After Melinda endures almost an entire school year of suffering in silence, she finally manages to slowly resume communication when she discovers that her former best friend, Rachel, has a crush on "Andy Beast." Melinda sends Rachel a note that reads, "Andy Evans... is not what he pretends to be. I heard he attacked a ninth grader." Unfortunately, this note seems to have no influence on Rachel, and Melinda spots the girl hanging out with Andy after school.
It it at this point that Melinda is finally able to recognize the truth for herself: Andy raped her. This has been something she had been internalizing and running from in order to avoid dealing with the emotional consequences of such a trauma. Melinda later relates this truth to Rachel via another note when they're in the library. Although Rachel reacts horribly to this news, she later dumps Andy at the school prom.
Furious over his public embarrassment and knowing that there's only one person who could have told Rachel the truth, Andy seeks out Melinda, locates her in her hiding spot in the janitor's closet, and begins to sexually attack her once again. Melinda breaks a mirror and brandishes a shard of it against Andy, screaming at him, "NO!" The girls' lacrosse team hears this commotion and rushes to help Melinda out. News of what happened at the party last summer spreads across the school, and Melinda is suddenly regarded as a very brave young woman. She realizes that she has survived her trauma and that she is capable of growing past this tragedy. Melinda has found her voice again and in doing so, returned to life.
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