Into the Woods Read Online Free PDF Page B

away.
"It wasn't my fault. It wasn't! I couldn't help it. I didn't even know I had done anything bad," she said, still looking at the wall.
The air between us seemed to grow so still. It felt flammable, as if I could snap my fingers and start a fire.
"How could you not know that?" I asked despite my fear of treading on that ugly ground.
"They gave me Roofies." she wailed.
"Excuse me? Roofies? What's that?"
She pulled herself up a bit and swallowed. "It's something called Rohypnol, a drug that is illegal. You can't taste it in drinks, and part of the effect of it is it causes amnesia. I didn't even know anything had happened to me. I couldn't remember!"
"Who did this to you?"
"Same boys at school. Their names are being kept secret because they're not considered adults," she said bitterly. "They were having a party!" she cried, "And no one ever invites me to a party, so I went with another girl, Selma Dorman. It happened to her, too, only she was lucky. She didn't get pregnant. We were the only two girls there." she revealed. "And there were five boys. We should have known something wasn't right as soon as we got there, but they kept telling us more girls were coming soon."
"Where did this happen?"
"One of the boys had his house free. His parents had gone to New York City for the weekend. It was a big house with a gigantic television set and sophisticated sound equipment. It had a room just for parties with a bar as long as a destroyer. All I remember is I drank what I thought was just a harmless soda, and about four in the morning I woke up naked in one of the bedrooms. They had hidden my clothes for a joke. too.
"My father was on a special assignment at the time, or he would have one over there afterward and killed them all," she said. They finally gave me my clothes and drove me home. My mother was furious at me for coming home so late. so I didn't tell her what had happened to me. I didn't know the details. although I felt so violated. I had no idea what would happen inside me. I was even too frightened to tell her anything when I missed my period, but finally I thought I had better, so she took me right to the doctor, and he told her I was pregnant.
"She got hysterical. My father was so angry. They called the police and tried to keep it as secret as they could, but like I said, my mother was so upset, she said she had to confide in someone, only she picked the wrong someone, and soon everyone knew about me. especially Penny Martin."
"But if you were drugged, how can they blame you and make it sound like you wanted it to happen?" I asked.
"They just do. They blame me for being so stupid and trusting. Penny and Wendi tell people I must have enjoyed it. I wish it would happen to them," she said, her eyes flaring. "Then we'll see how smart they are. We'll see how much they enjoy it."
She looked down at her wrists. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks.
"Autumn," I said softly. "You'll be all right."
"No. I won't!" she cried. "Even though my father knows how it happened, he blames me, too." she revealed. "My sister does. Everyone does!" she cried,
"That's not fair."
"Tell me about it," she said, taking deep breaths. "They make you feel so dirty. A hundred baths won't make you feel any cleaner. No one wants to be friends with me. My own family hates me. I know my father hopes he's transferred soon. He wants to go somewhere where no one will know about me. I'm an embarrassment for him, especially now after what I have done. I'm like an ugly stain on his uniform."
"No, you're not," I said, but not with any conviction. Many of the naval officers and personnel I had met in my life gave me the feeling they had to have every aspect of their lives polished and shiny. Any blemish on their reputations diminished them dramatically. How many times had I heard the lecture about how we represented the country?
All I knew was my daddy could never hate me or be ashamed of me. I was luckier than Autumn. We weren't just another naval family; we