When I was 10 or 11, in 6th grade, a friend's older cousin would drive us to church when I would go with her. He was probably 20 or 21 at the time, he had already graduated high school and was no longer in the youth groups that her and I went to. He was always joking around, picking both of us up to swing us around, sneaking up on us to tickle us, and hugging us to sit us on his lap together. My uncles did the same things to me, and I had grown up feeling safe around them... they were like much older brothers to me, so I never really thought much about his behavior. One day after church, my friend's mom wanted to leave early, so I was going to ride home with him and another cousin of hers who was a bit younger than me. Once she got in the car, she pretty much fell asleep, even though I didn't live very far from the church. When we got to my driveway, he wouldn't unlock the car door until I gave him a kiss. I gave him hugs all the time, and he had kissed the side of my head after he carried me to get patched up after a fall, so again, I didn't think much of it. I went to kiss his cheek and instead he grabbed my head and kissed me on the mouth... not just on the lips, but full on mouth. I panicked, he laughed and said he was just joking, but not to tell because he didn't want my friend to find out that he liked me more than her. I went and hid in my room that night because I felt like it was wrong, but I didn't think it was something the adults would believe. I mean, if anyone asked, he could just say that the little cousin was in the car with us so there's no way he would have done anything bad. I wanted to tell my Poppy (my grandfather) because I knew he would tell me what to do, but he was in the hospital because he had recently had a heart attack. I was scared because my family knew his family from the church community, and they were friendly.
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