Franky just stared."What?!" I shouted. "She seemed nice!"Franky kept staring."Dude," I said, "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to fuck her. I want t... fuck her." It's always about sex with you," he said."Dude," I said, "We're 18. We're supposed to be thinking about it night and day, right now. I've had a boner for as long as I can remember." Don't you ever think about Amy?" Franky said. "What if she found out you were fucking every little tart that came into this store?"I shrugged. I love Amy.. "That isn't what I meant to say," Sylvia answered, speaking clearly and evenly. "I've never met anyone like you before. You didn't have to tell me about your friends or yourself. I'll admit I was curious about their coarse demeanor but I never dreamed they were prostitutes. If you were concerned that I would hear something and think the worst about you, you are wrong. Please Laura, give me some credit. I would have said they were wrong. I never suspected."The two women were staring at one. I got even today. I waited until that girl and her mean friends were in the shower after gym. I opened the door into the boy’s hallway and let all the boys sneak into the girl’s locker room. I jerked the shower curtain back and started teasing them about all still being little girls who stuffed their bras. There weren’t many boys, though. No one wanted to get in trouble for being in the girl’s locker room, so they snuck out before the gym teacher could catch them. The mean girls didn’t tell on. We were 12-10 on the season -- after finishing third for the past three consecutive years, behind the damned Red Sox -- and the Goddamned Yankees. But there had been a gradual improvement of the club for the past several years, and we felt like this year, it might be possible to contend, after a decade of losing seasons.Last year had been only the second time since 1997 that the club had finished over .500 -- and that just barely. But if our young pitchers could come through, I thought it was.