Hi! It’s me! Lily!
So after the movie we all went up to play games and get ready for bed, but I noticed Crystal wasn’t there. So I went downstairs and she was huddled on the couch. I sat down next to her and asked her what was wrong.
Poor girl just threw herself at me and started crying.
After she had cried herself out, she sniffled and wiped her eyes, and said “I… I just thought I’d be happy. Now that he’s going to jail. Now that he can’t hurt anyone else. But… but I’m not happy. It doesn’t fix anything.”
I stroked her hair. “It doesn’t fix anything,” I said after a moment. “I mean, you can never really fix anything, right? But… but we’re all here now. That’s… that’s all we can do, I guess.”
“Will… will any boy ever want me?”, she asked.
I sighed. “Of course they will. You’re breathing right?”
She sniffed, but a giggle escaped.
“The right boy won’t care,” I said. “It’s not like you chose to anyway. You’re a pretty girl. Someday you’ll find the right boy and he won’t care at all. He’ll love you for everything you are. Even the bad things.”
She sighed. “I hope so.”
“I know so,” I said. “Maybe it won’t ever completely go away, but it’ll get better if you let people love you. Do you want to come up and get your hair brushed?”
She wiped her eyes and trudged up the stairs with me. We went into Beth’s room, and everyone was sitting talking quietly. I told Crystal to sit on the bed, and made an announcement.
“Girls, this is Crystal’s night. Let’s brush her hair and give her hugs and… and show her that we all love her. She needs that tonight.”
Crystal started to tear up, but the other girls took it to heart. Allison crawled into her lap like a kitten and let Crystal cuddle with her, while Beth brushed her hair and the rest of us just talked to her and told her we love her. Even Marie got in on the action and sprawled all over the two of them.
I… I guess it helped, because soon her eyes were drooping and she had the biggest, most happy smile on her face.
Otherwise it was a quiet day. I worked, came home, played with Marie, and here I am.
Life is about people who love you.
And speaking of which,