The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

On Tuesday, Kristen took a day off from school to meet her parents in Chicago. She told me it was something to do with her inheritance, which was going to be fully hers in just a few weeks.

I would miss Kristen, but Patty picked me up in the morning. I didn’t give Patty a chance to stop her car when I came running out of the house.

“You look happy today, for a guy whose love of his life is a hundred miles away,” Patty observed.

I thought about this already. “Kristen’s trip to Austria made me realize that there are other things to life than having to have Kris with me every minute of every day,” I explained. “Today, I have the opportunity to maybe talk to you or Sherry in the lunchroom. I can also work on one of my pet projects that I most definitely can not work on at Kristen’s place.”

“Pet project?” Patty asked.

“It’s a surprise for Kristen,” I said. “So, of course, I cannot work on it over there.”

“Is it something for her birthday?”

“Hopefully,” I said, hoping that I could get it finished in time for a party.

“That sounds cool. Have you given any thought to throwing Kristen a party?”

I sighed. “What kind of a party do you give a millionaire who has everything?”

Patty stopped dead at an intersection and looked at me sternly. “Don’t you ever think that of Kristen! Until she met you, she told me she only had one other boyfriend in her life. She was lonely when she met you, you know.”

“She has me now,” I pointed out, a bit sheepishly.

“I don’t know much about that other boyfriend, but he made a hell of an impression on her,” Patty said, once again driving. “He must be a tough act to follow.”

“I met that guy,” I said, not knowing how much Patty knew about Kristen and her brother.

“I’m surprised she told you who it was. You’ve met him?”

“I met him a couple of months ago,” I said. “He’s a great guy, actually. They still like each other very much.”

“You don’t seem very jealous of him,” Patty said, narrowing her eyes.

“I’m not. We actually got along nicely. He doesn’t live around here any more.”

“I’ve never seen her dating,” Patty said. “Of course, until this year, we didn’t move through the same crowds.”

I didn’t add much and Patty continued to drive.

Patty said, “I know for a fact that Kristen really enjoys the simple things. Your fish-hook necklace really impressed her, you know. She also told me about the watch chain she made for you. That’s Kristen’s style. She doesn’t spend money just to impress people, and she isn’t impressed by money, either.”

I nodded. Patty pointed out something that I was avoiding trying to think about. “So, what do you think I should do for a birthday party?”

“I’m not sure, Jim,” Patty said, pulling into the school parking lot. “I suggest you trust your instincts. Almost everything you do for Kristen screams to her how much you love her. You come up with great ideas and you instinctively do the one thing that only you can do best.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said, smiling.

Camille was waiting at the front of the school in her regular spot. She smiled as Patty and I approached. “Poor baby. No Kristen today?”

“Nope. I got a ride with this ravishing red head instead,” I said with a grin.

Camille giggled in response. “He’s got a girl in every port!”

“Cut that out, you two!” Despite her protest, Patty was giggling as well.

“I think Jim is a real Romeo. How many other tenth graders have a bunch of senior co-eds who are willing to do things for him?” Camille asked.

Patty smiled. “I was just telling Romeo here that he has great romantic ideas. We were talking about what we could do for Kristen’s eighteenth birthday.”

I noticed the plural “we” in Patty’s sentence. Somehow, I felt better that Patty seemed willing to sign up to help out in whatever way she could.

“I would really like to do something on a grandiose scale,” I said. “Something that Kristen herself can’t do. I just don’t have any idea what I can do.”

“Well, count me in if you need any help,” Camille offered.

I moved over and kissed Camille on the cheek, a move that was noticed by a few students.

“Thank you, Romeo!” Camille quipped.

I sighed, bade farewell to the two seniors, and headed for home room. I heard the name “Romeo” being repeated behind me. I wondered which nickname was worse: Oogie or Romeo?

Lunch period consisted of Sherry and Patty offering me ideas on what we could possibly do for Kristen’s eighteenth birthday. Sherry seemed pleased as punch to be included in the deliberations. There were now three people who were willing to help me plan something.

“How about renting a hall and inviting, like, lots of people?” Sherry suggested.

I pointed out how much that sort of thing would cost. Unlike Kristen, spending money was a bit more difficult for me. I wanted extravagance, but I did have financial limitations.

“And what would you do for entertainment?” Patty pointed out. “A rock band costs money!”

I was thinking along the same lines, but now Patty’s remark hit home. Maybe a rock band would cost money, but there was already a band full of people who loved Kristen and might be able to provide at least a few song numbers. With a proper sound system, it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a student deejay to play songs, either. How much could that cost?

Suddenly, ideas were starting to come to mind.

“Jim, are you there?” Patty asked, noticing my distraction.

“Patty, you’re a genius!”

“Huh? Me? That’s Camille’s department,” Patty said.

“A rock band!” I exclaimed, more possibilities coming to me now. “That’s a fucking great idea! Now, we just need a venue.”

“What rock band?” Sherry asked.

“Sherry, I’m the conductor of a kick-ass jazz band,” I said. “There’s no reason we can’t play rock and roll!”

“You still need a location... or are you thinking about using the school?” Patty asked.

“Hmmm,” I said, thinking. “Actually, the school might be a good idea,” I said. “I think we should consider that only as a last resort. I’m in good with Mr. Yank and Mr. Proilet, but I don’t want to wear out my welcome just yet.”

“So, where will you hold the party?” Sherry asked.

I smiled, the final piece of the puzzle finally fitting into place. “The big problem is money, right?”

The two girls nodded their heads.

“So we find somebody with money!”

“Who? Kristen?” Sherry asked.

“No. Kristen’s not a possibility,” I said, smiling broader now. “Her parents, on the other hand...”

“Ooh,” Patty said. “Her parents would help out in a second!”

“Cool!” Sherry said.

The subject changed, and the two girls were talking about something or other while my mind was working logistics.

I entered the school’s front office, having gotten an office pass from the substitute teacher in English class.

I smiled at the receptionist. “Is Mr. Yank available?”

“Mr. Crittenhouse,” the receptionist recognized me, smiling. “I hope this visit isn’t as disruptive as the one earlier this week.”

“I just need some information,” I answered, also smiling. “I’m trying to put together a birthday party for Kristen Swift, and I wondered if Mr. Yank has her father’s business phone number.”

The receptionist said, “A birthday party?”

“Her eighteenth,” I answered. “I figured her father might be planning something, and I was working on some ideas of my own, but I want to talk to him somewhere where I know that Kris won’t be around...”

The receptionist looked toward Mr. Yank’s office, whose door was closed. “He’s in there with Ms. Tomago right now, and I don’t think this is an opportune time for anybody—especially you—to interrupt him. Let me see if I can get that information for you.” She left toward the back of the office.

A few minutes passed and another secretary came out. “Are you James... sorry... Jim Crittenhouse?”

“Yes.”

“I have the information you requested,” she said, handing me two pieces of paper.

The first was a library pass, and the second was a piece of memo pad with the phone number for Swift Holdings, where Kristen’s father was the founder and chairman.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said politely.

I took my cue from the hall pass and left for the library, which was just a few doors down the hall. I showed my pass to the librarian, who took it without really looking at it.

I was surprised to see Camille sitting at one of the desks.

“Hi, Cammy! Do you live here?”

Camille looked up from her book and smiled. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have English?”

“Ms. Taylor is out today,” I explained. “The substitute gave me a front office pass, and when I was in the front office, the receptionist gave me a library pass for the rest of the period.”

“Why the front office pass?”

“I needed Kristen’s father’s business number. I need help planning Kristen’s birthday party, and I figured that he might be planning something as well. I can let him worry about renting a hall or whatever he wants to do, and get whatever family or friends that he’d like to get. I wanted to see what I could contribute.”

Camille looked impressed. “That’s a great idea, Jim!”

“Kristen doesn’t have much family,” I said. “There’s her brother Will, and he’s at college. I bet we could have him come out here to celebrate his sister’s eighteenth birthday.”

This brought a thoughtful look from Camille. “Is that a good idea? What is the relationship between Will and Kristen?”

“Will worships the ground Kristen walks on,” I said. “I met him in Boston last year.”

“If you say so,” Camille shrugged. “I remember...”

I knew what Camille was going to say. “It’s not like that. They really do love one another, Cammy.”

“I’ll take your word for it, Jim.”

“Anyway, I think I can get the people from the jazz band to play a special set for Kristen,” I said. “I’ll need to ask them privately tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to get Amy to distract Kris for a bit tomorrow.”

Camille smiled as she heard me thinking aloud.

“Enough about Kristen,” I said, finally winding down. “What are you reading?”

“Dostoevsky,” Camille answered. ”Crime and Punishment. A classic.”

“An assignment for school?”

“Nah. Light reading.”

I wasn’t familiar with the work, and her dismissive comment would only make sense to me a few years later when I actually was assigned to read the book. She was doing some heady reading for a high school senior.

“Kris seemed a little jealous on Friday when we talked for a couple of hours. Since she’s out of town, would you like to talk some more this afternoon?”

Camille thought for a bit. “No. I need to take my mother to the doctor’s today. Annual physical.”

“Oh, well. I thought I’d try. People expect to see me with a blonde, you know.”

“I’m not your Goddess, Jim,” Camille pointed out. “I mean, I love you and...” Camille paused, apparently shocked at what she just said.

“What?”

“I mean... I love... shit!” Camille looked upset.

I was very concerned. “What’s wrong, Camille?”

Camille looked at me, saying nothing for a couple of minutes. Finally, she said, quietly, “Fuck. I’ll take you home today. Come with me to the doctor’s office.”

“With your mother?”

Camille sighed and nodded.

“Sure.”

There were only a few more minutes left of school.

“Let’s go now,” Camille said.

“Now? The bell hasn’t rung!”

“Won’t matter,” Camille said. “Perk of being in the Honor Society.”

“What?” I asked.

Camille didn’t answer. Instead, she dragged me out of the library, leaving her book on the table. The librarian saw us but said nothing.

We were alone in the parking lot, and Camille went straight to her car and said, “Come on, get in.”

Once inside the car, Camille said, “Jim, something happened after our conversation the other day.”

“What?” I asked.

“Remember how I said that I was drawn to you?”

“Yeah...” I said, confused.

“It’s stronger now. Sometimes when I’m with you, it gets really strong. Like just now in the library.”

“You’re drawn to me?”

“Jim, I’ve never, ever loved anybody,” Camille said, starting her car. There were tears in her eyes. “Not romantically. I’ve fucked, sucked, licked and done whatever with countless people—some who I can’t even remember—but I never loved anybody.”

“How about Patty?” I asked.

“Patty likes me, but I think she pities me. That’s not love,” Camille said, starting to sob.

I didn’t think Patty’s relationship with Camille was based on pity, but I said nothing. Luckily, Lake Shore Point wasn’t far away. Camille pulled in and parked the car. She turned to me and said, “Jim, what I feel for you, I’ve felt for nobody else. I know you don’t love me and... for some reason, I don’t care.”

“You love me?” I asked, stupidly. “Why?”

“I don’t know! I know you didn’t do anything,” Camille said. “I felt it strongly when we were here last week, and it got stronger when I kissed you last week. I’m...” Camille’s voice faltered and was replaced by sobs.

I didn’t know what to do with this. Girls were falling in love with me, and there was no explanation about what was happening. Back in September, Patty told me that Kristen loved me, and then a couple of weeks later, Sherry told me the same thing. Now I was hearing it from Camille. What was happening to me?

Another more interesting question was, if Camille felt this way last week, was it a good idea that we were back here at Lake Shore Point? I liked Camille as a friend. She helped heal a rift between Kristen and me and she was one of the smartest people I knew. I knew about her reputation, although I was taken aback that both Kristen and Patty seemed to know that she was bisexual.

“Camille, it’s probably not a good idea for us to be here...”

“It’s OK,” Camille answered, sniffing. “I’m not about to rape you, you know. I’m quite capable of controlling my actions. I think it’s those damned tickets. It’s the only explanation.”

Deep inside me, despite my concern about my friend, a soothing thought came into my mind. “Calm down, Camille,” I said.

Camille nodded and started to take deep breaths.

I saw my friend start to calm down. “Kiss me,” I said.

“Huh?” Camille said, confused.

Nevertheless, she moved closer to me, her lips pursed.

As our lips met, I kissed Camille. I felt her tongue touch my lips, but I knew instinctively that this was not the time for that. I kept my lips closed, and Camille noticed and stopped.

We continued kissing for a minute and finally, Camille broke away from it.

“What did you do?” Camille asked, amazed.

“I just kissed you,” I answered.

“That feels much better,” Camille said. “It’s as if this hungry need that was there is now gone!”

I smiled. “I’m happy that Doctor Jim was able to help!”

The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Jim?” Camille asked.

“What, Camille?” I asked softly.

“How did you know what to do?”

I shrugged. The idea just popped into my head, and I wasn’t particularly sure that I knew the answer to that question.

“I haven’t felt this calm in years,” Camille said. “Not since Debbie...”

“Forget about Debbie for now,” I said soothingly.

Camille closed her eyes. When she opened them, I saw a new expression on her face. “What did you do?”

I shrugged again. “I kissed my friend.”

“Jim... I love you! Not like Kristen does, but like a friend! I have never had a real friend.”

“Patty loves you,” I said. “So does Lynette.”

“Perhaps, but I never really trusted their love.”

“I think that’s what you were missing, Camille. Trust.”

“Huh?”

“Remember last week when I asked you to trust me?” I said, only now understanding things as I was saying them. “You did. I think that was the first time you really trusted somebody. I could have made you a slave with the tickets, just as your sister did. I didn’t do it. You trusted me, and I passed your test.”

“Trust?”

“Trust,” I repeated. “When I asked you about Patty before, you said she pitied you. She loves you! You just never trusted her motives!”

“It can’t be that simple!” Camille’s eyes were wide with amazement.

“Do you really love me?” I asked.

“I think... no... I know I love you.”

“It’s not a romantic love, though. Right?”

Camille thought about it. “No. A few minutes ago, I could have sworn it was, but now... no, it’s not romantic!”

I smiled. “Do you feel as mixed up as you were before?”

Camille actually smiled. “No, Jim! I feel wonderful!”

“You need to learn to trust people, Camille,” I said. “People such as Patty and me love you and want to help you.”

The cheerleader nodded her head slowly. “It’s not going to be easy, you know.”

“It never is, but trust pays off handsomely in the end, Cammy.”

“May I have another kiss, Jim?”

“Of course, if you use the right word?”

“Which one?”

“What’s the most important thing for you right now?”

“Trust?” Camille asked, not sure where I was going.

“It’s something that I learned the hard way myself, Cammy. What are we?”

“Friends!” Camille said happily.

“Friends!” I repeated.

The two of us kissed once more. This time, there was no tongue trying to probe my lips. Instead, we shared an intimate kiss as two close and very dear friends.

When we finally broke it off, I looked at the clock on Camille’s dashboard. “What time is your mother’s appointment?”

“Five,” Camille answered. There were about forty-five minutes to go.

“Think you can drop me off at my house first?”

“No problem,” Camille grinned. “You only live a couple of blocks from me.”

Camille started up her engine and pulled out of the parking lot.

When we got to my driveway, Camille kissed me briefly and then said, “I’m going to need to have a long talk with Patty tonight. Thank you, Jim!”

“Thank you, friend!”

At home, I thought about what just transpired between Camille and me.

I didn’t tell Camille everything that I realized, but I knew that she was intelligent enough to put in the missing pieces herself.

Camille’s public life was a lie for a good many years. She was not the nymphomaniac whore that her sister turned her into. She was not really the person she showed to all her so-called friends.

A lot of this she would have to discover herself. For now, she needed to trust some people. Like Patty, life had not been easy for Camille.

It wasn’t an easy lesson for me, and I was just now learning it, even though I’d experienced this for months.

I somehow earned Patty’s trust before she could tell me about the experience that traumatized her. I needed to earn Kristen’s trust before she fell in love with me. I showed Sherry that I trusted her when I gave her that note that I had written to Kristen. Camille needed to learn to trust somebody to understand that she had friends.

Trust was a powerful thing.

Could it somehow be the secret of the tickets?

The next morning started out as a day that could only be described as “raw.” It was dark, dismal, and cold. It felt as if it would rain or snow any minute. I looked out the front window and scowled. I hated this sort of weather. Unfortunately, we got a lot of it living in the Midwest.

There was a knock on our door, and when I opened it, I was greeted by the loveliest blonde Goddess who ever walked the face of the earth. I could swear that I could hear birds chirping behind her as though it were the first spring day in a scene out of the movie ”Bambi.”

One smile from Kristen could probably melt a tornado away!

“What are you gawking at?” Kristen asked, amused at my reaction to seeing her.

I didn’t answer, but merely sighed. “How was Chicago?”

“Busy,” Kristen answered. “Lots of things that I needed to hear. Nothing is official until I’m eighteen, but my mother is starting to put things in motion.”

My response was a shrug. Money matters never bothered me. I mean, if one has no money, then there’s very little to bother somebody.

“Where’s your case?” Kristen asked, a little put off that I didn’t invite her inside, nor was I ready to go out with her to drive to the school.

“Oh!” I said. I turned and found my attaché case. “Thanks for reminding me. I have homework to hand in.”

“Are you ready to leave?” Kristen asked.

“Sure,” I said, moving out.

Kristen yelled “good-bye” to my mother and Merry, and I inwardly chided myself for not having invited Kristen inside the house.

In the Camaro, Kristen pulled onto the main street and headed toward the high school. She asked, “Did you miss me?”

“Of course,” I answered.

“So, what did you do while I was gone?”

“I talked a bit with Camille again.”

Kristen did not respond to that statement. I knew that she still harbored a little bit of jealousy from last week.

I decided it was time to get that out in the open. “Camille loves me,” I said, flatly.

“I see,” Kristen said, an edge coming to her voice.

“Not that way, Kris!” I said quickly. “I mean, she finally told me that she loves me like a friend. In fact, she specifically said that she didn’t like me romantically.”

Kristen shook her head. “She’s always been a friend...”

“No, Kris!” I said. “You don’t get it. Up until just recently, Camille never trusted anybody—and I mean that she trusted nobody! You can be a friend to people, but you’ll never feel that you have a friend until you learn to trust that person.”

“Patty loved her as a friend,” Kristen pointed out.

“And Camille never trusted that love. Camille thought that Patty actually pitied her. Camille never told Patty much about her previous sex life, even though it was common knowledge around the school, apparently. And Patty never told her about her...” I paused, wondering how much I should say. “Well, something that happened to Patty a couple of years ago.”

“That asshole that raped her?” Kristen asked.

“Exactly,” I smiled. “Patty told you, but she never told Camille. Camille put some of the pieces together, but Patty never confided in Camille.”

“And that’s all that happened? Camille has learned to trust people?”

“Yes, Kristen,” I said, softly. “After all, you never fell in love with me until I earned your trust.”

Kristen parked in the school lot and turned off the ignition. She sat silently for a minute or so and then finally turned to me and said, “What you’ve said makes sense, Jim. How did you get so smart?”

I blushed at the compliment. “I’m not that smart. I only realized why you started loving me after I was talking with Camille. As I was telling Camille, it occurred to me that it was the same between Patty and me, and you and me. Our friendships were based on trust.”

Warm lips met mine and I received one of Kristen’s erection special kisses. After we broke the kiss, Kristen snickered at me and said, “Try walking with that into school!”

I was disappointed when I got to the school entrance and didn’t see Patty or Camille. Kristen went to her homeroom, which was on the second floor, and for one of the first times during that school year, I found myself alone before home room. It was a strange feeling.

Suddenly, I saw Sherry near the entrance. My smile brightened considerably and I walked toward her.

Sherry noticed me and waited for me to join her. It was close to the start of class, but there were still a couple of minutes.

“Hi, Jim. Is Kristen still in Chicago?”

I shook my head. “Kris already left for homeroom. I thought I’d be out here by myself, but I found you. Can I walk you to class?”

“Certainly,” Sherry answered, her cheeks dimpling as she smiled.

We walked together toward our home rooms, which were a few doors down from each other. I left Sherry at her door, and then headed for my own home room.

At lunch, I found out that both Patty and Camille were both absent from school that day.

Seventh period, and after a run across the school, I was able to get Amy to agree to distract Kristen for a bit before the start of jazz band.

Most of the band agreed to help out with entertainment for Kristen’s party, and I told them that I’d alert them about information as I got it by relaying it through Mr. Proilet.

Everybody in the band noticed Amy and Kristen arrive late. I smiled at the pair, and Amy blushed at me, and silently approached her piano.

We started working on the material that I put together for the Spring Concert.

The next morning, I found Patty and Camille at their customary spot in front of the school. They were talking animatedly with each other.

When they noticed me, Camille came over to me with a determined look in her eyes and kissed me right on the mouth. I kissed back, happy that the kiss wasn’t as passionate as the first one we shared on Wednesday.

Once I broke for air, Patty kissed me the same.

I was quite breathless afterward, and Kristen just shrugged her shoulders and showed her friends what a real kiss was. It made my blood rush into the very organ that Kristen obviously targeted.

Looking up after Kristen’s kiss, I noticed that I was the center of attention of quite a lot of students, many of whom I didn’t know very well. I ended up feeling my face turn red as some good-natured cat calls came our way.

I was able to reach Kristen’s father on Friday by taking some time off from third period music class (with permission) and calling him from the pay phone outside the front office.

A secretary answered, and told me that Kristen’s father was very busy, but when I mentioned that I wanted to talk about Kristen, he came on the line almost immediately.

“Hi, Jim!”

“Hello, Mr. Swift.”

“Call me Daniel, son.”

I winced at the “son” designation. I was still more than a bit surprised at his announcement to my principal that I was his “future son-in-law.”

“Um, Daniel, this isn’t an emergency. If you are busy...”

“I always have time for you. What’s on your mind?”

“I was thinking of planning something for Kristen’s birthday, and wondered if you made any plans and if we could somehow work together...”

“I left most of that to Charley,” Mr. Swift answered, referring to his wife.

“Do you know what she’ll be doing?”

“Why don’t you give her a call?” Mr. Swift suggested. “I think the hall we rented can fit a hundred people or so easily.”

“I didn’t know Kristen’s family was that large!”

“It’s not,” Mr. Swift said. “We do have some friends. I think we were going to have about two dozen...”

“Do you think I could bring some of our friends? I have people in the band who could play a set...”

“That’s a great idea! I think Charley was trying to arrange for a deejay or something.”

“There are kids in my band who can do that. And we play jazz as well as rock and roll, if that’s your preference...”

I heard a hearty laugh on the other end. “We’re not that old, sonny.” There was more laughter and then he added, “That would be thoughtful. Do you know any Henry Mancini? That’s Charley’s favorite.”

“Our band knows ’Pink Panther’ by heart. We could add ’Moon River’ if you want.”

“Whatever you want, Jim.”

“Well, thank you, Mr. Swift... Daniel. I’ll call Mrs. Swift right now.”

“Thank you for calling me, Jim,” Mr. Swift answered. “I think Charley was going to call you tonight about the party. Inviting the jazz band would be a great idea. Where did you ever get that nickname from, anyway?”

This was the first that I realized that Kristen’s parents were at the Christmas concert last month. “It’s a nickname they came up after a recording session I did last year.”

“You have a lot of talent, son,” Mr. Swift said, his voice without any indication that he was just humoring me. “I’ve known many musicians, and I must say that you are quite extraordinary.”

I was at a loss for words. “Um, thank you...”

“I’m not trying to embarrass you, son. Thank you for calling!”

“Thank you, too.”

I hung up, and then got the information that I needed from Mrs. Swift. She seemed quite pleased with the idea of including Kristen’s friends from school as well as the band. I wrote down the basic information on a sheet of paper from my notebook, and got off the phone quickly.

As I headed back past the office, the receptionist smiled at me, giving me a wave. I smiled back and grinned on my way back to my music class.

After the class, I handed Mr. Proilet the information, and he said that he’d pass the information along. I also personally invited Mr. Proilet to the party, and he said that he’d make room in his schedule.

Patty was at lunch during fourth period, and she told Kristen, Sherry, and myself that she and Camille spent the day together, just talking.

It was amazing how much more animated Patty was. She was positively beaming at us, as if a set of flood-gates were suddenly thrown open. I was happy for her, and for Camille. They were always best friends, but never really trusted each other enough to be really open with one another. Having done so, I wondered how my two best friends would change, since change would be inevitable.

I looked longingly at Kristen near the end of lunch, and she raised her eyebrows. There was curiosity in her eyes as to why I seemed so sad when Patty was feeling so bubbly and happy.

The moment that passed between Kristen and me seemed to last an hour. Somehow, our thoughts were shared in that brief moment without a word being spoken. I was feeling a sense of loss. Although I was happy that Patty and Camille finally found a real focus to their lives, I felt a sadness that I wasn’t a part of it.

I didn’t know it then, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.