“The key point here,” Van Gould continued, “is choice. Sexual attraction is not sexual behaviour and shouldn’t be viewed the same. Ava, where you have strayed is in giving in to your physical urges. I don’t say this because of your same-sex attraction. It would be the same message if you had been with a boy. Australia was built on a Christian foundation of morality and in that the position is clear. No sexual behaviour unless it is within a marriage between a man and woman.”
“Amen,” Patricia muttered, blessing herself.
William leaned forward. “Haven’t we grown past that as a society? Look, I’m not naive. Teenagers get up to all kinds of things their parents would be shocked over. I was joy riding in stolen cars when I was sixteen.”
“Are you saying you’re proud of your past, Mr Beckinsale?” Van Gould queried.
“No. I’m just using myself as an example. I grew out of it. All teens have a rebellious stage—”
Ava’s mother gave a huff and shook her head. “Always daddy’s girl,” she muttered, shaking her head. “After everything that has gone on, she still has you wrapped around her little finger.”
“Don’t give me that. I’m just saying this is extreme, to take it to this level where she needs a doctor—”
“Because she is sick, Bill! Have you not been listening?”
“Hey!” Ava yelled, looking from one to the other. “You realise I’m sitting right here, don’t you?”
“Shall we begin?” Van Gould said loudly, over the commotion, indicating the bed to the right of the room.
“What are you going to do?” Ava asked, looking from person to person.
“I’m going to help you.”
“By doing what?”
“Whatever needs to be done,” Patricia said. “I won’t have you ruin your life over a flight of fancy gone too far.”
Ava cautiously moved over to the bed and sat.
“Now,” Van Gould said, folding his hands in front of his stomach. “We want you to be as comfortable as possible. Would you like your parents to stay in the room?”
Ava felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at them both. “I want them to leave.”
Van Gould turned to them and said with a casual yet sad smile, “You heard the lady.”
William was the only one to look disappointed. Patricia turned her nose up and marched out of the room as if trying to hold on to her dignity.
Once alone, Van Gould patted Ava on the arm. “It’ll be alright,” he said as Ava wiped tears from her face.
As she sniffed and turned to him once more, he held a syringe which he flicked to get rid of air bubbles. “Now,” he said, lowering it to her arm. “Why don’t you tell me all about...” Ava winced as the needle pierced her flesh. “Jasmine.”
Jasmine felt as if she hadn’t blinked for the longest time, staring at her untouched plate of food on the dining room table. She didn’t know what to say, what to do, what to think. It had been two days since she’d seen Ava. That day at the school had been the worst day of her life. She had been humiliated and distraught with so many other emotions running through her. How much of it was her fault?
She didn’t know, but it was simpler to blame herself. It made hearing her parents’ rage a touch more bearable if she told herself the same horrible things first. No one could make her feel as horrible and worthless as she made herself feel.
“We are going to fix this,” her father said from the head of the table. He, too, was looking down at his plate. Her mother sipped at her water glass and her brother texted, completely uncaring of the situation so it seemed. Jasmine wished he could appreciate how great his opportunity was to use his phone; hers had been wiped clean and was still confiscated. The silence and the tension could be cut with a knife.
“What are you going to do?” Jasmine asked softly, still not daring to look up.
“I haven’t made up my mind. But, ultimately, the right thing. First thing is you’re not going back to that school when your suspension is finished. You share it with your brother, and the last thing we need is for this to stain his future too.”
He hadn’t been named, but Eric had obviously heard himself briefly mentioned. “I’ll get my legal certification no matter what, dad. So.” He paused, looking up at Jasmine and catching her glance. “Did she suck your tits or what?”
“Eric!” shouted her mother. “You will not utter a word of this to anyone, is that clear? This is not a laughing matter.”
“Of course it is. You’re freaking out because she’s a carpet muncher. It’s the twenty-first century. Get over it.”
“You watch your mouth, young man.” Frederick seethed in a tone barely above a whisper. “I don’t care what century it is. Right and wrong still apply to this family. I will not have my only daughter engaging in morally evil behaviour. We as parents have given both of you more leeway than we were ever given at your age. Clearly, that was a mistake. Jasmine, you can’t be trusted. It is impossible for me to think you would come up with such a heinous act by yourself. You were obviously coerced.”