Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates

This story really creeped me out. It was about a girl named Connie who liked to go looking for boys with her friend. Connie meets a boy named Eddie, but this other guy says "Gonna get you baby". The next day when Connie refuses to go to a barbecue with her parents and older sister June, the guy who said he was going to get her shows up at her house. Its extremely creepy because he knows her name and knows where her family is without Connie having told him anything. The man is revealed to be Arnold Friend and he claims to be eighteen, though he is much much older.  Arnold keeps trying to convince Connie to leave her house and go for a ride with him in his car where his friend Ellie is sitting in the back seat. Ellie also looks very old, yet Connie is still clueless as to who these guys are. I feel bad for Connie because she gets trapped and kidnapped. She doesn't even realize the danger she is in until it is too late. Arnold keeps telling Connie things like he's going to be her lover and if she doesn't come with him then he'll hurt her family. He makes crude sex comments that go over Connie's head. She just calls him crazy and doesn't even think about running for help. Connie threatens to call the police, but she is too terrified to dial the numbers. She ends up going with Arnold and Ellie and knows she'll never get to see her family again. This story reminds me of the song titled Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke. The VMA performance by Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus reminds me of this story because Robin Thicke is a lot older than Miley Cyrus, yet she twerked on him. Connie is similar to Miley Cyrus because she doen't always make the best decisions. Also she is young and naive to what older men may have in mind. The picture I chose for this story is of a white van with the words "Free Candy" written on it. Only a naive young fool would believe that the people in the van had good intentions. Yet, Connie fell for the fake appearance Arnold put on. Some people might say that Connie deserved what happened to her, but I would disagree. Connie may have been a little loose, but she was naive and now one bad decision will change her life forever.

Here is a link to the lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/robinthicke/blurredlines.html
Here is a link to the picture: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdLZ1THH6blk&h=0&w=0&tbnid=8nvSk1g_oxPaxM&zoom=1&q=pedophile%20van&tbnh=194&tbnw=259&docid=LxDHxVWiy753yM&tbm=isch&client=safari&ei=npdQU5W0Csan8gHn0YDwDA&ved=0CAIQsCUoAA