She wanted out of her life of trailer parks and her mother's johns and her mother's meanness and her mother's sloppiness and her mother's growing fatn...ss and ugliness. And she had no patience."Barely fifteen, the first man who approached her with cocky confidence and persuasive conversation--a man driving a big fancy automobile, ruggedly handsome, tall, exuding dangerous strength--she let seduce her. The fact that he played her like he played cards, reading her like he read his opponents, made. I liked the people I worked with but was happy to be leaving. I got on the road at about 9 pm. It was raining when I left, with rain coming down harder and harder. After about an hour, the rain was coming down so hard that I could barely see the road. My weather app says it should only last about an hour more. I pulled off the highway into a small town just hoping that there was a restaurant open or somewhere I could sit and relax until the rain let up. I find this coffee shop/diner that. This was the one, I told myself, if we can come to an agreement. She will be more expensive, I figured, but, what the heck, she is worth it.When her face appeared in my car window I knew it was her or none. True, her face was overdone with too much mascara, eye liner and lash enhancer. The lipstick was garish, but despite all that, she was beautiful. I was immediately drawn to her eyes that seemed to sparkle. They told me that here was a girl with humor, another feature I really liked. Looking. Before or after a meeting I just listen in to their chatter and pick up on the gossip, what’s (and who’s!) hot. I even pick up the odd babysitting gig, partly for pocket money (students loans, apartment rent, office rent... ) but mostly so I can chat to more kids and work out what makes them tick. There are perhaps half a dozen girls and a couple of boys I know well who have “perfect” lives. Y’know the kind: they’re polite without being timid, bright without being nerdy; sporty without being.