Samantha Carter had just graduated from school, so her father, mother, and brother decided to organize a party for her at home, which many classmates attended, but none of them were truly her friends.

After the party, some of the other girls were whispering among themselves, and they approached Sam. "Sam, Alison Witman is having a party at her house later, her parents won't be there, do you want to go?" - getting closer to her - "there will be handsome guys from college."

"I don't know, Megan, I have to ask my dad."

"Come on, Sam, have fun, soon you'll be going to the academy and you won't be able to do anything," she said, laughing along with the other girls.

Sam thought about it for a moment and turned to see her parents talking with the neighbors.

"Okay, I'll go."

"Great! That's fantastic, you won't regret it, you'll see."

The group of girls walked away from her, laughing and whispering.

Suddenly, her brother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"You know they're bad people, right?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sister, they're just making fun of you."

"Why do you always have to think badly of all my friends, Mark?"

"Because they're not your friends, Sam."

"You don't know that, you don't know them."

"And you do?"

And with that, her brother walked away from her.

After the party, she apologized to her parents and went up to her room.

Indecisive about what to do about attending the party, Sam began to look at herself in the mirror. She was a pleasant-looking girl, at least she considered herself so. She was tall, taller than average in her class, and in shape since she had started training for admission to the Air Force Academy. She had long, beautiful blonde hair that reached below her hips, and pale blue eyes. She wasn't popular because she always studied a lot, but she thought this would be the perfect opportunity to stand out. After a deep sigh, she went to her closet and searched through her clothes for something to wear to the party, but all her clothes seemed to come straight out of a nerd store. Slowly leaving her room, she made sure her parents were in the kitchen and sneaked into her mother's room to look through her clothes. She found a dress she really liked, then went back to her room, took a shower, and styled her hair with waves and clips to keep her strands away from her face. She put on a bit more makeup than usual, accentuating her eyes with black eyeliner, making them stand out. She applied blush and a soft peach lip gloss, stood in front of the mirror, and felt beautiful, simple but satisfied with the results. The dress reached just above her knees, black with gray flowers made of a fine, soft, thin fabric, with a slight gather under her chest and thin straps. She paired it with medium black heels sandals, grabbed her purse, and gave one last look in the mirror before heading out the window.

When she arrived at the party, it was a frenzy of music, lights, and people. She entered a little shyly, as everyone was watching her. Soon someone behind her shouted, "You came!" When Sam turned around, she saw Megan and the rest of the girls.

"Yes... I considered what you said, so why not have some fun before going to the academy," she said, smiling.

"Great! Let's go get you something to drink," and they headed towards the area where the drinks table was, dancing like crazy.

Sam, a bit shy, followed them, unaware that someone had been watching her since she arrived. Megan handed her a glass of beer, to which Sam looked and said, "I don't drink."

Pouting, Megan said, "Oh... come on, Sam, don't be a party pooper, this is your night, babe," she said, raising her eyebrows.

Sam took the glass and took a sip, to which the others responded with laughter and a cheer.

"Wooo! Let's dance! Yess!"

Sam followed them to the designated dance floor area where everyone was in a state of chaos, at least that's how she observed it. As the hours passed, the young woman managed to relax with the help of the drinks the others kept putting in her hands. She danced uninhibitedly with her eyes closed, swaying her body to the rhythm of the electronic music. Without warning, someone grabbed her hips, pressing their body against hers, and mimicking her movements. Sam, lost in the haze of alcohol, looked up at the person behind her, and he took advantage to kiss her, pressing a hand on her stomach. They danced a little more until the boy hooked one of his hands under Sam's dress, lifting it and caressing the outside of her thigh, and kissing her neck hungrily. Sam responded by closing her eyes, he brought his mouth to her ear and whispered a few words, then they both looked at each other, but Sam's eyes were glazed and clouded by her state. The boy took her hand and dragged her with him to the dark area of the backyard, while the girls who stayed inside dancing smiled at each other conspiratorially.

The person who had been watching Sam all night got up from his seat, approached the drinks table, refilled his glass with beer, and slowly made his way to the door leading to the backyard. He scanned the area among the couples seeking darkness to cover their actions until his gaze settled on what he was looking for. The boy had Sam cornered against the wall in a dark corner considerably further away from the rest of the people. He had his face buried in her neck and held her firmly with one arm around her waist while his other hand struggled to slip under her dress. The person approached slowly until he was at a good distance where he could hear the panting coming from there, but the closer view and the perceived sounds put him on alert. The girl was struggling against the bold hands of the boy who was embracing her, and her voice saying she didn't want it and to stop could be clearly heard. The person didn't know whether to intervene or not until the words that finally came out of her mouth made him react swiftly.

"Help."

In a second, he was pulling the guy off the girl, to which he reacted by saying with a voice that denoted his complete state of drunkenness, "What are you doing, buddy? She's my girl, go find yours." And with that, he lunged again to grab Sam in his arms, but what he got in return was a push from the other person, causing him to fall on his butt on the grass, people started to gather around him, so he turned around and saw the girl hugging herself with both arms. He quickly took her hand and said, "Let's go, I'll get you out of here." She gave him a blurry look, tears on the verge of falling, showing fear, then she said with a very slow and sweet voice, "Trust me, I won't hurt you." She hesitantly took his hand, and he dragged her back inside where all the noise was. As they passed by where Megan and her friends were, Megan caught his attention. "Hey! Where are you taking Sam?" Immediately, the person stopped abruptly, causing Sam to bump into his back.

He turned around and approached the group of young people. "Don't ever come near her again." "Sam is my friend." "That's not true," he approached closer until he was almost in her face, "If you were really her friend, you wouldn't have gotten her drunk and handed her over like a lamb to the lions... I won't repeat it, stay away from her." Leaving the group of young people stupefied at having been caught in their mischief, he turned to Sam and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."

He guided her to his car and helped her get in so she wouldn't stumble or hurt herself. The journey was made in complete silence, every now and then he looked at her, so young, fragile but beautiful, and those girls along with that idiot had taken advantage of her. When he saw her cross the door of that party, he immediately realized she didn't belong there, she was shy and withdrawn, but over the course of the hours, he had seen and observed the whole process of how those other girls had tried to make fun of her. Now he was in his car, with his head resting on the window, and he just hoped she wouldn't faint. She had managed to give him her home address when she left the party, so he respectfully kept his word and took her to her front door, only to be surprised when he went to the passenger door to help her out and saw her crying.

"Hey... What's wrong?"

"I can't go in like this, my dad will kill me."

He gently placed his hand under her chin to make her look at him, then her blue eyes met his brown ones.

"I'll talk to your father and tell him what happened and how they deceived you."

"Thank you... I don't know your name."

"My name is Jack," he said with a sweet sideways smile.

"I'm Sam."

"I know."

He slowly helped her out of the car and took her by the waist so she wouldn't fall, as she was dizzy from the amount of alcohol she had consumed. He gently knocked on the door and waited a moment until he saw the light inside the house and then the porch light turn on. Then he saw a man with a tough and conservative appearance open the door, his eyes immediately passed from the man to the girl he was holding, and he saw that she was his daughter and not well. Already furious, he lashed out at Jack, but was interrupted just in time by his wife's arm. "Jacob!" - standing beside him and seeing the sight in front of her - "Oh my god, Sam! Honey, come..." He took his daughter in his arms and took her inside the house, and the men were left alone in the silence of the night. "I want an explanation." "Of course, sir." Jacob looked at him and opened the door wider, letting him in. The boy sat on the couch and the man sat on another smaller couch next to him on his right side. They were silent for a minute that seemed eternal, Jacob evaluating the young man, when suddenly they heard footsteps coming from the stairs. Sam's mother came down slowly and approached both men. "Sam managed to fall asleep, she seems to be okay." Her husband looked at her and asked, "Did she say anything about what happened?" "Not much, she was dizzy and confused, although she asked me to thank you for helping her and bringing her home," her last words were spoken looking at the young man sitting in her living room. Jacob spoke again. "Well, son, now I want to hear what you have to say." Jack took a sigh and looked at both of them. "First, let me introduce myself, my name is Jack O'Neill, I am a newly assigned Captain for training duties at the Air Force Academy." "Captain, I'm Brigadier General Jacob Carter and Samantha's father, and she is my wife Margaret." Immediately Jack stood up and stood at attention. "Sir, I apologize for not showing my respect, I didn't know." "Relax, son, sit down and tell me what happened tonight." Margaret made coffee for the three of them, and they sat down to talk. Jack told them what happened from the moment he saw Sam enter that house a few hours earlier. He talked about how he was there because some friends had invited him to the party, how he had been watching the girls who claimed to be Sam's friends put glass after glass of alcohol in her hands, and how one of them walked away to talk to a boy, and shortly after that same boy was the one who had tried to take advantage of Sam's state. He also told them about the altercation he had to get him away from the girl and the verbal threats he had given to the rest of the group of girls, and he hoped he hadn't been out of line and received a reprimand for that. Jacob, after listening attentively to the whole story, told him he would corroborate it with his daughter when she woke up, but for now not to worry about receiving any punishment. Jack said goodbye with a formal salute to the General, and took Margaret's hand. "I hope Sam is well tomorrow, please tell her I send my regards." "Of course, Captain, and thank you for bringing my daughter home safe and sound." And with a nod of his head, he said goodbye to both of them.

The next day, Sam's mother gently knocked on her daughter's bedroom door, informed her to shower and get dressed, that her father was waiting for her in the living room to talk. When the young woman descended the stairs, she found her father standing looking out the window. "Take a seat, young lady." Sam's stomach tied itself into a knot, she obeyed her father without saying a word. "What were you thinking, Samantha?" - Looking at her - "Do you know you're risking your career before it even starts? That you're staining the Carter name with this attempt to call attention to yourself?" - approaching his daughter - "What's wrong with you, Samantha?" Looking at her father clearly ashamed and with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Dad, I thought they were my friends, they invited me to the party, but they just wanted to make fun of me." She finally broke down in tears, and her mother hugged her. "I didn't realize what was happening until that guy had me cornered against the wall, then... out of nowhere Jack appeared, he pushed him and knocked him to the ground, took my hand, helped me, got me out of there, and brought me home." "If that's the same thing he told us." "That's how it happened, I swear." Jacob looked from his daughter to his wife and back to his daughter, then turned to the window with his back to them and said. "Young lady, you're grounded, you'll only be allowed to go to your classes and the academy's training sessions, you'll go back and forth with me and that's not negotiable." Sam looked at her mother, who returned a look of compassion, she got up and stood at attention and replied to her father. "Yes, sir." Back in her room, the young woman thought about the events of the previous night. How had she been fooled by those girls? Why hadn't she listened to her brother's warnings?... Who was this mysterious Jack who had helped her and brought her home safe

and sound? Where would he be now?