Chapter 1

Present

Betty was mad at her father. Really mad, and deeply hurt. He had almost literally thrown Stacy out of the house, screaming at her, shouting that if he ever saw her around his daughter again, he'd kill her.

That was almost a week ago.

Since then she hadn't seen or heard from Stacy, and the many secretive calls she'd made to the older girl's apartment hadn't been answered. She knew her lover wouldn't dare call, afraid that Betty's father would answer the telephone.

The day before, skipping out of school in the afternoon, she'd gone over to Stacy's apartment, hoping that she'd be there, but got no answer to the buzzer. After hanging around for more than an hour, waiting and praying, but without any luck, she went home.

Feeling abandoned, fearing that her father may have been right, or at least had scared Stacy away permanently, she climbed into her bed. That emptiness inside she now recognized as a hole in her heart, even worse than the one she'd had when her mother left home. It was as though history was repeating itself, with Stacy taking her mother's place as the target for her father's anger. Mom had disappeared from Betty's life right after that last big fight with dad, five years ago. Not a single visit, telephone call, letter, card or anything. It felt like the earth had swallowed her up. Just like it seemed to have swallowed Stacy. Would she ever see her lover again?

Once more she cried herself to sleep.

Past

It was a minor crisis in Betty's life that brought her into contact with Stacy for the first time. She was having serious problems in English that year, with her grades for the first half of the year sitting at a bare passing mark, and looking like they'd be falling to failure level soon.

Sitting in Ms. Flanders office, the vice-principal of the school, Betty was trying to explain why and having a very difficult time doing so. She was feeling mortified, red-faced with embarrassment, and was almost in tears. Her first explanation, the one she'd been rehearsing for days, had been utterly rejected.

"Elizabeth, I've looked at your marks from the last few years and spoken to a few of your teachers. There isn't a hope in hell you'll ever convince me that you can't understand what's being taught by Mr. Valdez. The man can teach, and no other students in his classes are having the same problems you are. I have extreme doubts that the content of the course is too difficult for you. Now then, you and I are going to sit here until you tell me what the problem is, even if it takes until midnight."

Ms. Flanders dark brown eyes seemed to stare right through Betty. Done up in her usual impeccable business dress, her hair pinned back, with her strong, almost masculine face, the V.P. seemed the model of stern authority. She had a reputation for being able to ferret out the truth from anyone, and for being very harsh to those who lied to her.

"Look, Elizabeth, I know there's something wrong here. If you don't talk to me, I can't help. You should realize that English is one of the few required courses. If you fail, you may not be able to graduate on time. It is very important."

Ms. Flanders sat back, turned her chair slightly, and seemed to look off into the distance. There were no windows in this office to stare out of, which is why she used it for potentially difficult or delicate meetings. Redirecting her gaze, and seemingly her attention, temporarily elsewhere, gave Betty a chance to recover somewhat.

"Ms. Flanders, if... if I tell you, will you promise to keep it a secret? Please? My father would kill me, and I'd never be able to face my friends again. Please?"

"That depends. If something illegal is going on, or someone is being or has been hurt, no, I can't promise. If it's strictly a personal matter, I probably will. I have to live with my own conscience so I can't make any guarantees, but I will try."

"This... this is really hard for me." Betty was going to tell the truth this time. Embarrassing as it was, she didn't want to fail, and she knew she would if she stayed in Mr. Valdez class. Slowly, haltingly, she told Ms. Flanders.

"It's true that I can't seem to learn anything from Mr. Valdez. It's not his teaching, it's him. He leers at me. All the time in class. He made me sit in the front row so he could see me better. It's so, so, ugly, the way he makes me feel, like he can see me naked or something. I can't concentrate, can't think. All I can feel is his eyes staring at me. It's horrible. And now he wants me to stay after school with him because my grades are so bad. I couldn't. I can't stand him looking at me anymore. Please."

Betty's voice gave out. She was embarrassed and humiliated at having to tell Ms. Flanders about it, afraid she'd tell his father, but even more afraid Ms. Flanders wouldn't believe her and she'd have to go back to Mr. Valdez class. Staring at the floor, red with shame, she was unable to look the vice-principal in the eye.

"Is this the truth?"

"I don't know. I don't know if it's him or if it's me, but that's why I can't learn from him." Betty stared at the floor, unable to look at the older woman, afraid that she'd be called silly, or something worse.

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes, Betty too upset to speak, Ms. Flanders thinking. If Mr. Valdez was staring, she couldn't really blame him all that much. Elizabeth was one of the four or five prettiest girls in school. At 5'5" and still growing, she wasn't all that tall, but her willowy figure, long arms and legs, and high, slender neck made her look taller. She had smallish breasts, possibly a B cup, and they suited her figure. Her hips were slim, but they did curve out somewhat from her narrow waist, and her bottom looked nicely rounded and firm. Long, chestnut hair reached down to the center of her back. Her face matched the rest of her body. It was delicate, almost elfin in its fineness, with lightly tanned skin, pale red lips, and a slight flush to her cheeks. The crowning glory which set her apart from most of the other girls, even the older, more developed ones, were her eyes. They were large and expressive, light-brown in color, always bright and sparkling. When you looked into her eyes you could feel yourself falling into them, wanting to hug and cuddle this lovely, sensuous, vulnerable child.

Yes, she could see Mr. Valdez staring at this girl, his mind running through many lewd fantasies, all of which would be reflected in his eyes. Especially with what she knew of his personal tastes.

Betty broke the silence. "Ms. Flanders, are you going to tell my dad?"

After a short pause, she answered. "I'm going to have to tell him something. After all, there has to be a reason for your poor grades. Giving him the same story you gave me, though, would probably cause... difficulties... for you, for me, for Mr. Valdez. I think I'll avoid explanations and just say you were having some problems. I assume you want to transfer into another class?"

"Yes."

"Very well. It means you'll be swapping your English period with another subject, changing two classes. You've also missed out on a lot of school work and you'll need to pick that up somehow during the rest of this year. It's either that or summer school. I'm going to recommend to your father that you get a tutor."

The rest of the meeting was a bit of a blur for Betty, her relief making her somewhat light-headed. She wouldn't have to face that man any more. The only thing that stuck out in her mind was Ms. Flander's comment that she'd have a private word with Mr. Valdez about this business.

The lady smiled to herself as Betty left, elated at this news. It was just the edge she needed. She'd lost two of her toys recently, one to a corporate transfer, and one she'd given away to repay a debt. Replacing them adequately was usually a time-consuming and laborious job. In her eyes, Mr. Valdez was a prime candidate, especially with the several levers she now had against him. This was going to be fun.

Her conversation with Betty's father was short and to the point. Betty was failing the class because of her teacher. Ms. Flanders would be taking personal charge of disciplining the man, so there'd be no need for any other action. Betty was innocent of any blame, and didn't even understand the problem. She'd be transferred to another class. A tutor for the next few months for catching up in her work would do wonders and, yes, she had a few she could recommend.

Present

The next morning, at breakfast, things didn't get any better.

"G'mornin' short stuff." He always called her that when he was trying to be nice and cheerful. It was a leftover from when she was a little kid, and didn't really apply to her 5'7" willowy frame.

"Hi dad."

"You know, you haven't been looking to good lately. I think you need to get away for a bit. How about we head out for a beach holiday this weekend? Lots of sand, sunshine, ocean waves, boys on the beach, everything a young girl could ask for. What do you say?"

"No thanks, dad. I really wouldn't enjoy it."

"Nonsense. As soon as you got out there you'd perk right up and start having a great time. I'll make the reservations today and we'll head out friday after work. Patsy just loves the beach so I'll let her know what our plans are."

Patsy was dad's girlfriend. She was part of the reason mom and dad split up five years ago. Patsy said she loved dad, but not enough to marry him. Betty hated her.

"Dad, if you want to go to the beach, no problem. Take Patsy, she would love it. Don't expect me to go because you think I need a change of scenery. You know why I'm upset, so just leave it alone. Okay?"

"Betty, there's no way that I'm going to let you ruin your life like this, especially after what happened to your mother. You're young, resilient. You'll be over it soon and get back to having a normal life. You'll see. It'll just take some time."

"The only person trying to ruin my life right now is you, and you're doing to me the same thing you did to mother."

"ENOUGH! I'm NOT going to sit here and listen to you harp on about what YOU think I did to your MOTHER! God damn it anyway! She went squirrelly before she left, and I'm NOT going to have that happen to me twice! And that's final! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Jumping up from the table she ran to her room, slamming the door behind her, and fell on the bed, sobbing.

A few minutes later there was a soft knock on the door. Her father, not getting an answer, walked in and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Betty, please, listen to me. I'm only doing this because I think it's what's best for you. I don't want to see you hurt, or see you waste your life. I love you too much for that. I do know how you feel right now, but these things blow over."

He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but at the first touch she jerked violently away. He sat there for several seconds, then got up and left. She heard him moving around the house for a few minutes, then heard the front door open and close as he left for his office.

She lay there, waiting for the tears to stop. Between arguing with her father for the last week and the fear of losing Stacy, she was drained and deeply tired. Finally she forced herself to move and went to the bathroom to wash. After changing and gathering her things for school, she left, locking up behind her.

Past

It was about a week after her meeting with Ms. Flanders that two events took place. One was at school, and the other was at Betty's house.

Betty was nervous. She'd been told to report to Ms. Flander's office directly after school. No reason was given, so her mind was free to imagine the worst. At least there wasn't much time for her to think about it, having been told just before her last class of the day.

Of course, that last hour dragged on interminably. The teacher droned, the chalk screeched, and the clock never seemed to move. She didn't have the slightest idea what went on in class. By the time the final bell rang, Betty was impatient and itching to get it over with. Packing up quickly, she dumped everything into her locker and headed straight for the V.P.'s office.

It was only when she neared her destination that the nerves and doubts came back, slowing her steps. The secretary didn't help any, giving Betty no clues as to what she could expect, ushering her straight in. Apparently she was expected.

Ms. Flanders was there in her seat behind the desk, working on some papers that looked rather official.

"Hello again, Elizabeth." She gave the girl a big, warm, welcoming smile. "Have a seat. It'll be a few minutes yet before we can get started, so just relax a bit."

That smile did wonders for Betty. There was still a touch of nervousness, not knowing what to expect, but her apprehension, and most of the tension, were gone. She spent the interval watching Ms. Flanders out of the corner of her eye. The older woman seemed to be very happy about something. Her mouth was curled up in a faint smile, her eyes sparkled, and Betty could just hear her humming a tune under her breath.