And Her Flower Fell

She looked at herself one last time in the mirror. It’s going to be okay, I look beautiful, she said to herself, over and over like a recorder playing in a loop.

Sasha Grey was fourteen years old. She had long golden hair, which flowed down both her shoulders like a waterfall. Her deep-blue eyes were so attractive she could make a guy blush just by staring at him. She had an athletic figure, and soft, tanned skin. Sasha had a high attitude. She was the most beautiful girl in her grade and she knew it. Her flirty behaviour with boys led to her having more than a million admirers at her feet. At the moment, she was headed to a party her seniors were hosting. She had selected a perfect attire; a cyan blue sleeveless dress, which came till her knees. She knew she won’t need any makeup, but decided to go with it anyway.

“Mom! I’m going to the party now!” she said as she attempted to climb down the stairs on her blue heels, which matched her dress. To her surprise, it was quite simple.

“Okay honey!” her mom said as she came from the kitchen. “I’ve ordered your taxi, it should be- Goodness Gracious, go wear a jacket!” she yelled angrily, when she set her eyes with horror on Sasha’s outfit.

“No way!” Sasha protested.

“Young lady, you aren’t putting one foot out of the house until you wear something over that dress!” she commanded, like an army general.

“Fine!” Sasha grumbled, as she stomped back up to her room. This was totally going to ruin her outfit. A few minutes later, she came down with a pink coat, which looked good, but not good enough for her.

“Now can I go?” she asked, her tone coated with fake sweetness.

“Sure, sweetie!” her mom replied cheerfully as she looked up from her magazine. Clearly, she was pleased she had won the battle... or so she thought. ”Your taxi’s here!”

“Okay, bye!” Sasha said, and strolled out of the door. The moment she was out and the door was closed, she slipped out of her coat and hid it behind the lawn chair kept on their front porch.

“There’s no way I’m wearing that thing” she murmured to herself, as she sauntered towards the yellow taxi car waiting beside the sidewalk in front of her house.

“16 Bakers street” she read the venue from the invitation card. The driver nodded and she hopped in. The car took off with a jerk. Sasha took out her phone and called her best friend, Candice.

“Hey sister, you at the party yet?” She asked merrily.

“You have no idea how many cute boys are here!” Candice answered, excitedly. “Ohh! I think one’s looking at me right now!”

“How does he look?” Sasha asked enthusiastically. They kept chatting on and on. A few times, she noticed the driver staring at her, and looking away right when she met his eyes. He had an odd and mysterious face, with quick eyes and a sly smile which didn’t seem ready to leave his expression. That gave Sasha the creeps.

“Sasha, are you listening?” Candice asked, bringing her back to reality.

“Oh, yeah, sorry, just got lost for a second.” She responded wearily.

After a while, Candice hung up. Apparently a boy had asked her to dance.

Oh my god, the dance has already started, she thought, annoyingly.

Suddenly, the car stopped. They were at a gas station.

“Why are we stopping?” Sasha asked suspiciously to the driver.

“Just stopping for gas.” the driver said, smugly. “Be right back.”

And with that, he stepped out of the car, and disappeared into the blackness. Speaking of blackness, the gas station was quite abandoned. In fact, she couldn’t spot a living soul in this lonely site. She was so absorbed into her own thoughts; she didn’t notice two shadows coming out either side towards the car. Nor did she realise that all the doors were not locked.

It all happened like a blur. The car door on her side suddenly opened. One pair of hands stretched out and fixed themselves on her mouth. She tried to scream out loud, but the hands were locked tight. Another pair of hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her out of the car. She tried to pry off the hands on her waist. They were stuck like superglue. Her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She was dragged all over to the gas station and behind the building. The hands on her mouth let go, but before she had a chance to screech as loud as she could, the hands were replaced by a cloth which tied itself around her mouth firmer than the hands. She was thrown onto something soft, and realised it was a pile of sacks. There was a lamp post just a few feet away from her, so she was able to make out her abductors. One was the driver, but he looked so different with such a malicious expression on his face. The other was a man with torn clothes and a dirty beard. He looked homeless. Both of them stared at her with prying eyes.

“She’s a beauty” the homeless man said.

“I know.” said the driver. “Even more up close.”

Sasha didn’t know what they were talking about. Both of them were gazing at her as if she was something to eat, as if she was… Oh no. Sasha was old enough to understand what they wanted from her. The terrible gleam of desire in their eyes made her want to run away. far, Far away.

“Don’t worry darling” the driver chuckled. “It’ll be over before you know it.”

And with that, he reached for her dress and ripped it off.

It was like he had ripped her off, ripped her dignity off, ripped her life off. It was like her whole life was a book, and he was tearing away each page one by one until there would be nothing left, until she was disintegrated into oblivion. She felt no longer like Sasha. Sasha, who was pretty, beautiful, and confident. Sasha, who flirted with boys by not even talking to them. Sasha, who was popular in her school and every girl envied her. She was gone. Sasha was gone. Her soul was broken into pieces. Her life was broken into pieces.

Before she knew it, they were gone as well.

She lay there alone, naked, her pretty dress torn into bits of cloth. She found no reason to get up. She had lost her virginity; the way she didn’t want to. A tear had welled up in her eye, but somehow refused to leave. She had always thought her first time would be magical; in a comfortable bed, with a handsome man. A man who respected her. A man who understood her. She had thought that it would be her decision, to whom she would give her flower. But now these men had taken it from her.

She didn’t understand why they hadn’t killed her. They had already shattered her. Might as well take a gun and end it. In fact, she would have been thankful to them if they had done that. Maybe they did that on purpose, she thought. So that I can live like this, broken, for the rest of my life. And with that thought, Sasha got up, and walked away. Away from the gas station. Away from the fallen flower, that can never be picked up again.