When Nick touched my hands back there, I felt a jolt of electricity like I had never experienced before. I felt that innocent touch all the way through my body, and I felt like every hair was standing on end. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. At the same time, I felt the chill of ice-cold fear. I heard Mr. Lucas’ voice in my ears. Scotty, now, this isn’t going to hurt, he had said, as he got under the covers next to me on my tiny twin bed. His hands reached underneath my pajamas, as he rubbed my stomach, and then his hands made their way to my newly sprouted breasts. Of course, he lied. It did hurt. A lot. Mentally and physically, it was excruciating. And I never got used to it, even though it happened just about every night for about a year. So, I ended up running away. I found an abandoned car and lived in it. I told people about Mr. Lucas, finally, but nobody could believe that this rich, handsome man, with a lovely wife, who was a pillar of the community, would do something like that.
