Ethelinda was mopping the floor of her and her mothers small house. Her mom was at work. Ever since her father had left years ago, her mother had no choice but to work three jobs, a total of fifty hours a week. She worked as a waitress, a bartender and a maid.

Ethelinda earned an allowance of twenty dollars a week for chores, which she did a lot of. But Ethelinda did work for the money she made. She did dog walking and babysitting for extra money. Most Romany Gypsy girls and women didn't work or even go to school at a certain age, but she didn't want to depend on men for financial support. She wanted to be independent.

Just then, there was a bang. The door was kicked in. She dropped the mop and grabbed her phone. She hid In the bath tub and closed the curtain. She was as quiet as possible while crying and calling 911.

"Where is it Trish?!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Her mom cried.

"I'm getting impatient Trish!" There was a slapping sound, then silence. "Who else is here?"

"N-No one!"

There was a gun shot. BANG! Ethelinda covered her mouth, trying not to scream. Tears pooled from her eyes. She recognized the voice. It was her father. "Its gotta be my kid! Find her! We have to keep her quiet!"

She heard the voice on the other end of the phone. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Help..." She whispered.

"Ma'am I can't hear you... Help is on the way."

Just then, the curtain ripped open. It was her dad. "Aaaahhh!!! Help!!!"

"Ethelinda, its not what you think..." She saw her mothers body a few feet away in the other room.

"Nooo! Mom! Monster! How could you kill my mom?! You loved her! Or did you ever love her?! You bastard!"

"Watch your mouth!"

"No! You have no Right to say that to me ever again!" He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground. He punched her repeatedly. In the face, the stomach, soon his friends joined in. "Help! Someone help me!"

She was coughing and could barely breathe. Just then, the police came in. They handcuffed all of the men involved. She was taken to the hospital, but it was too late for her mother.

There was a police officer watching Ethelinda, when Mr. Thompson ran in. "Ethelinda!" Mr. Thompson ran over and hugged her. He held her as she cried, again, being that shoulder she so desperately needed. "What happened. He looked to her bruised face, and the bruises on her arms and around her neck. He felt so bad for her. She really had it so hard. She was bullied every day. She already wanted to die. Now her mother was killed by her own father, what else could go wrong.

" How could he do this? How could he?" She cried as he held her close. "I have no one now..."

"You have me Ethelinda... I'm here, I'm right here..."

"You must be Mr. Thompson... Miss Stewarts said she would call you..."

"Yes, I'm her teacher. Where will she go from here?"

"Well, Ethelinda here spoke with the hospitals social worker. She's going to live independently in an apartment. She works enough to make a living, on top of the money her mother left behind, its enough to get her set up. We are also going to set up a restraining order against her father."

They just noticed that Ethelinda was crying. "Ethelinda, I'm sorry. We shouldn't have talked about this in front of you..."

It was a Friday, so Ethelinda had the weekend to fix up her apartment before school on Monday. She had gone to home depot and gotten paint. She painted the whole apartment, put up new curtains, rearranged furniture, and cleaned the place spotless, which wasn't easy, the place was a disaster. It was in a bad neighborhood, and as the night went on, she heard two gunfights outside. Both of them sent her into a panic after yesterday.

It was late, and she heard a knock on the door. She looked out the looking hole, and unlocked the three locks when she saw Mr. Thompson. "Hi Mr. Thompson..."

"Hello Ethelinda... I brought you some things. To help you get settled into your appartment..."

"I can't accept anything from you Mr. Thompson..."

"Why?"

"It's not important..."

"If it's important to you, than it's important to me Ethelinda..."

"No, not this... Mr. Thompson... I'm in love with you... There... You heard me, I love you!"

He was shocked. He honestly didn't see this coming. "Ethelinda, you're going through a lot right now..."

"No! Don't!..." She sobbed. He tried to hug her but she pulled away. "Don't... Just don't... I know im going through a lot right now... That's why im telling you. Because I can't handle keeping it in anymore, or anything for that matter! Mr. Thompson, I know you don't love me, you can't, besides, who would love somebody like me? I'm useless, worthless, ugly, I have no purpose in life..."

"Ethelinda..." He didn't have the words to say, so he took her face gently in his hands and kissed her passionately.

She didn't want to enjoy this, she knew it was wrong, but God did this feel so right! After a few moments of kissing, she pulled away. "What was that?"

"I kissed you Ethelinda, because you are a very lovable person... And I do love you... On a very personal level. I know it's wrong. I'm your teacher, you're my student... But the heart can't distinguish between right and wrong... So yes, I know it's wrong, but I don't care..."

She shed a tear, and jumped into his arms. He held her, her legs wrapped around his waist, they were kissing more passionately than before, if even possible... But kissing was as far as it went. No matter how much they wanted to, they couldn't cross that line. No matter her level of maturity, she was only seventeen.