"So basically I've slept with every boy in the whole school?" Francie asked Veronica.

Veronica turned sympathetic eyes to her beautiful friend. "I'm sorry, Francie. I know it's not true."

"Not that it should even matter, like I keep saying," Francie said, practically pulling her hair out in frustration. "It's nobody's business whom I do or do not fuck, right? Even if it's everybody, boy and girl!" 

"You're right, you're right," Veronica agreed, patting Francie's shoulder. 

They were sitting in the little yard outside the library, simply because there were fewer people to stare at Francie there. It was a very warm spring day, with barely a month left of school. They should've been talking about Prom, like everyone else, but there was a new rumor about Francie roaring through the school, and Francie couldn't put it out of her mind.

"Doesn't anyone care that I wasn't even at that stupid party?" She turned to her friend, trying to keep the tears out of her voice. "And didn't even one of the boys I was supposed to have been with speak up to say that it wasn't true?"

The latest rumor involved Francie and at least seven boys at a party uptown. Someone even purported to have the thong she'd been wearing that night; they were being passed around the school with the moniker, "Francie's Panties," as a joke.

Dr. Alvarez had asked Francie again if she wouldn't rather study from home for a few days, but Francie had flatly refused, saying she'd done nothing wrong, and wasn't going to run and hide as if she had.

"My parents are so worried about me," she confessed. "They want me to home study from home, too, you know? They can't stand the idea that I'm coming to school every day to get gossiped about and teased to my face. And poor Clio is furious. Now that everything's all worked out between her and Archie, she wants to cut class at Columbia and come here with me so she can quote beat the living shit out of some people end quote. Isn't that hilarious? Can you imagine my gentle big sister beating the living shit out of anyone?"

Veronica shook her head. "You're the one who always beat the shit out of people, Francie," she said with a laugh.

"And you know, it's not like I wouldn't, if only I knew who it was," Francie informed her. "That's the thing about rumors--they have no beginning, they just spring up from nowhere.

"Oh," she added as an afterthought. "Chester asked me to Prom."

"He did?" Veronica squealed. "How exciting!"

Francie shrugged. "I guess. With all this other stuff going on, I'm just not in a very Prom kind of place, you know?" She looked at her friend. "You going to go?"

"Probably with Tyler, unless someone more exciting asks me," Veronica answered.

"Why don't you two just admit you like each other and date for real?" Francie asked.

"Tyler and me?" Veronica asked in surprise. "We don't! We're just friends."

"Right," Francie responded drily.

The bell rang, and the friends rose. 

"See you after school?"

"Yup."

Francie went to class, steeling herself for the looks that she knew were coming her way. Boys she'd only ever said hello to were giving her lascivious glances, and she knew they were imagining her without her clothes on, or in the ridiculous thong that was making the rounds.

She made it through the afternoon and swam extra hard at practice, for the first time feeling uncomfortable in her suit, feeing immodest and exposed. These feelings made her angry. There was nothing wrong with her body, dammit, and nothing wrong with the way it looked in her practice suit. She knew that even the boys on the team, whom she'd considered her friends, were talking and whispering about her, and Coach chose today to have her get up on the blocks and demonstrate a proper racing dive, how to leave quickly without hesitating after the start.

She briefly considered telling Coach she didn't feel well and didn't want to do the demo, knowing he wouldn't force her, because she didn't like knowing that everyone would be looking at her body as she stood all alone on the blocks, but again, she became angry with herself and pushed the thought away.

"Sure, Coach." Francie boosted herself out of the pool and climbed up on the block in her sopping wet suit, feeling everyone's eyes on her as she bent over and grasped the edge of the block and tucked her head. Coach blew his whistle and Francie took off, pointing her toes and exploding off the block in a near perfect racing dive.

Francie streamlined out of the dive before surfacing and turning toward Coach to see if he wanted her to do another one.

"You all see? Almost no time between my whistle and when she leave," Coach yelled to the observers. "Even though she going through hell in her personal life, she don't let anything interfere with her concentration, she use it to propel her off the block.

"Beautiful dive, Francie, just beautiful," he added to her. "You can get out, you finished for the day."

"Oh. Okay, thanks, Coach." Francie blinked in surprise and swam back to the wall, where she once again boosted herself out of the pool. This time, though, she just walked off the deck, after first waving good bye to Allegra and a few of the other girls.

She took a quick shower and headed home, where she heard the news that there might be a break in finding who did the graffiti at school.

"Someone at the police department thinks they recognize the artwork, believe it or not," her mother told her. "Apparently, she's a collector of graphic art, and she thinks she's seen that person's art before. She just doesn't remember where, so she's started going through old catalogues and stuff, trying to find other examples of their work." She hugged Francie and bussed her curly hair. "It's not much, but it's more than we had before, right, love?"

Francie nodded, and sighed. "I'm just so tired of this, mom, you know?"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. Somehow I'm involved in all this, and I'm really sorry, Francie," Daisy said, giving her daughter an apologetic look.

"But Mom, you know I don't blame you, right?" Francie told her mother sincerely.

"I know you don't, and I thank you for that." Daisy put an arm around her second daughter's shoulder. "Come on, let's go find some ice cream or something. 

"Ooh, sounds good."

As they were eating their ice cream with spoons straight from the carton, Francie told her mother about Chester asking her to Prom.

Daisy's eyes lit up. "Francie, how marvelous! We have to get you a new dress!"

Francie nodded. "Maybe we can take Lottie, Brina and Finn, too, make a day of it? They'll enjoy it so much, won't they?"

Daisy gave Francie a soft look. "You're such a good sister. They couldn't ask for a better sister than you. Or Clio, either," she added.

"Now that you mention her, won't Clio want to come, too?" Francie asked.

"Hold on, there, no one's going to want all of us to go," Daisy objected with a laugh.

"Well, we'll work something out," Francie assured her. 

"So, are you really okay with Lottie and Brina walking Finn home without you?" she asked, changing the subject. 

Daisy smiled as she took another spoonful of ice cream. "I think so. I mean, lots of kids Finn's age walk home totally alone, don't they? He'll be with them, and they're in middle school already. Your dad and I went to pick him up for us, not for him, and we're lucky he let us do it for so long, we know that. And now we're lucky he's letting his sisters do it and doesn't insist on walking home alone, that it doesn't occur to him to be more independent.

"Speaking of which, they should be home any minute now, I suppose we should leave some of this ice cream for them, shouldn't we?"

Seconds later, they heard the ding of the elevator engaging, and knew that the three youngest Santangelos were on their way up. 

As soon as the door slid open in the foyer, Francie called out, "We have ice cream, guys!"

"Okay!" Lottie responded, sounding like sunshine. 

"Be there in a sec, we have to go the bathroom first," her sister added.

There were general shuffling sounds as they took off backpacks and shoes, then the sounds of the threesome going down the hall to the bathroom.

Daisy and Francie looked at each other. 

"All three of them had to go to the bathroom at once? Together?" Francie asked her mother.

"Before they even came in here to say hello? Or check what kind of ice cream?" Daisy added.

They rose and quickly walked toward the bathroom to see what was up.

Francie reached for the bathroom door, only to find it locked. She could hear whispering, and the sound of running water. 

"No, don't use that towel, it will stain!"

"Well, what should I use, then?"

"Uh, toilet paper? I don't know, Mom usually does this kind of stuff!"

This mysterious conversation was taking place between Lottie and Brina.

"Ow, that really hurts! Are you doing it right?" This was from Finn.

"Sorry, sorry!"

"Children, open this door right now!" Daisy demanded, knocking with authority. "You know we don't lock doors in this house, ever."

All of the scuffling and talking on the other side of the door stopped immediately and was replaced by dead silence for a few seconds. Then Francie and Daisy heard the sound of the door being unlocked.

"Now open the door, please," Daisy continued. She would never open a door that the children felt the need to lock.

Slowly, the door opened, and she was confronted with the tableau of little Finn sitting on the counter, a bloody cut at the corner of his mouth and blood dripping from road rash on his knee as Brina stood in front of him holding a wad of toilet paper. Lottie stood holding the door. All three were staring at her, stricken.

"Oh my god, what happened?" Francie was the first to speak.

Daisy took a deep breath and turned to go for the first aid kit, not waiting to hear.

Finn, who looked as though he'd been crying, burst into fresh tears at the accusation in his sister's voice.

"I know you told me not to, and I tried, Lala, I really did, I tried to be the bigger person, but Liam was saying really bad things about you," Finn sobbed, "and it made me so mad, and then he said he wasn't going to play with me anymore, and he wasn't going to let his sister Gretel play with me anymore either, and I got so mad I pushed him down! And then he got up and hit me in the mouth and then he pushed me too and I fell and skinned my leg right here." And he pointed miserably at his knee.

Daisy, who'd returned by now with the first aid kit, asked, "Where was the yard duty? Or any adult?"

"It happened after school," Lottie explained. "While he was waiting for us. Ms. Allison was in the bathroom with Rachel James because she was throwing up so no grown up saw Liam do it, then they left before we got there, and Ms. Allison was still in the bathroom with Rachel, so we just took Finn and left. Was that wrong?" Lottie and Brina looked worried. "We're sorry."

"No, girls, you did nothing wrong," Daisy reassured them as she began dabbing at Finn's knee.

He hissed and grabbed his leg, but took the pain, leaning into Francie for comfort.

Francie hugged her little brother, closing her eyes. "God, Finny, I'm so, so sorry. I never, ever thought you'd have to pay for what's going on with me." 

She turned to her mother. "This has to end, Mom. I can't have it affecting them like this, I can't."

"We're okay," Lottie and Brina assured her. "We can take it. We always defend you whenever anyone says anything."

"You've heard stuff, too?" Francie asked in despair. "Oh god." She began to cry. "I'm so sorry, you guys."

Finn let go of his leg and hugged Francie, hard. "I love you, Francie, and it just makes me so mad when people say mean stuff about you."

"I love you, too, fratello mio, and I'm going to put a stop to this, one way or another, I promise, okay?"