Maria tried to get off Matt’s body, but Matt wrapped his hand around Maria. “Can I kiss you a little more?” Matt asked innocently. Maria smiled ...nd lowered her lips onto Matt’s. They kissed some more. Robert came out of the washroom and grabbed his clothes. “I’m going home,” Robert said. Matt felt bad because he did not want to leave. He first thought to ask if he could stay with Maria for a night but then he just got of the bed and headed to the bathroom. Robert waited for Matt in the living. ‘Believe it or not, that’s probably the least of what’s bothering her. You can’t imagine what kind of life that poor woman has had,’ she told him. ‘God, I don’t know how she’s managed to stay as sane as she has. I’m not sure I could have.’ ‘What the heck happened to her?’ Bill asked. ‘Well,’ Melissa said, ‘it started a long time ago…’ She began telling Bill the tragic story Ann had told her. ‘Jesus!’ Bill exclaimed when Melissa finished. ‘I see what you mean. And she blames herself because it. "It comes from here."I nodded, but I wasn't sure how to respond. I stared out the window ofthe bus for a moment. I knew she was right. It was so easy to try toseparate my two identities. But I knew that I could perform just as wellwithout the wig. The 4th of July party at Gran and Grandaddy's house hadproved that. However, that still didn't make me feel any lessapprehensive about what my fellow students would do to me. Some of them,like Jared Lumbart, wanted to harm me. I knew there would be. Brock wasn't certain the young woman had ever even watched a soccer game before taking her assignment in Chile. But she knew the game and offered insightful comments about the style of play and the players on the field from her network booth.It was equally obvious to those who watched that Japan wouldn't be a pushover. The U.S. women hadn't been tested thus far in the tournament. They cruised through the pool play without allowing a goal against and won their quarterfinal and semifinal matches.