Chapter 56

“Yes. Brigitte was the first woman I had sex with. It kind of broke the ice before I had sex with her partner. Listen, I sort of wanted to apologize to you both. Even though I was attracted to Gretchen in high school, I was afraid to be with her because of the way she got treated by the other kids. If I’d been a little braver, perhaps she wouldn’t have gotten treated as badly as she was, or they would have split their negative attention on two people instead of just one.”

“At least you were never one of those who made fun of her,” Sue said, “so thank you for that. Some of the kids were so cruel to her.”

“I know. I heard all of the negative comments. I should have spoken up for her, but I didn’t. Too afraid to take a stand for my friend. It made me almost as bad as they were.”

“At least you remained her friend, Jessica. I don’t know how many times she came home crying after a day at school.”

“I can guess, and she never deserved any of it. Deciding to do someth