A/N: Hey, everybody! :D

The time has finally arrived for you all to read Part One of Comrade and Roxy's backstory. I hope you are all as excited as I am, because I've had their whole backstory planned out for a couple of months now and I believe that you all have waited long enough to have your questions answered.

Nevertheless, before we begin, I would like to thank Applejax XD, madwamoose, AvidMovieFan16, and Guest for reviewing the previous chapter. It means so much to me, so thank you guys very much for sharing such amazing words with me. I would also like to thank everyone who has added this story to their favorites and follows, as well as the ones who enjoy reading it. You are all amazing. :) :)

Please review! It's still my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter, so don't hold back on sharing your thoughts. I appreciate all of your feedback and it means a lot to me. Feel free to post your comments in the reviews or you can PM them to me. Thank you, everyone! :)

This just in, this story now has over 4,330 views! :D :D You are all absolutely amazing and I want to take the time to thank all of you for taking the time to read "The Reality Check & the Handicapped" up to this point. I would also like to thank the ones who have added this story to their favorites and follows, and again to the ones who reviewed. Thank you all so much. Let's keep it up! The story ain't over yet! :) :)

Fun Fact: Originally, within the first month of planning this story, Roxy was supposed to be the Reality Check and Comrade was supposed to be the Handicapped. But, throughout the following two months, I really struggled with connecting them to those labels and found out that everything fell perfectly in place for me when I switched them. I'm very glad that I did. :)

Well, I believe I stated everything that I wanted. The time has come for you all to sit back, relax, and enjoy Part One of the Alexandrov backstory.

Warning: This chapter contains descriptions that may be disturbing/triggering to some viewers. These descriptions include: alcohol, drugs, abuse, and sexuality. There is absolutely no smut and please note that I'm not promoting any of these actions.

Happy reading, everyone. Please don't hold back on reviewing!

Comrade's POV

Roxy's words echoed in my head repeatedly, "He hurt me ... he hurt me ... he hurt me..."

Everyone became as still as statues, gawking at the Handicapped like they had just witnessed her trying to commit arson. I don't think that there was ever a time in my life in which I found complete silence so uncomfortable and unnerving. My stomach was in a ridiculous knot, making me feel like I was seconds away from leaning over the railing and vomiting. The swarm of flashbacks were attacking my brain, causing my blood to feel very cold and my heart to feel more and more numb with every pump it made. I've never felt so nauseous before, using almost all of my willpower to hold back the tears as the pain in my throat continued to escalate.

Roxy buried her face in her skirt for a moment before she lifted her head back up and positioned her chin on top of her knees again. By this point, her eyes were completely red-rimmed and overflowing with tears. She looked completely helpless - and believe me, there was nothing that hurt me more than seeing my sister like that. She wasn't even trying to hold back her sniffles or wipe away her tears as they poured like waterfalls down her cheeks. I swear, getting stabbed with a butcher knife wouldn't hurt me as much as seeing Roxy in this position.

The two of us had been through hell all of our lives. We'd been trapped in an abusive home life, our old man turned out to be a violent alcoholic who didn't want anything to do with us, our mother ended up getting murdered shortly before our thirteenth birthday, and I became a victim of depression. But, believe it or not, Damien went beyond all of that. He was the one who changed mine and Roxy's lives forever - the one who made all of our situations back in Russia even worse. In fact, ever since the incident that he caused, I had never heard his name come out of the Handicapped's mouth. That is, until this Saturday detention.

Allison turned her head to look at me with concern thickly coating her face, but I quickly dropped my attention down to my lap to avoid making eye contact. By now, I could feel the tears beginning to prickle up in the corners of my eyes and I had to bite down on my bottom lip to prevent it from trembling.

Andrew cleared his throat before shattering the silence. "Roxanne..." He almost looked terrified, but spoke in a compassionate and concerned tone as he slowly dragged his butt against the floor and straightened himself against the railing, "...did he hit you?"

There was a moment of hesitation before my sister opened her mouth; but when no words came out, she pressed her lips together and slowly nodded her head. In less than a second, John's face morphed into a dangerous scowl, giving it away that he wasn't pleased with the thought of someone - especially another guy - mistreating Roxy. At the same time, Claire stiffened against the pillar like somebody had just pulled a gun on her and I witnessed Allison's jaw drop from the corner of my eye.

She turned to look at me again, clearly stunned; but this time, I didn't look away. I could already see a new batch of tears beginning to weld up in the corners of the Basket Case's eyes as she slowly reeled her jaw back in. Judging by the glint that was in her eyes, I could tell that she was in desperate need of an answer as to why I didn't tell her about Roxy having an abusive ex. In return, I straightened my slightly quivering lips and gave her a look that was half nonchalant and half apologetic. At that moment, my throat had become so sore to the point where I could've sworn that I had created a whole new level of strep.

"Oh, God ... Roxy..." Brian said with his voice drenched in sympathy and eyes swarming with a mixture of shock and sorrow.

The Handicapped's lips twitched, forming a large and heartbreaking frown as a couple of more tears escaped from her eyes. She wiped her rosy cheeks with her wrists before she wrapped her arms around her legs again and looked down at her violet chuck taylors, sniffling quietly.

Brian's eyes already looked like they were beginning to grow moist again as he exchanged pitiful glances with the Jock. At the same time, Bender's glare started to waver and he watched my sister as she began to fiddle around with one of her phony sapphire earrings in a lousy attempt to distract herself. Claire, on the other hand, was no longer looking at Roxanne or anyone. She was staring off in the opposite direction, almost looking zoned out with her eyes containing what I could only assume was guilt. And at that moment, I couldn't help but wonder if she was starting to regret all of the snobby remarks and jealous glares that she'd thrown at Roxy throughout all of the hours we'd spent in detention.

"It all happened so fast..." Roxy said as she nervously rubbed her heels against the carpet. "I mean ... it was just one night ... that's all it was - all it was supposed to be. Just one night out."

I quickly wiped a majority of the water out of my eyes and lifted my head. "Roxanne, stop." I sneered, unable to figure out if the tone I was using sounded more stern or more pleading, "We both agreed that we would never speak about him again."

My sister stared hopelessly in my direction, her bright gray orbs still glittery with tears. "Comrade, it's been almost seven months." She slowly shook her head, continuing with a couple of sniffles interrupting her words every few seconds. "I've been trying to ignore it for so long and I know that you've been trying to do the same. But no matter what we do, it's not going to change the fact that it happened."

I couldn't help but scoff, pointing at myself as I leaned a little forward. "You think that I don't know that?" I asked, now realizing that I was beginning to sound much more strict. I wasn't raising my voice, but I was still making sure that I was getting my point across, "What happened with Damien back in Russia is between you and me. It doesn't consult anybody else." I almost gagged at the god-awful taste that filled my mouth at my own mention of the Handicapped's ex-boyfriend, but managed to subdue it.

"But, Comrade-"

A slight glare formed on my face as I interrupted her, "I said no, Roxy. We can't talk about it, especially here in this hell hole of all places." After pretending to study the hole in my shoe for a few seconds, I took a quick glance around the circle, skipping over Allison and not bothering to contain my bitterness, "I don't trust these guys with a story that personal."

The Rebel sneered and rolled his eyes, peeking up at the ceiling as he mumbled a jumble of indecent words under his breath. At the same time, the Diva, the Athlete, and the Nerd stared at me in utter disbelief; but I couldn't bring myself to look at any of them - especially the Recluse. I didn't need to see her to know that she was pouting, trying to figure out whether or not I was including her in my final sentence. She, aside from my sister, was the only one in this detention who I did trust ... but what Damien did was too damn difficult to even think about.

"Well, I do." Roxy retorted, still shedding tears. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and raised her eyebrows in dead seriousness. "Comrade ... Andrew told us that he landed himself in here today because he was pressured by his own father to beat up an innocent kid. And Brian confessed that he was planning to commit suicide all because of some faulty trunk on an elephant lamp." There was a pause, in which the Handicapped tried to clean away some of the wetness from her cheeks before she went on, "If they were able to bring themselves to share their stories, then I'm sure that I can share my half of ours."

In less than a second, my scowl faded and was replaced by an insanely rare frown. "Roxy, please..." My voice became much more sensitive and isolated, making a piece of me think back to what I did in order to end up in detention today, "...I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I know..." My sister, after another tiny pause, flashed a hint of a sad grin; but it immediately vanished when she began to speak through more sniffles. "I'm sorry, Comrade, but it hurts. Don't you understand that? It hurts. I've been keeping what happened between me and Damien trapped inside for so long now. I can't hold it in anymore, okay? I need to talk about it."

I caught my bottom lip between my teeth again, trying to stop it from madly quivering like a worm on a hook. This time, I bit down to the point where I was surprised that I wasn't drawing any blood. Then, as I hung my head to prevent the other detainees from seeing the few dozens of tears that were beginning to crawl out onto my lashes, I didn't think twice before setting my hair free from the ponytail. A large majority of my brunette strands instantly draped over my shoulders and my bangs chopped down across my face, helping to hide that I was on the verge of sobbing.

At that moment, I didn't know which hurt me more: the dark memories that revolved around Damien, or the possibility that I was the one who caused Roxy so much pain. Ever since we packed up and moved to Chicago, I wanted nothing more than to see her happy - to help her move on from what happened almost seven months ago. But ... if she was serious about wanting to share her part of our story with total strangers ... then that could only mean that I'd been forcing her to keep it in for so long. It was my fault that she was so upset right now. And all because I wanted to ignore it like it never happened, despite how a large section of my brain was always thinking about it. If only I had just let her talk about it in the past ... how could I have been so stupid?

"God, you are such an idiot!" I mentally screamed, and I could've sworn that I heard the cold slur of my old man's voice yelling the same exact thing at the same time.

"Comrade?" Claire spoke up, sounding just as worried as she looked. "Are you okay?"

I scowled a little and started to absently twirl a loose strand from one of the holes in my jeans around my middle and index fingers. "I'm fine." I sneered, but my lack of eye contact and stuffy nose didn't help me seem so convincing.

"No, you're not." Sporto denied almost instantly. He stared directly at me with bold eyes, but spoke in the same tone that he had used on Allison when asking about her parents earlier, "There's something else, isn't there? About Damien?" When I didn't answer, Andrew continued with his concern thickening, "What happened?"

My eyes darkened, becoming wetter as I grinded my teeth. "Shut up, Sporto..." I snarled, enhancing the impatience in my voice when addressing the Jock, "...just shut up and back off. Leave me alone."

Andrew continued to stare at me, the look on his face perfectly matching the one that he'd been wearing back when Klepto told him to go away by the bookcases. Then, after a moment, he flicked his attention back over to my sister and said, "It must've been real bad, huh?"

The Handicapped looked down at her lap, her frown broadening as she began to nervously fiddle around with her fingernails. "It was just one night..." she said softly, "...I - I thought I knew ... I thought I knew who he was ... I never imagined in my wildest dreams that he would end up hurting me."

Brian pressed his lips tightly together at the sound of her broken tone and a fresh teardrop raced down his cheek. He dabbed his eyes with the hem of his sleeve, clearly trying to keep himself composed as he and the other detainees listened.

"He had been my best friend since childhood ... Damien, I mean." Roxy cleared her throat and drew in an uneasy breath before she went on. "Til' this day, I still remember back when we'd used to ride our bikes through our neighborhood and take trips to the beach with his parents for playdates every few weeks. We would splash around in the water, chase hermit crabs, and collect shells together..." A couple of humorless snickers leaked into what she said next, "I always searched for the ones with specks and he loved searching for the ones with stripes ... whoever had the most shells by the end of the scavenger hunt won ... I remember 'cause I let him win most of the time."

I closed my eyes and sniffled quietly, trying to distract myself with the hazy memories of the blissful white sand, bright blue waves, and even some annoying-ass seagulls that wouldn't stop squawking. But it was no use. My mind kept going back to the - once innocent - boy with dark hair and matching eyes, reminding me that if he hadn't done what he did, Roxanne would still have her sight and we wouldn't have had to alter our whole lives.

"We were inseparable." Roxy's bottom lip trembled, but she gained as much control over it as she could and continued. "Seriously, not a day could go by without us talking on the phone or getting together to do something. Even when he asked me out shortly after his sixteenth birthday, it was like he still had that bright, humorous, happy-go-lucky personality from when we were little kids. I used to think that his goofy smile and warm laughter would never change..." Roxy then scoffed at herself and faintly shook her head, "...God, I don't think that I've ever been so wrong about something before in my entire life."

I continued to stare miserably at the hole in my converse and took down a gulp to help remove an aching lump from the middle of my throat. By this point, the Brain and the Kook were trying their hardest not to start bawling again and the Jock, the Beauty Queen, and the Delinquent had their faces masked in concern.

Roxy took a moment to try wiping away some of the tears from her cheeks with Bender's scarf, which was still tied around her right wrist. "We dated for two years and everything was great," she said, eventually giving up on trying to clean her face, "Damien appeared to be the greatest boyfriend that any girl could ever ask for. He surprised me with romantic picnics in my mom's garden, pushed me on the swing set at our childhood playground, accompanied me to all of the school events ... he adored me more than anybody else in the whole world ... or so I thought."

With a shaky sigh, the Handicapped looked down at her knees and wiped a tear away from the tip of her nose. "About a month after me and Comrade turned seventeen, something about Damien felt kind of ... you know, different." She attempted to clear her stuffy nostrils, her voice growing softer. "He, uh ... he started to call a lot less and he wasn't asking me to hang out as much as he used to. Unfortunately, I made the dumb decision to brush the weird feeling off ... I just figured, you know, that he was busy helping his parents with something or he was working on a project for school. I - I didn't really put much thought into it..."

Sporto was absently picking at his bottom lip, starting to look like he was seconds away from shedding tears just by listening to how upset my sister sounded. We hadn't even reached the serious and horrifying part of the story yet.

"But then..." Roxy's voice cracked slightly, and the amount of water in her silver eyes increased, "...that night came ... after two weeks of not hearing anything from him, Damien called me and at first, I was worried that he was going to tell me that something awful happened ... you know, like a death in the family or something like that. But he sounded just as happy and carefree as he always did ... there didn't seem to be anything wrong, so I convinced myself that it really was something minor and not worth mentioning."

Roxy pursed her lips for a moment, swallowing thickly before going on. "He told me that it was great to hear my voice again and, uh ... after exchanging a few conversations, he brought up that the reason he called in the first place was because he was wondering if I wanted to go with him to a party later that night for one of his other friends ... and - and since I hadn't seen or heard from him in two whole weeks, I immediately said that I'd love to go. I figured, you know, that it'd be a great way for the two of us to see each other again ... just one night out together."

My whole body became as stiff as a board as I clenched my eyes shut. I knew exactly which part of the story was coming next and I dreaded it.

The Handicapped tried to clear her nose again, "So, I got myself all fixed up ... I was so excited for this birthday bash ... I curled my hair, did my makeup, and put on this cute dress of mine. It was, um ... a knee-length, capped-sleeve sundress that was the color of cotton candy. So beautiful and it fit me perfectly." A small spark of fascination flickered across Bender's face at the mental picture of Roxy's appearance, but he immediately became concerned again as she continued to talk. "But, I ... I knew that Comrade wouldn't approve of me going out to a late-night party with my boyfriend, so I ... um..." Roxy hesitated, nervously dragging her eyes across the floor, "...I - I had Damien drive over and I snuck out when Comrade was in the shower."

With no hesitation, I shot my head up and stared at my sister incredulously, as if she had just attempted walking through a wall. Did she seriously just lie about what happened between me and her before the party?

Silence invaded the circle for a moment before Brian spoke up, "Whose birthday was it?" Whether he was trying to lessen the tension or he really was curious about that irrelevant part of the story, I had no clue.

"Jake Petrov's." Roxy answered, still wearing that heart-wrenching frown. "He was the captain of the football team, a shoo-in for prom king, and Damien's best guy friend. The two of them had been in each other's lives ever since they were in diapers ... but on the way to Jake's house, Damien didn't say a word to me. He had kissed me on the cheek when I got in the car and helped me get strapped in, but other than that ... nothing."

She took down yet another gulp, continuing afterwards. "A-at first, I didn't really mind ... I - I just figured that he was caught up in thinking about the party, considering he was smiling as he drove. But then, after about ten minutes of pure silence, I decided to start a conversation by telling him that I was so excited for the party. In return, he chuckled and winked at me as he said that he was excited, too ... after that, everything became silent again and we arrived at Jake's house after another ... I don't know, maybe fifteen or so minutes..." A few more tears escaped from Roxy's eyes, "...but when Damien ... when - when he escorted me up to the front door and someone let us in ... I was shocked at what I saw, I really was..."

"What did you see?" Claire asked with her voice drenched in sympathy and eyes still somehow dry. "What was happening, Roxy?"

"The party..." My sister sniffled and folded her hands on top of her knees, speaking quietly and uneasily, "...it was out of control ... the house was an absolute wreck. Through the smoke that was coming from some cheap fog machine that some idiot must've brought with them, I could see toilet paper thrown across the floor and hanging from all of the lights. There were hundreds of martini and beer bottles scattered across the coffee table, and plastic cups filled to the rim with vodka were sitting on the counter in the kitchen." Roxy shook her head in disapproval and sighed, "All around me, people from mine and Comrade's old school were chewing tobacco, smoking cigars, dancing provocatively, and drinking ... it was pretty obvious that at least eighty-five percent of them were drunk."

I noticed that Andrew was starting to look a little uncomfortable, and I knew exactly why. That Stubby kid from the wrestling team threw parties that were just as wild and dangerous as the one that Roxy was describing - and Sporto was beginning to realize that he must've triggered some unpleasant memories back when he asked her at the beginning of the detention if she wanted to go with him tonight.

The Handicapped rubbed her red-rimmed eyes with the Hooligan's scarf before continuing, "I immediately turned to Damien and asked him what in the world was going on, and he explained to me that Jake's parents were unable to celebrate his birthday with him because they were out of town on a business trip ... so, the party was thrown together by a couple of other members from the football team." She started to uncomfortably bounce one of her legs. "I - I told Damien that I didn't know how I felt about hanging out there anymore, but he told me not to be a Debbie Downer and to give the party a chance. After that, he slipped off his leather jacket, handed it to me, and walked off to go hang out with Jake and a couple of other friends."

Brian, Claire, and Allison stared at her in bewilderment. Bender, on the other hand, looked like he was seconds away from ripping somebody's head off as he sneered, "He just left you in the middle of the party like that?"

"Yeah..." Roxy replied, nodding softly, "...I was going to put his jacket on the coat rack for him, but after noticing that a few boys were in the middle of using it to support their beer bongs, I decided to just put it on. Then, one of the guys stopped drinking, smirked at me, and held out his nozzle as he asked if I wanted to join them. He even addressed me as sweetheart ... but instead of saying anything back, I looked down at the floor and turned away. A group of girls in sleazy cut-off jeans and halter tops pointed and obnoxiously giggled as I walked past them ... but I shrugged them off the best I could and took a seat on the couch."

My sister rested her forehead against her knee, still drumming her other foot against the floor. "It didn't take long before some random guy who smelled like liquor and stale corn chips sat down beside me and started flirting with me ... but when I told him that I wasn't interested, he called me a useless skank and lit a cigarette as he walked off. Within minutes, he and some other girl covered in hickeys were racing up the stairs with a group of recent dropouts clinking bottles and cheering for them. Shortly after that, I had to tell another perverted asshole that I wasn't 'looking for a good time' and that I didn't want to buy any painkillers from him."

Her frown broadened even more and she grimaced, "I sat there for an hour straight, trying to ignore how everyone around me was starting to take turns sticking their tongues down each other's throats; but when this drunk couple toppled over and almost landed in my lap, I had enough and shot up, hurrying into the kitchen to find Damien..." The color started to fade from Roxy's face and a few more tears escaped from her eyes, "...and there he was, leaning against the wall and - and laughing as he watched a few guys wrestle over the remaining food in the fridge with a half-empty bottle of, um ... wine in his hand. Jake was making out with his girlfriend in the corner, and some other girl was vomiting in a nearby trashcan."

Claire's face twisted in disgust as she muttered, "Ew, gross."

One of the corners of Brian's lips twitched a little, giving it away that he was thinking the same thing as her.

"Was he drunk?" Allison asked, evidently referring to Damien with caution dripping from her voice.

Roxy lifted her head back up and tried once again to clear her stuffy nose. "N-no ... he wasn't drunk, but he was a little buzzed ... i-it was my first time seeing him with alcohol ... but at that moment, despite how much it shocked me ... I didn't really care ... I-I just wanted to go h-home." Her voice cracked a little at her final word and she started to fiddle around with her nails, scratching off some of the dark blue/almost black polish. "When I approached him, the first thing that Damien did was smirk and ask me how I was liking the party. I immediately told him that I wanted him to take me home ... but he just chuckled like I had told a joke and said that I didn't mean that."

I clenched my teeth in distress, looking down at my knees as my vision began to flicker back and forth from blurry to clear.

"I did mean it..." Roxy went on, sniffling between words. By this point, her eyes perfectly resembled a homeless puppy's. "...And I told him that ... I - I told him that I didn't want to spend another second there a-and to please take me home ... it took a minute, but his smile eventually wavered ... and - and I remember him saying, 'What are you talking about, babe? The party is just getting started.' ... I kept begging him to take me home ... b-but then..."

A new series of tears started to rain down the Handicapped's face and she sucked in a sharp breath. "...Damien w-wrapped his other arm around my waist ... p-p-pulled me close to his chest ... r-ran his hand d-down to the top of my butt ... and whispered c-close to my face ... 'Come on, Rox ... loosen up ... h-how about I take you upstairs and - and help you get a little more comfortable? J-Jake's got a spare bedroom that we could put to good use.'"

In less than a second, the color rushed out of the Recluse's face and the Thug's eyes widened to the point where they looked like they were about to explode out of his skull. Although, I couldn't tell if he was shocked or jealous. At the same time, the Redhead's jaw practically dropped all the way down to the floor and her eyes were finally starting to become moist. The Jock stiffened against the steel bars of the railing and lastly, the Dweeb looked like he had just been slammed in the gut with a rock.

"Oh my God..." Sporto murmured, sounding shocked to the point where it was like the air had been knocked out of him.

Just wait until the five of them heard what happened next.

"I swear ... til' this day, I - I can still smell the alcohol that was on his breath..." Roxy whispered, almost choking on her words. "...I was very uncomfortable ... a-and I guess what made the situation even more unnerving was the fact that ... that Damien was fully aware of what he was saying to me..." She bit down on her bottom lip and chewed on it for a moment before she continued, "...That was the first time h-he ever tried to convince me to sleep with him ... and I ... I broke through my shock and - and told him that I didn't want to ... that I wanted n-nothing more than to leave that party and go home ... 'Don't be like that, babe ... I promise you, it'll be worth it ... I - I can make this the b-best night of your life.' ..."

She shook her head, shedding even more tears. "I told him no ... I'm not that kind of girl ... I just - just wanted to get out of there ... eventually, Jake stopped trading saliva with his girlfriend and drinking his booze long enough to notice me trying to get Damien to understand how much I wanted to go home. Luckily, he wasn't wasted ... and I remember him saying something like, 'Hey, dude, come on. Lay off 'er ... if she wants to go home, then take her home. Don't force her to stay if she doesn't want to.'"

Claire softly nodded, as if Jake was there to witness her agreeing with him.

"Jake was a good guy." Roxy said quietly, as if that was in need of clarification. "He even offered to be the one to drive me home so Damien could stay and continue enjoying the party. Maybe play some Beer Pong or something."

Brian nervously twirled his thumbs around, keeping his teary eyes locked on my sister. "H-how did, uh - how did Damien react to that?" he asked, stuttering slightly.

The Handicapped wrapped her arms around her shins again and rubbed her cheek against one of her knees, evidently pretending to scratch at an itch. "He immediately turned to Jake and told him no ... 'that won't be necessary' ... then, he chugged down the rest of his wine and made it perfectly clear that he wasn't going to allow his best friend to ditch his own birthday party. After that, he ... h-he instructed me to hurry out to the car so he could drop me off back at my house and get back to the party before everyone started to leave."

She wiped her congested nose with the back of her hand, "W-when Damien walked out the door, Jake grabbed me by my arm and asked i-if ... you know, if I wanted him to come along ... b-but I told him that I would be fine and to - to enjoy the rest of his party ... God, I was such an idiot to say no." My sister then curled her hand into a fist and held it up, speaking through slightly jittery teeth, "Dammit, I should've noticed the signs, I should've."

A few tears leaked off Allison's eyelashes and trickled down her cheeks. She took a peek at me from the corner of her eye, but when I refused to glance back, she sighed to herself and flicked her attention back over to Roxy.

"What signs, Roxy?" Claire asked, sounding both naive and concerned.

I immediately scoffed, ignoring my falling tears as I sneered, "I really hope that's a rhetorical question, Gingersnap." Then, I peeked up just enough to see the Princess and added, "And here I was actually starting to believe that there was at least half of a brain in that spoiled head of yours."

Despite the tears that were brewing her eyes, Claire shot one of her typical snooty scowls in my direction. Though, before she could open her mouth to say anything back, Roxy spoke up again in a slightly louder voice, "I walked out of the house." She was eager to prevent another argument from breaking out, regaining the group's attention in less than a second.

"I - I was relieved..." the Handicapped continued after a small pause, "...thinking to myself that - that I was finally escaping that night and going home ... but when I ... w-when I got in the car w-with Damien ... the whole atmosphere changed..." She swallowed hard, unable to stop her lips from quivering. "H-he looked ... angry ... a-and the first thing that came to my mind was that ... h-he was mad at me for wanting to go home. I immediately felt guilty a-and, you know, apologized to him for not wanting to stick around for - for the rest of the party ... b-but he didn't say anything back. He didn't even look at me ... he just drove."

I gulped and crossed my arms over my gurgling stomach, having no choice but to cower there in silence and misery as my sister's words painted graphic pictures inside of my brain.

"It was so dark out ... other than the headlights and a couple of lamp posts, i-it was literally pitch-black..." Roxy's face paled a little and a new flood of tears started to flow out of her eyes at what she said next, "A-and suddenly ... after a-about thirteen minutes of riding i-i-in complete silence ... Damien took a sharp turn down a - a road that I didn't recognize. I, uh ... I - I immediately asked him where we were going ... a-and still without looking at me, he said in this - this monotone voice t-that he was taking a shortcut..." She choked back on a sob at her final word and started trembling uncontrollably. "...I wish that I could tell you guys that I told him to pull over s-so I could get out by this point ... but I can't ... I can't ... I - I only had two options ... stay in the car, o-or walk by myself in the freezing darkness."

Brian and Andrew exchanged glances, the looks on their faces giving it away that they were extremely nervous to find out what happened next. Claire, on the other hand, looked somewhat dumbfounded and her tears were slowly beginning to roll down her cheeks. Bender refused to break his attention away from Roxy, staring with large and strongly concerned eyes. I could've sworn that I even saw a tiny bit of water beginning to fog up in their corners. And lastly, Allison gently placed her hand between my shoulder blades and began to rub my back as soothingly as possible.

"I didn't know what to say back to him ... s-so, I didn't say anything..." Roxy went on, almost whispering. "...And eventually ... t-the street lights began to, uh ... t-they began to lessen and - and the buildings around us started to become old ... rundown a-and on the verge of abandonment. I'd never seen so much litter and graffiti before in my whole life ... in fact, I - I had never seen that part of town before..."

She scratched much harder at her thumbnail, chipping off almost all of the paint in just a couple of scrapes. "The streets were completely vacant ... a-and I was about to ask Damien if he was sure he knew where we were going ... b-but before I could, he pulled into this - this alleyway." My sister's pouting lips started to tremble again, but this time, they were trembling much faster. "H-he stopped the car in front of this - this huge dumpster that was at the very end a-a-and put it in park ... after that, h-he unfastened his seatbelt ... t-turned off the headlights ... a-and started messing around with the radio..."

I welded my eyes shut tighter than ever before and vigorously scrubbed my cheeks with my sleeves to the point where they started to burn. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the tears to stop. It was like they had a mind of their own.

Andrew raised an eyebrow in mild confusion, "The radio?"

Roxy faintly nodded, her chest quivering as she continued, "I - I was so confused ... so damn stupid ... I seriously h-had no idea what he was doing ... and by this point, t-the only source of light we had was this, uh ... y-you know, this nightclub's neon sign that - that filled the car with this rosy shade of pinkish/red that was p-pretty unsettling for the time being..." She paused and took a moment to bite down on her thumbnail, nibbling slightly at the few remaining pieces of polish. "I - I asked Damien what he was doing ... but all he did was continue to fiddle around with t-the, um, knobs on the radio ... a-and after finding a song that he liked, h-he turned it up and - and slowly turned to look at me..."

The Handicapped took down yet another gulp, looking like she was on the verge of convulsing, "I - I slowly started to reach for the buckle of my seatbelt, t-thinking that ... you know, walking home didn't sound so bad anymore ... but j-just as I was about to ask Damien what was going on, he ... h-he literally dove across to the - the other side of the car a-a-and pinned me down against the passenger's seat ... a-and I wanted to scream, but he covered my mouth with his hand a-and told me that..." The tears started to pour down Roxy's face even faster, and her words became much more strained, "...that I b-better keep my d-damn mouth shut ... 'I swear to G-God, Roxanne Alexandrov ... i-if you scream, I - I will kill you before anyone h-has the chance t-to hear you!' ... A-and then, he ... h-he..."

Before another word was able to leave her mouth, my sister clenched her eyes shut, flew her hands up to her face, and started to bawl like a helpless newborn. Up until now, it was like all of her previous tears had been minor leaks from a dam ... and now, that dam was busted.

Keeping her face hidden, Roxy bellowed through her miserable sobs, "H-h-he slipped his other hand between my legs a-and s-started touching m-m-my crotch!"

In less than a second, Andrew released a startled gasp and his watery eyes widened to the point where they looked like they had become too large for his head. At the same time, Brian's jaw dropped in horror and he threw his hand over his mouth, making it obvious that he was trying his hardest to choke down his sobs. Allison had a much similar reaction, except she completely froze and paled to the point where she perfectly resembled a ghost. Her hand tensed up, lying stock-still against my right shoulder blade.

Claire shifted uncomfortably, almost wincing at that god-awful mental picture as a half guilty/half sympathetic frown formed on her face. She had to take a moment to look away, cuffing the side of her face with one of her hands in the hopes of hiding how she was starting to cry like she had when the Nerd called her conceited.

And lastly, a single teardrop managed to leak out of one of Bender's eyes and fall down his face as he took down a heavy gulp. Although, at that moment, I couldn't tell if he was preventing himself from throwing up or trying to clear a lump from his throat. Either way, despite the shock that was decorating his face, the look in his eyes gave it away that learning the truth about Roxy getting molested actually hurt him.

"I - I immediately started to sob and ... a-and I tried to shove h-him away ... but I couldn't..." Roxy whimpered, trying her hardest to speak clearly through her cries. "I wanted - I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs ... oh, God, I wanted him to stop ... b-but everything that came out was nothing but desperate and - and terrified muffles..."

The Dweeb clenched his eyes shut, causing his tears to spill even faster down his rosy cheeks. He sniffled as quietly as he could manage - which wasn't very quiet at all - and kept his hand over his mouth, evidently having a much more difficult time keeping his sobs contained. At the same, the Athlete hung his head in guilt and stared at his lap, unable to prevent a few tears from escaping from his eyes and dripping down onto his jeans.

The Handicapped's chest trembled as she drew in another unsteady breath, "I mean, I couldn't ... I - I couldn't believe w-what was happening ... I was petrified..." Her voice was soaked in pain and there were hundreds of tears flowing down her face, "Damien then started to - to shove his tongue i-into my mouth ... paying n-no mind to my tears o-o-or s-smothered protests ... a-and I kept trying to push him off ... but it was no use..."

By this point, it was me who was shaking. I couldn't stop thinking about what really happened before that party, feeling myself getting bombarded with a variety of dark emotions: pain, anger, disappointment, humiliation, regret ... the list was endless and torture.

"I m-managed to turn my head away long enough t-to scream ... begging and begging for him to stop a-a-and to please l-let me go..." Roxy sniffled. She curled her fingers into a tight fist and held it up, unable to stop it from shaking. "...But Damien ... h-he grabbed me by m-my chin and - and forced me to look at him again ... a-and then, he decked me in - in the jaw ... a-and told me again to keep my damn mouth shut ... after t-that, h-he practically t-tore off my underwear a-a-and pulled h-his shirt off..." She shook her head in regret, clearly being tormented by all of the terrible memories that were going to be scarred on her brain for the rest of her life. "T-then ... after he u-unzipped h-his jeans ... h-he proceeded to - to grope m-my breasts ... pinch m-my thighs ... suck o-on my neck ... and all w-while growing even a-angrier from my sobbing..."

Claire looked down at her lap, causing one of her tears to drip off from the bridge of her nose as she let out a deep and sad sigh. Now, I was positive that she was disappointed in herself for treating the Handicapped so horribly throughout the detention. Bender, on the other hand, was wearing an expression that was similar to the one that he'd been wearing during Sporto's confession. Except, this one was much more upset.

"And every time..." Roxy gulped, still holding up her clenched fist, "...e-every damn time I tried to scream, Damien w-would start whaling on me ... I - I remember feeling blood ... f-flowing down from my nose and - and from the - the corners of my mouth ... a-and every time Damien would hit me ... h-he would yell at me like - like some mindless maniac ... 'you disgusting, worthless slut!'" Roxy held out her other hand, imitating her ex-boyfriend's cruel and heartless tone as she plowed her fist into her palm. It was obvious that she was staging him slamming her with full force in the face.

"'You better stop crying if you know what's good for you, you little bitch! Hell, you should be grateful!'" She punched her wide-open hand again, practically screaming through her earth-shattering cries, "'You brought this on yourself, you hear me? This is all your fault, you useless whore!'" Two more hits struck her palm, causing it to redden. "'Shut your mouth! We're doing this my way!'" Another hit followed, this one much harder than all of the others, "'You're worth nothing without me! You're nothing but a pathetic and unwanted slut! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!'"

Allison flinched, just as Andrew started to eagerly scrub his cheeks and Brian hid his face behind his hands, weeping somewhat quietly.

"You son of a bitch..." the Handicapped whispered, looking completely broken down as she switched back to her own voice. "...Eventually, he brought out a p-pocketknife from his jeans ... and I was ... I - I was terrified, thinking that ... you know, t-that he really was going to - to k-kill me ... but he ended up u-using it to only slice o-o-off m-my dress..." Sniffling, she took a moment to wipe one of her eyes before she curled up into the fetal position again and continued, "A-a-and when you're a victim of r-rape ... there comes a time w-when you give up on - on struggling ... y-you know that there's n-no escape ... a-a-and you just lie there a-and ... and you h-hope and pray to God that t-this ... this horrifying experience will come to an end..."

The Princess wiped away as many of her tears as she could, clearly trying to regain her composure.

"B-but for me..." Roxy tightened her arms around her shins even more, "...the experience ended in blackness ... s-shortly after Damien ... started ... h-he slammed me o-o-over the head with his - his wine bottle ... s-shattering it a-a-and knocking me out..." She hung her head and rested her forehead against her knees again, "I - I still can't believe it ... he was my boyfriend ... my b-best friend since childhood ... And. He. Raped. Me."

I winced at the two final words that finished her story, feeling like I had just swallowed a bunch of heavy rocks. It was almost difficult to breathe and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't burn those disturbing pictures out of my brain.

Claire rose her head and looked at my sister again with water still brimming in her eyes. "Oh my God, Roxy..." she said in a quiet and very pitiful voice.

"My God ... I swear, if I knew that asshole..." Wrestle Mania said, slowly shaking his head with a mere scowl plastered on his face. He then drew in a stuffy breath through his nose and looked up at the ceiling, still shedding some tears.

Suddenly, the Criminal started to drag his ass across the floor, stepping over the Diva's expensive looking boots in the process. Then, when he made it over to the opposite side of the circle, he positioned himself like a crouching spy in front of the Handicapped. For a moment, Bender just stared at her and watched almost blankly as hot water continued to trickle down her face; but then, he reached his hand out and carefully used his thumb to stroke away one of the tears. After that, he wiped his finger off on his flannel and slowly wrapped his arms around my sister, as if he was trying to figure out whether or not he was giving a hug correctly.

Roxy tilted her head up a little, preventing her face from being buried in Bender's shoulder as she gently returned the embrace. "John..." she said, and I didn't need to see the Thug's face to know that he was wondering how she knew that it was him, "...you smell just like your scarf."

I could've sworn that I saw Roxy's cheeks grow a tiny bit pink, and there was even a vague grin starting to fiddle around with one of the corners of Bender's lips.

"It was all my fault." I abruptly spoke up, not knowing for sure if I really wanted to share my half of the story or if I just wanted to get the Crook to back the hell away from my sister. The last time I allowed a guy to get close to Roxy, she ended up getting raped and she lost her vision. And I wasn't planning on letting anything horrible like that happen to her ever again.

In less than a second, everyone snapped their attention over to me. Brian dragged his hands away from his face and stared at me with large, confused, toddler-like eyes from over the tips of his fingers. At the same time, John almost reluctantly untangled his arms from around Roxy and turned his head in my direction. He cocked an eyebrow, looking somewhat annoyed that I had ruined his moment with the Handicapped and very curious as to what I meant.

The Burnout refused to look away from me as he scooted back to his original spot against the pillar. At the same time, the Jock's eyebrows knitted together in genuine concern, and the Snob looked just as confused as the Dork.

"What are you talking about, Comrade?" Brian asked, as if he was trying to comfort me.

I swallowed thickly and hesitated for a moment. Then, from the corner of my eye, I decided to take a peek over at the Basket Case. It didn't take long for me to notice just how worried she looked, staring at me with sympathetic eyes that were red-rimmed and a little puffy by this point. I immediately looked away, not wanting to be captivated by her, and took a glance around at the rest of the group as I finally answer.

"It's my fault..." I stated, slowly and nervously rubbing my hands together, "...that Roxy was raped."

Almost immediately, Roxy pointed a finger in the direction of my voice and spoke firmly, "No. Don't you dare say that, Comrade."

I sharply narrowed my eyes and snapped my head up, trying to see my sister with my blurred vision. "Oh, come off it, Roxanne! You know it's true!" I hollered, feeling the heat of my tears increase even more as they continued to rain down my face, "I'm your brother! I'm the one who is responsible for you! It's my job to keep you safe and I blew it! You got raped because of me!"

My sister faltered, obviously not expecting me to yell at her like that. "N-no..." she said in a voice that was a lot more sensitive and vulnerable, "...that's not true."

"Yes, it is!" I screamed, paying no attention to how I made Bender flinch slightly. Then, I was interrupted by a couple of quiet sobs; but my accent remained hard and angry as I forced myself to regain at least some of my composure. "I could've saved you! I could've gotten into my car and driven after you! I could've shown up at that party and immediately brought you back home! I could've even..." I trailed off, realizing that I was almost shaking again as my voice lowered into a disappointed growl, "...I could've shown up in that alleyway ... and stopped Damien before he molested you."

Roxy crossed one of her arms over her stomach and slung the other one over her shoulder, making it look like she was giving herself a weak hug. "Comrade," she said after a couple of sniffles, "it really wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was!" I bellowed, evidently growing angrier. "I should've been there that night! I should've been there to protect you from that sick and twisted Ублюдок! Why can't you just accept the fact that it all happened because of me?" 'Bastard!'

The Handicapped enhanced the volume of her voice to be even with mine, "Because it didn't!" Although, it was obvious that she was trying to avoid breaking down and bawling again.

Before I could catch myself even thinking about doing it, my depression grabbed a firm hold on me. "STOP IT, ROXANNE! JUST STOP LYING!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, screwing my eyes shut tighter than ever before as I balled my hands into solid fists, "IT DID HAPPEN BECAUSE OF ME! IT'S ALL MY DAMN FAULT!" Then, not being able to help myself, I flew one of my fists back and plowed it into the wooden top of the railing, eliciting a loud BANG from the impact.

Roxy yelped, not being able to hold back her tears any longer. I immediately winced, surprised that I hadn't busted my knuckles from how hard the punch was, and realized that Andrew had willingly blocked my guitar with his arm. I hadn't noticed it until now, but the punch had missed my guitar's neck by just a couple of inches ... and the Athlete actually protected it for me.

Claire, Bender, and Brian, on the other hand, were staring at me like I had just attempted to hijack Mr. Vernon's car. And lastly, Allison didn't think twice before looping both of her arms around my arm, almost hugging it. Whether she was trying to calm me down or she didn't want me to try throwing anymore punches, I couldn't figure out the direct answer. Either way, I refused to pull my arm away from her.

I breathed hard and slowly unclenched my fists, suddenly feeling like I was drowning in an endless whirlpool of sorrow. "I ... I'm sorry..." I said, not knowing exactly if I was apologizing to Roxy or to the whole group, "I ... I didn't mean to ... I mean, I couldn't ... I couldn't help myself."

Klepto closed her eyes and sighed, "Oh, Comrade..." She planted a small kiss against my upper arm, ironically planting it where I knew a scar was hidden underneath my sleeve.

There was a moment of hesitation, in which I looked back down at my lap before I continued to talk. "You guys think, uh ... I'm proud to be this way?" I asked with genuine sincerity dripping from my accent, "I know that I'm a total bitch ... I know that I'm a major pain in the ass ... but it's not because I want to be. It's because I have to be ... it's all I know." I sort of mumbled my final four words under my breath, using my sleeve to wipe away some of the tears from one of my cheeks. "I mean, how - how else am I supposed to keep Roxy safe? ... I have to lay down the law and make sure that other people know that if they're planning to bitch around with her, then they're going to have to try bitching their way through me first ... because I'm not going to let anything happen to her again."

I cranked my head back up and took a glance around the circle, taking in how all of the other detention goers were still giving me their undivided attention.

"I'm her older brother and it's my job to look out for her..." I said, practically stabbing myself in the chest with my finger, "...my job to keep her safe ... and I screwed up at the worst time possible."

The Queen Bee quickly shook her head. "No, Comrade!" she said in a tone that was half serious and half consoling. "You did not screw up. It's not like you asked Damien to do what he did to Roxy."

"Yeah." Brian agreed almost instantly, nodding like an out of control bobble head. His face was covered in sympathy. "I-I'm sorry to tell you this, Comrade, but, um ... r-rape can happen to anyone when they least expect it. It doesn't matter who they are, where they are, how old they are ... the point is, it - it can and unfortunately does happen more than people think."

"But there's nobody to blame except for the rapist." Andrew incorporated, as if that would somehow comfort me. "You can't blame yourself for Damien's own doings. It wasn't your fault."

Bender rested the back of his head against the pillar and faintly nodded in agreement, but his face appeared to be completely emotionless.

I groaned and ran my free hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face as I exclaimed in a mixture of annoyance and desperation, "Ugh! You guys don't understand!"

"What don't we understand?" Sporto demanded. He took a quick scan around the group, looking legitimately confused. "What's going on? Is there more?"

There was another brief pause, in which I looked down at one of the dozens of holes in my jeans and rubbed my sore knuckles, already envisioning the bruises that were going to form on them. "Oh, there's a lot more." I eventually answered, still massaging my hand as I peeked up and looked across the circle at my sister, "Roxy, why don't we talk about what really happened before you left for that party?"

The Handicapped's eyes expanded and she became as stiff as a statue, drawing the attention of the other detainees in less than a second. "Comrade..." she whispered pleadingly, "...I had that perfectly covered up for you. Why would you bring it back up?"

"Because it'll prove that your whole incident with Damien really was my fault!" I snarled, almost forgetting who I was talking to. "Plus, these guys don't know my half of the story yet."

The look on Brian's face automatically gave it away that he wasn't expecting to hear that Roxy, of all people, had told a lie. "S-something happened before the party?" he asked, sounding genuinely naive as he flicked his attention back and forth from me to the Handicapped.

Bender hunched forward a little so he could be staring directly at me, "What happened?" ... Did I just detect a note of concern in his voice?

Roxy squished her lips together, almost making them vanish from the rest of her face. Then, with her bright gray orbs perfectly resembling a helpless puppy's, she tilted her head down and started to fidget around with her fingernails again. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be the one to admit what really happened, but I didn't care. For some reason - a reason that even I didn't know or understand - this was the first time in God knows how long in which I actually wanted to talk about what was haunting me - hurting me.

"I wasn't in the shower." My voice was blunt, but there was total honesty shining in my eyes as I talked. "I had just finished taking a shower and I wanted to ask Roxy what she wanted for dinner. But when I walked into the single room that we shared, I saw that she was all dressed up and in the middle of finishing up the final touches of her makeup. For some reason, she hadn't told me about Damien calling her earlier that day..." I gave a slight shrug, "...so, I didn't have the slightest clue as to what she was getting ready for."

Roxy refused to look up and continued to fiddle around with her nails as she quietly spoke up, "I didn't tell you because I knew how much you hated him."

"Of course I hated him, Rox! That's one of the many reasons as to why I didn't want you to go to that party." I sourly remarked. After that, I looked down at my lap to avoid making eye contact with any of the other detention goers and continued. "My first instinct was to ask her what was with the fancy getup, so I did ... and as soon as she finished explaining to me that Damien had called her that afternoon and asked her to tag-along with him to some birthday shindig, I told her that hell would have to freeze over before I ever allowed her to attend some late, after-curfew party."

Sporto furrowed his brow, but I was torn between two reasons as to why: he either expected that kind of response from me, or he actually agreed with what I'd said. After all, he admitted earlier that he couldn't think for himself, which must've been the reason behind why he was so vulnerable when it came to peer pressure. Whether it was dealing with Marijuana or attending a party at Stubby's, Andrew Clarke couldn't make up his own mind to save his life ... and he was subjected to enough recklessness in his life to understand where I was coming from about the danger of late-night parties.

I didn't realize that about the Jock until now ... and to be honest, it made me feel a little dumb.

"So, Roxy tried to get me to change my mind by telling me about how the party was for Jake Petrov." I went on, capturing my bottom lip and grinding it between my teeth in slight nervousness. "But I, of course, refused to budge ... I told her that I didn't give a shit about who it was for and that she was staying home whether she liked it or not ... after all, it isn't against the law for a brother wanting to keep his sister out of danger, right?"

Allison slowly shook her head, despite how she didn't have any experience with siblings whatsoever. At the same time, I just so happened to notice that Brian was starting to look uneasy; and at this moment, that could only mean one thing: he had a sister, too.

"One hell of an argument broke out after that." I sighed, beginning to feel the guilt swarm around and grow stronger inside of my body. "Me and Roxy ... we stood there on opposite sides of the room and just ... just bitched at each other like that was suddenly all we knew how to do. I don't think either of us have ever yelled so much before in our entire lives." I decided to leave out the few details that involved all of the wild hand gestures and other physical motions, such as Roxy kicking over the stool at her makeup table and me battling the urge to throw a punch at the wall.

The Handicapped frowned and didn't even bother trying to clean the tears away from her cheeks, making it obvious that she was ashamed and embarrassed.

I started to rub my knuckles again, almost wincing from how sore they were. "And, uh..." I swallowed thickly, trying to find the quickest way to get all of this out in the open, "...we said a whole bunch of crap. I tried to convince her to stay home with me by offering to set up an all-night movie marathon in the living room for the two of us ... but Roxy, still angry, made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing more than to get out of the house with Damien for a night." I hesitantly lifted my head back up and scanned the circle, feeling the tears in my eyes starting to increase once again, "Don't get me wrong, I trusted her more than anybody else in the whole world. Heck, I still do ... but I don't trust all of the drug addicts, pedophiles, and other wackos that are out there."

Gingersnap, Wrestle Mania, and Small Fry softly nodded their heads, as if that was their way of saying that they understood and agreed with me.

"But Roxy and I ... w-we wouldn't stop screaming at each other ... we just screamed ... a-and screamed ... and screamed..." I was interrupted by a slight sob at my final word, practically feeling the dark memories ripping across my brain as they replayed themselves like an endless slideshow. "She told me that I wasn't the boss of her and that she was in control of her own life ... and in return, I - I told her that ... you know, that she didn't have a freakin' clue how to take control of her own life yet. I called her an immature brat ... and she, pissed as hell, started to lecture me about how I was an uptight ass who didn't know anything about her."

I paused for a moment and narrowed my eyes, realizing my voice was starting to crack a little, "How - how in the hell can she say that? It's not right ... I mean, I know that I can be an asshole ... a-and I know that I - I easily get on peoples nerves ... but I'm still her brother ... her very own twin brother ... and I'm pretty damn convinced that I know more about her than I know about myself."

Roxy cringed and choked back on a cry, almost looking as pale as a sheet. Brian, noticing this, reached over and carefully placed his hand on her shoulder, giving it a shy and comforting squeeze. For a moment, I'd almost forgotten that she was there ... and that only made me feel even more guilty.

By this point, I could feel this aching pain in the middle of my throat, coming from none other than a forming lump. I rested the back of my head against the leg of the stool, still feeling the pressure of having everybody's eyes staring me down like I was in possession of the most valuable item in the whole universe. A couple of more tears escaped from my eyes and quickly ran down my cheeks, and I looked up at the ceiling to avoid looking at anyone.

"The fight lasted for what felt like ... like an eternity." I continued, almost making my two final words sound overdramaric as I watched the same fluorescent light flicker from above. "We were practically throwing ourselves a-at each other's throats ... but then ... he pulled up in the driveway and - and honked the horn to announce his arrival ... a-and that's..." My voice cracked again, and I watched with some more tears rolling down my face as the fluorescent light stayed out for a couple of seconds before flicking back on again, "...that's when it happened."

I sniffled, feeling the painful sobs racking against my chest and screaming to be freed. Just then, Claire reached into her bronze leather purse and took a moment to shuffle through its contents before she pulled out two pieces of tissue. At first, I thought that she was going to use them to clean the streaks away from her face; but then, she actually handed one of the tissues over to Roxy and reached the other one over to Brian. The Dork didn't think twice before passing the second tissue over to the Athlete - and that's when the realization hit me: that tissue was for me.

I made brief eye contact with the Redhead, as if that was my way of saying thanks, and I quickly took the tissue from Andrew's offering hand. Unfortunately, no matter how many times I used it to wipe my eyes, the tears returned within seconds.

"What happened, Comrade?" Allison asked as she and the other detainees watched me scrub my face.

I sniffled slightly and straightened my lips for a moment before answering, "I said the most horrible thing that any brother could ever say to his sister." My accent was now soaked in guilt, and I started drawing in deep breaths between words, "I - I - I was so angry ... I wasn't thinking ... a-and when Roxy told me that there was nothing, not even me, that was going stop her from going to that party ... I - I don't know ... something inside of me snapped." I made a gesture with my hand, indicating a door being slammed shut, "As soon as she stormed out the front door ... I - I just stood there ... not even bothering to go after her. And then, I ... I allowed my rage to get the best of me ... and I ... and I screamed at the top of my lungs ... 'This is the thanks I get for trying to look out for you? ... Well, fine! Go out to this damn party and get yourself hurt, abducted, or even killed! I don't give a shit if you even decide to never come back! From here on out, you're on your own, you hear me? You're all on your own! I hate you, Roxanne! I freaking hate you!'"

My sobs started to choke out of me and the tears grew even hotter in my eyes, "A-and I'll never forget ... that look on her face a-as she looked back at me ... s-she looked so hurt ... pleading me to - to take all of that back ... but I didn't ... a-a-and I just watched ... glaring at her as s-she backed a-away and got into Damien's car." I crumpled my tissue up and clenched it tightly in the palm of my hand, "And later on ... after about two hours s-since she left ... I - I found myself waking up on the couch in - in the living room to the sound of the phone ringing..."

Back then, I remember thinking that it was my pathetic excuse of a father, who wasn't there that night. Back then, I assumed that he had gotten himself arrested for the thousandth time and was calling me to gather up all of the money he'd received from gambling and dealing drugs so I could bail his ass out. And til' this day, I still wish that it had been my old man calling that night. At least if it were him, I would've been able to tell him that he was on his own before slamming the phone back down on the receiver. But it wasn't my dad...

"A-and when I answered it..." I drew in a quiet, shaky breath, "...a man quickly explained to me that he was Dr. Kuzmin, a - a physician from the ER ... and the first thought t-that came to my mind was ... you know, t-that he had the wrong number ... but then, h-h-he told me that a body..." I was cut off by a small cry, in which I clenched my watery eyes shut and started to tremble, "...an u-unconscious body was discovered i-in a rundown alleyway ... a-a-and his staff was able to - to identify the body as ... Roxanne Alexandrov..."

Claire flew her hands up to her mouth and gasped in horror, while Allison's jaw dropped down to the floor. At the same time, Brian couldn't resist bawling again and Bender turned his head away, looking off into the opposite direction to prevent the other detainees from seeing the tears starting to fall much faster down his cheeks.

"Oh my God..." Andrew said, as if he had been sucker-punched right in the stomach.

Roxy was still dabbing her eyes with the tissue that the Redhead had given her, looking like she was seconds away from throwing up.

I, on the other hand, was slowly beginning to regain my composure, despite the hundreds of tears that were still raining down my face.

"I - I couldn't believe it ... I - I was in shock ... for a moment, I just stood there in - in denial ... but as soon as Dr. Kuzmin mentioned which ER they were at ... I dropped the phone down to the floor, slipped on my nearest pair of shoes ... and you better believe that I ran faster than ever before out the front door." I attempted for the millionth time to clear my stuffy nose, having no choice but to keep my eyes open to prevent seeing the memories playing inside of my head. "I hopped right in my car, backed the hell out of the driveway, and drove ... I sped through every red light, paid no attention to any stop signs, broke the speed limit ... and after I got to the hospital, I bolted through the parking lot i-in my long sleeved T-shirt and ratty sweatpants like the devil was running after me."

This time, I used my hands to wipe my cheeks. "Then, as soon as I made it into the waiting room of the ER ... I - I started hollering for Dr. Kuzmin. The nurse at the front desk immediately straightened in her chair and told me that I needed to calm down so I wouldn't disturb any of the patients." I narrowed my eyes, remembering the nurse's pale green eyes and the platinum blonde highlights that looked horrible in her auburn hair, "Isn't that stupid? ... I mean, how in the hell does she expect me to calm myself down while my little sister is one of the patients there?"

Brian sniffled and cleaned his face as much as he could with his sleeve, refusing to break his attention away from me.

"Anyway," I continued sorrowfully, "when the nurse told me that she was going to have to ask me to leave if I kept yelling, I told her get off her lazy ass and to do her damn job - to get Dr. Kuzmin for me. Then, while she kept trying to contain her temper and reason with me so I would use my 'indoor voice', a few other nurses hurried down one of the halls and retrieved Dr. Kuzmin. Immediately after he was brought back into the waiting room, he walked over to me and demanded what was going on ... and I quickly explained to him that I was Roxanne Alexandrov's brother - the one he'd been speaking with on the phone about ten minutes earlier."

"What did he say after you told him that, Russian Massacre?" Bender asked, using the same tone he had used back when he asked Brian why he assumed that shop would've been an easy class. Although, judging by how he still wasn't looking at anyone, it was obvious that the Delinquent was still pretty upset.

"He..." My lips quivered, transforming into a helpless frown, "...he told me everything ... he went into insanely graphic detail, describing to me that an employee from The Pink Crescent Nightclub had called nine-one-one after spotting a b-bloody hand peeking out from behind the dumpster while they were taking out the trash. T-then, after he explained how it took the paramedics about forty minutes to get where Roxy was ... h-he told me the worst news in my life ... 'M-Mr. Alexandrov'..." I started to impersonate Dr. Kuzmin, which would've been easier if I wasn't crying, "...'I-I'm sorry that I have to tell you this, but ... when Roxanne was brought in, s-she wasn't ... she wasn't w-wearing ... a-any ... clothes. A-and after running a series of tests ... we found DNA belonging to Damien Sudnik i-inside of her ... a-and she's currently in a coma,' ... a coma ... 'from taking a hard b-blow to the head.'"

I balled my hand up and held it up, forming a tight fist again, "My God, I wanted to kill him ... I wanted - I wanted to track him down, that son of a bitch, a-a-and break every. Single. Bone. In his body ... but Dr. Kuzmin sooner mentioned that he had already been tracked down by the police and arrested." It took a lot of willpower, but I managed to slowly lower my fist back down to my lap, "Eventually, after Dr. Kuzmin gave me his condolences for the hundredth time, he asked if I wanted to see Roxy ... and I didn't think twice before saying yes."

At that moment, I forced myself to look across the circle at Roxy in an attempt to stop my emotions from spiraling out of control. She was safe, she was alive ... but as of right now, I was being devoured by the past.

"Needless to say, I was extremely worried ... and scared ... and full of guilt." I sniffled, wiping one of my eyes with the neckline of my white T-shirt. "I - I ran my big mouth, said all of that junk about her being on her own from now on ... and there I was just a few hours later ... w-walking through the emergency room with my little sister's life h-h-hanging by a thread."

Klepto sighed sorrowfully, "Comrade..." I held up my hand and signaled her to stop, knowing that I was too far into the story to back out now.

"Dr. Kuzmin led me down a - a series of long, excessively white, sterilized hallways ... a-and eventually stopped by a door ... but before he opened it, he turned and said to me, 'Try talking to her, because there's a slim chance that she can still hear you.' After that, h-he went on explaining that ... t-that there were no way of knowing when or if Roxanne was ever going to come to." I closed my eyes and released a distraught breath, still being haunted by how much that word - if - hurt me. "In return, I asked him if Roxy was going to be okay ... b-because I didn't want to acknowledge the possibility of her dying ... and Dr. Kuzmin explained that aside from having to cope with what happened ... if Roxy was ever going to wake up again ... there was a ninety-eight percent chance t-that she ... she, you know, would no longer be able to see due to how hard she was hit in the head."

"What?!" the Jock squawked, causing the Beauty Queen and the Handicapped to jump.

I slowly nodded my head in regret, "Yeah ... they took a couple of X-rays and it was revealed that Damien had slammed Roxy so hard with his wine bottle to the point where he ended up fracturing something in her brain ... causing her to lose her vision ... so, she was either going to die with her sight or live without it." I reached my hand up and placed my fingertips against the silver crucifix around my neck, praying in my head for God to give me strength, "And when Dr. Kuzmin let me walk into that hospital room by myself ... my stomach felt like i-it dropped down to my knees when I ... when I s-saw Roxanne..."

Now, I was positive that I looked completely vulnerable and broken down, no longer holding any of my tears back and trying to catch my breath as I bawled. "S-s-she was hooked u-up to a heart monitor with ... with s-s-so many damn c-cords and IVs hooked u-up to her! T-there were bandages w-wrapped around her h-head and h-hands ... her face w-was covered in - in bruises ... her n-neck had hickeys on it ... h-her makeup was smeared all over the place ... God, i-i-it was so hard to believe t-that just ... that just a few hours previously, s-she had looked absolutely stunning."

By this point, Brian had his face buried in his arm again. "I ... I need a tissue, dammit!" he cried, at which Claire immediately reached into her fancy bag, shuffled through all of her beauty supplies, pulled out a fresh tissue, and handed it over to him.

At the same time, Allison quickly wrapped one of her arms around my shoulders and pulled herself closer to me. Now, there was no gap of space separating us and she was almost rocking me with her head resting against my arm and dozens of tears rolling down her face. Her eyeliner was even starting to run a little.

"I - I remember falling down to m-my knees at the side of the bed a-and just ... just sobbing..." I went on, desperately sniffling between words. "I remember taking a hold of Roxy's hand, m-making sure that I was being careful with the bandages a-as I ran my thumb across her fingers ... a-a-and I remember how ... h-how broken and alone I felt. I remember talking to her ... a-apologizing for everything that I'd said before she left with Damien and s-saying that I didn't mean any of it ... 'P-please, Rox, don't leave me ... you're a-all I got left ... I need you ... I-I'm so, s-so sorry for yelling a-at you and f-for being such a terrible brother ... please d-d-don't go and leave me h-here all by myself, Roxanne'..."

Roxy flew her hands up to her mouth and stared in the direction of my voice with huge, upset, watery eyes. It was obvious that she hadn't heard me say any of that to her when she was in her coma ... but Dr. Kuzmin did say that the chances of her hearing me would be slim.

Brian blew his nose into his tissue, looking like he was officially beginning to run out of tears.

I slowly started to regain my composure again, wiping my eyes as I continued, "I stayed in that hospital room for weeks, refusing to leave unless it was to go home to take a shower or to go to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite to eat. When the time came for visiting hours to end, I would hide in the bathroom each day to trick the doctors and nurses into believing that I'd already left. I also ditched school every weekday and kept my faith in God, constantly hoping and praying that Roxy would finally wake up ... I swear, it got to the point where the beeping of her heart monitor was music to my ears ... reminding me that there was still a chance."

Bender pretended to scratch his cheek in order to wipe some tears away before he spoke, "How long was she in the coma for?"

"A month." Roxy and I answered simultaneously, but then, it was just me who went on talking like the air had been knocked out of me. "For thirty whole days ... she was bedridden, receiving sponge baths, depending on a countless amount of machines to keep her alive ... and the entire time, nobody knew if she was truly clinging to life or just slowly slipping away into death. But then ... one morning, shortly after I woke up and devoured a pistachio muffin ... I - I heard the greatest sound in the entire universe ... Roxy drawing in a deep breath for the first time. I immediately sprang to the side of her bed, took a hold of her hand, carefully squeezed it, said her name ... a-and I felt absolutely overjoyed when I heard her respond by saying my name..."

I pretended to study the hole in my shoe for the millionth time, swaying my feet from side-to-side with a brand new frown etched across my face. "But ... as soon as she opened her eyes ... it came to my realization that Dr. Kuzmin was right about that ninety-eight percent chance. That beautiful, vibrant shade of green had transformed into a cloudy silver ... a-and til' this day, I can still remember the heartbreaking sight of her going into a panic ... frantically looking all around and causing her heart monitor to pick up the pace as s-she fearfully screamed at the top of her lungs ... crying and begging me to tell her where I was and why the room was so dark. And I just ... I just climbed up onto the bed with her and pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back and trying not to cry as I told her that I was right there ... that I was going to protect her ... and that everything was going to be okay."

I almost reluctantly cranked my head back up and took a glance around the circle, "So, do you guys get it now? If I hadn't lost my temper and said all of that shit, Roxy wouldn't have left with Damien in the first place ... and we wouldn't have had to turn our whole lives around in order to adjust to her blindness." A small, remorseful sigh escaped from my mouth, "It's all my fault."

"No, it's not!" Andrew and Allison objected, shaking their heads.

My eyebrows almost instantly knitted together in confusion. "What?" I said naively.

"Comrade, I was going to go to that party no matter what you said to me." Roxy said, her tone giving it away that she was disappointed in herself. "It wasn't your fault for what Damien did to me ... like Claire and Andy said, you had no control over his doings and it's not like you asked him to do it."

"Yeah." Brian agreed, still making it sound like he was trying to console me. "And it's not like you meant any of that stuff you said to Roxy. I - I mean, uh ... w-we're all - we're all human. We all say stuff that we don't mean when we get mad." He gave a quick and shy gesture around the circle, indicating the other detention goers and showing that he was including them in his statement.

I pursed my lips, not knowing how to respond to that. After all, half of me was still trying to digest how I had just opened up to a bunch of strangers - excluding the Basket Case. Aside from Carl, I never talked about mine and Roxy's past to anyone. Not even my psychologist managed to get me to talk like this ... but there was still plenty of secrets about me that these idiots knew nothing about.

For what felt like a year, nobody made a sound and exchanged glances, as if that was their way of asking someone to be the first one to speak up. Then, just as Allison planted another quick and gentle kiss against my arm, Claire decided to shatter the silence by asking a question that opened up a whole new chapter in mine and Roxy's backstory.

"Where were your parents that night?"

A/N: That's another completed chapter for you all! :D

I would like to apologize for how long it has taken me to update, but as you can all tell by the length of this chapter, Comrade and Roxy's backstory is pretty thick. Also, the reason why I'm splitting their backstory into two separate chapters is because there's still quite a bit to learn about their past and this chapter is over 15,000 words. So, the next chapter will reveal everything else that there is for you all to find out about Comrade and Roxy's backstory! :D

Two Announcements:

1) Please keep in mind that rape is a serious situation that can happen to anyone. Your age, your gender, your race, your religion ... none of that matters. It can happen at the most unexpected times and in the hands of the most unpredictable people. I believe that we are all miracles from God and that nobody deserves to go through such a horrible thing. I highly encourage all of you to report domestic violence, whether you are a victim of it or a bystander. Keep in mind, we are all human beings and we all deserve respect. No means no. Thank you.

2) I've been receiving plenty of questions lately as to if I'm going to make a sequel to this story. So, here's the answer: Yes. :) I am going to make a sequel to "The Reality Check & the Handicapped", but please note that it might not be out right away due to me still constructing the plot and juggling a bunch of schoolwork.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please keep in mind that it's my goal to get at least four reviews per chapter. I absolutely love feedback and I appreciate it all very much, so don't be shy to share your thoughts in the reviews or you can PM them to me. :)

Another Fun Fact: Originally, John Hughes (Lord, rest his soul) was planning to make sequels to "The Breakfast Club" every ten years. However, he ended up passing away before he could settle the ideas.

Also: Please keep in mind that chapters will take more time to complete, considering I'm currently back in school. Nonetheless, I'm not quitting this story, so don't worry about that. Updates will just take a little longer due to homework, studying, and projects. I thank you all for understanding. :)

I also have my poll on "Who Are Your Two Top Favorite Characters in The Breakfast Club?" still going. In case any of you want to check that out and cast your votes, it's on my page.

Again, I hope you all had fun reading this chapter! :) It was a lot of fun to write! :)

Well, all of my fantastic viewers, I believe we've reached the end of this chapter.

Please review! I appreciate all of your feedback! :D :D

Until next time, happy reading and writing to you all! :) :)

God bless! :D

Crystalteen, out!

THE BREAKFAST CLUB FOREVER!