The Studio

In Illicit Liaisons, Volume 3, The Studio, Megan Morgan works on four basic issues. She struggles to put her relationship with her uncle in proper perspective and to relate to Uncle Jack in an appropriate fashion. She faces the complexities of dating two very different boys, Paul Ugalini and Joe Edwards, and with her own confusion of how she wishes to behave when she is on a date with any boy. To complicate her dating experiences, she discovers she has a third issue to tackle. As a consequence of being kidnapped and raped, she has developed a post traumatic reaction that emerges when her dating encounters turn sexual. Finally, her friendship with Paul's sister, Francesca, leads Megan to take on the responsibilty of assisting Francesca's friend, Emmanuelle, with drug related difficulties. This last issue begins to dictate much of Megan's experiences and behavior over the course of her tenth grade summer. Both Megan and Nadia Cortez, the free lance photographer that Megan met at Paul's unchaperoned party, build a closer bond as they try to gain insight into the child pornography ring operating somewhere around the greater Pittsburgh area, and with which Emmanuelle has become involved in order to earn money to pay for her growing drug addiction. Emmanuelle's low self esteem has made her vulnerable and she becomes entangled in the devious web cast by the adults who profit from her beauty. Even the combined efforts of the three young women, Megan, Francesca, and Nadia may not be enough to save Emmanuelle.