Misdirected Guilt

In reality, Shawna had a very good idea why the monitor had been taken, but she could not imagine her mother going so far as to purposely destroy it. In the midst of her confusion about her mother's actions and her anger at having her monitor destroyed, Shawna felt a slight stab of guilt about her on-line romance with Rik being exposed. But Destiny had coached her never to admit to anything in front of her mother. "Do what you want, and don't let her hassle you," her friend had advised. "She's only human. You know she must be hiding stuff from you and from your dad and from her clients and from the IRS. So if she pressures you, scream bloody murder about your rights being violated. And if she doesn't give in, well, you know how to get what you want." Shawna envied Destiny's freedom to do what she wanted at home.

Stomping back to the bedroom where her mother stood waiting, Shawna screamed, "Why did you do this to me?" To her surprise, her mother apologized for "overreacting," then calmly described how she found the "pornographic" correspondence with Rik.