He asked me to send pictures of my body.

Chris started to call me beautiful about a week before, and if I’m honest I just thought it was kind of funny. I knew he had to be joking around with me. But after a few times of him saying that to me, he would also ask me weird, inappropriate questions. I remember I was sitting in my room, and I got a Snapchat from him asking to see more of my body. At this point I didn’t know what to say, I felt that he would get mad at me if I said no, and I was scared he was going to give me fewer hours at work if I did.

But before I get ahead of myself I’ll start from the beginning.

When people turn 16, they usually look for a job,  so that's exactly what I did. My parents didn’t care if I had a job, I just wanted a job so that I didn’t have to ask my parents for money every time I go out with my friends.

Early in December, my mom came home from work saying that there was a new place called Mooyah looking for employees. She knew how much I wanted a job, so she told me to go online and fill out an application. Within minutes I got a response back from the general manager named Chris. I thought it was kind of strange that they got back to me so quickly but hey that's okay, at least I got a job.

We had a week of training when I started because this was the opening of the restaurant. That first week everyone had to be there, so we could prepare for the opening. It was so much fun to get to know new people and to have responsibilities. Two of my closest friends worked with me at Mooyah. We would always joke around in the back with the managers, but when we got to work we were very serious. Our favorite manager was Chris. He would always find a way to make us laugh, and it made working there so much fun. All the kids that worked there added him on Snapchat, so he could share funny moments that happened at work even when we weren’t there.

The opening day was busy, and we did not expect it to be that hard. But we got through it and had many laughs doing it. The whole Mooyah team got really close. We shared personal stories about our family and friends because I felt comfortable with everyone.  A week later, my manager Chris started Snapchatting me, but this time he would Snapchat me late at night. Then came the request for pictures of my body.

I tried to tell him in a nice way that what he was asking of me was not okay. I told him that I didn’t want him to get in trouble. He was much older than me, and if anyone finds out he would be screwed. But he didn’t care about what I had to say. He wanted those pictures of me. He said that no one would ever find out, but deep down I knew that would get out somehow.

He was not at work the next day. So I had a normal day at work with no problems. When I was on my break, I got some food and sat in the dining room. I glanced at my phone, and I had received a Snapchat from Chris. Chris sent me a Snapchat from his house of him watching the cameras, and he said, “I see you.”

At this point, I was freaked out, and there was no way I would escape from this situation. I didn’t want him to be watching me. I felt gross and sick, but it’s not like I could leave work or anything.

I never wanted to go to work anymore. Some days if I saw that I was supposed to work with Chris, I would call out to avoid any awkwardness. I loved my job, but seeing him was the last thing I wanted to do. I started to talk to him less, and I realized that I had also started to work less. I would talk to all my friends at school about the issues I had with him. Someone finally told a teacher, and Chris got caught. I never had enough strength to tell my parents or a teacher because I never wanted to get him in trouble.

After meeting with the owners of Mooyah, talking to the police, and filling out a bunch of paperwork, nothing was resolved. Chris did get fired, but nothing happened to him legally because “all he did was ask.” I do not think it’s right that they have to wait until he physically takes advantage of a young girl to get in trouble. Why wait to ruin someone's life if you have enough proof that he is indeed harmful to others?

The next girl might not have a good friend to tell a teacher. They might not have the strength to tell anyone, and they might not have the guts to tell him no.

This was a learning experience for me, I now realize that I cannot trust every adult because sometimes they have bad intentions. But I now know that if I ever get uncomfortable with anyone, I have people to talk to. I feel stronger, and I know that I’m not alone in this.