Lily shook her head. “No. It was…just rumors or something. I swear, there’s nothing going on!”

“Lily. You’re lying!” Anna’s voice was no longer quiet. “And you know it! Why are you protecting him?”

The guidance counselor broke in. “Anna? Why do say she’s lying?”

Anna burst into tears. “The bruises on her arms, the cuts on her wrists! The scared look in her eyes whenever she sees him! I know she’s lying!”

The counselor excused himself, returned with the school nurse, a young, petite woman who asked Lily if she would push up her sleeves for them. No longer in control, she did what they asked. Her mother gasped.

But Anna wasn’t finished. “Tell them what he did to you yesterday,” she demanded. All eyes were on Lily.

“Nothing!” She insisted. “It was nothing, really, just a…misunderstanding.”

“It was not and you know it.” Anna’s voice was hard.

“Anna!” Lily cried. “I thought you were my friend! Why are you doing this to me!”