<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Emily</strong></span><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>On the boat</strong></span><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Talking to the kids</strong></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Well Chrissie,” Emily tried to think what to say, “violence is certainly NOT the solution!  The school is quite right.”</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">She had to pause to fight off a momentary confusion.  After a second or two she found her smile again…</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Your best friend is quite easy isn’t it?  Easy to solve without violence.  If there’s something concrete that she doesn’t know about Levi, you can tell her.  Otherwise it’s her choice and you have to respect it.  Even best friends have different tastes and that’s what it is.  So you have to let her do what she wants and maybe she’ll change her mind when she gets to know him, if Levis IS a moron, or maybe she won’t.”</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Emily paused, making herself break eye contact with Chrissie to include Sam and stop her attraction becoming too obvious.  Was Chrissie holding eye contact right back??  It was hard to be sure or to stay concentrated; but she had to:</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Anyway a lot of it, or even all, is about Jake isn’t it? </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“The key to it is to understand him, okay?  Why is he looking at you and not talking to you?  He’s probably nervous isn’t he?  Most likely.  Or he’s predatory, looking to see if you can be bullied.  Or both.  Turning his anxiety into aggression.</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Either way you confront, OK?  Always confront.  Never be quiet, alright?  Never ever be quiet.  EVER.  If you ever do meet a predator that's what he'll be looking for, so be noisy.  You don’t have to be stronger, physically, you use the people around you and make noise.  Jake needs approval, from his friends and yours and everyone, so you close off the option of him doing things in secret and then he has no power.  OK?  Everybody needs approval, especially people in teams.</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“So pick a time and place when lots of people are around and go up to him and say, quite loudly, ‘why are you always looking at me Jake?’</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“What’s he going to say?  ‘Cos you’re gorgeous’?”  </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Emily tried to stop it sounding like she herself was saying that.  Shit.  How had it come out?  She put on a grin to get out of it.</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“He’s going to say something stupid, like try and make a joke, or more likely he’s going to say he’s NOT looking at you.  Then, anyway, everybody’ll be watching to see if he does watch you.  If he does his mates will take the piss. </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Remember it’s about status, OK?  You’re beautiful, you’re the one with the status.”  Shit, she’d done it again…</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“He’s trying to GET status by attaching himself to you, so you have a lot of power, alright?  If you’re scornful in front of his mates you can crucify him.  So just confront him.  Close off the secret option and make it all totally public.  Don’t actually crucify him, just make it clear that you could.”</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">She wrestled her eyes away from Chrissie’s face with the strands of long hair blown across it, looking beyond fabulous, and looked at Sam:  “And don’t you get involved Sam.  Every pretty girl has to learn how to be assertive and this is Chrissie’s time.  Though it’s very cool that you’re there for her.  But in the background, alright?”</span><br/><br/>