Jade (Wildflowers 3)

Everyone turned to her and she looked down and then back up at me.

"Then what did he do?" Star asked.

"I don't know if I want to hear it," Misty moaned.

"I pushed myself back on the floor and he continued to hover over me.

" `Go ahead and sit on the bed,' he said calmly. 'It's comfortable.'

"He took another step toward me and I did as he asked.

"'Now isn't that better than the floor?' he asked.

" `If you don't let me leave, you're going to be in big trouble,' I told-him.

"'if you leave, you won't come back,' he said.

'You'll run out on us, on me and Sonny. It's not our fault

what he did to you. Why do you want to run out on us?' "'You're confused,' I said. 'Please, let me go.'

"My stomach felt so hollow. My whole body was shaking. I wanted to fight him, but I was terrified that I

would be too weak and he might hurt me very badly. "He reached back and closed the door behind him.

Then he smiled at me.

"'I'm glad you came back,' he said. 'We have so much to talk about, so much to catch up on.'

"He started toward me and I shook my head, hoping I could make it all disappear. He put his hand on my head and stroked my hair and then held my head in his hands and leaned over to kiss the top of my head."

"You should have kicked him where he'd remember it forever," Star said.

"I thought about it for a second. My heart was racing. I could barely breathe. When he put his hands on my shoulders, I tried to push his arms away and I did try to kick up, but he pressed harder and harder. I was surprised at how strong his fingers were. They seemed to cut through my jacket, through my blouse and into my skin.

"Maybe he cut off the blood to my head. I don't know, but one moment I was trying to struggle and looking up at him and the next. . ."

"What?" Misty asked, gasping. She had reached across the sofa to Cat and found her hand. Cat let her hold on, or maybe Cat was holding on to her.

"I passed out," I said.

"And when I woke up, I was on my back on the bed, naked."

6

All the girls looked sick to their stomachs. Misty's face was pale, Star's mouth gaped open and Cat had to be excused to go to the bathroom.

"Let me check on her," Dr. Marlowe said, rising. "Everybody take a deep breath. Maybe step outside and get some air, if you want," she added.

We watched her go, nobody moving. "Do you want to go outside?" Star asked me. I nodded.

We rose and went to the patio door, stepping into the afternoon sun. It felt good on my face, almost like a mother's kiss should feel when she wants to reassure you.

"You sure don't look like a girl who had all that happen to her," Star said warmly. "Granny's always saying don't judge a book by its cover. Turn a few pages first and look it over and then she always adds, 'Remember, he without sin cast the first stone.' She's always telling me stuff like that. She's trying to make up for all the Sunday school and church I missed, I guess."

An awkward silence fell between us. Misty still looked shaken by my story and my own mind was back in that room in San Francisco.

"What's with that Cat girl? Do you think she'll talk tomorrow?" Star asked, finally breaking the tension. "After what she's heard from us, she's probably going to be on her way out of the country," Misty said.