> “Befriend” can mean different things to different people
I have never heard that word used to mean “sat down with someone for an hour because I was assigned to do so, while resenting him the entire time”.
Not exactly what she said:
A year after I was assaulted by Mr. Cruz, I was assigned to tutor him through my school’s peer counseling program. Being a peer counselor was the first real responsibility I had ever had, my first glimpse of adulthood, and I took it very seriously.
Despite my discomfort, I sat down with him, alone. I was forced to endure his cursing me out and ogling my chest until the hourlong session ended.
That's more than most people would have done.
Plus, her account is colored by what happened since.
She may not have been as hostile to him at the time as you think.