Rachel looked out her window, rolling her eyes at how awfully boring California looked. She and her two gay dads just moved here, ever since one of them had cheated. And, as always, Rachel was forced to make some drastic change in her life, which, this time, was to move across the country.
They had just settled into their new home, which Rachel's fathers were against buying. Rachel's father, Ben, was a psychiatrist who worked at home. Her other father, Victor, was a stay-at-home husband who was in charge of, as Ben put it, the "wifely duties".
Rachel was a troubled girl, who'd never had any real friends. She was an outlier, and she hoped that this time around, she'd fit in at school. She liked to smoke, and wore outdated clothes, and the music she listen to was not modern, but it spoke to her. Overall, she was nothing like the popular, anorexic girls at her old school. Something told her that it would be exactly the same here in California, but she still had hope.
When a week passed, and she had already had a confrontation with the most popular girl in school, Rachel lost all hope, and now knew that she would never be liked.
Something Rachel liked to do whenever she was feeling sad, or bored, or anything really, was to cut herself. She enjoyed the feel of the cool metal blade against her soft skin, and that pinch of pain whenever her skin was slit. And the blood, that was her favorite part—watching the blood spurt out of the fresh cut, and how beautifully red it was. This afternoon, having stolen her father's razor, she carefully took out the razor blade, and held it above her left wrist. She began to cut, and as the pain really started to kick in, she heard a voice.
"You're doing it wrong. If you want to kill yourself, cut vertically. They can't stitch that up."
Rachel turned around, and a girl was standing in the doorway of the bathroom. She seemed to be the same as her, perhaps a few years older, but not by much. She had shaggy blonde hair, which had been dyed pink. The pink was starting to fade, which was an indication that it had either been done a long time ago, or it was just really bad hair dye. Rachel looked into her eyes, and furrowed her brows.
"How'd you get in here?" the brunette asked. The unnamed girl smirked, and said, before closing the door. "If you're trying to kill yourself, you might also try a lock on the door." Then, Rachel was left alone. She was puzzled, yet somewhat intrigued. She was determined to find out who this mysterious girl was.
Luckily, the next day, Rachel discovered that the magenta-haired girl was a patient of her father's and that she had an appointment in the afternoon. And, when it was time, Rachel stood hidden in the doorway, peeking in. "…because I met someone." The girl said, her eyes meeting Rachel's. Rachel smiled to herself, walking away.
After Quinn's session with Dr. Berry, she walked along the hallways of the old house, her fingers eager to touch and feel everything. That was when she noticed that Rachel's bedroom door was open. She walked into the room, sitting down on the floor beside the other girl. "I'm Quinn."
Rachel was sitting on the floor, trying to figure out how she could run away from this horrible place her parents had forced her to move to, when the girl walked into her bedroom, without a knock or anything, introducing herself as Quinn. "I'm, uh…" Quinn laughed, and then bit her lip. "Rachel. I know. Your father talks about you sometimes." She took Rachel's unclad arm, her fingers running along the younger girl's cuts, loving how she slightly winced at the feel.
"I know about cuts." Quinn lifted her arm, and pulled the sleeve of her green sweater down, revealing an armful of scars. "My first one was when my dad left. I was… 10, or so." She pointed to one, after which she pointed to the freshest on Rachel's wrist.
"Last week, first day at my new school. Sucks. I hate it here… I hate everyone. All their bougie designer bullshit. East coast was much cooler. At least we had weather."
Quinn laughed, then licked her lips. "My favorite time of the year's when the leaves change. But don't worry about your school. Westfield, right?" Rachel nodded rapidly. "It's the worst, I got thrown out of there." Quinn gripped Rachel's arm lightly, then ran her nail along one of her older cuts, not wanting to hurt her too much. "Why'd you move here, anyway?"
Rachel hated that question. She had to explain everything to the few friends she had back home, and now she had to explain it to Quinn. Of course, Quinn seemed much more understanding. "Basically, my dad had an affair. My other dad caught him—in the act. Literally. He was fucking another man in their bed when my other dad walked in." Quinn gave Rachel an understanding smile, looking deeply into her eyes as she continued to talk. "The worst part is, a few months earlier, my fathers were planning to adopt another baby, and they had a surrogate. But she had a miscarriage. It was terrible, she was six months pregnant. We had to have a funeral and everything."
Quinn moved closer to Rachel, letting out an audible sigh. "I'm so sorry." She paused, cupping Rachel's chin and gently tilting her head up, so their eyes met. "If you love someone you should never hurt them. Never." whispered Quinn.
For the next half an hour or so, Quinn and Rachel talked about everything from music, and clothes and pain and love. To Rachel, it seemed as if Quinn was the friend she had yearned for her entire life. What she was completely unaware of was that Quinn didn't want to be Rachel's friend—she wanted more. Quinn liked girls, and Rachel was the type of girl she always dreamed of.
In that moment, Ben walked through the door, startling both girls. "What are you doing in here?" he asked, narrowing his eyes down at Quinn, who was still sitting on Rachel's carpet, whilst the brunette was on the bed, fiddling with her iPod. "Just listening to some music, Dad." Rachel said, smiling up at her father, who looked both angry and concerned.
"You need to leave. You shouldn't be in here, Quinn and I think you know that. Please, leave." the doctor said to Quinn. She looked down sadly, not wanting to leave Rachel yet. However, doctor Berry was Rachel's father, and her doctor, and if she pissed him off, she was sure that not only would he stop counseling her, but he would forbid Quinn from seeing or talking to Rachel. And she couldn't have either of those things happen, especially the latter. However, instead of walking out of the room, the magenta-haired girl walked over to the man, looking up at him as he stood in the doorway. "What's that thing you think I'm afraid of? Fear of rejection?" she asked before finally leaving Rachel's bedroom.
Ben's eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed before turning to Rachel, and saying, "Stay away from her!" in a firm, harsh tone. Rachel didn't understand why—her father always encouraged her to make friends, and now, when she was finally making one, he was telling her to stay away from said friend. "Dad, why? What's wro—" Rachel was cut off. "You heard me! I told you to stay away from her!"