Afterward, she is shown walking barefoot, bedraggled, horrified, and sad. She goes home by herself and tells no one. At school the following year, she is a very depressed and sad soul. Soon her friends leave her, and others make fun of her. She goes from being a good student to getting D grades. Her parents are shocked and alarmed at her behavior, but they don't really listen to her. They just want her to be her old self. She is no longer included in any activities in or out of school. She is a loner and a failure. Her art teacher is the only one who really tries to reach down into her inner feelings. She chose a tree as her object for the year. She does different kinds of trees and eventually starts noticing trees in nature. She improves in art. Meanwhile, she discovers a hidden alcove behind a storage closet. This becomes her safe haven and her place to escape. Her only ally is her lab partner and a new girl at school. The new girl eventually tells her she can't be around her any longer because she drags her down. She suggests she get some professional help.
Her X-good friend, begins dating the boy who assaulted her. After about three months, the victim writes on the X-friend's notebook that she was raped. Her friend runs outside with her and asks why she didn't tell her? She is totally supportive until she asks and finds out who the rapist was. She runs back inside the building calling the victim a liar and says she's jealous. However, the X-friend begins to see things in her boyfriend that concern her. She begins to ask questions, and the boy runs from her calling her a Bitch. Toward the end, he finds his victim in her safe place and starts again to attack her. The X-friend had told others about the rape. When the victim's screams are heard, several girls come to the rescue and tell the boy they know what he did. The boy is removed and the girl is taken to the hospital for stitches. Her mother talks to her on the way home and asks if she wants to talk. The girl says she does.
Two things stuck out to me. One, the victim kept trying to make herself talk. She would say in her mind: Say this....etc. But she could never get the words out. I was the same way. Several of my family thought I was a sulker, but in reality, I could not put voice to the words inside me. They choked in my throat. I wasn't able to vocalize my inner thoughts and feelings. Second, the tree girl, had decorated her safe place with all the trees she had made and painted during the year. The art teacher was leaving because he wasn't appreciated (while he was the only one reaching students). The last day of school, she leaves her lab partner who has just invited her to a party that evening (and she accepts) to run back to show her teacher her safe place. He was totally thrilled and tears indicated how touched he was. What a great teacher. Lessons weren't the important thing to him - students were. It reminded me of Dead Poets' Society and Robin Williams leaving his classroom for the last time. Why do we sometimes lose the great teachers and keep those that live within the box and never reach inside and touch the students?
At any rate, I could relate to this raped girl. Her whole countenance went from one of being outgoing, happy, free, spontaneous, to one of total depression, sadness, and feeling worthless. Isn't it sad what a perpetrator can cause just because he thinks what he wants is more important than ruining someone's life. I truly wish they could feel and experience what their victims go through. A movie worth watching.
