The door to Holly’s room was open. Holly was sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed. Her arms were wrapped around a teddy bear almost as big as she was, and she was sobbing into his shoulder. Lily’s first instinct was to rush in and gather her weeping child into her arms. Instead, she gave Holly her space and asked, “Need someone to talk to?”

“Oh, Mama!” Holly tossed the stuffed animal aside and opened her arms.

Lily didn’t waste any time getting across the room, sitting down on the bed, and taking Holly in her arms. “What can I do to help?” She patted her daughter’s back.

“I can’t be friends with Rose and Ivy anymore.” Holly continued to sob into her mother’s shoulder.

“Why?” Lily asked.

“Be . . .” Holly hiccuped. “Cause . . .” Another hiccup. “They’ll kill me.”

Fourteen-year-old drama was a bitch on steroids. Holly’s pain was very real to her, even if someday she would look back and realize that what seemed so important now wasn’t even a speed bump in her life.

“Oh, honey, they won’t really kill you.” Lily handed her a box of tissues from the little table beside her bed. “They may not ever like you, but that’s about it.”

Holly pushed back from Lily, pulled three tissues out, and blew her nose. “They might as well kill me. They said they’d tell stuff at school, and everyone will think I’m a slut. But if I did what they wanted me to, I’d really be one.”

Lily felt as if cold water had just been poured down her back. Finally, she asked, “And what do they want you to do?”

“Sneak out of choir practice and get laid tomorrow night so I won’t be a virgin, and we can talk about sex since we’ll all three know what it’s about,” Holly whispered, and then her voice got stronger. “But I told them no, and they said if I didn’t, they wouldn’t invite me to their quinceañera party, and they’d tell the other girls that I had to move here because I was a junkie slut. I asked Faith if she was going to the party, and she said that she wouldn’t be invited because everyone thinks she’s a nerd. She said that when she turned fifteen, she told her parents she didn’t want a party because she wasn’t ready to date. So since she didn’t have one that they could come to, then they wouldn’t invite her even if she was popular. Please don’t tell Rose and Ivy’s mama. That would just make things worse,” Holly begged.

“From what I understand, they aren’t supposed to be dating until they’re fifteen,” Lily said. “Do you think they’re just pulling your leg?”