It took me a long time to understand that what happened to me was rape. When I woke up on that late summer day in 2010, I was just happy to see the condom wrapper on the floor in my East Village apartment. Phew, I remember thinking, at least he used a condom. I was new to New York City and had been out with friends from college the night before. Next to that condom wrapper, I saw my favorite item of clothing, a Diane von Furstenberg batwing silk dress I had been wearing the night before. It was now marred with a fresh rip across the breast. Beyond loving the color and fit, I thought it was cool that Serena wore the dress on Gossip Girl , and it had been a gift from my mother — there was no way I could have afforded it on my production assistant salary.