Caught in the Act

As told to Devorah Grant

If only I could take those words and stuff them back into the furthest corner of my mouth. If only I could be the girl that I used to be — run-of-the-mill, unobtrusive, innocent. If only I’d chosen to be true to myself, this would never, ever have happened.

Ruty was the beginning of my downfall. Which is funny, really, since she was just a classmate, far more popular than I ever was, with a cute blond lob and dancing blue eyes. But when she got sick, that’s when it began.

At first, it was just lots of absences, when Ruty’s seat in the middle row at school was empty for days. Chevi said Ruty had the flu, but when Ruty came back, she looked worse than after a flu. A whole lot worse.

The rumors began.

“Ruty’s sick, I heard my mother speaking to her mother!”