Justin stepped in front of me and bent down to touch my waist. I hit him with my knee then kicked him in the face. His nose began bleeding as he grunted in pain and frustration. "Okay, then." He said as he went behind me. I pulled and tugged to be free but the boys didn't budge. Justin draped himself unto me and began pulling down my clothes. I heard his breathing that made me even more uncomfortable. My body instinctively tensed up as anxiety filled my bones. I was paralyzed with fear. I trembled subtly as the skirt left my waist. Tears began welling up as he began removing the thin cloth between privacy and indecency. Suddenly the boys let go of my arms. I opened my eyes to see everyone looking at me. "You're a boy…" Justin said in shock… Sofia vomited. I pulled up my clothes and ran into the bathroom.

I looked in the mirror and saw the calm of my face. "I don't wanna get in trouble." A girl cried. "I will protect you, don't worry, ok?" I heard Diana's voice echo from the bathroom stall.

"Come with me." Mrs. Apate grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her. She opened the door to the principal's office and took me inside. "Sit there." She commanded. Soon I heard teachers talking outside. "They found the phone in Isabel's bag." My heart skipped a beat. "Disgusting. Why would they do that?" Another replied. "Well, let's see what all the parents say." Another added. I anxiously looked up at the clock.

An hour later I heard daddy's voice down the hall. "CJ?!" He yelled. He violently flung open the door. I couldn't look him in the eyes so my head bowed. He hugged me, and left to talk with the teachers.

Isabel and her parents entered the office soon after. Her head was bowed and she looked like a sheet of paper. "Iz-" I was interrupted. "This is not the time! I am very disappointed in you two young ladies!" Her father said angrily. "You are a terrible influence on our daughter." Her mother gave me a look of disgust. "I can't believe we let you into our home." She continued. "We trusted you. I hope you're proud of what you've done." He said. "I-" I muttered. Isabel looked over at me and shook her head.

The principal entered the office along with Justin and his parents. "Your father will be waiting outside, he prefers it for everyone's safety." He said to me, as he sat down. "Justin told us everything. In the interest of time I will summarize." He addressed everyone.

"Since the beginning of the semester Isabel has been showing her private parts to the boys in exchange for money." He said indifferently. "This occurred at the break times and lunchtimes every day." He continued. "That's not true!" I objected. "Isabel was with me-" I was interrupted. "SHUT IT!!" Justin's mother yelled at me. I looked down in guilt… "Continuing, she voluntarily snuck in and out of the boys bathroom to do so, and was aided by Justin Cole." He sighed. "Justin has confessed to stealing Mrs. Apate's phone and using it to take inappropriate pictures of Isabel." He continued. "We examined the phone and it indeed has these inappropriate photos on it." He stated. "Her face is excluded however, so there would be no need for further examination." He looked at Isabel who was frozen with fear. "The phone was used to lower suspicion and allow the boys to 'see her' at any time." He looked at Justin. "A disagreement between the boys caused the phone to fall and break." He stated "Justin took it upon himself to talk to Isabel about it. However he was attacked by CJ." He looked at me. My heart skipped a beat. "He left the phone as he attempted to defend himself and Isabel put it into her bag where it was found." He said. I didn't hear anything but ringing afterwards. I didn't hear the rest of the lies. "Three days suspension." Daddy read. "Tell me what happened." He whispered kindly. "I wanna go home." I said, my voice quietly bounced off the floor. "Okay." I could feel his concerned eyes and feel the warm embrace in his voice.

The soft afternoon sun hit my eyelashes as I leaned onto the glass. I stared intensely into nothing. The moving houses and passing cars, like looking through an old television. I blinked and I was sitting on the sofa looking at daddy stooping in front of me. He was at eye level, silently comforting me with his eyes. I looked away and tugged my skirt forward. "Oh…" He said standing up. Then he sat a space away from me. "CJ? What's wrong?" He whispered barely loud enough for me to hear. "I was-" I broke down in tears as I got up and hugged him.

"Justin touched me and took off my clothes in front of everyone." I said distraughtly. I heard his heart begin to race when I said that. His fist slowly clenched and his chest tensed up. "He was going to touch Isabel. So I stepped in." I continued. "Someone else was taking naughty photos, it was not Isabel!" I blurted out. "And I'm sorry… I hit Justin and that was wrong." I said. "Are you hurt? I'm so sorry." He began crying. "I promised that I would protect you and I failed." He continued. We were both crying. "It's ok to protect yourself, ok CJ?" He whispered as I sobbed. "Don't let anyone take advantage of you." He said. "Okay."

Later in the afternoon daddy bought ice cream and we ate it together. We played together and watched movies. I was so full afterwards it hurt to laugh. The bitter sweet warmth of daddy's arms, like the day. A snuggle of warm comfort after a cold terrible experience.