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"But Mom-"

"I said no End of story"

Sa room, where Dad watched television "Dad, tell Mom I can hatever I want," she said

Dad's face turned paler than usual at the sight of the bikini "Sorry, kiddo, nothing I can do," he said

"You tays treat me like a baby I hate you!" Sa the bikini as a hankie for the rest of the night

The bikini remains in a drawer back ho Mo the situation even worse, Mo of Hannah's friends echoes in Saive her a passing glance Sheenough, some of the men's eyes follow Mom as she walks by She doesn't pay them any attention

They walk across the hot white sand until they find a relatively quiet spot near a cluster of rocks Mom and Samantha spread out towels and lie down While Mom reads a book, Sairl in a bikini like the one she bought splash a boy with tanned, ripplingto be pretty?" she asks

"Of course you are, honey When you get older"

"How old?"

"That depends Soirls develop faster than others Your ti Samantha to ponder the topic Even if she'd worn the bikini, no one would have noticed her, especially not the one with the tanned, ripplingin the sand with Mommy and Daddy

To make matters worse, Dad plops down onto the towel next to her, his body greasy and s like a medicine cabinet "Did you put the whole bottle on?" she asks

"Can't be too careful with this skin" He spreads out on the towel, shielding his eyes with a straw hat "If you sins to snore, Sa?" she asks

"All right, but stay where I can see you," Mom says

Sa they'd never decided to vacation in California So far her parents have done nothing but treat her like a baby and she knows it will only get worse tooing there alyback ride so she could see over the grown-ups He'll probably try to do the sah she doesn't need his help to see over the grown-ups anymore