I was a stupid naïve girl. I had no idea of the situation, being a student in standard seven doesn’t mean I was well matured. I did not know what to do, yes I had already reached my adolescent stage but I did not know what a guy was looking for when he proposed. I just thought he wanted to kiss my lips, that’s all.

It was a cool Saturday morning, clear skies, no rain and the sun shone brightly. He called me to go shopping with him. I couldn’t resist as I knew he always bought me something whenever I went shopping with him.

His name was Jacob and we were classmates. He appeared so innocent, even attended church with me. He had R20 in his pocket when we went to the shop, which made me not have any suspicious thoughts against him.

We walked slowly to the shops, discussing school teachers and talking general stuff. Then he decided that he wanted to go visit an old friend before going to the shop. I found no problem with it as I also wanted to see some of my friends. When we reached his friend’s house we knocked on the door but there was no answer. Then Jacob pressed the door handle and the door opened and he asked me to come in. How could I enter someone’s house when no one answered, now I ask myself. But I did not show my concern then. I went in and sat down on the couch.

As I sat down he came and sat close to me. He told me we will wait for his friend to come. Little did I know that Jacob had a dirty mind and had planned it all along with his friend Morris. I started to be uncomfortable as time was running and his friend was not coming. Then Jacob started touching me and telling me not to worry. But the way he was touching me wasn’t friendly, he was moving his hands underneath my dress. I pushed his hands but he continued doing it over and over again.

“Leave me alone!” I yelled.

“No, you want this just as much as I do. You wanted this for a long time now, am I right?” he said, with the most terrifying eyes.

“No!” I screamed.

We fought a lot as I remembered what they told us in school about not letting a boy touch you in a way that you were not comfortable with. He hit me hard as I was overpowering him. I managed to grab the door and ran away. At school he looked at me with angry eyes in front of his friends but he couldn’t say what was bothering him as people would laugh at him because his wish had not happened.

***

Tell us what you think: How would you have handled Jacob?