AU Litchfield. Because even though it's been done a hundred times I just love the idea of our OITNB girls in high school. Focusing mainly on Nicky & Lorna here, because I'm obsessed. I'm still not even sure what this is, but I had a vision of HS Lorna & Nicky at a party and this just happened.
She had talked herself out of her nerves, and everything was fine - totally cool, that is, until the morning bell rang to announce the commencement of homeroom. Like a tidal wave, anxiety crashed over Lorna and she had to take several breaths - deep, deep breaths just like the school counselor had taught her, in order to keep from throwing up. She had gotten sick every day for the past week at the thought of going back to school. Not only was the mere thought of returning to school after a long summer nauseating, but it was a new high school - a private, "fancy" high school on the Upper East Side that Lorna's grandmother had to pull several sketchy strings in order for her to attend. Lorna didn't know how to make friends on her own. She preferred her public school in Brooklyn, where her mother arranged play dates in pre-school, and she had stuck with the same crowd for the next twelve years. But no one was holding her hand this time, which she hated. She loved having her hand held.
Trying to control her trembling legs, she walked down the hall which was now void of students. Great. She was going to be late to homeroom - which meant everyone would look at her as she walked in alone, which meant she was swimming in a shark tank with an open wound.
She felt ridiculous. She hated these prep school uniforms, she hated the way her stockings kept sliding down her skinny legs, she hated that she was completely on her own. It's only a year doll, and it'll look great on that resume for colleges! Her entire family had sat her down and raved about what a good look this was for her. But college? She hadn't even planned on going to college. She wanted to hair and make-up - you didn't need a degree for that… did you?
"Hi, I'm Lorna Morello. I'm new here. Today's my first day." She tried her best to give her most charming smile to the woman sitting behind the desk. Her skirt looked a bit too short for a teacher, and the way she rolled her eyes to look at Lorna made her uncomfortable.
"It's everyone's first day. Take a seat wherever, I don't really care." She went back to filing her nails, and Lorna slowly sank into the only empty seat in the back corner.
She looked around the room. It made her feel more comfortable that she sat in the back, so no one was breathing down her back and she was able to survey the entire room. Somehow it made her feel like she had the upper hand.
The teacher closed the door with little enthusiasm, and began to write on the chalkboard. "My name is Miss Figueroa. I will be your homeroom teacher, and your political science teacher. I don't care to go around the room and learn your names, or what you did this summer. No, my job is to teach the curriculum, and make sure you don't fail so I don't have to see your faces again next year, do I make myself abundantly clear? Are there any questions?" She was answered by silence. "Good. Now take out your copy of The Wealth of Nations, and discuss among yourselves the chapters that I assigned over the summer. When I return, we'll have a group discussion."
One girl next to Lorna raised her hand. She spoke in a soft voice, lightly infused with a Spanish accent. "Actually, I have a question. Should we-"
"Like I said, when I return we'll have a group discussion." She cut the girl off and walked out of the room. The minute the door shut behind her, the classroom erupted with loud voices. Lorna looked around the room - everyone had taken the book out but she heard no discussion of anything political science-y.
She leaned forward to the Spanish girl that sat next to her. "Um, I didn't get that book. I'm new here. Would you mind if I looked at it?"
The girl handed her copy to her. "Sure. It was really boring. I hate political science. I had to take it last year with Mendez - shit sucked. And he was such a creep too. He stares a lot, you know?"
Lorna nodded, pretending to be listening. She tried to skim through the chapters, but realized there was a lot of heavy material.
"I'm Daya, by the way."
"Oh, I'm Lorna," she pointed to herself. "What chapters were we supposed to read?"
"Book I, II, and III. I think it's the first like, 270 pages."
Lorna groaned. "I'm never gonna get this done."
"Hey, don't' worry about it - I'm sure she'll be easy on you if you're new. Besides, it's a group discussion. She won't call on you unless you raise your hand."
Lorna nodded and went back to skimming the chapters. She was caught off guard when she began to smell the familiar smell of marijuana - not a small whiff, but a full scented blast. She looked up and was shocked to see smoke coming from the girl sitting in front of her. She passed what looked like an electric cigarette to the black haired girl next to her.
"Oh my God!" she squeaked, causing the girl to turn around to stare at her. Lorna was also caught off guard by how pretty she was. All she had seen was her big, ratty hair from behind, so she hadn't expected such an attractive face to go with it. "You gotta put that out! She's gonna come back any minute."
The girl took the electronic cigarette from her friend, and puffed on it again. "Nah, I had her last year, she does this shit all the time. She leaves to get her coffee, she comes back five minutes before the bell rings… yada yada yada. It's a great system. I don't even have to leave my seat to smoke this shit."
Lorna continued gaping at the girl, who instead of taking the hint, blew a cloud of smoke into her face.
"Oh, where are my manners. I'm Nicky." She stuck her hand out, and Lorna stared at it for a second before realizing she was supposed to shake it. She touched her hand and was surprised at how firm of a handshake she had. "Let me know if you want a puff, erright?"
"Yo, Janis Joplin. Pass that ish over hurr."
Nicky turned to the black girl on the other side of the room. "Alright - incoming." She tossed the e-cig to the girl, barely aiming and as a result, it flew right over her head and hit against the wall. She sucked her teeth at her. "The fuck was that Janae? Don't you people excel at basketball? You coulda jumped for that shit."
"Fuck you, bitch. I don't give a shit about basketball."
"Yeah that's right, you're here on track scholarship. Can you even believe that's a thing? 'Hey, I have legs. I can run. Give me me money so I can go to school!'"
Lorna couldn't help but crack a smile at Nicky's attempt at a black woman's voice. She couldn't really tell if the banter between them was serious or just a joke, but she assumed that if Nicky shared her weed with her, then there must be some sort of friendship going on.
"Alright I'm good. Here, catch -" Janae tossed the cigarette across the room, but similar to Nicky she didn't aim, and it ended up hitting Lorna in the face. It bounced off her cheekbone and actually hurt, but she tried not to let her show her embarrassment when a bunch of girls laughed.
She quickly picked it up off the floor and handed it to Nicky, saying nothing. Nicky grinned at her, and roughly squeezed her forearm. "Hey thanks. And I apologize on behalf of my idiot friend over there. She's great on her legs but throws worse than Bethany Hamilton throwing with her left arm."
"Who the fuck is Bethany Hamilton?" Janae inquired from across the room.
"Are you fucking kidding me, don't you pay attention? A shark bit her arm off like 3 years ago. Jesus Christ."
"It's no problem," Lorna quickly added, bobbing her head.
"Say, what was your name again?"
Before Lorna could open her mouth to respond, Ms. Figueroa walked into the room. Nicky stashed the cigarette into her bag and turned around. When she did, Lorna got a whiff of her hair - rose shampoo covered in loads of hairspray. She smiled, taking in the smell.
"What in the world - who was smoking in here?" Ms Figueroa demanded. Immediately, she turned her attention to Janae. "You. Out of my classroom."
"Me?! Why you think I-"
"Oh please, what am I an idiot? Get out and don't come back unless you can sit through this class without having to 'smoke a blunt with your homies.' Despicable. OUT."
Nicky tried to hide her laughter. Oh, white privilege.
The rest of the day was a blur. Lorna went to her classes, sat quietly in the back of the room, and mostly tried to stay out of trouble. She ate by herself - although she was at a table full of people, she isolated herself in the corner and pretended to be immersed in a book. The only other interaction she got after her homeroom class was when a slim, blonde girl sat next to her during her eighth period class.
"Hi, you're Lorna Morello right? I'm Piper Chapman. I'm really sorry, I was supposed to give you a tour this morning but I completely forgot. How was your first day?"
"Oh, it was good, yeah."
"Well I'm a part of the student welcome committee, so if you're interested, I have the freedom to take you out of class for the next fifteen minutes." She grinned at her, and Lorna quickly gathered her things in her arms.
"Absolutely."
The two girls walked throughout the halls, Piper pointed out different classrooms and explained the bulletin boards, and mostly chatted idly about non-school related things.
"Have you met any cool people yet?"
Lorna shrugged. "I'm really shy. I've met a lot of people but I haven't made any friends just yet."
"Well, I'm your friend now."
Lorna smiled at her. "The only person I talked to this morning was this girl. She was kind of scary though. She… smoked in the middle of class."
With a knowing smile, Piper responded, "I can only assume that's either Nicky or Alex. Nicky's parents are very powerful people in New York, and they have a great relationship with the school administration, so she does whatever she wants. And, actually, even if she didn't have her parents as a safety net, she would still do whatever she wants. She's definitely not one to follow rules."
"And, who's Alex?"
"Oh, my girlfriend."
Surprised, Lorna managed to muster a small "…Oh." She didn't seem like a lesbian.
"Are you doing anything tonight?"
"Tonight?" Like most Friday nights, she was planning on spending the night in with her family, ordering take out and watching romance movies. But, she wasn't about to share that with Piper. "Uh, no, actually. I mean, I had plans to hang with my uh… my boyfriend, but, you know I might be too tired." Boyfriend? Where had that come from?
"You should hang out with us tonight. Alex is having people over. Her parents are out of town and they have a huge house. There's gona be like fifty people there, it'll be nice for you to meet everyone off campus, you know?"
Lorna smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fun. Thank you."
"No problem." She took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it, then handed it to Lorna. "That's Alex's address. I put my cell phone down too, so you can let me know when you get there. I'll be heading over around nine."
"Great! Yeah, see you there."
The bell rang, indicating that eighth period was over. Finally, a much-needed end to a long day. Piper waved goodbye and walked down the hall. She watched as she met up with the same wild-haired girl from homeroom. She gave Piper a tough punch on the shoulder, and together they walked out of the building. She seemed like something else - Lorna watched the two disappear and smiled, wondering if Nicky would be coming tonight. She immediately thought of the perfect thing to wear, and rushed back to the 6 train so she could get home and get ready.
At 9:30 on the dot, Lorna was standing in front of one of the most beautiful condominiums she had ever seen. She had never actually been inside one of them. She walked to the door and buzzed in, suddenly feeling chilly in her black leather mini skirt and matching tube top. The door buzzed back indicating that she was allowed entrance in, and she followed the music until she got to a door. She texted Piper, I'm here! and it wasn't long before the door opened and a tipsy Piper wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm so glad you're here!" she squeaked. Lorna laughed and hugged her back, eager to start drinking so she was on the same level as Piper was. She always loosened up once she had a few drinks.
She followed Piper into the room, which was a lot bigger than she had imagined. Piper was right, there were about 50 people there already, and the night was still young. Outside of their uniforms, Lorna was able to see more of her peers' personalities shining through. The girls wore fishnets, high heels, crop tops, see-through shirts - and everyone just looked so glamorous. There was even a balcony with a stunning view of the East River. A lot of people were out there - there was a game of beer pong, a group of girls taking selfless, and a keg, where someone was doing a keg stand.
"Lorna, this is Alex. Alex: Lorna."
"Hey, I remember you," Alex smiled. She had a deep, husky voice. "Janae hit you with that G-pen, right?"
Lorna forced a laugh. "Yeah, that… that was me."
"Well welcome to Casa de la Vause. What's mine is yours. Mostly because nothing's mine, it's my parents, and they're too busy to ever notice that I throw bangers every weekends."
"Yeah, your house is amazing." Lorna looked around, suddenly feeling inadequate. All the girls wore designer labels, Lorna was wearing a dress from Wet Seal that she had gotten on sale two years ago. "I used to live in a penthouse near here. Then I moved into a smaller condo with my sister, because we needed space from our parents, to have our own parties."
Lorna tried not to cringe. Why did she just say that? It was like she had no control over what came out of her mouth.
"That's cool, which neighborhood did you live in? I've lived here for a while, we've probably passed each other like, plenty of times."
Lorna froze, suddenly realizing she didn't know much about Manhattan. Brooklyn, sure, she could talk you through Williamsburg, Mill Basin, Bed-Stuy - but nothing about Manhattan came to her mind. "Well-"
"Is that Vause!? I thought I saw that fuckin' hair from across the goddamn room!" A loud, hoarse voice saved Lorna just in the knick of time, and the three girls turned to where Nicky was pushing her way through the crowd. She was holding a girl's hand, and Nicky seemed not to notice that she was walking way too fast for her.
"There she is, I was wondering where the Notorious Nichols was."
"Hey, you know if you let a party go on for too long I gotta show up. I'm like fuckin' Beetlejuice!"
"Well, Beetlejuice only shows up when you say his name three times," Piper informed her.
Nicky rolled her eyes. "Fine, then I'm like Bloody fuckin' Mary."
"Mm… same concept."
Nicky looked at her with wide eyes. "God, Vause get her away from me. I been here two minutes and she's already sucking all the fun out of everything."
Alex laughed and put her arm around Piper. Nicky finally turned to her left and locked eyes with Lorna. Lorna felt her heart skip a beat.
"Oh hey. I remember you." She gave her a once over and met her eyes again, smiling. "I brought my g-pen. I hope that doesn't upset you."
"No, no not at all! I wasn't upset," she insisted, trying to convince Nicky she wasn't a buzzkill like Piper. "Actually, I love smoking the….g-pen. I just don't know how private schools work, 'cause, I'm new."
Nicky smiled a devilish grin, and pulled the g-pen out, dangling it in front of Lorna. "Why don't we hit the pen after a few shots, eh?" She pulled her half empty bottle of Jack Daniels out of her bag and frowned. "Shit man, I didn't realize half of this was gone already. How'd this happen? Yo - Maritza!" She looked through the glass door to find the girl she'd come in with.
"Is that your date for the night?" Alex raised her eyebrows. She could never keep up with Nicky's temporary girlfriends.
"Eh." Nicky didn't seem to care much, and walked to a nearby table where there were a bunch of plastic cups. She took four and began pouring very large shots.
"Easy tiger," Alex held up her cup. "I'm good right here."
"Ooh, what is that cranberry and vodka? Man up Vause, Christ. We're all taking shots. Even you, pukey."
Piper, who Nicky had obviously been referring to, held up her beer. "I'm sipping this first! I'm not ready for shots yet."
"Damn, the both of you. Vause, I'm losing you. I know you're still in there somewhere but you're fading fast. You're scaring me, man."
"I'll take both their shots," Lorna spoke up, instantly feeling regret as Nicky's smile lit up.
"See, this is a girl I can chill with." She put her arm around Lorna and handed her two shots. "I like the way you think. We'll both do double."
Alex held up the cup and laughed. "Nicky, this isn't a shot. This is a small glass of Jack. Lorna, can you keep up with this girl? She's like a pirate."
Nicky danced back and forth, shifting her weight excitedly from each leg as she poured two shots for herself.
"Definitely," she said. "I drink more than my boyfriend. And… you know, he's like 6'3", really strong guy. I outdrink him all the time."
Nicky stopped dancing momentarily to look at Lorna. "Got a boyfriend, eh?"
Lorna nodded a little too eagerly. She didn't know why she fibbed about living in a nice place, or having a boyfriend, or why she even thought it would make her sound more exciting.
Nicky tilted her head to the side and smiled. "Lucky guy. You seem like a squealer in bed. You a squealer?"
Lorna's cheeks turned red, and Piper and Alex laughed at her.
"At least give the girl some alcohol before you ask her those questions," Alex said through laughter.
"Fair enough. I do expect an answer though."
Nicky held up the two cups and nodded at her. "One right after the other?"
Lorna put on a strong face and nodded. She liked the way Nicky looked so impressed. Maybe lying was working out after all. She didn't know why she needed Nicky's approval so badly, but she figured it was because she had never met someone so… carefree, so cool before. Nicky seemed like a girl who didn't get awkward or insecure because she didn't care to. Lorna admired that.
As decided, Nicky took the first shot easily, and then the second right after.
As the first drop went down Lorna's throat, her eyes watered and she began to cough. Nicky had already finished both shots, and looked at Lorna worriedly.
"Went down the wrong way-" she choked out between coughs.
"I hate when that happens. It's smooth though, yeah?"
Lorna blinked away tears and nodded. "Yeah-just went down the wrong pipe - I'll finish it in a minute I just-" She bent over and coughed, surreptitiously pouring some of the shot on the floor underneath the table.
She stood back up and cleared her throat.
"Well you're almost done," Nicky said, pointing to her cup. Lorna nodded, and managed to drink the rest of what was left. She couldn't imagine having to drink a whole second glass. But, Nicky was watching. And she still looked impressed. She used that as an incentive to chug the second glass, and slammed it down on the table.
Nicky laughed and slapped her on the back. "That was awesome, kid. We gotta hang out more. I like people who can drink like me." With the last statement, she looked at Alex with a friendly glare.
The rest of the night began to blend together. Nicky fed her shot after shot, and she sat herself down in a chair when she looked up and realized Nicky was holding the g-pen in front of her.
"You think you can handle this? You look like you're done."
"Nnnno-" Lorna slurred. She tried to make her words very clear, very direct, and very firm. But the harder she tried, the more she failed.
Nicky pulled up a chair and sat in front of Lorna. Their knees were touching, and Lorna instantly felt the desire to hug Nicky. She wrapped her arms around her, enjoying the feel of the girl. "You sssmell good."
Nicky laughed and rubbed her the back. "You know what I just fuckin' realized."
Lorna looked at her with eyes going in different directions.
Nicky leaned forward, so their faces were dangerously close. "You still haven't told me your name."
Lorna's mouth dropped open. In her drunken state, that was a huge pieces of news. "Are you SERIOUS?" Nicky smiled and nodded. "Lllllooorna."
"Nice to meet you, Lllllloorrna. Is that nine or ten L's?"
Lorna burst out laughing. Nicky was funny when she was sober, but right now Lorna felt like she was at a comedy club. "I wanna get drunk with you and talk allll the time."
Nicky smiled at her, puffing on the pen. "Same here kid. You want some of this?"
Lorna nodded, as if Nicky was an idiot for asking otherwise. "Of course!" She took the pen that Nicky offered, missing the first few times, then put it in-between her lips backwards. Nicky took it out and put it back so it was in correctly.
Lorna inhaled, looking up at Nicky for directions. She didn't want to admit this was her first time smoking weed.
"It's just like smoking a blunt," she told her. "Except cooler. Keep sucking till the lights blink."
Lorna looked down, but everything was so blurry she didn't even realize there were any lights on the pen. Nicky laughed and took the pen out. "Okay, now."
Lorna was surprised to see a cloud of smoke exiting her lips. She hadn't felt anything coming in her lungs. "Whoooa…"
"Cool, huh? Got this shit from California. I used to fuck a girl who got me the best shit."
"Are you a lesbian?" she asked.
"Yeah," Nicky whispered, leaning forward. "But don't say it too loud. I care a lot about what other people think about me. And homosexuality is a sin, Lorna. I might go to Hell."
It took her a minute to realize she was being sarcastic, but when she did, she snorted and began laughing, not stopping for a good minute or two.
"Erright, it wasn't that funny," Nicky said, although she was laughing as well.
Suddenly, Lorna felt different. She felt pressure on her face and body, and the entire world was spinning. She felt as if she was literally standing on a spinning platform, and she gripped the chair arms tightly as she tried to regain balance.
"Uh-oh. I know that look. The spins, huh?"
Lorna mumbled something incoherent, and Nicky immediately helped her to stand. "Let's go lie in Alex's bed. I think you need a nap."
Nicky led Lorna to a room, which was hard because she was suffering from tunnel vision so bad that she couldn't see where she was going. Nicky gently brought her to the bed but she crashed down a little harder than she intended to land.
"Come in with me…" Lorna moaned, and Nicky got in with her. She sipped the last of her Jack Daniels, and threw the bottle into the trash.
"So tell me about this boyfriend." Nicky laid on her side, resting her face on her hand.
"No boyfriend," she mumbled. At this stage of being drunk, it was hard to tell lies.
"No boyfriend?" Nicky repeated with a smile. She took that to mean that tonight, temporarily, she wasn't thinking of her boyfriend.
Lorna grabbed Nicky's face and pulled her towards her and gave her a sloppy kiss. Nicky put her hand on the side of her face and stuck her tongue in her mouth, as being polite was never her thing. They shared a heated kiss for a few minutes, and Nicky's hand crept down her stomach and ran up and down her legs. She slowly grazed her fingers up her inner thigh, and when Lorna gave no protest, began to rub her clit through her panties.
Lorna moaned and looked at Nicky with heavy eyelids. Nicky was about to move her underwear to the side, when she thought again about how much Lorna had to drink. She kissed her again and straightened up her skirt, and covered her with a blanket.
"Why…" was all Lorna could say.
Nicky closed her eyes for her and kissed her on the forehead. "I don't fuck drunk bitches with boyfriends," she told her.
"I don't…. have boyfriend…"
Nicky sighed. "You won't be saying that tomorrow. I'm doing you a favor, kid, you'll thank me."
Lorna wasn't able to argue anymore, because she had fallen asleep. Nicky watched the girl for a few minutes, before she left to get more alcohol. She came back and locked the door, making sure no one would disturb them as they slept. Lorna was lucky that she got so drunk so quickly. Nicky had built up quite a tolerance, and she was someone who liked to drink until she fell asleep, and that always took a few hours.
She popped her second Xanax of the night and puffed on her g-pen, giving Lorna's lips another kiss.
"I wish you didn't have a boyfriend," she mumbled. "You're Nicky's kind of girl."
The party continued on the other side of the door, but Nicky didn't mind being in bed with Lorna. She put on the news and continued to sip until she was falling asleep. This was a girl she wouldn't mind wifing up for the school year, she thought. Longer, even. She wasn't a home-wrecker, but planned on doing everything in her power to lure Lorna her way.
They say the number one rule is not to fall for straight girls, but Nicky was never one to follow rules anyway.