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didn’t recognize.
    Unknown: Madelyn, there’s a support group downtown for people who have suffered sexual assault. I’m forwarding the information for it and I hope you consider trying it out. I know I’m over-stepping, but it might help. Let me know if I can do anything. Josh.
    I read it twice and then, for the first time all day, I smiled. Josh Richards had gone to Sierra View University, but graduated over a year ago. During my sophomore year he had been a fantastic math tutor, and without him I surely would have failed my trigonometry class. For just a short time he had been one of my closest friends, but when graduation came and went, he disappeared quickly- leaving no trace of himself behind.
    Seeing him in the club last night had been surprising, and just like he had been that year, he was my rock. Staring at his name in my text messages, my heart fluttered a tiny bit. Josh had been the guy on campus that girls wanted to catch, with his good looks and amazing basketball prowess, but above all he was nice. Most of the guys in college make it their goal to be as immature and obnoxious as possible, but Josh wasn’t like that. He wanted to help people, and would never say no to someone in need.  Obviously he hadn’t changed too much, because he’d gone out of his way to find a support group for me.
    I lay in my bed just staring for a few more minutes before I typed out a quick response.
    Me: Thank you. For everything.
    I settled into my pillows and plugged in my ears buds, bringing up the most upbeat playlist I had and tried to hold off as long as I could before sleep claimed me.

Chapter Four
    The alarm clock jolted me awake at 6:00 am, and I sat up groggy and confused. I’d finally given in and fallen asleep between 3:30 and 4:00 am, but slept restlessly.
    I forced myself up and walked into the bathroom. Amanda was already in the shower and I mumbled a greeting to her as I brushed my teeth.  She climbed out of the shower, wrapping her red hair in a towel and she leaned over to give me sideways hug.
    “Morning Mads.”
    She left the bathroom to go get dressed and I just grunted to her retreating back. Amanda’s attitude in the morning was as opposite of mine and Sydney’s as you could get. I stumbled into the kitchen, poured myself a cup of coffee, and sank onto the couch. A few minutes later Sydney appeared next to me, muttering angrily about Amanda’s singing so early in the morning. I wasn’t really a morning person, but Sydney wasn’t a before-noon person.
    After my cup of coffee was finished, I walked back into my room to get dressed. I grabbed some clothes out of my closet, but instead of putting them on I sat down on the edge of my bed, suddenly unsure of going to school. I didn’t really want to spend my day around people, and instead thought about how appealing hiding under the blankets would be. I almost had myself talked into staying home when Amanda knocked on the door to tell me we had to leave in five minutes.
    I dressed as quickly as I could, pulling my hair into a pony tail, and I applied some cover up to the bruises on my face. They weren’t invisible, but at least they wouldn’t be completely noticeable to my classmates.
    My roommates were waiting for me when I walked out of the bedroom, and we all piled into Sydney’s BMW. When we arrived to campus, Amanda said goodbye as she made her way to the library. On Mondays and Wednesdays she didn’t have a class until 10:00 am, but would spend her time in the library researching potential internships for next year.
    Amanda was studying to be a Social Worker, something she had decided she wanted to be shortly before we graduated High School. Her and her mother had been researching help to bring into their house, and had ended up touring a few nursing homes. Some of the things Amanda had seen had sparked a fire in her, and she was determined to become an advocate for the sick and elderly.
    Sydney linked her arm through mine and walked with