The And the Hi Joel, this is my first time writing to you and since this is a very sensitive topic

in my old hometown, I'd rather remain anonymous if that's okay with you. I had a friend back

in elementary school, not my closest friend, but we moved in the same circles, and at one point

she invited me over to her house for a sleepover.

I was only too happy to accept, it sounded fun, but little did I know it was a night that

would have some seriously far-reaching implications. So this friend of mine will call her Annie, lived with her mom

and step-dad. They seem like nice enough folks and their place was nice enough but I guess

a lot of us come to learn as we grow older

appearances can be deceptive. On the night of the sleepover her mom wasn't due

home until later in the evening. This meant that we were in the care of my friend's stepdad and because of our bedtime,

we weren't likely to see her mom until the following morning. This was no big deal to me at all,

but it was to my friend, who kept bringing it up at odd moments while we were playing.

It also became increasingly obvious that she didn't really like her stepdad at all that much,

which I guess is about par for the course for some children of divorce, so I didn't really read into it all that much.

But then came bedtime. We got into our PJs, brushed our teeth, and went back to Annie's bedroom to climb into bed.

I asked if she had a nightlight or anything and went to turn off the bedroom's main light,

but she stopped me, telling me that her stepdad would be up soon to check on us.

Only when he made sure that we were tucked in bed would we be allowed to turn the nightlight on and

talk for a while. It seemed like a weirdly strict way of doing things, but I figured that I

better just respect their systems, so I lay down on the blow-up mattress that they'd put down

for me and got tucked in.

I remember talking to Annie about something.

...