"May I ask what you are doing?" Ren asked conversationally.

"Nothing," her younger sister Rindy said immediately.

"Of course not, you're just lurking around my room like Frankenstein or something because you're doing nothing." Not really caring, she dumped Chris' jacket on a chair and went to her dresser to find some pajamas. She was really tired, and she couldn't wait to fall asleep so she could dream about him.

Rindy turned to her and said, "Ren, can I ask you a question?"

"I don't have any form of birth-control in my room, so you're out of luck."

Rindy's small face looked worried instead of seasoned for once. "That wasn't my question."

"Turn around," Ren said, and pulled her nightgown over her head while her sister's back faced her. "Okay, you can turn around again. What's your question?"

She sighed. "How do you say no to a guy?"

Taken back by the question, Ren stared at her sister for a moment. Rindy wasn't the type to come around asking for sisterly advice. They had never been close. In fact, Rindy wasn't close to anyone in their family. "Um, well, you say no."

"It's not that easy though," Rindy insisted. "I really want to change, Ren. I don't like how guys step all over me. I just feel gross and I thought maybe you could tell me what to do."

Ren raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, Rindy. That's good to hear. You're not pregnant, are you?"

"No."

"Okay, just checking." She sat down on her bed. "You don't have a whole lot of self-esteem, do you? Otherwise you wouldn't have started saying 'yes' to these guys."

"I guess."

"Come sit down," she said, and waited until Rindy had perched herself awkwardly on the edge of her bed. "Um, well, I guess, if you start acting like you respect yourself a little more, guys aren't going to think that they can take advantage of you. For the most part guys are decent, but they're just boys, you know? If they can get what they want, they'll take it."

The smile that lit up Rindy's face was an incredible, indescribable reward to Ren. She'd just done something for her little sister. She couldn't remember the last time that had happened. "Thanks, Renny," Rindy said.

"Anytime, Rindy," she said genuinely. "You're my sister, I don't want you to get hurt. I'm glad that you're actually talking to me. It's like a friggen miracle."

"Well, I kinda admire you a little."

"Are you nuts? I can't even colour inside the lines and I still find bathroom humour funny, and you admire me? What the hell for?"

"You've been acting different lately, and you're being friends with good people instead of those skanks and stuff. And I just think that that's really brave and I wish that I could get rid of my reputation like you got rid of yours."

"People still think I'm a slut, Rindy," Ren said. "But they say it to my face now."

"Yeah, but you're not. Who cares what other people think? Now you can figure out who you are and then when you do, you won't have to worry about having to hide it because you won't feel like you're not good enough for your friends." She grinned. "I think that it's really cool. And I'm glad you're my sister because now you're like Super-Ren."

She giggled. "Thanks, Rindy. You're not too bad yourself. If you start showing off your personality, guys are going to want to be around you because of who you are instead of what you're willing to do."

"I'll try. Thanks." She stood up. "I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, Ren." Before she turned to go, she hugged her quickly and awkwardly, and then hurried from the room.

Ren kicked back her covers and snuggled in beneath the warmth of the blankets. She had a perma-smile. She decided then that no matter what people tried to do to her, she would never go back to settling on being someone less than who she really was just so she could be accepted. She hadn't realized that her sister looked up to her, and that she had been a crappy role model. Now she'd try and help Rindy out a little. And then there was Chris. It made her dizzy to think how much she had fallen for him in such a short amount of time. She never would have known she could feel like this if things hadn't changed. She felt worthwhile for once because someone needed her, and she felt safe for once because someone was going to protect her.