“I sure did, Eddie. I’m determined to drop at least fifty pounds so I can wear one of those t-shirt dresses like Anne was wearing yesterday.”“...ou’ll get there too, and don’t forget, we have a date - the day after you wear one of those dresses to work.”“I’m going to hold you to it too, Eddie ... I mean, well uh, you know what I mean.”“I sure do and I’ll hold you to it.”We were walking down the hall past my office when Lydia looked at me. “That sign had your name on it. I thought you were taking. “Want to go for some burgers, first?”“Thanks.” She told her mom. Being -- whatever her mom thought -- grown up, she told her rather than asked her. She couldn’t simply not show up for dinner.Thursday, she and Craig filled each other in on what they’d done in school. “You had typing for one marking period,” Craig said, “I’m going to take that next year. What was it like?”She told him. “Remember you used to fill me in on the teachers?” He did. “Now I can do the same for you.”“Yeah. And I’m. " "Something like that." She eyed him up and down, as if appraising his suitability. "Come here, Brody." Only half wishing to do so, he was surprised to find himself approaching almost on autopilot, her form shimmering electric blue and black with every step until he stood a few feet from her. Digital perfection. Up close he caught several extra details about her. The flashes of her eyes, in a colour he could not determine. The lustre of her dark hair, and the immense cleavage that dominated. Still, later that afternoon, I was called down to the vice-principal’s office for an unspecified reason and suspected it might be related to my close contact with a grown-up. Even with the more liberal attitudes toward sexual matters, pedophiles were still the most hated segment of society and parents and teachers were adamant about protecting the youngsters from indecent exposure. Of course, in my case, I was a young girl in her twenties and more than able to fight my own battles. Only, I had.