Fresh Start at Life

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N:

Chapter 37 (Disowned)

"Why would you hit your sister?" Holly's shrill voice stung Trina's eardrums as she held the phone up. Her stomach was clenching and bile was rising up her throat as her stepmom chided her for the fight she and Tori had gotten into the other day. "Not to mention you've been lying to us. You're going to some school in Texas so you can have sex, is that it?"

"Of course not." She could feel her blood hardening with anger. She didn't know what to tell the woman, especially when she knew she wouldn't even listen. "I have to do my own thing."

"You're just ungrateful!"

"How am I ungrateful?" She walked around the kitchen counter and looked up to Lindsay. Lindsay was at the couch, watching her with a long face. "I can't do anything to please you people! You refuse to even hear my side of the story."

"Your side? You hit your sister! You know better."

"Seriously? She wasn't listening to me either. Maybe if she actually tried to be more of a sister to me-"

"Tried? Katrina Vega we have done nothing but try, and each time, you treat us like shit!" She pulled the phone from her ear and rolled her eyes. She couldn't figure out why the woman played the victim, or acted like she was perfect.

"You're joking right? You reject all my calls, never call me back and you accuse me of not trying hard enough to maintain contact?" Her voice started to rise, stopping only when she heard the woman scoff. "Quit playing the victim, you know damn well you don't try! I'm sorry I can't be the perfect little girl Tori is!" She sneered and narrowed her eyes.

"You need help." Trina leaned over the counter, tapping her left hand anxiously on the countertop. Her stomach lurched and her jaw tightened in place. "Remember you're the one that lied to us and went off to Midwestern, and then your sister goes to visit you and you attack her. You need help."

"Wh-" Her eyes widened and her jaw hung as her stepmother clicked her tongue. "Attacked? She fucking attacked me! She attacked my boyfriend too!"

"You know what? Maybe you don't need a boyfriend right now. Where do you get off going after someone your sister told you she was attracted to?"

"What! Where's dad, I want to talk to him."

"I'm sorry sweetie, he's at work right now." No he wasn't, she knew his schedule well enough. He would be off and watching Law & Order. Trina's muscles tensed and a growl left her throat.

"I just heard him talking to Tori five minutes ago while you were going on your little tirade. Who's lying now, Holly? This is why I came to Midwestern, because you can't see past your own hypocrisy. All you see is how perfect you think you and your daughter are, and you have the audacity to tell me I must be a nurse like you."

"You're not studying nursing either?" The woman gasped and Trina rolled her eyes once more. Her index finger tapped anxiously on the table and her breathing became shallow.

"Of course you focus on one small part of that and ignore everything else. Why is it so hard for you to see outside of your own view and your own self?" She was as bad as Mr. Sikowitz and Harold, but if she said that, it would only make things worse. "Why doesn't dad ever speak up?"

"Because he knows how selfish you act. He agrees with us, Trina."

"Like hell he does!" Holly was probably correct, Trina had no proof otherwise. The man could stand up for her at least once. Tears scorched her eyes and cheeks and her heart rate increased with her voice. "You screen my calls don't you? You keep him from calling me."

"Where are these accusations coming from?" She heard something slam on the countertop and waited for her stepmother to collect herself. "Listen here Katrina. We had a talk last night. About you." She furrowed her brow and closed her hand. Her throat tightened as her instincts told her to hang up the phone. Likely that wouldn't be a solution for anything. "We're done with you." Her lips pressed tight as the oxygen in the air zapped away from her and her world decayed.

Those two words struck her with more force than any physical attack she ever felt. "W-What does that mean?"

"We've had enough. We're sick of you acting so high and mighty, we're tired of you abusing us and your father. You had the audacity to strike your sister, lie about where you are, and apparently you're just off having sex and not even going into nursing-"

"I told you a million times I can't stand the sight of blood." She tried to conceal her trembling body by moving around and walking to the fridge. When she looked over, she saw Lindsay studying her carefully. "I'm studying history and criminal justice."

"Please. You're just on a road going nowhere. We're not paying your way through college anymore. Sorry. You want to be on your own, you're on your own. Since you can't even maintain a relationship with your father, don't call. We're through. Unless you decide to be a good daughter."

Her hand gripped the handle of the fridge tightly as her chest and stomach clenched. Disbelief and anger wrapped around her, constricting her and forcing the air from her lungs. Holly's words wrapped around her throat like icy fingers choking her.

"Have a good life, Trina. We're done with this emotional rollercoaster ride of yours. You really think yourself so important. Get a reality check, then come see us." She could hear her dad in the background, but once again he was only answering a question from Tori.

"How about letting me talk to my Dad? What's his opinion of this?"

"I told you we already discussed this. We're not putting any more funds in your account. Find a way to finish school yourself. Good luck."

"So that's it? Just like that? It comes that easily to you?"

"No it doesn't, but unfortunately this is the only way to get through to you. We do love you, but there's just no other way. Bye." Before she could respond, Holly hung up the phone. Her heart stopped as she stumbled back against the fridge and stared down at the phone.

She saw her friend stand up from the couch. Her vision blurred from the tears as her heart slammed into her chest and heaviness descended upon her. Her trembling body sank to the ground and her hand moved up to her head, clenching her hair as a sob vibrated from her chest.

"Trina?" Lindsay's arms wrapped around her, but the girl couldn't console her.

"They just…" A fire sparked in her chest and she gripped her stomach, struggling to push down the violent urge to vomit as her stress shot up to heightened levels. "D-Dad wouldn't."

Lindsay grabbed a rag from the oven and tried to wipe away the tears drenching her face. "It's okay. Just take a deep breath."

"Can't." She struggled to breathe, but it still felt as though someone was strangling the life out of her. "Can't breathe." Her body was in immense pain.

"Do I need to call the campus emergency?"

"N-No." She buried her head into her face and pulled her knees to her chest, weeping bitterly. "I hate them. I fucking hate them."

"It's okay. I'm here for you." Lindsay continued to hold her, rocking with her. She'd never had a panic attack before, and while she expected something like this to happen, she never thought it actually would. Fear struck her like a heavy blow to her stomach. What was she going to do? How could she continue her schooling? Yes she planned for scholarships, grants, loans and whatever other aid she could find, but not so soon.

How could her own family treat her this way? How could she trust anyone if she couldn't trust her own family? She wanted desperately to believe her father was against Holly in this, but he couldn't have had a say at all if he wasn't even protesting.

"You don't need them, Trina. You don't." Lindsay pried the phone from Trina's fingers and looked down at it with narrow eyes. A pang struck Trina's heart as she looked up to see her friend dialing a number.

"Wh-What are you doing?"

Someone answered and Lindsay's face grew stern, her eyes darkened and her voice snapped like a vicious dog barking at an enemy. "I hope you're fucking happy, Mr. Vega!" Her heart stopped and she froze, too paralyzed to move as Lindsay continued to cuss out her father. "You're a prime as fuck father, choosing your fucked up stepfamily over your own blood! I bet Sherry's goddamn proud to see you letting some bitch ass skinny as fuck second wife kick around the daughter you two had together! Congrats on disowning Sherry's daughter, you can go to hell with the whole lot of them!"

Lindsay held the phone out to Trina, who could only muster up a pitiful whimper. A shuddering sob fell from her lips and she turned away as Lindsay pulled the phone back. "Hear that? That's your flesh and blood learning you don't give a fuck. Be proud! You don't keep up communication and you have the audacity to let those two accuse her of doing that exact thing? Fucking hypocrites! All of you!"

"L-Lindsay enough. Please…He's still my dad…"

"The fuck he is." Lindsay hit the end call button and set the phone off to the side. "A dad wouldn't let his daughter get beat down like this." Trina leaned into Lindsay's chest. She felt pathetic and weak for crying over this, why would she be so stupid? Lindsay rubbed her back and tightened her hug around her. "Look, you're going to be okay. I know you will."

"How? What can I do? My whole family hates me."

"No they don't. You know that. Your Aunt Diane and Uncle George, your cousins…they love you."

"I'm just a burden to all of them." She blew her nose into a Kleenex and threw it into the nearby trash bin. "I can't do anything right!" Lindsay set her chin on top of Trina's head and continued to hold her tight. The hug was comforting, and Trina was slowly calming down, but her body was still rigid.

"That isn't true, Trina. You know that more than anyone. Don't let what they say or do get to you, you're better than that. Better than what they think about you." She gave a partial smile and shook her head.

"That worked with Marcus, but this is my own family."

"Well if you think about it, your own family didn't disown you. I don't care what condition your father's in, your stepfamily did this."

"And he chose them, Lindsay!" She pulled herself up and wiped her face. "I'm nothing to him, nothing to anyone." Lindsay stood up and looked into her eyes. Trina's breath hitched and her nostrils flared slowly. "It hurts…"

"I know it does. Look. You're my best friend, Jason's girlfriend. If you were nothing, neither of us would give a damn about you." She chuckled once as Lindsay once more brought the rag to her tears. Trina hugged her arms and turned away.

"I can't relax. I can't calm down."

"No? I think I know how to get you to lessen that anxiety." Lindsay swept her bangs away from her tear filled stare. Trina's eyes dropped to the floor and her shoulders rose. "How would you like to spar with me?"

Trina hesitated and glanced over with a sudden, slight gasp. Lindsay's mouth cocked into a smirk and her eyebrows lifted up. It had been so long since Trina sparred with Lindsay. The girl was a challenge, more so than Jason in the sense that she'd never actually beat Lindsay.

"I'm an emotional wreck."

Lindsay took a step back and spread her arms out to the side, grinning widely. "That's the best time to spar, and you know it. Besides, I want to see if you're at my level yet." She knew Trina couldn't resist a challenge, and as much as Trina was attempting to do just that, it was a struggle.

Lindsay was the one that taught her everything she knew, and more. There was a reason that her nickname in the club was 'chameleon' as well. Trina sniffed and closed her eyes. "Okay. Where then?"

"Let's jog over to the quad." Lindsay pat her shoulder and guided her to the front door. "Forget about your stepmother for a while."

"I'll try."

"If this doesn't get rid of your anxiety, I'm calling Jason."

"How's that going to help?"

Lindsay put her hands behind her head and shrugged. "Sometimes a boyfriend is more soothing than a best friend." Trina chuckled softly and gazed ahead. Once they were outside, Lindsay locked the door and took a few steps ahead of Trina. "Race you there. First one there gets the first move."

"What?"

"You heard me." She took off, leaving Trina bewildered and startled. Pushing the violent phone call from her mind, Trina ran after Lindsay.

It all comes crashing down, but hopefully Lindsay can help her to calm down some.