Page 130 of Good Sisters

Tears welled in her beautiful blue eyes. ‘But … Oh, no … He said it was just for fun, that he’d delete it. He said that … that I was so … beautiful … and … he was really into me … and … Oh, my God, did everyone see it?’

‘Apparently the triplets tried to wrestle his phone from him before he could show anyone else, and Liam punched him in the face to defend your honour. Liam has now been dropped from the team. Julie and Harry were called up to the school and told that their son is a disgrace.’ I laid it on thick. I wanted to drive home how her irresponsible choices had affected everyone. ‘To protect you, Liam has refused to say why he punched Sebastian. We need to keep the story quiet. Louise is talking to some lawyer friends tonight so we can figure out how to get the photo and shut Sebastian down.’

‘Oh, God, poor Liam, and Louise knows too … I’m so ashamed.’ Jess began to cry.

Half of me wanted to hug her and half of me wanted to scream at her. I did neither.

‘He has also been saying things about you, Jess, and I have to talk to you about it. I’m sorry, but I’m going to be blunt and you have to be honest. I can’t help you if you lie. You’ve lied enough. He said that you’ve been giving him blow-jobs.’

‘What?’ Jess shrieked.

‘Have you?’ I asked. We were way beyond awkwardness. We were in survival mode now. I was not beating around the bush.

‘No, Mum, I did not.’

‘Are you telling me the truth?’

‘Yes. I swear to you. He wanted me to, but I said no.’

Thank God.

‘Did you have sex with him?’

‘NO!’

‘Jess, if you lie to me, I cannot help or protect you. Your actions have caused havoc already. I cannot ask my family to defend you if you’re lying.’

Jess bawled into her hands. ‘I never did anything but kiss him and he felt my boobs. That’s it, Mum, I swear on my life.’

Looking at her, I knew it was the truth. ‘Okay, I believe you, but don’t you ever hide something like this from me again. And do not ever ask Julie to keep something like this from me. I am your mother, not Julie. I’m absolutely furious with her for not telling me. I don’t know if I can ever forgive her.’

Jess looked at me in horror. ‘Don’t be cross with Julie, Mum. I begged her not to tell you. She wanted to, but I kept pleading with her.’

‘She should have told me.’ I was never going to change my mind about that. It was way too serious an incident for Julie not to tell me. Part of me thought she was probably afraid to tell me because it showed she had neglected to look after Jess.

‘How could Sebastian do this?’ she sobbed.

‘I warned you,’ I said quietly. ‘Now, are there any other photos or videos we need to know about?’

‘No.’

‘Are you one hundred per cent sure?’

‘Yes.’ Tears rolled down her face. ‘I’m so sorry, Mum,’ she whispered. ‘I’m so ashamed.’

Good. She should be. I felt sorry for her, but I also wanted her to feel bad so she would never, ever do anything like that again. But she was still a kid, as Louise said, and we do all make mistakes. I had, there was no doubt about that.

I reached over and pulled her in for a hug. ‘It’s okay, we’ll sort it out.’

‘How?’

‘Louise is going to work out a plan and we’ll go over it tomorrow.’

Jess covered her face with her hands. ‘They must think I’m such an idiot and a slut.’

‘Hey,’ I said sharply, ‘don’t you dare call yourself a slut. You’re a fifteen-year-old who made a bad decision. It does not make you a slut. You are a victim. Remember that.’

From behind her hands she asked, ‘Does Dad know?’

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