Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 (Okay, for the first time, I have to break the fourth wall and say
something to anyone reading this.  First, thank you for reading.  I really
work hard to make these stories as real and enjoyable as possible and
appreciate all of your comments.  IF you haven't comment, don't be afraid I
DO bite!

   Now for seriousness.  Age 16 will only be one part.  It will have a
description or two of sex acts but it will not be consensual like the rest.
I am going to gloss over a lot of what happened because, well, 16 was a
shit year and I am glad to be rid of it.

   For those of you reading this because you want to see where life took
me, please, go right on in and be ready to be depressed.  For those of you
here for the hot, steamy parts, you'll have to wait until next time. 
Sorry.

   Now on with the show.)

   *****



   Sixteen came and the worst year of my life plodded along moving too damn
slow for me.  I was either angry or depressed the whole year.  The few
friends I had got tired of me and found other places to be when I was
around.  Even Julie, who I thought was still a good friend, didn't want to
put up with me.

   Through it all, somehow, Crystal stayed my friend.  I don't know why, I
was miserable to her and to me, but, for some reason, she hung in there.

   I was getting my books out of my locker when Crystal ran up to me.

   "Did you hear?" She asked.

   "What?" I asked, not in the mood for guessing games.

   She looked past me and said, "Take a look."

   I sighed and turned to look where she was looking.  Mandy was walking
down the hall, he head down, people moving away from her like she had the
plague.  Her right eyes was black and completely swollen closed.  Her lip
was cut in two places and the right side of her face was nothing but a mass
of bruises.

   Nobody said a word as she passed.  When she was gone around the corner,
I asked, "What the hell happened to her?  Someone finally get tired of her
shit and smack her around?"

   Crystal cringed and in a quiet voice said, "She got raped."

   I froze.  My hands started to shake and I could feel tears pressing at
the back of my eyes.  My stomach heaved and it was all I could do to keep
from throwing up.  I closed my eyes and clenched my fists.

   "Lizzi, are you okay?" Crystal asked.

   I bit my tongue.  I would not be sick.  I would not give into my fears.
I was stronger than that.  Nobody would ever hurt me again.  I'd promised
myself that after everything that happened.

   I took a couple of deep breaths and said, "I'm fine.  When did it
happen?"

   "Over the weekend," Crystal said, watching me closely.  "I guess some
guy jumped in her car when she was stopped.  He had a gun and made her
drive out away from everything.  Becky's mom's a nurse and I guess she was
the first one to see her after the guy was done with her.  I guess he beat
her bad and raped her a couple of times before he took off with her car. 
The cops are still looking for him."

   I barked a sarcastic laugh.  "Good luck with that.  The cop's in this
town aren't worth shit.  He's probably long gone by now."

   "Good," she said.  "The farther the better."

   I spun to face her, my anger burning white hot inside me.  "Good?  Fuck
that!  Everywhere she goes from now on she's going to be looking over her
shoulder, waiting for him to come back for her.  Nowhere's going to be safe
to her and now, what little life she had is going to just be one long
fucking nightmare."

   "Lizzi," she stared to say.  I ignored her, slamming my locker and
stomping off down the hall, fighting tears the whole way.

   *****

   Over the next couple of weeks, I watched Mandy.  Her life fell apart
around her.  As if the assault she'd suffered wasn't bad enough, now she
had to deal with a different kind of assault.  One that came from the
people she thought were her friends.

   It started simply enough.  They stopped sitting with her.  Then they
started pointing and giggling as she went past.  More than once they
whispered, "whore" as she walked past.  She lost it a couple of times,
running away from them, bawling her eyes out.

   Soon the whole school was in on the act.  She was cast out.  She was
dirty and nobody wanted anything to do with her.  For years this is the
thing I'd wanted to see.  Mandy cast down from on high to be one of us
dirty little people.  Now I hated myself for ever thinking that.  Nobody
deserved this.

   At lunch I got my plate of crappy food and looked find Crystal.  She saw
me and waved me over to where she was sitting with a couple of other
people. A few tables back, all by herself, I saw Mandy.

   I stopped halfway to Crystal's table, unable to make it the rest of the
way there.  I couldn't just leave her alone.

   I walked past Crystal's table, getting a funny look from her, and
continued on to Mandy's table.  I set my tray down across from her and took
a seat.  I could feel every eye in the cafeteria turn towards us.  She
looked up, a look of surprise on her face.  I met her eyes for a second
before I dug into my food.

   I didn't speak to her.  All I did was sit with her and show her she
wasn't alone.

   We ate together again the next day, still neither of us speaking.  On
the third day, as I set my tray down, Crystal sat down next to me.

   I looked over at her and felt a real, genuine smile pull my lips up. 
Mandy looked at her, tears in her eyes and gave her a smile of her own. 
Crystal grinned at us, bumped her shoulder against mine and reached across
the table to squeeze Mandy's hand.

   Mandy looked down and I saw her shoulders shake as she silently cried
across from us.  I put my hand on Crystal's and we both gave Mandy's hand a
squeeze.

   "Aw, look at that.  It's all the dirtiest whore of the school all in one
place.  Quick guys, bring your money and get some while you can," a voice
said behind us.

   I knew who it was right away.  Jennifer had become the head cheerleader
and was now the supposed to be the hottest girl with the downfall of Mandy.
She'd been the one going after Mandy the hardest, relishing every hateful
thing she could throw at her.

   I grabbed my tray and stood, my lunch flying in all directions.  My rage
burned inside me and I was sure I was going to kill her.  Seeing the
murderous look in my eyes, Jennifer took a quick step back to her throng of
followers.

   "Say it again," I hissed at her.  "Say it again, you fucking cunt, and I
will beat your head in."

   She stared at me, her eyes wide with fear.  The whole cafeteria had gone
quiet until Crystal stood, spilling her lunch on the floor and holding her
tray in front of her, ready to use it.

   "You're one to talk about whores, Jennifer," Crystal said.  "I remember
when you found out Bobby Marshal had an extra ticket to the Kiss concert.
You couldn't get his pants down past enough, could you?  You sucked his
cock under the bleachers and got yourself the ticket you wanted.  That
makes you a hell of a lot more of a whore than us, you fucking piece of
shit."

   Teachers boiled into the cafeteria demanding to know what was going on.
Seeing Crystal and I, trays at the ready, they ordered us to put them down.
While their eyes were on us, Jennifer and her bitch brigade made their
escape.

   Crystal and I were taken to the principal's office to explain what had
happened.  He kept us waiting while several students who'd witnessed the
near fight were asked what happened.

   I felt myself starting to calm down a little as I sat there next to
Crystal.  I looked at her out of the corner of my eye.  She'd stood up for
Mandy with me.  She'd had my back without reservation.  She was my sister
and I loved her.

   Mrs.  Davis came storming into the waiting area outside of the
principal's office.  Without asking, she barged into his office and told
the student inside to leave.  He tore out of there like his ass was on fire
and Mrs.  Davis slammed the door.

   Even through the walls we could hear her yelling.

   "Do you know what the little bitch Jennifer said to them?" She yelled.

   "Cindy, calm down," Mr.  Fergusson, our principal, said.

   "I will not calm down, Tom!  You're damn lucky I wasn't in there when
this happened or I would have knocked the shit out of that bitch!"

   "Cindy, they're just words and that kind of reaction..."

   Mrs.  Davis cut him off.  "Words!  Words, Tom?  Whore is not a word you
call a girl that's been raped goddamit!"

   I cringed at the word rape.  I hated that word.  Every time I heard it I
felt dirty and it was all I could do to keep from running away at the sound
of it.

   I felt Crystal's hand on mine.  I looked over to see the look of concern
on her face.  She didn't know.  I couldn't tell her.  I was so afraid she'd
leave me if she knew my secret.  I'd be alone and, if I was alone , I
didn't think I'd see any reason to keep living without her.

   "Cindy, I know that but we can't have the kind of violence those girls
were about to unleash going on in this school."

   "It won't," she said.  "Send them back to class, with no punishment, and
it will send a message that we won't tolerate students berating each other
like that.  They'll see it as approval to beat anyone that says that word
ever again.  You were looking for a deterrent for this shit, well, here it
is."

   We couldn't hear the rest of the conversation after that.  Mrs.  Davis
walked out of the office and over to us.

   "You two are to go back to class and not talk about this," she said to
us.  "Keep doing what you've been doing with Mandy.  She needs you right
now."

   We agreed and turned to walk away.

   "Lizzi?"

   I turned to look at her.

   "If you ever need to talk about anything my door is always open for
you," she said.

   She knew.  She saw right through me and she saw my secret.  Nobody else
knew.  I'd kept it hidden but not from her.

   Not trusting myself to speak I just nodded and ran for my class.

   *****

   After school was finally over, I walked over to my usual meeting spot
with Crystal.  Her mom was going to drive me home today after she got off
of work, which gave me time to talk to Crystal.

   After today, I couldn't keep my secret anymore.  She was my best friend;
she deserved to know the truth.

   Crystal wandered over and dropped down on the grass beside me.  She
leaned against out tree and said, "It was a hell of a day, wasn't it?"

   "Yeah," I said quietly.

   I took a deep breath and mustered as much courage as I could.  "Crystal,
I need to tell you something."

   I turned to look at her and saw she was looking past me.  I looked over
my shoulder and saw Mandy standing there

   We stared at each other for a while before Mandy said a very tentative,
"Hi."

   "Hey," I said.

   "Hi," Crystal said.

   We all looked at each other for a minute before Crystal asked, "Is your
dad picking you up?"

   Mandy nodded.

   "You want to sit with us while you wait?" I asked.

   She looked at us and tears started to spill down her cheeks.

   "Why are you being so nice to me?" She cried.  "I've been so mean to you
and now..."

   I stood up and walked over to her.  I met her eyes and said, "I hated
you.  I hated you for everything you did to me.  You've been so hateful and
shitty to me I should be right there with Jennifer but I'm not.  Even at
your worst you never deserved this to happen to you.  I am so sorry,
Mandy."

   Sobs wracked her body and she started to fall.  I grabbed her and pulled
her into my arms.  I felt tears I'd sworn to never shed spill down my
cheeks.  We held each other and cried.  I felt Crystal's arms wrap around
us and we held each other, giving and taking a little strength from each
other.

   When the tears were gone, we wiped our eyes and Crystal mumbled, "I
thought this fucking makeup wasn't supposed to run.  Dammit!  It burns,"

   Mandy and I looked at her and laughed.  It was a deep laugh, full of
humor and it felt good.  We both collapsed to the ground, in tears again,
as Crystal wiped her eyes and only made things worse for herself.

   We heard a honk from the parking lot and looked up to see Mandy's dad.
Mandy looked at us and, wiping one last tear, said, "I gotta go."

   She turned to go but Crystal stopped her.

   "My mom's going out on a date Friday night and she's made it very clear
she won't be home until Saturday.  Lizzi's staying the night and we'd like
it if you would too.  We could talk and be there for each other," Crystal
said, throwing a look my way.

   Biting her lip to stop the tears, Mandy nodded.  She came back to us and
we all hugged again.

   "Thank you both," she whispered.  "Thank you so much."

   *****

   The rest of the week blew by and, before I knew it, it was Friday. 
After school, the three of us piled into Crystal's mom's car and headed
over to her place.

   Tammy, Crystal's mom, was very quiet around Mandy, treating her like she
was some fragile dove she might break if she looked at wrong.  She couldn't
get out of the house fast enough after dropping us off.

   We had pizza and watched a couple of movies.  It was the best I'd felt
in months.  After the second movie was over, we moved the furniture around
the front room and brought out our sleeping bags.  We all got ready for bed
and then came together.

   We sat together, the silence weighing down on us, until Crystal said,
"Well, this is uncomfortable."

   We giggled, a little of the tension leaving the room.  I looked at
Crystal and met her eyes.  I took a deep breath and said, "I've been
keeping a secret from you."

   She nodded and said, "I kind of figured.  I'm guessing it's something
other than the one about you and my dad."

   I felt my jaw hit the floor.  Holy crap!  She knew that one!

   She laughed at me and smacked me with her pillow.  Mandy frowned and
look at the both of us.  Seeing her confusion, Crystal said, "Lizzi's
banged my dad a couple of times last summer."

   Mandy's eyes went wide and she stared at me.  I felt my face burn as I
whispered, "And one other time with your mom."

   "EW!" Crystal cried.  "That is some shit I didn't need to know."

   "And I watched them do it a couple of times," I continued.

   "Oh my God!  What is it with you?"

   "He watched me shower a couple of times when I stayed over," Mandy said.

   I didn't know how it was possible, but Crystal's jaw hung ever lower.

   "Has everyone around here done kinky shit with my parents?" Crystal
yelled.

   Mandy and I looked at each other before turning to her and saying,
"Yeah."

   Pillows flew as Crystal smacked at us.  After the pillow fight was over,
I lay back on my sleeping bag looking at Crystal.

   "Are you mad at me?" I asked.

   "For having sex with my dad or not telling me?" She asked.

   "Both," I said.

   She shrugged and said, "I would have rather you told me than me hearing
the two of you doing it."

   I cringed and blushed.

   "But," she continued, "he really cares about you.  I'm pretty sure if
you were legal, he'd totally be dating you."

   "And you're okay with that?" I asked, completely blown away.

   She grinned and said, "I'd get to hang out with you more and, if I
wanted something like money, I could use you to get it."

   I laughed and then got serious.

   "So are we okay?" I asked.

   "I was pissed at first," she said.  "But, when I saw how happy my dad
was when you were around, especially after all this shit with mom, I got
over it.  It's still weird but I'll live."

   "He does have a really good body," Mandy said quietly.

   "You should see it now," I told her.  "Now that he's moved out he's
working out and he is fine."

   "I wanted to see if he'd do something with just me," Mandy said.  "I was
thinking about letting him be my first.  Too late for that now."

   Tears pooled and dropped from her eyes.  Crystal and I moved close to
her and put our arms around her.  We held her while she cried.

   "God I hate this!" She cried.  "I hate feeling so dirty and alone."

   "You're not alone," I said.

   She wiped her eyes and glared at me.

   "The hell I'm not.  Everyone in this room who's been raped, raise your
hand," she snapped, glaring at me as she threw her hand into the air.

   Her glare fell off her face when I raised mine too

   I looked past her to Crystal.  I could see the sympathy and the desire
to make it all better in her eyes and I loved her as my sister.

   "Remember the week after my birthday when I was out with the flu?" I
asked her.

   Crystal nodded and said, "It wasn't the flu."

   I snorted a laugh and said, "No, it wasn't.  I was too beat up and too
scared to come in so I had mom call me in sick.  I don't think I could have
faced anyone how I looked."

   I looked at Mandy and said, "Especially you."

   She pulled me into her arms and whispered, "I'm sorry.  I am so sorry,
Lizzi.  Please forgive me.  Please"

   I hugged her back and said, "I already did."

   We both cried and when the tears stopped I leaned back and told them the
truth.

   I told them about walking back from the store and getting dragged into
the van.  I screamed but nobody heard me as they pulled me into their
stinky van.

   They took me to a warehouse on the edge of town and dragged me inside.
They threw me down on a dirty old mattress and beat me.  I fought as they
tore off my cothes but they were too strong.

   One held me down while the other raped me.  He was brutal, forcing
himself into me, laughing at my screams.

   When he was done the other took his turn with me.

   They kept me with them for most of the day.  They took turns, one would
make me suck him off then the other would rape my pussy.  They each took a
turn raping me in the ass but the really seemed to enjoy my pussy the most.

   When they were done with me they threw me in the van and dumped me on a
road outside of town.

   I laid in the dirt for over an hour before a car finally saw me and
stopped.  The hospital was almost as bad as the attack.

   Mandy nodded and said, "You have to tell the doctor what happened.  Then
you have to tell the cops and they need all the details for their report.
It's like living it all over again."

   I told them about my mother coming to see when.  It took a day for
someone to find her and finally bring her to the hospital.  She was high
when she got there and didn't understand what they were telling her.  I
finally told her to just sign the release papers so I could go home.

   "What a fucking bitch," Crystal said.  "Did she ever figure out why she
had to pick you up at the hospital?"

   "No," I said bitterly.  "Until tonight, I was the only one that knew."

   "Why didn't you tell me soon goddamit?" Crystal demanded.  "I'm your
best friend and I would have been here for you."

   "I was afraid you wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore," I
whispered, new tears running down my face.

   She crawled over and pulled me into her arms.

   "I love you, you big dummy head," she said, kissing the top of my head.
"You're practically my stepmom."

   The tears stopped as the laughter took me away from my pain.  We sat
there for a few minutes before we looked at Mandy.

   She bit her lip and slowly told her tale.

   She'd been driving over to Jennifer's, of all people.  She'd had all of
her doors unlocked, not a worry in the world, until the guy got into her
car at a stop sign.

   He put a gun against her side and told her to drive.  She obeyed every
order, hoping he'd just take her car and let her go.

   When they turned off the main roads and headed out on one of logging
roads she'd felt her hope slip away.

   He made her stop and get out of the car.  He'd made her beg for her
life. He'd pulled down his pants and exposed himself to her, telling her if
she sucked him really god he'd let her go.

   Mandy had done as he'd asked, even swallowing every drop of him, feeling
a faint hop he'd let he go.  He hadn't.  He'd beaten her before he'd raped
her.  He kept her for over eight hours, raping her pussy five times and
making her suck him off twice more.

   He'd hit her in the head with the gun, knocking her out, before he took
off with her car.  Loggers found her the next morning.  They'd approached
and, seeing them, she'd started screaming.  She hadn't stopped until the
paramedics had given her a sedative and knocked her out.

   Her parents had been there for her but she didn't want to talk to them.
She hadn't wanted to talk to anyone.  Then, the first day back, when
everyone already knew and she couldn't lie and say she'd been in a car
accident, it had nearly crushed her.

   "I thought about killing myself," she said.

   "Me too," I told her.

   "I kept trying to get myself clean.  I'd take six or seven showers a day
but I couldn't get clean no matter how hard I scrubbed," she said.

   "I had to go back to the hospital a couple of times," I said.  "I used a
Brillo pad and scraped my skin until I bled."

   "That's why you were wearing long sleeves," Crystal said.

   "Yeah," I said.

   Crystal shook her head and said, "I wished I could have figured it out.
I wish I could have been a better friend."

   I took her hand and said, "There's no way you could have been a better
friend.  You're the best.  And, I think I needed to wait until now.  Until
someone needed to talk as much as I did."

   Mandy put her hand on ours and squeezed.

   We were quiet for a while before Crystal broke the silence.

   "So what do we do now?" She asked.

   "I say we go back to talking about how hot your dad is," I said.

   "I'm all for that," Mandy agreed.

   Crystal screamed and came at us with both pillows.

   *****

   Later on that night, after Crystal was snoring, I heard Mandy sobbing. I
got out of my sleeping bag and crawled over to hers.  I slid in with her
and held her while she cried.

   "Don't cry, Mandy," I said.  "It's over and you're safe here with us."

   "I know," she sobbed.  "I'm crying because of you."

   "Why me?"

   "Because of how I treated you," she said.  "After all the shit I did to
you, and that stuff with Mitch, after all of that you're here for me."

   "I told you to let that go," I said.  "It's the past and I forgive you."

   "I don't forgive me though," she said.  "Maybe I deserved this.  Maybe
being so mean..."

   I cut her off by slapping her.  I hit her lightly, just enough to sting
and make her stop talking.

   "Don't you ever say that again," I hissed at her.  "You were mean to me,
yes.  I should have beat your ass a couple of times, yes.  But nothing
you've ever done to me would ever make me wish this on you.  Even at your
cruelest, you didn't deserve this.  Do you understand me?"

   I held her a little longer, until I was sure her tears were done.  I
crawled back over to my sleeping bag and got in.

   "Lizzi?"

   "Yes, Mandy?"

   "You're the best," she said.

   "No, I'm the best," Crystal said.  "We established that earlier.  Now
will you loud mouthed bitches shut up so a girl can get her beauty sleep?"

   Mandy snorted and said, "You need all you can get, bitch."

   We laughed and again the pillows flew around the room.  I wasn't healed,
not by far, but, a little bit of the pain was gone and that was good.

   *****

   We became inseparable after that.  When one of us needed a shoulder the
other two were there.  Any time Jennifer walked past us in the cafeteria
we'd grab our trays and rattle them.  As she ran away, we'd laugh.

   Mrs.  Davis stopped me one afternoon as I was leaving and had me come
into her classroom.  She closed the door and said, "You and Crystal have
done wonders for Mandy.  I'm proud of both of you."

   I was very embarrassed by such praise so I just shrugged and said, "It's
no big thing."

   "I think it is," she said.  "I think she helps you as much as you help
her.  Am I right?

   I looked up.  I was right, she'd known my secret all along.  I looked up
at her and felt my jaw drop.  She'd known what I was going through because
she'd seen all the signs in me.  Signs she'd seen in herself.

   She gave me a nod.

   "Yes, I was," she said.  "I know too damn well what you're going through
and I wish to God I didn't but I do.  If you ever need to talk, I'm here
for you."

   "Thank you," I said, my voice shaking.

   "You're welcome.  Now go be with your friends."

   I did as she said and, as the school year came to an end I no longer had
a best friend.  I had two sisters.

   *****

   (Hi there, it's Lizzi, the author again.  If you made it this far, thank
you.  This is probably the hardest thing I've ever written.  It doesn't
even do by half the pain I went through that year but I felt a need to
share it.

   I had to share it because Mandy became a fixture in my life.  She and
Crystal truly are my sisters and I feel so blessed to have them both still
in my life to this day.

   Now I promise to go back to being less depressing and dark but, to get
to the good places in life, you have to travel through the worst first.)