Harmless by Dana Reinhardt

If you lie and hold to the lie, will you get away with it? Who will suffer because of your lie? How will your life be changed?

Three private school freshmen girls, are sort of friends since they don't really fit anywhere else. One, Mariah, is dating an older guy from the public high school. Hoping to get more time with her BF she invites the other girls along for a sort of party, a chance to meet older public school guys too.

This sounds pretty cool even though their parents would never agree to it. So they just tell the parents they are sleeping over at each others' homes - no one ever checks. So far so good and Emma hooks up with one of the guys though she was quite drunk and doesn't clearly remember whether it was a good experience or not. She suspects not.

Next time, they tell the parents they are going to a movie. No problem, except that one set of parents decides to go to the same movie and - no girls.. They are so busted.

In a panic they concoct a story about being attacked as they sat by the river talking until time for the movie..Police are called in, they become famous at school and in the news for fending off the attacker, but things are not ok. Guilt plagues Emma, an innocent man is accused of the crime, one of the girls, Anna loves the attention and a new BF so much, she isn't going to get the man off the hook, Mariah has lost her older BF who was just using her and is in depression.

Things draw to a head when the girls are arrested at school in front of their classmates after Emma caves. Yes you can be sent to jail for accusing, unjustly an innocent person. But you all will have to read to find out how the situation is eventually resolved.

JDW 7/9/07