The Guardian

Chapter Five

"Julianna?" said Seth as he passed her the cup of ice chips. "I have a policeman here to talk to you. His name is Detective Gabriel Asher. I know he's a nice man, because he's my uncle. He'll look after you, and he has some questions that he'd like to ask. Also, have some ice chips. It's important to drink as much as you can, and the ice chips should help with your thirst."

She opened her eyes and looked at Gabriel. "Okay", she said softly. "Can you just talk quietly? I have a bad headache."

"I can", said Gabriel softly. "Can you tell me what happened tonight?" He took a notepad and pen out of his pocket.

"I went to a party."

"Did you drink at the party?"

"No. This is the first party that I've been allowed to go to since I arrived at the group home, and Allyson told me that she was going to breathalyze me when I got back. The home has a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol or drugs. I didn't want to drink. No, that's not entirely true. I did want to drink, but I didn't want to upset Allyson."

"Why did you want to drink?"

"I thought the party would be a lot of fun, but I found out that it isn't a lot of fun watching other people get drunk. The whole time I was watching them I wondered when the good times would start, and I remembered Allyson telling me before I left that parties aren't all they're cracked up to be. I didn't think she knew what she was talking about, but people really do act stupid when they have been drinking or taking drugs, don't they? I never really realized it before."

Gabriel smiled. "So, you weren't drinking?"

"No. Being allowed to go to parties is one thing, but I want to be allowed to have a job again. I'd like to earn some money of my own and, with my current curfew, I'm not able to work at a job outside school hours. So, I didn't want to drink for a few reasons. I didn't want to drink so I could have more freedom, so I didn't disappoint Allyson, and so I would eventually be allowed to get a job."

"All good reasons not to drink. Did you take any drugs?"

"No. I don't really do drugs. I used to do a little weed, but I stopped that when I moved to the group home. Again, if Allyson suspected that I had done any sort of drugs, even if it was just weed, she wouldn't relax my curfew. It was in my best interest to make sure that I didn't take any drugs."

"So, you went to the party and bored yourself by watching other people take drugs and drink alcohol." He made a notation on his pad of paper, then looked up at her again.

She hugged the disposable basin into her chest with one hand and, as she whimpered slightly, massaged her abdomen with the other. "Yeah, pretty much. I was just thinking about going home early when Jason came up to me and started chatting me up. Have you seen Jason yet?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No, I haven't. I wanted to talk to you first."

She ruthlessly pushed down a sob. "Jason is just so... well, I don't know how to describe him. He's perfect, you know? He's got the looks, the brains, and the personality to go far. I had the biggest crush on him last year. So, when he started talking to me at the party, I thought I was about to die."

Gabriel, his voice sympathetic, said, "what did you talk about?"

Julianna reached to the table to get her cup of ice chips. She took a sip, then said, "just stuff. He asked me how my classes were going, you know, that sort of thing. It was hard to hear him. I went to the bathroom and when I came back he offered me a drink. I told him that I wasn't drinking alcohol but that I'd have a cola."