search my eyes and see the deception. I bit down on
my lip and held my breath in anticipation.
"However, she liked hearing she was right to
teach me all about dinner etiquette and such and for the remainder of the ride home, she congratulated
herself on being wise enough to prepare me well. "'Your father wouldn't know the first thing
about it,' she told me, 'despite his sophistication in
business.
When he saw all I had done for you, he laughed
and thought it was ridiculous. Now he'll see,' she said
nodding. 'Now we'll see how smug he is.'
"When we arrived home, I was able to go right
upstairs, claiming I was tired. She didn't question it.
She was too eager to tell my father how well she had
prepared me for the dinner. I crawled into bed as
quickly as I could. When I thought about what had
happened, I cried. How embarrassing it was and how
terrible it was that the other girls didn't come to my
defense. It was almost as if I had been invited there
just to be abused. When would I ever have a real
friend, someone who cared about me and my feelings? "It made me feel so dirty to recall their hands
over me. I think that was a major reason why my
stomach turned over and I got so sick, that and the
rum. How much had I drunk? Did the girls know what
the boys were doing to me and let them?"
"I wish we knew you then," Star piped up. "I'd
pay them a visit for you."
"Very immature behavior," Jade commented. "It was cruel," Misty agreed.
"The hardest thing about having something
unpleasant happen to you is having no one to tell at
the time," I told them. "It festers like a sore, an