The Guardian

Chapter Sixteen

"Hi, Allyson", said Gabriel as he walked into the group home after Julianna's appointment. "Julianna asked me to come here this evening and talk to you before her support group session this evening."

"Please come into my office", said Allyson. "Aggie, please look after the pasta. It should be drained in five minutes or so. The timer has been set. Breanna, don't forget to finish making the salad while I'm out of the room. You have five minutes more to make it." She turned around and led Gabriel into her office.

"Who is that?" asked Breanna as she finished tearing up lettuce and putting it into the bowl.

"He's the detective who's in charge of the investigation."

"Damn. He doesn't look like any cop that I've ever seen", said Aggie.

"I know. He's cute, isn't he?"

"Fuck, he's more than cute", said Breanna. "The one you brought home last night, the doctor, was also cute. I don't know where you're finding all these guys, but I hope you continue to bring them home. Maybe one of them will like me."

"And maybe pigs will fly", said Lexie as she set the table. "These guys are older."

"They don't look older", said Breanna.

"They are", said Julianna. "They're over fifty years old."

"They don't look like they're older than thirty years old", said Breanna, her lip stuck out in a pout. She obviously didn't believe Julianna.

"I don't know how old Gabriel is", said Julianna, "but he's the brother of Michael, who came yesterday. And Michael has a daughter who is a surgeon."

"You'd never suspect it from their looks. They're some fine specimens", said Aggie.

Julianna laughed. "They're super nice as well."

"I could stand to meet some nice guys", said Lexie. "Those guys at school are jerks."

"I know", said Julianna. "I thought the guys at school were nice, but I was deluding myself."

"Deluding. You're using all those fancy words again", said Breanna. "Why can't you talk like any other teenager? I'm the same age as you and I don't use words like that." Tears came to Julianna's eyes and she ducked out of the room. "What did I say?"

"You're such a bitch", said Aggie. "If you tease Julianna like that, she might not help you with your math homework, and where would you be then? She's the sole reason you're passing the course."

"Oh, my God. I was just teasing her. Do you think she's really upset?"

"She had a terrible day", said Allyson as she moved into the room. "I think you should be the one to tell her dinner is ready, and you should apologize to her at the same time. This may have been one strike too many." Breanna walked out of the room as Allyson turned to Lexie. "Please set another seat at the table", she said. "Gabriel is staying for dinner tonight."

"As you are aware, Julianna went to a party on Saturday night", said Allyson later as they started their group support session. She explained what happened to the group. "She almost died", she concluded.

"I was wondering what happened. I heard snippets of information, but I didn't know the full story", said Aggie.

"I had someone tell me that he would offer me a spiked drink any time. I thought he was talking about alcohol, and I told him that I don't drink. He seemed to think that was pretty funny", said Breanna.

"That's the universal belief", said Gabriel, "that what happened was funny."

"Gabriel, as I introduced to you at dinner, is the detective in charge of Julianna's case. He's here to talk to us about date rape, what is acceptable, and how to thwart people when they are intent upon harming us. At future group sessions, we'll split the session into half of a group session with the remainder of the time being a lesson in self-defense. Julianna has said that she suspects that some of you are being harassed. This is not acceptable, and you shouldn't have to put up with it."