1 week later
"well I guess it's time to start our new life" says Lisa
"what you aren't excited sweetheart, I haven't seen Abby or Lizzie in a long time" says Valeria
"no I am babe it's just technically we are sisters by blood, I don't know if people will approve" says Lisa
"Tori assured us we'd be welcomed with open arms as long as we keep anything other than kissing to our room that we have, you know uncle George, he loved soundproofing the rooms, didn't want his kids to hear him have sex, also they all disapproved of his music" says Valeria
"wait so we can finally be intimate……." Asks lisa
"ya" says Valeria as they enter the guest room
"Valal ewr ere" says Hailey excitedly
"wow she's gotten pretty good at her words" says Lisa
"I triken" says Hailey
"you've always tried Hailey, what could Abs possibly be doing that is accelerating her progress" says Valeria as Abigail walks over
"welcome home cousins, if you must know Valeria, I've been reading books to her, having her watch movies, she can write words just fine it's the verbalizing that she's having trouble with, she's obsessed with pancakes and strawberries, of which she can quietly ask for now, before I started it was pointing at pictures or quietly asking for them in my ear" says Abigail
"you sure it isn't a mental development thing, Dad was quite abusive to her, slapped her anytime she tried to speak, that's why she does the eye thing" says Lisa
"oh I have no doubt it contributed to it but we took her to the hospital last week and got a scan done just to make sure it wasn't bad, there is some damage but not in the speech part of the brain, she's basically hardwired for fear because of him, there is this girl down the street that seems quite interested in Hailey, to what extent I do not know but Hailey gets really excited anytime she calls to see if she can come over, the girls name is Sarah and the first thing she does is play with Hailey's hair, it literally calms Hailey right down, I've tried the same thing with little effect" says Abigail as Hailey smiles at the mention of her friends name
"I think Hailey has a little crush on this Sarah" says Sabrina as Tori walks over with Sarah
"Sarah was dropped off last minute, her parents had a medical emergency" says Tori
"Hailey bear" says squeals Sarah as she walks over to Hailey
"wait Sarah we need to ask a few questions first" says Abigail
"here we go, let me guess you don't want me hanging around Hailey alone" says Sarah
"it's not that, I need to know if you have feelings for Hailey, she's been through a lot of trauma" says Abigail
"if you want me to stay then the answer is no" says Sarah
"I never said you had to leave, I just mean that I need to know" says Abigail
"yes I love her, sorry if I got the wrong idea, I've had crushes on other girls and their parents always kicked me out when they find out, the only other place I could go is the community centre day care and I'm a little old for that" says Sarah
"I love ere Abi" says Hailey
"that's the first time you've almost had no speech issues" says Abigail shocked
"you think I'd be kissing her without your approval Abby, you may not be her mother but you're as close as she'll get, I respect that, I've been having her read her favorite stories to me, over the past week she's been getting a lot better, when she'd get stressed because she was chewing on a word I'd play with her hair, the first time I did that she bit my finger, but she's not as clueless as she seems sometimes, I personally think she's at the point where it's just getting out of the comfort zone and using her words" says Sarah
"how old are you Sarah" asks Sabrina
"overprotective sister right, I'm almost fourteen, though I'm short for my age so I definitely look twelve" says Sarah
"can I kisth her Abi" says Hailey
"ok but not in the main area, your room, remember what I told you" says Abigail
"duh moma" says Hailey sarcastically as she pulls Sarah to her room
"you really trust her alone like that" says Sabrina scared
"you worry too much Sabrina, her speech is almost perfect now apparently, she's been holding out on me, but she's no gambler, she's too attached to me to lie to me like that" says Abigail
With Hailey after the kiss
"I can't believe Abigail let us be alone for our first kiss" says Hailey
"I'm sorry who are you, you've never been this good at your speech" says Sarah
"stop playing around Sarah, you hewped a lot, Abby doesn't see it, what my dad did to me is more tham most people will understand, he raped me for a whole year then handed me off to my party clown of whom almost killed me, see the mark on my neck" says Hailey
"ya……" says Sarah
"that clown had a rope around my neck while he raped me, I was gasping for air the entire time, had I not played dead I would be dead" says Hailey
"does Abby know this" asks Sarah
"yes, though I'd rather you not bring it up agan, I'm not as close to her as I used to be, that rape changed me, I still have problems with Er boyfriend, she's just too in luv to see it, Ryder actually scares the living daylights out of me, I can see he cares but it's just he could kill me in a second, I csnt trust guys, the only guy I trusted was Frank by brother but he's dead" says Hailey as Tori knocks
"come in" says Sarah as Tori walks in
"hat Hu Er want" says Hailey
"firstly Hailey I heard you as I was walking up, I know you can talk normally, the question is how long have you been lying to Abby, I brought some tasty treats for you" says Tori
"it's just she cares about Ryder a lot and it just seemed like I'd never get her attention, dad told me I couldn't say a word, Abby wanted to help me so I let her, Sarah was right, I wasn't comfortable, at the beginning I really did have problems, it's just she looks just so much like my mom, same caring voice, I just wanted as much of that caring feeling as I could get, I thought that if I stopped she'd forget about me" says Hailey
"why Hailey bear" says Sarah
"because everyone forgot about me after what that clown did to me, Aunty Anne knew what my dad was like, knew he'd lie to get money, why did everyone believe him so easly" says Hailey crying as Sarah hugs her
"Sarah your parents are going to be gone for a few weeks, apparently it's worse than they thought, you think you can stay here with Hailey" says Tori
"please, this is like a dream come true for me, I'd seen Hailey around the community for a little bit but before I was invited over I never thought I'd get this close to heaven, do you have to tell Abby" says Sarah
"I do have to tell her but I'll make sure to let her know it was out of fear Hailey" says Tori
"koy koy……." Says Hailey suddenly scared
With Abigail
"so how long was she faking" says Ryder
"not as long as you'd think, she did have problems at first and clearly still does a bit but you scare her to the bone Ryder" says Tori
"so that's it, she's afraid of Ryder so she won't speak normally around me" says Abigail
"doesn't Ryder's muscles remind you of anyone Abby, and as you said she's basically hardwired for fear" says Tori
"oh god I didn't even think about that" says Abigail
"what, what's the epiphany" says Ryder confused
"you look like Chris Gray, her father, the one who raped her for a year, probably would have been longer had he not been arrested" says Abigail
"it probably was more than a year Abby, if she's willing to lie about her ability to speak she's probably lying about how long it went on" says Ryder
"what do you mean" says Abigail confused
"well for one Abigail she likened your looks to her mother, if my life is any indication she wants parental approval and affection, she said that it's clear you love Ryder, that if she told you that she was all better before you thought she would be that you'd ignore her, she's been ignored for most of her life, been treated like trash, the last thing she wants is to feel like trash again, now Sarah will be living here for a few weeks so she might be more confident" says Tori
"why is she staying for a few weeks exactly" says Ryder intrigued
"Sarah's parents are paramedics however Sarah's uncle lives in Miami and apparently he's not doing well" Says Tori
"isn't there anywhere else she could go" says Ryder insensitively
"Ryder, don't be so mean, if there was someone at her house that could watch her I'm sure she would be, besides you don't need to scare Hailey more by scaring someone she likes away" says Abigail
"Hailey is too young, she's only thirteen and a half years old, Sarah is fourteen" says Ryder
"ok so if that kind of age gap bothers you, you can go then, because you are a full year and a half older than me Ryder" says Abigail
"aren't you going to defend me at all Tori, do you not think Hailey is too young" says Ryder
"firstly Ryder you aren't one to talk when it comes to integrity, also no Hailey isn't too young to kiss per say, I wouldn't let them make love or anything or let them kiss all day, trust me I was experimenting at twelve with the idea if kissing, even kissed a boy but no I don't have anything against them doing a little experimentation when it comes to love" says Tori
"where is cat anyway, aren't you usually glued to her" says Ryder upset
"look I'm almost nineteen, I'm my own person, also cat got a job at Wankos so she can get an employee discount on cool hair, face or girl stuff, she's only stocking shelves and isn't allowed to talk to customers which is a little harsh but once she starts talking she can't stop which is why she can't talk to them, it's a measly fourteen dollars an hour but the discount is something like forty percent for all employees, probably not including her for the next little bit, I warned her that new employees probably don't get the good discount for a few months at least, she didn't care, she doesn't want to moooch of me, yes she said moooch with three o's, she's my fiancé it's not mooching but she does not care" says Tori
"she will when she realizes that new employees only get something like five to ten percent discounts for the first six months, they had five new employees apply strictly for the forty percent discount and Wankos lost money because of it so effective four months ago was the six month rule to weed out the discount seekers" says Ryder
"I did try and warn her" says Tori
"oh well all you can do is try, also I'll try to be less scary around Hailey, I didn't know I scared her that bad but sometimes it comes with the territory" says Ryder
6 hours later as Cat returns from work
"um Kitty what's all the stuff on the bed" says Tori
"new plushies, apparently Wankos has a you touch it you buy it rule, I only wanted one, I was just trying to see which one was the softest now I have seventy plushies, are you mad at me" says Cat sniffing
"what was the bill total" says Tori
"like five hundred bucks, I didn't know they'd force me to buy everything I touched" says Cat
"five hundred dollars just in plushies….." says Tori eyes bulging
"well no, I also looked at some sheets, the tag said ten dollars for the package set, apparently ten dollars means fifty, I want to quit, I can't handle not talking all day, I have to say something but they won't let me" says Cat
"then quit" says Tori
"I can't use your hard earned money like that babe, it's not fair to you" says Cat
"how much were the plushies on their own, they had to have overcharged on something" says Tori
"like six bucks each, they didn't overcharge, I checked the receipt like seven times" says Cat
"how about I go talk to your manager tomorrow" says Tori
"if you say so, he's not really a forgiving person" says Cat
At Wankos the next day
"what do you want Tori" says Han
"look I know you said Cat can't talk to customers because she rambles on but she really feels like quitting because of it" says Tori
"what would you like me to do then because she's turned fifty customers away because of her rambling and she's only been working here for two weeks" says Han
"give her a script to follow, she loves acting, you do realize that people are complaining about her not talking right, she told me that people are furious that she won't even acknowledge them" says Tori
"well she is our best shelve stalker, had it not been for the rambling I'd have given her a raise, as well as shelve stalk manager position, I'll think about it ok, one question though, if she is your fiancé and as you stated during the interview gets half your money from your music and Pear money why did she want this job" says Han
"she doesn't want to rely on my money, we're millionaires because of pear and she doesn't want to rely on that money, it says something about her that I hadn't even considered" says Tori
"you know she bought seventy plushies and our best and silkiest sheet set yesterday after her shift" says Han
"she said she only wanted one but that apparently you have this you touch it you buy it rule" says Tori
"we only enforce it for people close to Trina, you know Trina peed in one of our most expensive bins right, we had to get rid of everything in that isle because of her and buy new stuff to replace it" says Han
"Trina can be an idiot sometimes but Cat's not like that at all, I assure you of that" says Tori
"ok if she wants to return the plushies she didn't want she can return them for a refund or store credit, also I'll get her the forty percent discount from now on" says Han
"I'll ask her" says Tori as she leaves
"oh before you go she got that promotion and double wage, hearing that she was nothing like Trina really sealed the deal" says Han
With Cat 30 minutes later
"so am I fired" asks Cat
"no, you got a manager position, you can return the plushies if you wanted to also he's gonna request you get that forty percent off discount" says Tori
"yay, I actually had applied for the stock manager position but didn't get it because I didn't have any experience, on the plushies thing I actually got it covered, I was sure I'd have been fired or banned or both so I asked everyone here If they wanted some and ended up square, Hailey wanted like ten of them, Jade wanted five, Abigail wanted six, Erica wanted fifteen, Lizzie wanted five, I didn't sell them all but they easily paid what I bought them for plus a tip, Sarah wanted ten too but she didn't have enough money for it so I just gave them to her, I hear Sarah and Hailey are having tea parties with them, just like I did with mine not even two years ago, God I miss that" says Cat
"how many are left that I could buy or split with you" says Tori
"twenty one but I never took you for a plushie kinda girl" says Cat
"oh I wanted lots, it was always on my birthday or Christmas list but never received a single one, how about I buy fifteen of them and on your days off we can have tea parties" says Tori handing her the money
"I don't have a day off for a few weeks pup, and if I do indeed have that management job then I won't have many days off at all" says Cat
"I'll take whatever time I can get" says Tori
"ok well I need to get some groceries, is there anything you need" says Cat
"pads for sure, maybe some pop, popcorn and juice" says Tori
"kay I'll be back as soon as I can" says Cat
"wow she really seems happy today, also I can't believe you bought plushies off of her" says Jade walking over
"I could say the same to you Jade" says Tori
"hey I like soft things too, I am still very much a girly girl Tori, I had like fifty plushies when I was little, they were the only friends I could still trust with my secrets" says Jade
"what happened to them" asks Tori
"my childhood dog ate them all, that dog never liked me, it always growled at me, why did you want plushies" says Jade
"for similar reasons, my childhood wasn't the best as you know, because I didn't ever receive any plushies I was forced to talk to myself which only made me look more stupid and only increased my troubles" says Tori