Summary

“Slut Trouble” by Beejay Silcox tells the story of two friends, teenage girls Laura and Megan, who become fascinated by the kidnapping of two young women.

Julie-Anne Marks is taken on the second weekend of the school holidays, and posters of her appear everywhere. Laura and Megan like Julie-Anne’s hair; the girls are having a competition to see whose hair will be longest by the end of the year. Julie-Anne’s family and boyfriend appear in a press conference to beg for Julie-Anne’s safe return. Other people speak highly of Julie-Anne, and Laura and Megan believe them, because Julie-Anne looks beautiful.

Megan takes a poster with Julie-Anne’s picture and hides it in a children’s book. She and Laura cut their jeans short to look like the ones worn by Julie-Anne in the picture, and they wear them every day.

Megan dares Laura to steal the neighbours’ newspaper for information about the lost girl and swears when Laura hesitates. Laura doesn’t dare to swear out loud, but practices at night before she goes to sleep. The paper shows pictures of Julie-Anne, including one of her with her boyfriend. Megan says that she would sleep with him, although neither she nor Laura has ever had a boyfriend. Both Laura and Megan come from broken homes: Laura’s father has died, while Megan’s mother has a new boyfri...