AE Twelve

Twelve
May 11, 2025
Materials: Art Panel, black + white photo, gouache, acrylic gel medium

Original + Print available

Original is A4 size: 210 mm x 297 mm / 8.3 in x 11.7 in

Print is A3 size: 297 mm x 420 mm / 29.7 cm x 42 cm / 11.7 in x 16.5 in

Two Print options are available:

$35
Coated Matte paper
Printed in Lewes, UK
300 gsm
Archival 4-color ink
Signed

$45
Coated Photographic Satin paper
Printed in Lewes, UK
300 gsm
Archival 4-color ink
Giclee print
Signed

The Story:

True story.

These get harder the further back I go because now the only person who knows it all is my husband. I never talk about these underage ones. It took me a while to be in the headspace to write this.

My family went to visit our friends and we spent the night. All the kids slept in the same room. I’m a back sleeper. I woke up in the morning to her, one of our friends, on top of me. Her hands were under my shirt and she was grinding on top of me.

I froze, disoriented. I thought it was a dream. I stayed still at first and then when it became too much I started to slowly perform waking up movements. She scampered off of me and away back to where she’d been sleeping on the floor.

I got up to ‘use the bathroom’ and immediately went and told my mom.

Nothing was said after that but we left a day early. It was a long, confusing drive home. We never went back or saw them after that.

A part of me can’t believe how many stories I have. I’m still not done. And I die a bit inside knowing that I’m not unique, which means that most of the people I know must also have more than one story. It’s them I’m sharing these for.

You never ‘get over’ something. It just becomes a part of your cloth as you move forward. I often wonder who I would be without these experiences. I found it hard to be friends with girls after that and didn’t really let many close to me for a long time.

What or who did I miss or miss out on?

I love the life I have now and where I am/who I’ve become. But she gets no thanks for this.