli tried to control the incredible beating of her heart. She avoided looking at his hands because they made her feel queasy. Despite the fact he was a football guy, he had a guitarist's hands. Shaking the image of Jason's blue Fender out of her head, she focused on what he was saying.

"Good." He smiled, flashing his perfectly white teeth. "I'll see you there."

"Jason!" Matt gestured toward his friend. He didn't bother giving Juli a glance. "Come on; let's go buy food."

"I'm coming," Jason said in an exasperated manner. He straightened himself and walked off, giving Juli an off-hand wave behind him.

I'll see you there.

The words echoed in Juli's head and now she realized how truly excited she was for Homecoming. It was amazing how much emotion a single boy could instill in her. And overall, a boy she hardly knew.

ooo

There's nothing worse than the feeling of regret growing hard in your throat. You swallow to get rid of it but it just remains there, dead and soulless. And it eventually slides down into your stomach and sits there like a dead weight.

Laurie stood in front of her house, her hand balanced precariously on her cold metal mailbox as if this was the only thing stabilizing her body. She felt the tear slide slowly down her cheek, freezing in the cold air before it hit the collar of her shirt. She watched as Bradley drove his car to his house and felt like the seven feet had suddenly become a distance that could span the world.

ooo

Juli bunched her hands up inside the pockets of her jacket, pulling the hoodie closer to her body. Damn. Her mom had the car so it looked like she was going to walk.

Her shoes stabbed the street as she crossed by the Freemans' house. Noticing that a dark grey truck was backing out of the driveway, she instinctively shuffled back. She didn't want to get nearly run over again.

The truck turned and Juli looked through the fogged window at Bradley. He rolled moved over to the right side of the car and rolled down the window. "Hello Miss Vendeza!" He automatically saluted her and Juli gave the man an easy smile.

"Hey Coach Freeman."

"Where are you going?" Bradley tapped his fingers against his steering wheel, reminding Juli incredibly much of Jason.

"Homecoming," Juli stated simply, as she rubbed the top of her right shoe with her left shoe, trying to clean it. Her right shoe just became filthier and she sighed in defeat.

"Well I'm heading over there now; I just had to go back home real quick to get Jason an extra shoulder pad—do you want a ride?"

Juli shrugged one shoulder. Why not? "Yeah sure…uh yes please."

Bradley opened the door and Juli climbed in noticing that his car was nothing like Jason's. There were no faded seats, no dream catchers, no scent of the woods in the back seat. Bradley's car clashed with its hard, leather seats and the smell of sweat. She found herself idly wondering how such a simple, straightforward man had created such an incredible son.

She leaned against the chair's hard back and shut the door, strapping her seatbelt. Then she turned and looked at Bradley, trying to hide her disappointment in his character. She found herself not judging him by who he was but by who he wasn't. She smiled at him, wondering if she looked as fake as she felt.

Bradley pushed his foot down on the gas pedal and they started off on a steady pace.

"So you excited to see this game?" Bradley asked as he adjusted his rearview mirror.

"Yeah," Juli answered. "I mean, aren't we supposed to do a lot better than MV? Like really destroy them?" She crinkled her nose; something smelled like shit and she really didn't know what it was.

Bradley chuckled. "I don't know where these rumors keep coming from. We're doing alright, I guess."

Juli calmed herself down when she realized the smell was coming from Bradley. Eww, she said to herself. She studied him out of the corner of her eye, noticing his unshaven face and his oily-looking hair.

This was strange.

Bradley, though the captain of the football team, was usually clean-cut. After all, Laurie didn't fall for sleazy men.

Juli shrugged Bradley's appearance off. Maybe she was just being difficult. After all, Bradley, obviously, could never live up to Jason's ultimate perfection. They couldn't even be compared even though they were son and father.

Bradley was clean cut but with a rugged, wild side. Jason was clean cut and pure--exciting and fast like a cold stream of water.

They shouldn't be compared.

Ever.

ooo

Laurie sobbed frantically as she stood in the aisle of Whole Foods market. She threw a bag of garlic chips behind her back; she pushed past a bag of whole-wheat chips, searching frantically for chocolate covered sunflower seeds.

She scrounged in the back of the shelf until she found them, buried behind bags of salt-free pretzels. Grabbing the bags of sunflower seeds, she cleared out the shelf, taking all eight remaining bags.

As she checked out, the cashier looking at her a bit nervously, Laurie wondered if everybody could see how vulnerable she really was.

ooo

Juli licked her lips nervously again as Bradley continued the drive. They were going into territory that was near her house, but not near the school. She'd thought she knew the way to Cane quite well. Maybe she was wrong.

She was beginning to hope she was wrong. Severely wrong. Insanely wrong.

"Uh, Coach Freeman?" she offered hesitantly as Bradley drove deeper into an area with small alleyways and wet sewers. "Are we going the right way?"

"Yes, Miss Vendeza, I have to stop and get something for the boys," Coach Freeman smiled. "Don't get your panties into a twist now."

Don't get your panties into a twist now.

Juli was surprised her heart didn't stop beating. She felt her body tense and she looked over at Bradley, whose mouth was in a grim, straight line. Bradley never talked like this, he never looked like this, and there was something seriously wrong. Juli breathed heavily as she looked outside the passing scenery outside and realized what she had to do. She scrambled for the door handle, popping off her seatbelt.

"Juli, what are you doing?" There was alarm in Bradley's voice as Juli fell off onto the concrete; she started off on a steady run, not looking back as the car screeched to a halt behind her.

She didn't stop running when she heard the door slam behind her. She didn't look back when the steady slap of Bradley's shoes hit the concrete as he chased her. Her heart slammed in her chest, making her nauseous as Bradley shouted for her to stop. Juli kept running.

And all the sudden, she was jerked back hard, the wind knocked out of her as she fell on her back against the concrete. Juli tried to scream as she felt Bradley's arm squeezing her wrist, but she was stunned by a blow to her head. Reeling, she felt Bradley turn her around. Heavy hands on her waist dragged her back up and her throat closed up in fear as she felt him grind up behind her, his jeans now with a painfully large bulge brushing against her.

God no.

But God didn't seem to hear her as Juli had her pants ripped down and her underwear trampled in the ground. Juli struggled in his grasp, but Bradley jerked her head back with her hair. She tried to scream again, but Bradley slapped her hard across the face. Tears now streaming down her face, Juli became silent. Bradley snarled behind her, running his hands up her hips and squeezing her breasts viciously. She gasped and tried to jerk away again, her attempts fruitless in his grasp. Her stomach turned over as she heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down and the crackling noise of a wrapper.

With a thud, Juli was slammed against the concrete; her head exploded with pain. She whimpered, but stopped as Bradley slapped her hard across the face.

"Listen, bitch," he hissed, leering close to her face. "You're going to enjoy this, you hear?"

Juli bit back a sob and closed her eyes as Bradley positioned himself in front of her entrance. With a grunt, Bradley slammed into her. He began thrusting rhythmically, filling the air with his guttural moans, his eyes closed in a sick ecstasy.

Juli had forgotten how to scream.

"So tight," Bradley's voice groaned above her, out of a different world. Juli had stopped crying, her brain refusing to focus on anything but the agony that had overwhelmed her. She didn't know that anything could hurt so badly.

She turned her head to the side, allowing her cheek to rest against the cement, a tear trickling from her eye as she looked at the hazy outline of the building in front of her. Graffitied onto the wall in black paint were the words "Anything is possible." Her throat closed up and she sobbed silently, knowing nobody would hear her. Knowing she was alone in the world.

Juli still could not scream. Her brain frantically yelled at her, begging her to cry out, to lash out, to do something, but her body remained motionless, trapped underneath the weight of this man, her trusted neighbor, Jason's dad, above her. All the years of knowing Bradley Freeman had come screeching to a halt.

"Fuck," Bradley moaned, his breath framed in the air above her. His unshaven face crumpled into a look of sadistic bliss. His thrusts became less rapid, and now were agonizingly slow. He grunted as he climaxed, his face washed with lust and he pulled roughly out of her, making Juli gasp. A trail of blood escaped from between Juli's legs; her broken, battered body lay prone on the ground. Her hands clenched closed and she now sobbed openly, freely, not even looking up as Bradley's car rattled off.

Everything had changed.

ooo

The two blocks home was the longest distance she had ever walked.

ooo

Laurie ravenously stuffed a spoon of chocolate frosting into her mouth, her tears threatening to spill over. She sat inside her car parked outside of her house, staring at the Freeman home next door.

"Damn it," she muttered under her breath, and then louder, "DAMN IT!" She punched the steering wheel, the sound of her horn only inciting more emotion. She glared at her reflection in her side mirror and then suddenly, her face crumpled like a piece of flimsy origami. Sobbing hysterically, she clambered out of her car, leaving the door open. Her fingers fumbled with her keys to her home and after five tries, she managed to open the door to her house. Crying, she slammed the door of her house and fell against the wooden door, whimpering softly. Tears mixed with her painstakingly applied mascara, running in black streaks down her face.

She dropped her frosting to the side and looked up, her eyes brimming over.

"I am so tired of this," she whispered softly, her only audience the wooden floor in front of her. "Just end it. End it."

Laurie's thoughts drifted and she shut her eyes hard and tried to gather herself together. She leaned over to pick up her can of frosting and saw Juli's faded shoes.

Juli's shoes. Juli must have come home early. But why?

Laurie braced herself for the worst. Homecoming disaster, no friends there, Cane lost. Laurie wiped the tears from her face, not caring that her mascara had smeared everywhere. "Juli?"

There was no answer.

"Juli?" Laurie asked cautiously as she treaded up the stairs. She headed for her daughter's room, but found it empty. The silence was unbelievably loud. "Juli?"

Her heart was beating faster now; Juli always answered her calls. Something unbelievable must have happened. "Julianne?"

Suddenly, the frosting decided to take this time to wrack its revenge on her. Her stomach twisting in pain, Laurie ran for the bathroom. Only to find it locked.

"Juli?" Laurie called frantically, knocking on the door. "You almost done? I have to use the bathroom."

There was no answer.

"Juli! Did you hear me, young lady? Answer me when I'm talking to you!"

Silence.

"Juli, open this door right now!"

Sighing in frustration, Laurie pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and picked the lock, shoving it open. "Juli, why weren't you-"

She stopped. Her heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach, and she stared, fixated at the scene--no, the horror--in front of her. Juli, clad in a pair of dark panties and a white bra, sat shuddering in the bathtub, looking straight ahead. Her body shivered as the water rained down on her from the showerhead; she had left the door of the shower open so that water spewed onto the tile floor. Juli's hair was stringy and dripping; the water level had risen almost up to her elbows. Laurie's eyes trailed over her daughter's body; she took in the scratch marks across Juli's chest that she guessed were probably self-inflicted wounds.

Laurie's head spun; she felt like throwing up. Taking a deep breath to stabilize her unsteady breathing, she looked at her daughter. "Juli, what happened?"

Her daughter didn't answer, but let the water of the shower continue to beat down on her, her eyes still fixed ahead. Silently, Juli pulled her legs closer to her chest.

"Juli?" Laurie struggled to breathe normally; she stepped forward and shut off the water, which she realized was freezing. Juli must have been in there for close to an hour. "Juli?" She reached forward to grasp her daughter's shoulder.

With an inhuman scream, Juli jerked away from her mom and clambered clumsily out of the water, her movements sporadic as she tried to pull herself into the corner of the bathtub, as far away from Laurie as she could get.

"Juli," Laurie's voice broke with pain as she tried to reach over and touch her daughter again.

Juli's sobs were ragged and empty. She flinched as her mom touched her shoulder; her whole body stiffened with fear. But then, her cries became less vocal, quieter, and she allowed herself to crawl into her mother's arms like the child she was.

Laurie's clothes were soaked now; she waded in the full bathtub with her water, and pulled Juli close, ignoring the frigid temperature. Juli's body slackened and she sobbed openly into her mom's shoulder.

"Juli, what happened?" Laurie managed to choke out, her voice hitching with concern.

"Oh Mommy," Juli whimpered, as she clutched her mom closer, "Mommy, he raped me."

Review Responses:

Deejae: Aww thanks so much :) I love you so much for readng; I hope you keep on reading!

wildhoney: Aww thanks so much. I'm happy you're enjoying it and though this update is extremely late, I hope you keep reading :) Thank you so much!

people.are.strange.: Hahahahah I'm so sorry I took so long updating. Hopefully you'll be alright and keep reading :) And yes, Chapter One is kind of slow, but I think this chapter was kind of fast so maybe they balance each other out? This chapter is pretty long too, I think. Sorry it took so long!

I love foreshadowing. I use it a lot. Thanks so much; hope you keep reading (and hopefully I'll keep updating).

Ema: GAHHH I miss you :( Thanks so much for reading, Em :) Haha, I left SF so I don't know about that. Hopefully you'll still read this!

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darkgurl92: Yes, it does suck that their parents are dating but as you see in this chapter... erm... well... hopefully you liked it?

Stephanie: Aww thanks so much. I hope it wasn't boring; I was trying to make it flow pretty well. I edited the hell out of it, so I'm glad you liked it. Here's the long-awaited Chapter Two :)

Madi: Thank you so much. Uh, I don't know if you're still reading this, but I hope you are!

mia: Thank you so much; I'm glad you like the story. Here's the chapter; sorry it took so long!

mimmi: Haha happy you like Weston ;) I like him too. And uh.. Bradley and Laurie did break up in this chapter (hopefully you got that) and well... er... we'll see about the Jason part, haha. God, if I got published, it would be a dream come true. I'd be so happy. So happy you like it and hopefully my story will make you react radically :) so I know I did my job. Haha endless entertainment is good too. Eh Four Brothers; hmm, I'm not sure :)

rachel: Thanks so much; glad you liked it. And happy you liked West and Andie. I like them a lot too :)

Nicole from Hello Jonas: Haha you could give out copies of my story for fun. That always works :) Happy you like it; I wish I had Weston as a bestie too. Hope you keep reading! Sorry it took so long!

Jordyn: Ahh happy you like it :) Haha, I wish I could get published but that's a dream that's pretty far away. I support gay rights 100. I find it really stupid when people judge people by sexual orientation as well. Haha we'll see about Jason... and Juli. After we figure out what to do about this rape!

Cuppa Joe (:: Bahahah thanks so much, AJ. Glad you like it and happy you like the realism of it; I was aiming for that. Haha Weston is gay, yes he is. I'm not lyng about that; I needed a random gay character for fun. Hopefully you keep reading and hopefully you keep liking. I like the line "the worst part was when it ended." Haha, you are the best ;) and here's an update!

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Hibah. :): I'm happy you can connect with my story and I'm happy you're enjoying it. I hope you keep reading!

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maike: Bahahaha you are the best! You are my biggest fan and I love you and of course you can take a picture with me!

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NotABanana: THank you. I'm glad you can connect with the story :) Eh, I'm sorry about that; I thought I did a pretty good job at grammar, but I guess spell check isn't doing its job that well. Here's a long-awaited update.

bhahaa I am so sorry it took so long. Work has me down and this story... I just got uninspired. But I was reinspired when people in the list complained about my limited style. So this is to prove I can do other styles :) Thanks so much for the reviews! I feel like this chapter was a bit rushed, but the rape scene made me nervous. Haha.

Review again? :)