Saturday morning Melissa had a shower after she got home, then I made us both something nice for brunch. I told her our mom-visit was cancelled, and I told her about mom's new friend and how I was wondering if maybe this Carol was more than just a friend.

Melissa was interested but she also pointed out it was none of my business and I shouldn't pry or whatever. Which was a good point. Mom would tell me if there was something more going on when and if she wanted to.

Still, the whole thing got a little more suspicious when I called mom on Monday night to try and make plans for the next weekend. Mom sounded embarrassed, I could almost hear her blushing over the phone when she said she and Carol already had plans again for another weekend together.

I was super curious of course, but I remembered what Melissa said. So I didn't start grilling mom for answers about what she was up to and how come Carol was spending all weekend visiting and stuff like that. Instead I just told her to have fun and enjoy herself. And she sounded a little weird about that too, like me not asking questions and not being curious seemed strange to her. Which I guess it was.

There was something else on Monday that made me feel awkward. It was Susan's birthday. I must have agonized over that for an hour, trying to figure out if I should call or text or something, like just to say 'happy birthday' to her. I was worried it would come across as me being needy or weird or trying to be like manipulative or whatever. I still felt bad for how that situation turned out, but then she was the one who broke it off. And I got the feeling we didn't wind up as friends. So in the end I decided not to call or text her.

Things were mostly quiet at college during the week, but something strange happened on Wednesday. Melissa encountered another guy during our lunch break, not that that was strange. Honestly it was practically routine now for her to get hit on at least once or twice a day. She left me to finish my meal while she went off to make plans with him in private.

When she didn't come back to finish her lunch I was a little concerned, but not worried.

Then she missed our next class, and at that point I did get worried. I couldn't exactly strike up a conversation with Lily though, so I wound up writing a note to her then staring at it until she noticed.

'Lily! Where is Melissa? Is she ok? Can you tell? Do we have to go look for her? Does she need help?'

It only took about five minutes but it felt like forever before Lily noticed the note. I realized she probably tuned out completely while I was at class, it was probably super boring for her.

Once she did notice she responded, "Sorry Mara, I wasn't paying attention. Melissa is fine, she doesn't need any help. I suspect she'll join us for your last class."

She didn't actually say what Melissa was up to or where she was, but I was happy knowing my best friend was ok.

And sure enough she turned up at our last class of the day. She seemed fine, but her hair was a bit messy and it looked like she'd had to touch up her make-up. I was a little worried though, not because of her appearance but because her mood seemed down. Instead of her usual bubbly self she was just kind of quiet and looked a little distant. She didn't say anything though, either about her mood or why she disappeared at lunch.

It wasn't till after class when we were out doing our weekly grocery shopping that she finally broke down. We were in the frozen food aisle when she suddenly turned and pulled me into a hug.

I hugged her back and I could tell she was upset now, it almost felt like she was fighting back tears.

"Melissa what is it?" I whispered as I held her. "What's wrong?"

She sighed and whispered back, "That guy at lunch. He was impatient. He didn't want a date, he wanted a quickie before afternoon classes. And when I tried to refuse, he got angry. Mara he tried to force himself on me. He pulled me into a maintenance room and tried to..."

My blood went cold and my stomach lurched. I held her tighter, "Are you ok? How'd you get away? Did you go to the campus cops?"

Her voice wavered as she whispered back, "I didn't get away Mara. I didn't even try."

By that point I felt a little nauseous and my own eyes welled up with tears. "Oh Melissa... Are you ok? He didn't hurt you did he?"

She shook her head "I'm fine. You don't understand. I... I'm part succubus, sex is my thing. He wanted it, so I gave him more than he could handle."

We were still standing there holding each other tightly in the aisle, surrounded by boxes of frozen pizza and bags of frozen vegetables. I still felt nauseous and my stomach was full of lead, but it was like the needle swung all the way from 'worried about my best friend' to 'worried what my best friend did'.

I gulped and asked softly, "What did you do to him?"

She whispered "I did him three times in a row. I'm pretty sure he'll recover? I don't know how long it'll take though. He was out cold when I left."

I gave her a gentle squeeze, "It's ok Melissa. You didn't do anything wrong. You were just looking out for yourself, protecting yourself."

She sighed and whispered back, "Mara I could have killed him. I mean, not by accident? Like it crossed my mind that I could just kill him if I wanted. He was a rapist, a predator. Maybe he'd forced himself on other girls too? I seriously considered just finishing him, to make college safer for everyone else. If I'd done it another two or three times that probably would have been enough."

I sighed, "But you didn't. Doesn't matter that you thought about it, what matters is you decided not to. That's the important thing. You did what you had to do, you kept yourself safe. That's all that matters. Ok?"

After a few moments she nodded. She sniffed and finally stepped back and wiped her eyes, then gave me a sad smile "Thanks Mara. You always know just what to say, to make me feel better."

I smiled back at her, "That's because I love you Melissa. I just follow my heart when it comes to you, and I know things will work out ok."

She pulled me into another hug after that.

It took another five or ten minutes but we eventually got back to the business of grocery shopping. Then when we got home that evening I made us a nice dinner while Melissa had a shower. We ended up in bed together, but just for cuddling. She wasn't up for anything else, which was fine.

Thursday was another quiet routine day. I was happy that Melissa's mood was picking up, until lunch when we overheard a couple other students talking. The guy who tried to force himself on Melissa wasn't found till this morning. He was still unconscious and ended up being carted off by ambulance.

Lily told me the guy would definitely recover, but it was going to take a while. Like over a month to get back to normal. She also said he probably wouldn't remember what happened, so at least we didn't have to worry about word getting out that Melissa was somehow involved or whatever.

I relayed all that to my best friend, but it didn't really help her mood any. She stayed kind of sad and withdrawn for the rest of the day.

Friday was more of the same, and at lunch I suggested "Why don't we have a girls night in tonight? Just you and me, streaming movies and hanging out?"

"Ok," she smiled. "That sounds nice actually."

I smiled back, "Perfect. We have all afternoon to figure out what we want to do for dinner, and what movies we want to watch."

The rest of the afternoon went better, we had drama class again and Melissa's mood was up a bit for that. We were supposed to be doing some dramatic romantic stuff today but I was the class clown again as usual.

And of course the prof chewed me out a couple times about cracking jokes during serious scenes. I got some smiles and giggles out of Melissa though, and that made it all worth while.

After class we headed home, and we both got comfortable and ready for our quiet night in. We agreed on what to watch, and made plans to order in dinner in between the first and second movies.

Me and Melissa were just getting settled in on the sofa to watch the first show when my phone buzzed with a text.

I sighed, but she smiled "Go see what it is, I'll wait."

"Ok," I got back up and dug my phone out of my purse. I swiped into the messages app, then just stared for a few seconds. "Huh."

Melissa was watching, and asked "What is it? What's wrong?"

I shook my head, "Nothing wrong. It's just Susan. She's at the cafe around the block? She wants to know if I can come by and meet her there."

My tone wasn't exactly enthusiastic, and I'm sure Melissa picked up on that. I didn't want to rush off and abandon my best friend just to go see what my ex-girlfriend wanted. Not after how things ended up between us. It wasn't that I didn't like her or whatever, but the whole point was I wanted to be here for Melissa. I figured if Susan really wanted to see me, she should have texted me ahead of time so we could make plans or whatever.

Like after she kind of freaked out and walked out on me, I wasn't prepared to just drop everything and go running at a moment's notice just because she sent me a text.

"What are you doing?" Melissa asked as I moved back to the sofa to sit back down with her.

I still had my phone in my hand as I shrugged, "Movie night with you? I'll text her back that I can't make it right now."

"No," Melissa frowned at me. "You go out there and see what she has to say. Maybe she wants to patch things up with you."

"But we have plans," I protested. "I don't want to just drop you and go running off to see what she wants."

"It's fine," Melissa said. "I'll be fine. Mara don't be a dope, go see what she wants. Text me though, keep me in the loop. I'll be fine here, but if you're going to be out all night with her let me know. If I get lonely or bored I can always text around some of my past conquests, I'm sure I can find someone who'll be up for another round."

I sort of stared at her for a second before I realized she was serious. Both about me going to see Susan, and about her maybe hooking up with someone for casual sex.

"Uh, ok..." I looked down at my phone and texted Susan back that I'd be there in twenty or thirty minutes. Then I looked back at my friend, "I'll give her an hour, then text you to let you know what we're doing. Ok?"

She smiled, "Ok Mara. Good luck."

"Thanks," I replied as I went into my bedroom. I quickly pulled on some jeans and a t-shirt and my boots, then ducked into the bathroom to give my hair a quick brush and put on some lipstick. Finally I pulled on a warm jacket and grabbed my purse, then headed out the door.

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