Storming into her bedroom, slamming the door, and failing to stop the tears, Lucy drops onto her bed. "Stupid Johan!" she said loudly. "It's you who doesn't understand! We're supposed to be together! Why!? Why are you pushing me away!"

The sound of the front door opening puts a stop to her tantrum. "Lucy, I'm only here to get a few things. I'm going out again so why don't you make dinner tonight or order some pizza?"

"SHUT UP, MOM! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU!"

"Okay, I'm off, bye," and the only sound following was the door closing.

Lucy grabbed her pillow and threw it across the room. This pitiful attempt at quelling the sadness and anger in her heart did nothing as her emotions continued to convulse inside of her like a tornado. "Stupid Johan. How can I talk to my parents when they don't even acknowledge my existence? You're an idiot. I don't even have any friends because I'll lose them all once we move again. I hate this. I hate being alone."

After moments of sulking in her bed, she sat straight up. "I can't keep going on like this. I wish I could talk to someone, but I don't want to be taken away by child services. I can't talk about this with anyone else except my parents." After a moment to calm herself down, "Jenny is so far the only person I can call my friend. She's the only one I can talk to. Maybe I should tell her about this. Maybe she can make me feel better."

Wasting no time, she grabbed her phone and dialed her number.

"Hey, Lucy," Jenny said. "How are you doing? How did the date go? You were supposed to talk to me about it when you got back."

"Jenny, I'm doing terrible right now. I just want someone to talk to."

"Whoa, you sound serious. What's happened? Did he dump you?"

"Yeah. He said he didn't want to hang out with a kid anymore. I thought he was better than that, but I guess he's just a stupid adult."

"That's terrible."

"Yeah, but... I'm just confused more than anything. Maybe I'm not mature enough to be going out on dates, but I told him that I could be his friend, but even then he said no."

"That's awful, how could he say that? What a jerk."

"Right now, I'm feeling awful myself, so I just want to talk to someone."

"Did you call the police?"

"Police?"

"Yeah. He can't be going around doing things like this. You got to arrest him."

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"Arrest? No. I don't want to arrest him."

"Why not? If he did this to you, he's going to do it to another girl."

"He's not going after anyone else."

"Are you kidding? He's going to do it to some other girl. All he wants is to have his way with young girls and then ditch them. My mom knows the type. You got to call the police."

"He's not the type to do that, okay?"

"But what about the times he hugged you and kissed you, probably copped a feel a few times. That's messed up."

"Johan never did that to me, he's not a pervert. Besides, why are you saying to arrest him now when you and your mom weren't against it earlier? If I call the cops, your mom is getting arrested once they find out."

"Why does my mom have to go to jail because Johan is a pervert? She didn't know."

"In any case, I actually don't want people to find out about this. It'll just be a mess."

"Oh, that's right. You kept it secret, didn't you?"

"Not really. I told my mom but she was too drunk to listen to me. But I'm thinking of telling my dad. He's probably going to get angry, so I won't mention Johan, but I will tell him I was going out with an adult."

"But why would your dad get mad?"

"Because he's a dad. Of course, he's going to get angry."

"Well, I don't have a dad, so I wouldn't know. All I know is that my mom would be okay with me dating an older guy, but she says that I can't right now until I learn to put on makeup and learn how to pick up guys."

"Your mom actually encourages that?"

"Yeah."

"Jenny, don't you think that's a bad idea? I mean, you can't just date an older guy."

"But you just did."

"And it turned out to be a disaster. Jenny, I don't think your mom should be encouraging you to be dating so young, especially with an older guy."

"Hey, I'm sorry that it didn't work out with Johan, but don't take it out on me. Besides, who can you trust if you can't trust your own mom?"

A sour taste developed in Lucy's after hearing what Jenny just said. "No, Jenny. Even parents can be wrong. You can't trust your mom on this."

"You said your mom was drunk."

"Yeah..."

"My mom doesn't get drunk in front of me. In fact, I think she quit drinking."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm just saying my mom is the best."

"Why do you think your mom is the best?"

"I don't see why not? We go shopping for clothes, try to match up for the best pair, have a chat with a few drinks, try to attract a few guys..."

"Jenny, you're no older than I am. I don't think that's normal behavior for someone our age."

"Oh, here it comes."

"Excuse me?”

"Alright, go ahead."

"Go ahead with what?"

"Call me a slut."

"A slut?"

"Yeah, I know you want to call me that. Lots of girls already do, that's why I don't have many friends. To think, I've been so respectful around you. I didn't wear any shorty shorts or tank tops, didn't act provocatively, and didn't even talk about sexy stuff because I knew it would offend you, only for this to have happened. Well, that's who I am. I'm a bit of a slut, I get it, but mom doesn't care. She just wants me to be happy, that's all, and she'll do anything to make me happy, and I'll never have anyone insult her, okay? So I don't want you to talk about my mom like that anymore, you got it?"

"Jenny..." Lucy paused for a moment before continuing. "I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't mean to, I'm just going through some problems with my own mom. She doesn't care about me. I wish I had a mom like yours."

"How about you become my sister then?"

"What?"

"Yeah. Mom will adopt you, no problem. We can be sisters!"

One single thought of the type of clothes Mitsy would recommend, "No, thank you. But I'm glad your mom makes you happy. Well, right now I got my own problems to deal with. I have to tell my dad about this."

"So you're not seeing Johan anymore?"

"I guess not..."

"Then can I have his number?"

Lucy's response to that last question was to hang up.