Reese is sexually assaulted by his roommate and the roommate's accomplice

Reese’s assault by his former roommate and the roommate’s associates is a defining trauma that continues to shape his safety, trust, and intimacy. The novel reveals it through Reese’s halting account to Tom Worthington, connecting an earlier act of violence to his alarm at being surprised, his guardedness in their shared room, and the care required as they negotiate closeness. His disclosure also exposes the limits of the school’s response: by the time Reese spoke up, he believed there was no evidence to act on.

Background and Disclosure

The assault took place during the previous year, when Reese shared a room with an athlete who mostly ignored him until his teammates came around. Reese describes being subjected to homophobic insults by the roommate and his friends. One night, after Reese had been drinking at a party, men entered while he was asleep and held him down. He could not remember who had brought him back to his dorm or confidently identify everyone involved; he could identify his roommate as present. That uncertainty narrowed what he could report, without changing what had happened.

Reese did not tell anyone immediately. When Tom asks what the school did, Reese answers that there was little it could do because he had waited and there was no evidence. He explains that the assault left no visible mark that could establish what had happened. The account makes the gap between the certainty of Reese’s experience and the institution’s ability to act central: his difficulty naming the perpetrators and the absence of physical evidence become obstacles to a response, not evidence that the assault did not occur.

The eventual disclosure to his father brought a source of support. Reese says his father was strongly on his side and had wanted to return to Perkins only after the school made a promise to him and he agreed not to go to the press. The account does not specify the promise’s terms, but it establishes that Reese’s return was conditional and that his father pressed the school to address his safety. Reese’s father learned something was wrong after Reese was reported for possessing sleeping pills without a prescription. Reese confirms that the pills were not for the reason Tom first assumes, but the conversation does not disclose their purpose; the detail marks the seriousness of Reese’s distress without resolving that uncertainty.

The Trauma in the Present

The past enters the present through Reese’s physical reaction when Tom opens the door to their room. Reese turns abruptly, puts a chair between them, and appears frightened; Tom freezes rather than approaching. The scene gives the disclosure a context: Reese’s alarm is not a generalized quirk but a response Tom must understand without forcing him to explain before he is ready. His return to Perkins therefore means living in the place associated with what happened, under conditions shaped by his father’s demand for a school promise.

When Reese tells Tom what happened, Tom stays quiet and listens, aware that an ill-judged question could make Reese feel cornered again. Reese controls how much he says, leaving out details he does not want to repeat. His anger at the lack of evidence and the emotion that surfaces as he speaks coexist with a notably controlled account. The telling does not erase the assault or settle its consequences; it makes Tom a witness to what Reese has been carrying and gives their relationship a more truthful basis.

Consent, Trust, and Intimacy

The trauma becomes especially consequential as Reese and Tom begin to explore physical intimacy. In one encounter, Tom moves toward a forceful kiss, but stops when Reese says, “Wait.” Reese’s response is not presented as a rejection of all touch; rather, the moment makes the need to pause and attend to what he wants unmistakable. Tom lets go instead of pressing forward.

Later, Reese gives Tom specific guidance: he welcomes touch, but asks Tom not to hold him down or move his body. Tom promises not to do so, and proceeds with Reese’s permission. Their exchange distinguishes desire from consent to every action: Reese can want closeness and still set firm limits on how his body is handled. The scene treats those boundaries as active terms of intimacy, not as a problem Tom can solve by guessing.

That care also shapes Tom’s approach to initiating sex. He plans how to avoid doing something that might bring Reese’s distress back, but a small sound—a pillow landing on the floor—startles Reese and makes clear that careful intentions cannot guarantee that nothing will provoke a reaction. Tom’s concern does not give him perfect foresight; safety emerges instead through attentiveness, the possibility of stopping, and Reese’s ability to communicate what he needs.

Relationship and Continuing Effects

Reese’s account changes the meaning of his guardedness for Tom. Tom recognizes that Reese has been living in the same environment where the assault occurred, and responds by listening rather than demanding further particulars. Their relationship develops through moments of negotiation: Reese identifies what feels unsafe, Tom responds to his limits, and physical closeness remains contingent on what Reese is comfortable with. The book presents this as care between partners, not as intimacy curing trauma.

The assault’s effects also intersect with Tom’s own fear of being publicly known. Tom is reluctant to let campus gossip expose his private life, while Reese is already carrying the consequences of a violation of bodily autonomy and asks for trust in their private relationship. When Reese tells him that being with him has made him feel bad, Tom hears the cost of their unresolved tension. Their difficulties are not reducible to Reese’s assault, but the trauma makes reliable attention, consent, and honesty especially consequential.

Narrative Significance

The disclosure is structured around what can and cannot be said. Reese identifies the roommate and describes the circumstances, but cannot identify all the men involved; he can explain why there was no evidence without making the school’s inaction feel like a resolution. The narrative preserves those limits rather than filling them with a complete account of the assault or a definitive institutional outcome. What becomes knowable is the continuing effect: a sudden movement can unsettle Reese, a boundary must be respected, and trust depends on listening without taking control away from him.

The event therefore remains present not as a single episode that the relationship leaves behind, but as a condition that changes how closeness is negotiated. Reese’s disclosure allows Tom to understand the fear beneath the guardedness, while their later exchanges show that understanding must be practiced in concrete choices: stopping when asked, not restraining or moving Reese, and recognizing that even an unintentional sound can startle him. The story’s emphasis falls on Reese’s agency and the ongoing work of making intimacy safer, without implying that love or a partner’s care can undo what happened.