The next day Caroline and Laura boarded the bus that would take them back to Castle Rock. Caroline, much to the delight of her daughter, was wearing her knitted dress.
"It's very warm," she said, "I don't even think I need a coat."
"Thanks mom," Laura said, knowing she was only being kind.
They arrived late that afternoon. Remarkably Connie was waiting for them.
"Oh yes this was another surprise," Caroline smiled, "but not one of mine, Connie wanted to come and meet us, I wasn't going to turn down a free ride," she joked.
Connie ran toward them and squeezed them both.
"The holidays was miserable without you," she said, "but I bet you didn't even miss me at all."
"Of course I did," Laura said squeezing her back.
They made their way home amidst a never ending stream of chatter. They had a lot of subjects to cover, Christmas, New Years and of course local Lake Candling boys.
"Well I was asked to dance," Laura said when Connie asked if she had met anyone.
"Did he kiss you?" she asked lowly so Caroline couldn't hear from the back.
"No," Laura exclaimed, "I told him I have a boyfriend."
"Laura," Connie said frustratedly, "you can't keep saying Ace is your boyfriend if you two have split."
"We didn't break up," Laura insisted, "we're just not talking right now."
"If you say so," Connie said not wanting to make Laura upset. "Can you believe it is 1960, a whole new decade, isn't it exciting."
"Yeah, I guess," Laura said, "I wonder if anything exciting will happen."
"As long as it's not another war," Caroline said.
Ace was driving along main street when he passed a very familiar face. Doing a double take to check it was really her he got out of his car and walked over.
"I didn't know you were back," he said as the blonde turned to face him.
"I just got back today," she said, still giving him that look. Like he was a stranger to her.
"Well I guess I'll see you 'round," he said hostilely in response to her cold reception. He had somewhere to be anyway.
"What did he want?" Connie asked as she came out of the store. Caroline had sent the girls to stock up on some basics for the house. "Oh Laura, you have to stop this," she said exasperatedly as Laura started crying again.
"I can't. I miss him," she sniffed.
Connie shook her head, she just didn't understand it.
The weekend passed quickly and soon the girls were back at school again. It took them a week to settle back into their routine and the boredom that was school.
"Are you going to the football game this Friday?" Connie asked Laura the next Monday.
"I guess," Laura replied, she had nowhere else to be.
"Great," Connie said, "maybe you'll meet someone."
"I hope not," Laura muttered but Connie didn't hear her.
And so that was how Laura found herself at school after hours, freezing to death with Connie yelling in her ear.
"I think I'm going to go get a drink," Laura said when she finally managed to get her attention.
"Okay," Connie said, barely even registering that someone was talking.
Laura went down to where they were selling lemonade, she got in line behind some students from the opposing school.
"There are some quality chicks that go to this school," she overheard one of them saying to his friend. She instinctively backed away but her movement seemed to alert them to her presence.
"Whoa," one of them said when he spotted her, "where'd you come from sweetheart? Hey don't be shy," he said grabbing her arm when she started backing away.
"You thirsty," he said, "here, have some of this."
He grabbed the back of her neck and poured something warm down her throat. She knew from the smell that it was something alcoholic. She began to feel sick and it wasn't long before she could barely stand upright.
"Come on baby," the boy said grabbing her by the waist, "come with me for a while."
She felt like she was going to trip with every step as he dragged her behind him.
"You're the best looking girl I've ever seen," he said bending his head down to kiss her. She kept her lips shut. She was frightened and confused, where was she, what was this boy trying to do to her. She felt an third arm swing over her shoulders and she turned around.
"This is a really bad idea man," Eyeball said as he pulled her away.
"Get out of here," the guy said, "what are you, her boyfriend?"
"No," Eyeball said, "but I know the guy who is and trust me you should be thanking your lucky stars I came along when I did, cause the guy I'm talking about, he'd slit your fucking throat if he seen what you were doing to his girl."
"It's none of your business," the guy said sounding slightly more nervous.
Eyeball dropped his arm from around Laura and grabbed the guy by the collar, pulling him close to his face. "I might save my buddy the trouble," Eyeball said pulling out a blade. "Oh and next time ask a girl out, don't try and rape her behind some fucking bushes," he said angrily swiping at him with his blade.
The guy cried out in surprise and made a run for it.
"You have all the luck don't you hon," Eyeball said as he helped her up again.
"Thank you so much," she said, throwing her arms around him weeping.
"No problem hon," he said, "don't worry about that cocksucker," he said spitting at the ground. He may have some pretty loose ethics about right and wrong but he hated guys who attacked girls. Especially fucking rapists.
"You wanna go home?" he asked her.
She nodded her head, still feeling queasy.