Chapter 6

Jamie's knees were shaking. She could barely stand, and after everything that happened, wondered just what else Erin would get her into. Sitting at the food court of the mall, Jamie's mind wandered away to think up an excuse to get away from Erin, when Erin asked her a rather strange question. "You must think that I'm pretty disgusting huh?" Jamie heard her ask. "Huh? What are you talking about?" She asked. "I saw the look on your face earlier." Erin said, and rested her chin on one of her hands. "I'm sorry. I just can't do the things you do." Jamie said, but Erin just shook her head. "It's cool. Don't worry about it." Erin said, in a tone unlike herself. "Look at these people. I bet I can tell you what people are thinking just by looking at them." Erin told Jamie. "See that older man sitting over there?" She asked, and motioned to a middle-aged man sitting on a bench across the mall from where they were sitting.

"He's been watching us for awhile now. Bet you that perverted old man is thinking how nice it would be to have sex with a couple of young looking girls like us. Probably got some sick, pedophilic thought going through his head as we speak." She said, and looked over Jamie's shoulder, at two women sitting at another table. "Those two women over there are probably talking about how slutty we're dressed, or how much we look like whores." She said, then looked over towards the local arcade. "Those boys over there are probably making bets on who can have sex with us before the other." Erin said, her voice filled with a bit of melancholy. "I figure, why not give them what they want?" She said, and looked towards Jamie. "Money doesn't buy happiness. I'd give anything to have what you've got." She said.

"You lost me. What I got?" Jamie asked. "You really are clueless. I'm talking about love Jamie." Erin said to her. "I can go over there, have sex with all those boys, and while physically I'll feel fine, emotionally I won't. I can go over there, and let that old man do whatever he wants to me, but there's no love involved. For some of us, being an eternal young boy or girl is like hell on earth." She said, and Jamie looked down at her lap. She never realized that Erin felt that way, and almost felt bad for being pissed at her. "I never knew that it affected boys too." Jamie said, and Erin nodded. "We're the Baby Dolls of society. The eternal children of damnation. Why should we care was people think of us? We should do what we want to do, whenever we want to do it." Erin said. "Just how many people like us are there?" Jamie asked.

Erin just shrugged. "I don't know the numbers, but look around. For all you know, one out of every ten kids could have what we have." She said, and Jamie looked around. She knew Erin was right. She couldn't tell just by looks alone. Jamie sighed. She had ruined everything, at least in her opinion, and let her head hang low. "I'm sorry." She said softly. Erin just looked at her strangely. "What for?" She asked. "For ruining the mood." Jamie told her. Erin just shrugged. "This is how I feel every day. I figure if I'm not going out there to have fun with the life I'm given, then there's no reason for me to really live." Erin said, as turned towards Jamie and smiled. "You're a lucky girl. Or with a lucky guy. Depends on how you look at it." She said.

On the way home, Erin's words rang through Jamie's head. She couldn't help but think about what she said, and wondered if she was as lucky as Erin said she was. She waited for Noah to get home from work, and sat down with him, explaining what happened with Erin. She waited for some sort of reaction, and got a little worried, when Noah never gave her one. "I'm not sure what you want me to say Jamie." He finally told her, after noticing she was waiting for an answer. Jamie stood, dumbfounded. She was expecting a whole speech from Noah, but instead he seemed like he didn't care. "Nothing?" She asked. Noah sighed a little, and let his head fall back. "Did she have actual sex with the boys?" He asked. "No. But..." Jamie started to say. "Did she force you to do anything that you didn't want to do?" He asked her. "No ... B..." Jamie said, and Noah sighed. "I don't see the big deal then." He told her.

Jamie started to get angry. "So you would be okay with me going out and having sex with whoever I wanted to?!?" She yelled out. Noah just sighed. He stood up, and shook his head, before walking towards the bedroom. "No. But I would be okay with you living your life the way you want to live it." He told her, and walked away. Jamie threw herself onto the couch, and started to cry. She was so confused, that she didn't know what to do anymore. She guessed that she fell asleep on the couch, and that Noah left her there, when she woke up to find herself covered in a light blanket. Looking into the bedroom, Jamie noticed that Noah wasn't there, and that it seemed like he left in quite the rush. It was still quite early, so Jamie wondered if something happened. After turning on the news, Jamie sighed. There was a huge, industrial accident, and she knew that Noah would be spending quite a bit of time at the hospital.