Three days after my engagement banquet ended, my parents showed up at my company.
The receptionist didn't dare stop them. By the time she called my office to alert me, they had already burst all the way to my door.
They looked like they had aged a full ten years.
Mom threw herself against my desk and burst into noisy, blubbering sobs, "Hazel! Your little sister can't take it in there! It's only been three days and she's wasted away to nothing! She says people are bullying her in there..."
Dad's voice came out rough and gravelly, "Hazel, go talk to the police. Tell them you forgive her, that you're dropping the charges, and the whole case will just go away..."
I stared at them, my face ice-cold.
"Dad, Mom, this is a criminal case," I said. "I can't just make it disappear with a word.
