"Come on, Janet, you can't live like a mole all the time. We don't want any… hard stuff. Just, well, you know, some pot or something," Julie said, straightening her back and tilting her head in an attempt to look older than she was.

"I want to go home," Janet whispered, pulling Julie to one side while keeping her eyes on the three men.

"Yeah, we got some stuff. But not here. The cops are around too much, you know. If you wanna come with us, we'll have us a little party."

Janet shuddered. Didn't Julie understand what these guys were after? Didn't she knew they wanted to… to fuck them? She could see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices! But her friend kept going on, talking with them, laughing easily and freely while the sky grew darker. Already the streetlights were turning on, casting their strange white glare on the boardwalk while residents were scurrying home.

"We got some money. We'll pay, don't worry about that," Julie said, straightening her dress.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Janet whispered again, tugging her friend away.

"Hey, little lady, come on, we ain't gonna hurt you. Yeah, we could use some extra bucks for tonight. It's the weekend and all that. Come on, it's just a short walk from here down by the canals."

"Okay," Julie said, giving her friend a superior look, then moving away.

I should stay right here until she comes back, Janet thought as she joined Julie and followed the three men down Ocean Front Walk. It was madness, insanity to go with the strange men… and on a drug-buying deal to boot! Of course she wasn't horrified at the thought of Julie buying weed. The stuff was sold at school almost as freely as milk at the cafeteria lunch line. She had tried it a couple of times at Julie's, although Janet wasn't sure whether she liked it or not.