Sarah did as she was told for the week. She got out of bed in the morning, got ready for school, went to all her classes, helped Hayley and Calvin on their project, trained with her friends, and then went straight home and up to her room to pass the time there. She didn't have much to do. Her first day at school while grounded, Jenny had cleaned out her room of tools and technology, leaving Sarah with only what she needed to sleep and do her homework. She didn't even have her notebook so she could jot down her ideas. Jenny made sure Sarah placed it on the counter when she got home and was only allowed to take it to school so she could work on her project.

Mick kept his eye on her while at school to be sure she was following the conditions of her punishment.

On Friday, during the lunch period, Sarah waited just outside the girl's bathroom for Melanie. She hadn't been able to talk to her since Melanie had turned down all the phone numbers, but Sarah was determined to make one last ditch effort. She had the phone numbers in her hand again, just in case Melanie changed her mind and was rehearsing her speech in her head. She hoped it was good enough. She hoped Melanie would consider help.

Sarah thought she wasn't going to show. It was almost the end of the hour and there was no sign of her. Eventually, though, Sarah saw her coming down the hallway and smiled.

"You got what I wanted?" she asked. "Drex? Kathryn?"

Sarah shook her head and held out the paper again, "All you have to do is make the phone call, you know."

"Fucking… seriously? You couldn't do the one thing I asked."

"People want to help you, you know," Sarah told her. "Maybe it's not your parents and maybe your friends aren't reliable but… There are people who can help. They want to help."

"You think that's going to change my mind?" Melanie frowned. "Do you know what people do when they see me? When they know what I do for a living? They judge."

"I don't."

"Your friend did."

"Hayley? She didn't mean it like that."

"The Principal here is always side-eyeing me. The teachers don't give a shit if I don't disrupt their class. My foster parents only know I live with them when they get a check from the state…"

"Yeah, but…"

"No job is going to hire me because I'm not clean, and I can't get clean without rehab, which costs money."

"If you call these people…"

"They're going to tell me how they're the best, and how it doesn't matter what I've done or where I come from, there's a program designed specifically for me. They're going to boast about their success rates, tell me it's never too late to start my life over, and then every day, for the rest of my damn life, I'm going to have to hear people tell me it's lucky I got help when I did, otherwise I'd be dead. Like I owe them or something…"

"But…"

"And what about when I eventually fall off the wagon? Get high, just because I miss it, or because I had a hard day? What about when I sleep with a guy? These people don't care about me, they care about their mission and keeping their business successful and if I flop, they'll just pretend like I never walked through those doors."

"They aren't all like that."

"Because you've been through it before?" Melanie scoffed. "Look, princess, you barely dipped a toe in my world. You had a fighting chance at a good, clean, safe life, and I did what I could to keep it that way. That ship has sailed for me. I'm always going to be a whore, I might as well get some protection while I'm still desirable."

"So… you're not even going to try?"

"Why bother?" Melanie asked. "You're the only one who thinks I can do it. You and some strangers you called."

"You'll probably be dead before you're thirty," Sarah told her. "And sleeping with guys who… don't treat you right."

"That's why they pay you, so they can do what they want."

"You'll have a pimp who beats you. Who uses you."

"Stay on his good side, it won't be too bad. You become numb after a while. The drugs help."

"But…"

"You can say you've tried," Melanie said. "You can sleep well tonight knowing you did everything. You believed in me, I didn't bite. You made phone calls for me, I didn't want them. You told me how bad this was for me, I didn't care. You're not the failure here at. The only thing you suck at is returning favours."

"So you're just going to drop out?"

"Foster parents won't even know. They'll probably be glad when the checks are still coming in but I'm never home."

"Can you just answer one question?" Sarah asked. "Why?"

"Hey, a girl needs to work."

"But… hold on," Sarah said and then grabbed Melanie's arm. She dragged her down to the science classroom. Fortunately, no one was there, but Sarah's project was right where she left it. She pulled away the blanket, revealing her cookie creator.

"Wow. So…"

"You put healthy stuff, or anything really, in here," Sarah said. "And a delicious, healthy cookie comes out the other end."

"Congratulations. You're a nerd."

"Not anymore," Sarah shook her head. "Look, my friends are going to be pissed and I'll definitely fail but… if you're going to drop out of school, at least take this."

"This clunky thing?"

"I'll have to redesign it so it's a little more compact," Sarah nodded her head. "But this one works, and the cookies are amazing. Calvin's already eaten about two dozen of them."

"So what am I supposed to do with healthy cookies?"

"Sell them?" Sarah suggested. "People are always looking for something yummy yet healthy and this is the perfect solution. All the nutrients of a well-balanced meal, in the sweetness of a cookie."

"You're just giving this to me?"

"I can't talk you out of dropping out, or running away," Sarah said. "But… just… promise me, before you find another pimp, you'll try selling some of the cookies and earning money in a more… well, dignified way."

"Let me get this straight, princess," Melanie frowned. "You're going to give me your science project, piss off your friends and fail the very first project of your senior year, just so I don't have to have sex with strangers?"

"If someone tried to help my mom, or even my grandmother when they were in trouble, I just know their lives would have been very different," Sarah nodded. "They just needed someone to believe in them so… I'll believe in you. Just… take the cookie creator, that way, you have options."

"I'll grab it at the end of the day," Melanie said. "Once the school isn't filled with people watching. Wouldn't want to piss your friends off and have them try and stop me."

"It's all yours. Just… promise me I won't see it when I come here on Monday."

"Promise," Melanie nodded. Sarah smiled, gave Melanie a tight hug, then hurried off just as the bell rang, knowing that if she was late to class, Mick would tell Jenny and she would be grounded for the rest of the month.