As Lavinia lay with the sheet over her head, the whispers around her got louder, until she could no longer tune them out. She could hear the snide comments from Annette worming their way into the other girls. What started as a light suggestion bloomed into an assumption, one that not even Helen seemed to argue against. Only Rosie stayed out of it. She climbed into the bunk above Lavinia's and hung her feet over the edge.
Lavinia lay in bed the rest of the day, keeping out of sight of the other girls. She did not want to engage with their accusations, nor did she want to give them any more fuel. The sheet hid the marks on her neck and chest, marks that under closer inspection, did not all contain punctures. Some were merely bruised and broken blood vessels like Lavinia had seen on f
