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go?”
    The speaker was Jed/Jeff, my detention buddy, and the others looked familiar, although they were pretty much clones of each other with their nearly shaved heads and muscles bulging through their sweatshirts: Shoreland High School varsity football’s finest. Changing directions, I continued to ignore them, but they surrounded me. Paul, my other detention playmate, scooped me up in his arms and carried me up the steps of the park’s gazebo about twenty feet off the path. In the spring and summer, the gazebo was a popular gathering place for concerts, but it was deserted the rest of the year, and on a frigid winter evening it looked like an igloo. He put me down on the ice-cold concrete slab, surprisingly gently, and I scrambled to get to my feet. Not so gently he pushed me down on my back and straddled me, pinning my arms to the ground.
    This was bad. First, there were four of them and only one of me. Even one-on-one, I wouldn’t have stood a chance—I weighed half of what one of them weighed. Second, no one knew where I was or was waiting for me at the house. It would be hours before Charlotte and Stuart got home from work and realized I was missing. Finally, and worst of all, I lacked the ability to let anyone know I was in danger. No matter how hard I tried to scream, I remained dumb. Not even the most basic survival instinct could trigger my voice box. I was completely and utterly useless.
    “Hurry up. I have to get home. My mom wants me to babysit my little sister tonight.”
    One of them looked at his watch. How ironic that he was in a rush to finish assaulting one girl so he could go home to look after another. The sound of a zipper being pulled down echoed in my ears.
    “I’m not going to rush this, dude. You may like it fast, but I want to take it nice and slow.”
    “So, Sasha, this your first time? I’m guessing yes, looking at you. Don’t be scared. Which one of us do you want to pop your cherry?” This from Paul as he sat on my chest.
    “She doesn’t talk, remember, so there’s no way she’s ever done it. I’ve never even seen her with a guy. But now that I think about it, she would be the perfect girlfriend—a rockin’ little body and no whiny voice to ruin it. You want to be my girlfriend, Sasha? I bet I could make you scream.” The one who had been standing out of my field of vision bent over my face, making kissing noises and licking his lips.
    “You ever seen a cock up close? You ever touched one?”
    “Stop fucking around, dickhead. I don’t have all night, so if you’re not going to get on with it, get the fuck out of the way, so I can get mine.”
    “Yeah, hurry up.”
    “Shouldn’t we use something?”
    “A condom? What the fuck for? You afraid you’re going to catch something?”
    “No, you asswipe. Cum is full of DNA. If she tells, we’re fucked, and not in a good way.”
    “Ohhhh.” I knew for a fact that Paul had flunked biology
and
chemistry. He put one finger under my chin and tilted my head back so I had to look at him. “You’d better not tell anyone, or else.” If I hadn’t been so scared, it would have been funny. Or else what? How could it possibly get any worse?
    I struggled to free myself from under the two-hundred-pound gorilla. When he let go of my arms, I scratched at his face and tried to roll him off me, but it was like trying to move from under a pile of sandbags.
    “Cool it, bitch. I think you drew blood with those claws of yours. Okay, dudes, I’m going first. I’m tired of holding her down.”
    He was like a cat playing with a mouse he had just caught, teasing me, wearing me out before he devoured me. With one quick motion he pulled my sweatshirt and T-shirt over my head. The frozen cement burned the bare skin on my back. Fumbling with the clasp on my bra, he gave up and tore the flimsy fabric, flinging the lacy bits to one side.
    I closed my eyes, not wanting to look at them looking at me. Now was the time to go to my happy place, if I