Around us, the party dissolved. My parents stood and quietly, gently asked the guests to leave. There were no complaints.

The teenagers filed out of the backyard in absolute, respectful silence, leaving their half-empty cups and inflatable toys behind.

An hour later, the backyard was empty. The neon pool lights were off. The sun began to set, casting long, healing shadows across the patio.

The four of us sat together in the quiet, darkening living room, huddled on the sofa.

We held hands in the quiet dark, crying ourselves empty, beginning the long, arduous, beautiful process of rebuilding a sisterhood that had been forged in fire, destroyed by silence, and finally resurrected by the truth…