”He shrugged, “it’s true. I was an asshole. Being the middle child and the only boy didn’t help, I guess. But I needed to have that gut punch ...n order to get back up.”“What do you mean?”“Hang on a sec.”James closed his eyes, he searched for and found the quotation.“James?”“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as. I'd been back at school for three weeks."Hi you," was sung into my ear in response to my gruff 'hello'. It was Annika. I was surprised at how happy I was to hear her voice."Annie?" Duh," she answered."Its late, I've got to get up early, I've got an exam," I complained.She ignored my complaint. "Did you get the package?" Yes," I answered after considering whether I'd be smarter to deny having got it."So?" So I got it," I admitted."Do you like it?" It's a piece of wood for crying out loud." Did. Over the top of it, she had on a matching housecoat type of garment, which hung open either side and her legs and feet were bare. My eyes were drawn to her boobs, that were clearly unrestrained and swinging freely as she moved. Her nipples were still in a good position and not pointing as far south as I thought they might be and the outline of them was clearly showing proudly through the thin material. She looked like she'd just got out of bed, with hair everywhere and no makeup. "Sorry" I. ” From there on, the meeting got more serious.Dave suggested to the pledges that they might want to wait a few months and then restart their interest in the Circle. No one moved. He suggested that some of the people in the townhouses or along Perimeter Drive might want to leave for other quarters until it was felt the threat was reduced. No one moved.Out of the meeting, only one additional action was derived from the Q&A, specifically to triple the guard on the classrooms for the home schooling.