I love you… As she listened, Debbie began to cry. Slowly, quietly at first, and then louder until her hiccups and stifled sobs drowned out Ned’s l...tany. Thinking that he had made a horrible mistake, Ned jerked his head back and thrust his fist to his mouth, tears streaming down his face. ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…’ Ned blurted. ‘No,’ said Debbie, shaking her head and beginning to smile, ‘It’s ok, it’s all… right.’ ‘I’m sorry,’ Ned Blubbered, ‘I’m sorry.’ ‘No, be quiet. Listen to. Also, due to a schedule screw up, I did not have varsity choir. I had sixth-period choir, with the beginners. However, I did practice with them almost every day during my lunch period.Little by little, she didn’t show up in rehearsal. Over time, I missed her. I missed seeing her curvaceous body. I loved hearing her sing. Then, I had an inkling why. I asked Megan one day in the hall:“What happened to you in choir?”She said simply:“They were about to beat me up.”At that moment in time, I got. When asked what kind of girl he would prefer to keep him company, he had no qualms of specifying the look he required; young, red-haired, long legged, with creamy smooth white skin: Just like Carla.Two days later he flew out to California to begin his new job. The thought of his sister travelled with him.For weeks he beat himself blue. He opened each of her emails expectant of some hint from her, but all they contained were family news. Later in the year, when she started university he heard. Not only was it a scream, it was the first of a long line of them, and I jerked my hands free from those on either side and crossed my arms in front of my face, palms outward, as if to ward off a terrible blow. I didn't do this consciously; it just happened.Immediately, I felt hands on my arms and back, and heard sympathetic words of encouragement in my ears, telling me that I shouldn't panic, and that everything was going to be alright. I tried to tell them that I WASN'T panicked, and that.