CHAPTER 4
[Ryan Jessica will be potrayed as Melrose Place's Katie Cassidy. One because she's hot, and two, I decided to name her after me!]
Her mind goes back to that night. The girl in the red dress who was raped. Running. Running and detached. As the traumatized girl in the flashback runs, the even more traumatized girl in present day runs faster. School was not a safe place for her anymore.
When Naomi arrived home, she takes at least three showers. Cannon's hands were still all over her, as was his smell. Naomi's emotions begins to switch as it has been doing alot lately. She's in the guest room raging out, pulling clothing from her closet as roughly as possible, and sobbing without realizing the tears are falling on her face. Naomi is wearing her parents clothing, of course, and her hair is in a wet ponytail. In her eyes there is regret, resentment and guilt. She is upset that she almost allowed Cannon to hurt her again. She is upset because she's become a doormat. She's mostly upset because all the pain she feels is her own fault.
Naomi knew Cannon wasn't the only one at fault in this ordeal. She made the false allegations, she stayed with him that night instead of calling AAA, she didn't fight hard enough, and she could have disgreed to go into that awful room with him earlier today. Naomi hates the feeling she feels now. Pathetic. She was always this strong willed young lady who took shit from no one, especially some geek like Cannon. Now she's this weak little girl with no one to hug her and make everything better. That depression she's been dealing with, the entire summer,was now fading. There was another feeling that overwhelms Naomi, guilt.
The guilt is a result of her weakness. This man is going to continue hurting her (that would be her guest after what happened today) and she feels that he has that right. She didn't understand why but she believes it to be true. But to it was true. As Naomi ram-sacks her closet, the clothes are piling up like a dump yard. She has no clue why she's looking through her closet and if she did, she can't remember. Finally, Naomi decides to give up on searching. She makes her way to the bed and sits tiredly. A thought crosses her mind as she gazes at the room's mess. the test. Naomi remembers that she needs to buy an E.P.T. That fact sends chills down her back. It would ruin her if she was pregnant with Cannon's child. How could she begin to explain that to her friends.
"It's our hapless mother." Jen stood in the doorway reaching Naomi the portible house phone. Naomi's eyes becomes filled with tears. Jen notices that her sister has been crying but says nothing. Naomi anxiously grabs the phone from Jen's hand. "Mom?" Naomi escapes farther into the halls for a private conversation and Jen is growing annoyed by Naomi's mess.
When Jen comes out the guestroom, she overhears Naomi and Tracey's conversation. "Yea, but mom...No, I understand." Naomi's tears start to return. "No mom...?" She drags her voice to mask her pain. "Have fun with Nick. I'll just? I'll come to see you guys whenever you get back." Jen watches in the corner of the hall and shakes her head. "I love you too, okay, i'll? hold." Naomi wanted so badly to have her mother there with her instead of in New York with her new boyfriend, Nick. Begging for her mother's presence would gain worry for Tracey, so Naomi decided to let it ride. Jen makes her way to the end of the hall where Naomi is and jerks the phone out of her sister's hand. "Jen!" Naomi wasn't through talking with her mother, she was put on hold but, Jen ends the connection. "She doesn't want to be around you." Jen's words seldomly cuts Naomi but this time her words stung and stung with truth.
"Don't be pathetic, little sister." Before Jen can leave out of sight, Naomi confronts her on Ryan's involvement with her baby. "Will you tell that to your baby? That his or her father doesn't want them around?" Naomi is upset. "If it helps them sleep at night." Jen squenches her eyes at Naomi in her usual way. "Oh my God Jen you are such a bitch!" Naomi is trying to find some good in Jen's cruel mind as she stares at her sister with distain. "My baby doesn't need a public school teacher as a father." Jen rubs her stomach with possession. Naomi realizes that Ryan mention that today. Jen told him the exact same thing after he learned baby's D.N.A. She passes Jen by in effort to ignore her and her plans of motherhood.
Always, be not always. But if always, bow our heads in shame. Always, please, be not always. Cause if always, bow our heads in blame. Cause time has made promises, just promises. Death promises.
Naomi walks through the halls of and people snare, point, and laugh at the girl in the red dress. The dress is ripped, the heel of her right pump is broken, her face is in distress, runny mascara, and cuts decorate her legs and arms. Silver, Ade, Liam, Annie, and all of her friends and classmates laugh as she struggles to walk down the red light halls. It looks as if she's in a horror parade and is walking backwards. Naomi begins to cry and turn hysterical. The kids are calling her a whore. "Oh my God. No. No." Ryan bumps into her and she seems relieved. "Ryan, you have to help me." Naomi pleads with Ryan but he aggressively smacks her in her face for no apparent reason. The impact of the slap makes her fall onto the floor. When she looks up in confusion at Ryan's terror, its Cannon, not Ryan."You cried wolf, Naomi. I can do whatever I want to you now. You cried wolf." The words repeated rapidly out of his mouth as the students all watched and laughed at Cannon preparing to attack Naomi.
Naomi screams! Silver looks at her drained friend. "What the-." Silver, along with 's entire class, all jump at Naomi's random scream. It's the second day of her senior year and Naomi manages to sleep throughout her entire first period class only to awake from a nightmare. "Uh whoa! Are you okay, Nae." Silver observes Naomi's pale skin, shaking hands, and how can she ignore the bags under her bestie's eyes. ", do you need to be excuse?" walks to Naomi in an assuring way but because of the dream, Naomi feels awkard towards Ryan. "Yea, I do, actually." Naomi looks to Silver and tries to smile to make her meltdown seem less of a meltdown. She moves her long hair, which is straight today, out of her way as she closes her books. When Naomi gathers her things, Ryan looks at her with the same curious look he gave her on yesterday. What does Ryan want to know? And why can't he just come right out and ask?
Naomi reaches her clunker in the parking lot of West Bev. To be safe, she checks her purple pumps to see if any of the heels are broken. The clothes she wears isn't that revealing but she feels naked in them. The only revealing thing about her outfit to the average eye is her yellow cami and that's covered under a black blazer. Her grey skinnies aren't much of a bother to her except the tightness that reveals her thighs. It didn't matter. She was going home. She could change into her parents safe and secure clothing.
Naomi awoke from a sweat. It was another nightmare. This time Naomi couldn't control her cries. She sat up slowly in the guestroom trying to take in the nightmare. It was nighttime and she pretty much slept the day away. Her eyes are bloodstruck red and her vein in her upper face look as if it was going to pop out. Naomi's face is red and her body is shaking. She rocks back and forth in the guest bedroom with her arms hugging her knees, trying to cope. This was happening twice a day now, it is getting ridicolous. She appears no short of stressed out. At least she wasn't carrying Cannon's kid. After coming from a free clinic earlier today, Naomi's blood only confirmed that the missing periods were a result of not eating.
The next morning, Naomi's clunker forbids her to drive to school. She stands in her parking lot with the same outfit she wore yesterday. Well, minus the blazer which only change is the color, it's a white blazer. Naomi gets agitated with her hair and uses the hair band to put her curly long hair into a ponytail. Her car is smoking but she manages to pop the hood of the clunker. Smoke's everywhere! I can't fix a car! Naomi begins to remember that her car was the reason she ended up in Cannon's company that night. That night, that night, that night! She hated that her life had became all about that night. It was time for a change. She needed to escape!
Naomi decides to skip school and lounge around home flicking channels back and foward. Ugh,. Reality shows are so fake! She lies on the sofa trying to soak in all the freedom of being alone while Jen is at a birthing class. Suddenly, Naomi's remote passes by a music video involving a girl and a motorbike. She can't figure out why she finds this interesting. There was something invigorating about the girl with the motorbike. She was strong, reckless, and obviously not afraid of anything. Naomi admires the girl on the bike and for a moment envies the heroine.
Guilt shines in her eyes. As she slowly sinks in deep.
The smell of the oil burns Naomi's nose. God. What kind of superhuman works here. And why do they bother? Naomi observes the broken cars awaiting to be fixed without any mechanics around. There is something shady about this place. The light from the peaking sun is the only light that shines in the vacant place. An underground and illegal body shop. There are posters of half naked women on every four wall. AutoTools and tires decorate the sense of the shop. Naomi tries to tune out the sleezy sounds of Boy George that's coming from the speakers in the ceiling. I'm a man without conviction, I'm a man who doesn't know how to sell the contradiction. You come and go. You come and go. Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma Chameleon. She was no Boy George fan but it made Naomi think of how crazy her father reacted after meeting Boy George in 1999. The sound of Karma Chameleon was cheesy to her but it also gave her a sense of comfort. Anything that reminded her of her parents were all senses of comfort. Her car was damaged beyond measures. Naomi refused to sit on the dusty chair that the mechanic (who was over 80) offered just before taking her keys. As well as wanting the diamond ring she wore on her index finger, for his old age. She's been waiting in the garage shop for almost 2 hours.
The skip day is going rather normal for Naomi. Normal for Naomi? It's almost noon and already she's been through 1000 tv channels of nothingness, a car that starts when it wants to start, a stale donount from the dot, and now she sits in a body shop trying to take control of her clunker. "You trading in, barbie." Naomi hears her voice and turns to face the girl who appears all so familiar. After a few glances in the girl's face, Naomi realizes she's seen the beautiful blonde before, "It's you".
The tall and beautiful blonde that sports badass leather skinnies was the biker girl in the video. "You're the biker girl, from that God awful video." Naomi realizes that she is smiling and it isn't a force smile. "Call me Ryan Jessica." She looks at Naomi in interest. If anyone could insult a tall blonde rebel in stilletos and leather with enough mascara to share the world, it's Naomi Clark. The knowing of her being able to still be insulting in a funny way, gives Naomi hope.
"Are you trading in?" Ryan seems tolerant of Naomi's confused approach. "Trading in what?" Ryan laughs and signals the old man to come out of the dark corner. The elderly man was not working on Naomi's car because he was there the entire time. I cannot believe this. He hasn't even started my worthless car. "Hi, ma'am." He walks as fast as he can, which isn't fast, to greet Naomi. Naomi doesn't hide her anger from the precious old man. "I don't care! Where's my car?" Naomi's tone becomes irritated as she rolls her eyes. "This is Lou. He's my Papa. He also owns this shop. Now, Barbie, are you trading in or what?" Ryan folds her arms and is getting tired of the rich girl's presence. Naomi wonders why such a hot girl works in a rundown body shop with her close to death grandfather. "I need you to fix my car." Naomi demands in annoyance.
"We don't fix cars. We arrange for them to get trade in, for better cars." Ryan teases Naomi's poutiness. Trading in cars? This was not a tax paying, neighborly business. Naomi feels hopeless as she remembers that she used all the money she had left on gas. How will she get home? Jen's diet consisting of low denominational greens was sending Naomi into a recession. She sadly looks at the weird old man and the hot modern day Blondie (the 80's rocker) with absolutely no progress on her car. "I don't have any money to get home." Naomi waits for a response from the two crooks but they stare at her in a careless way. "I'll give you one of my bikes for that ring you're wearing?"
Naomi's ring was a gift from Jackie Taylor. She's never really worn it before because she lost it after she and Silver stop associating in freshman year. However, with much time on her hands this summer, she found it in a box that wasn't opened yet in her attic. She didn't plan on skipping school today but she did plan on going to school and showing Silver her mother's ring. "It was gift, I can't." Naomi fiddles with the ring while shaking her head in refusal. "Hey, you could always walk." Ryan's reminds Naomi of her other option but she would die if she had to walk all the way home.
"Oh come on. You can even have the one from the video." Ryan looks at Naomi hoping that she will take the deal. "Seriously?" Two things about Naomi Clark owning a motorbike; Naomi Clark owning a motorbike! And Naomi doesn't want to give her bestie's dearly departed mother's ring away. Nevertheless, Silver already thinks the ring is gone and what someone doesn't know, doesn't hurt! After alot of debating, Ryan and Naomi finally make an exchange. The ring must have cost alot because the bike was new, fast, and fully gased. The only problem was that Naomi had no clue on how to drive. Silver has a similiar use of transportation but she's never driven her bestie's scooter. "I'll drive you home and papa can pick me up." Except Papa and Ryan were strangers. Why invite two strangers with knowledge of where she lives?
It turns out Naomi had no choice if she wanted to get home. Luckily, Jen was still gone when they arrived to her house. "For driving lessons it'll cost extra." Ryan's reaction to Naomi's beautiful home makes Naomi believes that Ryan's under the impression that she's rich. Instead of telling her better, Naomi only smiles and walks into her home. Ryan watches her leave and finds the rich girl fairly interesting.
The next morning, which is a Thursday morning, Naomi arrives to school with Silver, on her scooter. It was only a coincidence that they were both wearing a blue, orange and white farmer's shirt with the exception of Naomi's rather loose jeans and Silver's white skinnies. "Thank you for putting up with my recession Silv." Naomi's attempt at a fake chuckle is caught on Silver's bff-radar. They are walking from the parking lot but Silver stops to have a word with Naomi. "Nae? What's going on with you?" Silver addresses Naomi with curiousity and concern. "I mean, I know you didn't come to school yesterday because you couldn't get here but...Nae? Is there something else? You would tell me, right?" Naomi paused for a second as her eyes watered looking into Silver's. She wanted to tell Silver everything. She needed Silver's comfort. "Liam. Ade. Annie, you." Silver is confused at Naomi's response. "I was off in Italy being fabolous while my best friends were here. Hurting. I suck as a friend Silver."Silver disagrees and wraps her arm around Naomi, she flinches but it goes unnoticed to Silver. They walk towards the West Beverly doors.
The day ended without any chaos and without running into the pervert Miles Cannon. Silver and Naomi hung out with one another on every free time between classes. Annie has been pretty busy with school then helping her drunken mother at home. Both Silver and Naomi understands what that's like all to well. Ade was still on that tour with Javier. It was Silver and Naomi against West Beverly! But even being closely joined at the hip with Naomi throughout the day, Silver can't help but feel the incredible distance. It was emotional distance. Something was different about her flamboyent friend.
"So I've decided. I think I'm gonna have a party at Kelly's. Yea, I'm gonna have a party at Kelly's." Naomi wonders why Silver's so cheerful as they head to her scooter, leaving school. Silver tries to stop avoiding what she's been ignoring about Naomi since their first day back. "This is our year Nae! We are going to rule West Bev and by doing that. PARTY! PARTY AT MY KELLY'S." Silver practically announces the party to every kid in the parking lot and probably everyone in the school. She was intensely loud! Seriously Has Silver not taken her meds. The kids in the parking lot all cheer at this event to come. Naomi simply smiles as Silver starts up her scooter. She hops on the scooter with Silver and the two ladies head off like Thelma and Louis.
And there's too much going on but it's calm under the waves, in the blue of my oblivion under the waves in the blue of my oblivion
Naomi was at it again! She's like hurricane Katrina and the guestroom closet is the poor buildings feeling her wrath. Why can't I find anything to wear! Although, you could start an entire salvation army store with the amount of clothes she allegedly don't have. She needed something new. Silver was really excited about her last minute party and Naomi did not want to dissapoint her only coherent friend. Also, she thought that getting out of the house for one night was what she probably needed. Last summer, she couldn't imagine being an inch away from her cozy guest bedroom, but she made a move to step out for school. Aside from her scary run in with Cannon, (which she hasn't thought about alot) the outside world wasn't as bad as she thought it was.
"Jen. I need new clothes." Naomi mutters to Jen who lies on the floor of the living room. She's with this very hot yoga instructor who helps her with belly exercises by touching everywhere but her baby's area. Naomi finds the sight of this disgusting as she stands directly over Jen. "Get a job, Naomi." Jen makes no effort to look at her sister as Naomi angrily stumps off.
She reaches her garage where Jen's hot new blue 2011 bmw convertible is parked on side her badass motorbike. The garage walls are white. If the bike and car wasn't park in the inside, you could never tell that it was an actual garage. It's clean, non decorative, and smells of lavender. As Naomi leans on Jen's car, she begins to wonder why she has that motorbike. She can't drive it and Jen's already threaten to sell it to Perez Hilton. Naomi puts the bike out of her mind and notices Jen's purse in her car. She looks around to check if anyone is coming and when she realizes she's alone, she digs into Jen's purse. There are four fifties and two twenties which is Jen's loose change. Naomi sticks the money in her rather loosely fitted jeans. She had enough money for a cab but not an outfit.
...
Naomi's eyes instantly falls in love with this simple black dress. For three hours, she's been at every designer store in beverly hills and found problems. It was either too high or too revealing. This dress was perfect! The lenght of the dress was reasonable. The lace that was designed to cover the arms fell right into Naomi's expectations. All in all, the dress was simple but cute. 500 dollars! Naomi gasp at the price. Too good to be true.
Besides the two customers and one cashier, Naomi was the only one in the store. All that was left of Jen's money was not nearly enough for this dress. "You trading in?" The voice came from no where but Naomi knew this person's voice. Ryan Jessica crawls from under a pile of clothing. God she works her too? "Two jobs? God, you must really enjoy working." Naomi waits for a response from the all black attired hottie with the super cute red inch heels. "Oh, please. I wouldn't be caught dead selling these prices for clothes to the human race...You're buying this dress." Naomi reluctantly puts the dress back on the rack. "No. Totally not my style." Tries to put up that Naomi Clark facade by swinging her hair. "Whatever", Ryan has a huge bag of stolen things and Naomi panics. "O my God, You're stealing!" Ryan puts her hands over Naomi's mouth to shut her up, "Can you shut up, barbie?" Ryan's hand over Naomi's mouth makes her jump.
"Hi, you two need help with anything?" The curious cashier approaches them as Ryan Jessica removes her hand from Naomi's mouth. "No...We're cool, Kelly." The cashier smiles and walks off before noticing the bag hidden behind Ryan's back. "You want this dress, barbie?" Naomi wants to say no but she really wants the dress. Ryan decides to make it easier for her, "Fine. You can have the dress." Naomi mouth drops as Ryan Jessica shoves the dress into her bag of stolen goods. "Okay so We should leave. Now." Ryan takes rapid steps towards the exit, leaving Naomi to follow. The alarm goes off just as they are leaving out the main entrance. "Hey!" The cashier yells for them to stop and is upset. Ryan and Naomi have already taken off!
"My bike, my bike. Lets punch it, come on, we gotta go!" Ryan and Naomi run to Ryan's black yahama motorbike that's park closely to the store. Ryan hops on while putting on her helmet. "Barbie? Come on!" Naomi feels her face for a moment. The moment is only under 10 seconds but to her it's freezing on autopilot. An imaginary 14 hours or longer. Her face felt different. Familiar but different. She was laughing! Actually laughing. Naomi's mind regain regular speed and she hops on the bike with Ryan Jessica. Unlike her rides with Silver, this ride was rejuvanating. Something about the wind as it blew in her hair. Something she longed for, freedom.
I've had my days of standing on shaky ground. I want my life so fancy-free.
When she arrived at Silver's, Silver was no where to be found. There were kids seriously destroying Kelly's house. Navid and Dixon were the only two people there that Naomi socialized with, well, Ivy was there also with some Australian hottie. Dixon was upset about something and it probably had something to do with Ivy and the Aussie. Navid's heartache over Ade was written all over his face. Naomi decided not to speak to the guys after realizing their current state. They need their space. She did, however, wanted to find Silver. "Ivy. Hi. Have you seen Silver?" Ivy and Naomi were not the best of friends. They were not friends at all. Clearly, Ivy was over the whole Liam picking Naomi thing and cooperated with a pleasent conversation. She even introduced Naomi to her childhood friend, Leo.
After a few hours pass, Silver was still a no show. Suddenly, as Naomi sits on the couch watching kids socializing, she gets a text from Silver. w teddy, sry 2 blow u off but this was m-portant! luv u, silver. The text made her happy because she could finally ditch the party without letting Silver down. The house was being remodel in a few days so Naomi didn't bother to stick around and plead with drunking high schoolers about how not to destroy her bff's home.
Naomi is walking outside preparing to call a cab. Before she dials any number, she notices Ryan's motorbike sitting in the road. The bike was on both Silver's property and her neighbors. What was she doing there, at her bestie's house? As Naomi walks over to the bike, Ryan Jessica appears from the house next door very upset. She walks closer into Silver's neighbor's yard to get a better glimpse of who Ryan was arguing with but whoever it was, they slammed the door on Ryan. "Jackass!" Ryan yells back.
There was something intriguing about Ryan Jessica in Naomi's eyes. It was that feeling after meeting a very beautiful person who you expected to never see again but often wondered about. Of course she envied her biker girl persona, but, it was something about her that left Naomi speechless. It was as if Ryan Jessica was placed on this earth teach Naomi, to mold. "Stalking me now, Barbie." Ryan Jessica's famous sneaking up tatic startled Naomi. "No...My friend has a party and..." Ryan laughs as she takes out her leather flask. "You call this a party? A bunch of spoiled west beverly students drinking beer?" Naomi's offended but doesn't let it bother her because she's slowly getting to know how Ryan works. "Cute dress. Must have cost you an arm and a leg, barbie." Before Naomi could snap back with a response, the thuds in her heart attacks her hearing.
All Naomi's focus went directly on the person who walks right pass her without realizing she's there. In his eyes, the story was war. The fury in his shoulders gave him an excuse to pass by and not speak. Had he seen her? "Ex boy toy?" Ryan's voice snaps Naomi back into reality. "I need a favor." Naomi grabs the helmet from Ryan's bike but Ryan dares to ask, "Come on Barbie." The fact that Ryan Jessica treated her nicely had never ring on Naomi. As they ride fastly and free into the night skies, Naomi begins to wonder about Ryan Jessica. Her wonder flips from her mind and roams back into Liam's return. She was curious to know how he was, then, all of a sudden, the wind shuts her thoughts.
...
Ryan and Naomi enter a biker's bar. Ryan an was familiar with this place as she greets almost everyone there. Naomi realizes that this was a completely different world she was entering. The customers are all bikers, women and men. Some people dance, play pool, grope each other, sit naked at the bar, and the rest seem to be taking in drugs. Though there are only a few out tonite, the presence of strangers irritates Naomi. She follows Ryan to the bar and Ryan orders an entire bottle of tequilia. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Finally, Naomi spits out the burning question. The bartender hands the bottle of tequilia to Ryan with two shot glasses. Ryan only stares at Naomi as a result of her question. "Because, I'm straight. You know?" Ryan laughs at Naomi while opening the bottle of tequilia. "Oh, you think that I use strap ons and screw other girls?" It's exactly what Naomi thinks but she softens the accusation by calling Ryan's generousity a crush. Ryan makes it clear to Naomi, she is not gay nor bisexual. Ryan's nice to her because she likes her, on a friend only basis.
Now she in the club with a freaky dress on. Cats don't want her to keep that dress on. Trying to get enough drinks in her system.
Naomi spends much of her first term as a senior, in and out of school. More out of school than in school. Ryan Jessica has became Naomi's escape. If she isn't staying out all night with Ryan, she's being pulled out of class to hang out some more with Ryan. The influence Ryan has over Naomi is powerful. They drink, smoke chronic, and steal on daily basis. Naomi's even dyed her hair platnium blonde and wears leather clothing like Ryan. Before the Christmas holidays, Naomi and Ryan spent two days in lock up after being caught stealing Christmas trees under the influence, amongst other things. And on New Years Eve, they took their bikes (Naomi can drive her bike now) to Mexico and was almost killed by Mexican gansters after stealing the thugs money. The rush of a gun to her head gave Naomi more and more reasons to continue living dangerously. A gun was pointed at her head and she felt nothing! Naomi believes that being with Ryan Jessica erases what happened to her last spring, but she is far off with that theory. Truth is, she is sinking lower into her pain, despair, and darkness by creating a world that Naomi Clark wouldn't dread of living in!
"Naomi, there you are." was finally being granted a place in his child's life. It was as if Jen's maternal emotions turned her into a human being. "This is extremely awkard to ask but I think I'm obligated to ask so...and you're never in school that much or home." Naomi tries to figure out question. can't help but to take in Naomi's apperance. Her hair color is exotic and bleach blonde. The make up makes him think of Annie Wilson's mascara face (Annie in the beginning, now, she's back to the old Annie) or Tiff, Chucky's bride. Those tight leather skinnies to her hip along side the pencil thin heels. At last the black blazer that covers the paper white shirt showing a little belly. "It's about you...And..." Naomi's heart felt as it stopped. Her breath abandoned her leaving a bad taste in her mouth.
"I saw. The night of the dance, the uh? The pass the torch dance." Ryan Matthews continues to talk but Naomi isn't hearing a word. This was all behind her and she needed to be quiet, to drop whatever he may have witnessed. What does he know? How does he know? Then, like waves, it all came to her memories. A few months after Christmas break, confessed to hitting the school sign because of drunkingness. The thought of being on campus while she was battling for her life and didn't bother to help, pissed Naomi off. When she comes back into reality and out of her mind she ony hears, "Having an affair?"
"No." Naomi frowns as Ryan Matthews sighs in relief. "So, that night? Nothing happened?" Something happened. Something awful, something terrible. "No. Not at all. Well, I don't want to be late so." Naomi runs off as soon as Ryan M nods okay in assurance. She needed Ryan Jessica, her escape, before the memories returned into her mind, however the memories didn't need to return. They were already there.
Naomi waited outside of the bitter memory school for Ryan Jessica. After fifteen minutes of waiting, Ryan Jessica appears. Naomi is more than excited to see her new bff as she hops on her bike without bothering to put on a helmet. Just as they head off, Ade's car arrives. In the beginning and for a short time, it was only Naomi and Silver. Then Ade return with a world full of regret and it was Ade, Silver, and seldomly Naomi. Annie's life became calm again around the middle of December and she had Ade and Silver to lean on. By that time, Naomi was already Ryan's muse. Everytime they ask Naomi to hang out, Naomi blew them off for Ryan. They never knew about Ryan Jessica around that time but they knew that Naomi was not spending time alone. Naomi, on the other hand, found no reason to be apart of their lives. She wasn't the witty and confident friend they would expect her to be and she was not in the habit of pretending anymore. Now, in March of 2011, Ade, Annie, and Silver are all catching a glimpse of why Naomi's been missing school frequently. The look on all of their faces scream intervention but first they want answers. What is up with Naomi Clark?
Ryan Jessica's new apartment was Naomi's home away from home. Naomi was very familiar with these surroundings. When she was younger, she would visit Silver in Kelly and Donna's apartment. Nothing about the apartment had changed, not really. Ryan's apartment was empty if you don't count the vodka bottles in the fridge. Naomi goes straight to the fridge and drinks a bottle of vodka straight, as if it were water. Ryan J finds this to be cool. "Bad day, Barb?" Naomi sits on the floor closely side Ryan Jessica who's lounging. "So school? Totally not for me, anymore." Naomi figures if she quits school, who would care. Her mother hardly calls and her father doesn't call at all. Then there's Jen, the pandora box. Who would care if she dropped out, she wouldn't. Lately, she's hasn't been caring about anything or anyone. "Thats good, Barb. Education is for the weak, anyways." Ryan gets up and takes off her clothes until she's only in her bra and underwear. She opens the closet and grabs a bag of coke.
Now, Naomi hasn't taken any drugs up to this point but she knows that Ryan Jessica is a coke head. "This one time, this really ugly, really stinky teach of mine.." Ryan begins to sniff the coke after lying it on the floor next to Naomi. Once upon a time, Naomi would have ran so fast if someone was snorting next to her, half naked. Now, she could care less. "He tried to have a go with me." Naomi's nose flare up, not wanting to hear Ryan's story. "You want?" Ryan's offer tempts Naomi but even off the deep end, Naomi refuses to snort dope.
Suddenly, a knock on the door startles both Ryan J and Naomi. Ryan hops up and opens her door. "Are we beasting it or what?" It was a crowd full of people that stood behind Ryan J's door expecting to party. "Oh hell yea!" Ryan invites everyone in and a drunk Naomi seems rather enthusiastic.
I've had my days of standing on shaky ground. I want my life so fancy-free. I know that I can do it. I have to let me be. And I've had enough. And I know What's right for me.
Meanwhile, Ade, Annie, and Silver arrives at Naomi and Jen's home, in hope for answers. To their surprise, Jen hasn't seen or heard from Naomi in weeks. Believing Naomi to have been staying with Silver while Kelly was away. The worried besties explain to Jen that Naomi never comes to school, ignore all calls and text, and worst of all, her hair is platinum blonde. "We think that whatever's going on with Naomi...Started during her summer vacae in Italy." Ade and Silver agree with Annie's statement. However, the look on Jen's face screams confusion. "Naomi never went to Italy this summer." Jen's words fail to dissuade the girls. "But she...she text me from Italy, Jen, all summer." Silver pleads. "She was in the guest room, lying around like some? Hopeless troll." The girls are angry at Jen's lack of empathy, lack of worry. "And you didn't think that something was wrong with her?" Ade is almost on the verge of tears. Jen brushes it off by saying Naomi was trying to spend the summer getting over Liam. They all agree that can be the problem out loud, but, silently, they know it's something else.
At Ryan Jessica's apartment, the music blasts, the vodka pours, the drugs electrifies, and the bodies bump. It's nearly night and Naomi is shit face drunk. With the consumption of an entire bottle of vodka added with more types of liquor, it's a miracle the girl can keep her balance. She's making her way to the other room where Ryan J and other friends party, VIP style. The room is something from a 1970s drug house. The black light compliments the white powder everyone there sniffs. It also brings out the light of the jar full of prescription pills. A drunken Naomi falls on Ryan J's lap. Ryan Jessica laughs and starts stroking Naomi's hair out of her face. "You gotta try this girl, you gotta!" A random guy insists as he holds the powder to Naomi's nose. "Why not!"
The moment Naomi sniffs the drug, the effect of it hits her intensely. Naomi is clearly delusional and too messed up to function. In her mind, there are people in the room that has no clue on who she was or what she's feeling. They were strangers and she didn't care if getting incredibly messed up would kill her. Naomi snorts the coke and Ryan and friends applaud. "How does it feel!" Ryan yells into Naomi's ears. Her words are as loud as a train's horn. Naomi is really tripping.
Her eyes started to get blurry as she tried to stand. The fact that she had no clue about where she was didn't scare Naomi. The people she pass as she makes her way to the bathroom, are all distorted images. She feels hype but the alcohol consumption brings her high down, across, sideways and backwards. She's literally dragging herself to the bedroom. With little strenght, she makes it to Ryan's bathroom. Naomi closes the door, then locks it while turning on the lights. She leans against the door trying to grasp any peice of sobriety. The bathroom is empty but the shelves, mirror, and towel racket adds some spark. She reaches for the soap on the shelves. However, not realizing the sharp box cutter, she incoherently cuts her finger.
The pain is numb, if their is any pain. At the state she's in, you could shoot her and she wouldn't feel the bullot. Naomi smiles at the sight of everything she thinks is moving on it's own. The shelves are dancing to the music from the outside, while the towels wink at the shower curtains. When she looks down at her finger and notices the blood, she becomes paralyzed. In her mind, she was at West Bev, that night. That unforgettable night.
That night!
Cannon left almost two hours ago and Naomi was still in that same spot. She heard voices so she told herself to get up, leave. Not wanting to seen, Naomi managed to stand. Her underwear was ripped and was lying next to some boxes. She panic as she tried to figure out where to hide the under wear. The voices were getting closer so she quickly put them back on her but she mistakenly touched her thighs. Something was wrong. It was dripping. Did he ejeculate inside Naomi. Naomi's hand moved up to get a better grasp. When she looked at her hand, she noticed that, it wasn't sperm. She was bleeding. He hurt her so roughly, she bled. The damaged girl forgot about who would see her in this state. Naomi just stood there in shock, looking at the blood from the wombs made by Cannon.
Back to present day, Naomi continues to stare at her bloody finger. She had the same stare on her face. Fear, shock, denial, and panic. All of a sudden, Naomi's emotion were switching again. She was out of her mind high but somehow she was able to pull this off. The anger build inside Naomi's eyes, heart, and mind. Anger she had right to feel. He took her life and made it this. Super drunk and uber high with platinum blonde hair and a motorbike. He destroyed the free spirited girl everyone once knew and loved. Her anger was lit fire willing to spread. Naomi turns to the mirror and stares at the girl she is now. Her eyes water, her face frowns, she tries not to cry but this time it can't go away. The scream echoes loudly as she lets out raining tears. She's literally standing, looking into the mirror, while crying her eyes out. A cry she's been putting off since that night. That awful night.
TO BE CONTINUED...
SPOiLER: The truth will FINALLY come out!