"You'd tell me, right?" I called after her when she was out of my car. "If something was happening to you?" I leaned over the passenger seat to look at her, knowing I was making a hash of this, but needing to say it anyway. "You'd tell me if someone was giving you trouble at school?" Shannon stood with her hand gripping my car door for the longest moment, big blue eyes locked on mine. Finally, she nodded. I felt my body sag in relief. "Bye, Johnny," she whispered and then she closed the door. "Bye, Shannon," I muttered to myself as I turned the key in the engine.
