Thank you for beta'ing, A Star In My Universe! Warning, racist comment, verbal and physical abuse, and rape.

"Don't take that!" Ouija says suddenly when Shelly reaches for her drink, and now Red's positive she wasn't just seeing things, such as Brandy actually trying to poison human beings.

The blonde woman puts her hands up. "What's wrong with it?"

"That white supremacist barista, Brandy, slipped something into your drink, just because of your religion," Franny answers. "I'm sure she did the same thing with the African Americans who came in earlier today."

"Are you fucking kidding me, and they let her work here?" Red asks sharply.

"Her father runs this place. Why else you think only white people and two Latinas were hired? He needs us for diversity, and the job pays well." Pidge explains.

"Plus, we're real good at making coffee," Ouija adds.

"Has she actually...killed people?" Shelly wonders out loud worriedly.

"I hope not!" Franny responds. "Either way, we need to put her and her racist father outta business!"


"Daya can't really be of much assistance in my schooling...she's got a bun in the oven, so I gotta support her." Leon raises an eyebrow at Aleida, looking shocked. "Yep...I screwed up again. It takes two to tango, they didn't use protection..."

"Wow. Uh, well, how does that make it your fault?"

"I ain't never given her the talk! I'm sure she took Sex Ed, but it wasn't enough, I guess..."

"There are many options for teens who are pregnant. She could abort-"

"Nah, she's keepin' it. She's gonna finish school and we'll get a babysitter."

"Maybe give it up for adoption until she's ready to take care of her child?"

"Mmm, maybe..."

The doorbell rings and Aleida wonders who it could be, since everyone's home. "Come on in, ladies, she's in her room with him right now," Gloria is saying. A few seconds later, there's a soft knock on her bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Aleida calls out.

"Red and Diane, we need to talk about something serious," her Russian friend says from outside.

"Okay." Aleida lets them in and is puzzled as to why their faces are red and splotchy. "What's up? I thought you'd be taking care of your boyfriend, Diane."

"We're not exactly a couple...and he's napping. I didn't want to leave him alone, but he said he'd be fine with a mutual friend of ours...but now I'm worried he won't ever fuckin' wake up."

"Dios mío, why?"

"You know that bitch who was spewing all those racist insults?" Aleida nods and Diane sniffles while using her knuckles to wipe under her eyes. "I think she actually tried to...murder him and Leon...with poison."

"I just went there with Shelly, who's Jewish, and I guess one of the other girls who works there, Ouija, caught Hitler's slut sneak a shot of green liquid into Shelly's latte."

"What?" Aleida looks at her man, who's laying on her bed with his arms behind his head as his eyes droop closed. She turns her gaze to the women. "The fuck y'all talkin' about? He ain't gonna die, and neither is Charles."

"Yeah, she could've done something fuckin' horrible to their coffees," Diane tells her.

Aleida's heart skips a beat and she gets a terrible feeling in her gut. "Where's the manager?" she demands. "I want this bitch fired!"

"Going to the person in charge won't do any good, it's her father!" Red says dejectedly.

"Fuckin' hell...we goin' there right now. I'll have Gloria and Daya watch him." Aleida runs over to Leon and kisses him hard like it's their last one ever, while tightly holding his hand. "Be alive when I come back, baby." She gulps while stroking his stubbly cheek. "Please...you can't die."

"I won't." He tiredly swipes his thumb beneath her eye, brushing away a tear. "Don't cry, babe. I'm gonna survive this."


"There she is," Diane mutters as they walk into Starbucks.

"Spicy food ain't enough of a punishment for you, bitch!" Aleida hollers at Brandy, who appears to be smug. Several people direct their attention to the scene.

"Look who it is, the old commie and her nigger-lovin' pals!"

Red whips a knife out of her purse and sticks it right under Brandy's chin, with the tip gently resting against her scrawny neck. "I've got my fancy tricks, too, skinhead."

At this moment, Flaca, Maritza, Blanca, Diablo, Maria, and Yadriel come in with determined and angry expressions on their faces, but then their mouths drop open in surprise and amazement. Maritza and Flaca take out their phones to record the confrontation. "Shit's goin' down!" they announce in unison.

Brandy scoffs and attempts to move away, but Ouija and Pidge are right there behind her and hold her in place. "Ain't nobody lettin' you get away with this shit!" Franny tells her roughly.

"I will go to my dad about this!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Diane says. "Get out from behind the counter."

"No way!"

"It's not a choice," Aleida growls.

"Oooh, get her!" Maria yells.

"Kill her fucked-up ass!" Blanca shouts, and several people cheer the women on.

The young Dominican girls push Brandy to come face-to-face with Red, Diane, and Aleida. Red grips her by her shirt, pushes her against a wall, and corners her, with Aleida and Diane flanking Red. "Hey, I'll call the police if you make one mark on me!"

"You could try, but they're all useless, except my close friend, who you just poisoned!" At this, people start spitting out their drinks. "If he makes it, you could tell him, but then, he'd want our reasons why we did it, and that'd be quite awkward for you, wouldn't it?" Diane asks rhetorically.

"Calm down, it was just a caffeine overdose, not lethal at all! We ran out of antifreeze. That Jew would've been the first one of your little friends gone, had my wetback co-worker not stopped her from drinking her coffee!"

"Who you tellin' to chill out? You wanted to wreck people's lives, just because they're African American or Jewish! Do you really have that much disrespect for humanity?" Aleida hollers at her and then punches her in the jaw. "You a fuckin' monster!"

"Yeah, any day's a good day to hit a Nazi!" Red closes her hands around Brandy's neck, but doesn't squeeze. "You better find someplace else to work. I hope you never do, though...I pray that nobody ever hires you again!"

"Mm-hm, and I'll see to it that Charles arrests both you and your father's asses once his health improves," Diane adds. "Or better yet, both of you get antifreeze in your coffees!" The three of them open the door and push her out. She flips them off and storms away. The coffee shop explodes into cheers and applause.

Aleida immediately goes over to two dark-skinned women and a small boy. "You guys alright? You didn't drink much, right?" They shake their heads no. "Oh, good! Hey, Sophia...you should be the cheerleaders' makeup artist at Martin Van Buren High. I'm a cafeteria worker there along with Red, and Diane here is a freshman year teacher." Aleida gestures between the two groups. "Diane, Red, these are Sophia, her wife, Crystal, and their son, Michael. He's a good buddy of Christina and Benny's."

They exchange pleasantries and shake hands, and then Diane calls Charles. "Hey...I just found out that she gave you a caffeine overdose...you should get better in a week!"

"Oh, thank God, just way too much in my system!"

"Yeah..."

Next to her, Aleida dials Gloria's number. "Can I speak to Leon, please?" After a few beats, she assures him, "You gonna be okay, baby! You gonna be okay, and I'll be there with you soon!" She giggles and tears form at the corners of her eyes as she lets out a half sob. "Bye!" She kisses her phone and hangs up.

"He's turned you into such a softie," Diane teases Aleida, and Red chuckles. Daya's mother simply rolls her eyes while smiling.


"Yo, we saw what went down there, Flaritza, who recorded it, Blanca, and our boyfriends. Your mama, Red, and Diane are bad ass! Damn!" Maria tells Daya at the beginning of their support group meeting for teen moms at Shake Shack.

"I watched it about five times," Daya lets her know, grinning. "I know, they're great!"

"The best part of it was knowing my friends aren't gonna die, and those women were just the icing on the cake," Allison says while dragging her fries through ketchup.

"It definitely made my day!" Ouija exclaims.

"Wow...I never knew Brandy was that cruel...sure, we have our political differences, and she idolizes Hitler while I hate him because my boyfriend's Jewish, but she's always been nice to me, and to him, too, but I guess she fakes it. I'm glad that wolf in sheep's clothing got what she deserved!" Polly says.

"Did Larry get any of her special concoction?" Maria wonders aloud.

"No, thank God!"

"So, you're not with Pete anymore? I thought he was the father of your baby," Daya murmurs, feeling weird speaking to one of Piper's friends she doesn't know well.

"We split, but yeah, he's the dad. He wants to be an explorer when he grows up, not raise a child. I told him he should've thought of that before not using a condom! I'm lucky I got Larry, though...he's been a great help," Polly answers.

Ouija rubs her belly that's only sticking out a little bit. "My sister and my friends got my back through all this."

Allison sighs happily. "My boyfriend, Hassan's there for me, too, and we're bringing in his other girlfriend, Sahar, to be part of our relationship, which I'm totally fine with, so don't be givin' me weird looks. Farah, our daughter, loves us all. Cindy wanted me to inform you guys that she has her two older brothers and one older sister to take care of her and help hide the secret from their parents for now."

"Y'all know Yadriel and I are forever, and that Pepa was born this past summer," Maria says. "Blanca adores her too, she's Tía Blanca...even though it took her a while to get used to my baby."

"I guess it's time for me to spill, but you can't tell him you know...Mr. Bennett is the father of my kid," Daya confesses. The girls, except Maria, gasp out loud. "Gloria freaked when she and my mom heard the news, but Aleida had more of a what can you do?attitude about it."

Ouija slurps her chocolate milkshake as Daya takes a big bite of her cheeseburger that's filled with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. "My parents don't give a shit."

"Mine are cool with it," Allison chimes in.

"Mine won't speak to me. They said it's shameful that a white girl gets pregnant at this age, and before marriage, too. Now that Pete's not around, that makes it even worse in their eyes," Polly tells them. She groans. "I'm ready to burst!"

"My dad hated Yadriel, and since he lived separate from my mom, I left his house for good and stayed with her. She let me buy an apartment with Yadriel and she often visits us and Pepa." Maria turns to Polly. What you havin', boy or girl?"

"A son...we're gonna name him Finn," Polly answers.

"Okay, that kid is gonna get Huckleberry Finn jokes all his life," Ouija says, and everyone snickers.


On Monday morning, bright and early, Lorna watches as Piscatella stops Red from entering Caputo's office. "I know what you're planning to do, Reznikov," he snarls eerily. "If you or your idiotic little friends shoot off your mouths to get my man in trouble-"

"Your man? Is Humps your boyfriend?"

"Shut up!" he snarls at her, and Lorna presses her lips shut tight so he won't hear her sniggering at Red's joke. He shakes his finger at her and jabs it into her chest. "You know what happens to snitches in prison? Yeah. They get shanked. This time, it won't just be your hair or clothes being cut, Reznikov." Lorna's blood runs cold at his threat.

"Okay. You have my word, and I'll tell the other women Nicky's friends, and whoever they've told, to keep quiet, too."

"You'd better."

"Remember, though, many of the white students were witnesses and the word will quickly spread. What if one of them spills the beans?"

He glares down at her. "Don't be smart with me. Nobody is loyal to that sad, pathetic bitch, except that junkie's friends, of course."

"Do not insult Lorna or Nicky, they're like daughters to me. They all hate Humps, and will want to get him arrested. Good luck telling everyone to take it to the grave." Red bravely walks away from him, and Lorna follows her into the cafeteria's backroom, where her friends and the lunch ladies give her hugs of support, until she has to go into History class. On the way there, everyone is discussing the blood and vomit stains on a particular part of the gymnasium floor, with teeth scattered about.

"Did you kill her?" Leanne asks.

"I think she did, that's how come she's being so silent!" Angie replies and then they both giggle.

"Why don't you eat shit?" Brittany Lehman calls out rudely.

"We should send her to live in a porta-potty," Helen says.

"Well, last year, the darkies had Crazy Eyes, and the brownies had The Beast. Now it's Looney Tunes! You're an embarrassment to our race!" Brandy adds on.

Lorna ignores them while flipping them off and tries to block out their taunts, but more come her way. "Lorna the loser, Lorna the loser!" Angela, Kristy, Jody, and Tammy begin chanting after her. She practically runs away from them while shrieking out her fury at the top of her lungs, not wanting to attack anyone in the middle of a crowded hallway.

"Where are you going, crazy pants?" Rebecca Keenan yells and hi-fives Jennifer. "They're only teasing you!"

Paulie, Greggy, Vinnie, Alexi, Joey, and Bob catcall at her. "Look at those tits bounce!" Paulie comments.

Alexi guffaws. "Mr. Humphrey just became my favorite teacher!"

"You both were in my fantasies all weekend, hot stuff!" Bob jeers.

"That screaming is really getting me hard!" Greggy adds.

"It reminds me of the old days," Vinnie puts in.

"I know lots of other ways we can make her screech," Joey informs them snidely.

Lorna almost falls into her classroom, breathing heavily while shaking, panting, and coughing. The students turn around in their seats to stare at her, and only Ms. McCollough is kind enough to rub her back until it calms her down.

She gets called into Caputo's office and is told to sit on a chair in his office. He closes the door behind him and peers at her over his glasses as he takes his spot at his desk. "Miss Morello, would you like to tell me what occurred between you and Miss Nichols on Friday?"

"We got into a fight," she mumbles, keeping her eyes trained on her trembling fingers that are fiddling with the tassel on her bag. She'd like to tell him everything that Humps made her and Nicky do, but she's well aware that she can't, unless she wants Piscatella to severely harm Red or kill her.

"I can see that. Uh...may I ask why? Students inflicting physical violence on each other is not tolerated on school property."

"I know that...and I...I'm s-sorry," Lorna stammers. "I never...I didn't wanna...hurt her. I just get...real mad at people when they...when they're saying...mean things...and I...I took it too far...she's not dead, though, she's...she's at home...recov-recovering," she tells him between sobs.

"Alright...that sounds like you had what Mr. Piscatella would describe as a psychotic break. You need to see Mr. Healy about your mental issues."

"I...I don't have any," she protests.

"Miss Morello, it's either that or juvy."

Lorna gulps. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"Will you go to him for counseling, then, please?"

She nods slowly and gets up while sniffling. Even if he's a racist homophobe, he could still maybe help her with whatever is wrong with her. She makes her way to Healy's office and knocks on the door. The white-haired man with glasses lets her in and gestures for her to sit in front of him.

"Hello." He nods at her in acknowledgment. "You're one of Piper's prettier friends, hmm? Lorna Morello, right?"

"Yeah." She shifts uncomfortably under his gaze. He'd always had a weird thing for Piper and he'd tried to ask Red out the minute she said she'd divorced her husband, but she turned him down. He was tight with Pennsatucky last year, but not anymore, supposedly because she now has short hair and a lesbian foster mom.

"I think I know what your problem is. When you look around your circle of friends, who do you see?"

"Umm...Nicky, Alex, Daya, Flaca, Maritza, Blanca, Maria-"

"Okay, that's two lesbians and five Hispanics."

"So?"

"They're a little rough around the edges, am I right?"

"I'm gettin' real confused...they're my girls, I love 'em-"

"That's it right there! You're infected with the diseases of both lesbianism and being around Mexicans. It's making you lose your temper at them because your subconscious is telling you that you shouldn't be associated with those types of people. You want to push Nichols away because you're disgusted by her."

"No, I'm not-"

"I understand where you're coming from, Miss Morello, I really do. You're a poor, straight, white girl. You think you can't find anyone better than that...group. The rich kids won't accept you because you aren't wealthy like them, so you take what you can get. It's driving you crazy."

Lorna stands up and heads for the door, not wanting to hear his ridiculous and uneducated advice. "They're my besties!"

"Take what I said into consideration!" he yells after her as she leaves.

Yearbook and Journalism is easier with Daya and Flaca there. She chats with them like normal, and if anyone blurts out an offhand remark towards her, they stand up for her, but she does nothing except glare at the assholes and give them the finger.

In Physical Education, she's forced to clean the mess, but oddly enough, the teeth have been picked up. It's dry, so it comes off in chunks, and she wants to sob and force the bile out of her throat, but she can't, not under Piscatella's malicious stare. He makes her repeat over and over again that she's a dangerous mental case, until she starts to believe him. Michelle, Zirconia, Alana, and Stephanie look at her with pity in their eyes, and she hates it.

"Thank you, though, if you actually did make that heroin addict get lost forever." When she's done, he yanks her up to a standing position. "Run until you hiccup on your tears, crybaby!" he hisses while pushing her to the floor.

She catches up with the nice girls in the class. "Here comes Lorna la Loca!" Zirconia says and then cackles.

Michelle glances at her friend curiously. "Hmm, I dunno about that, she's cute."

Lorna frowns. "Please don't call me crazy. I know basic Spanish."

"Shit, you're busted," Stephanie mutters.

"You need to stop talking, I don't want a broken nose again, and neither do you, for not paying attention!" Alana whispers fiercely.

All of a sudden, Damon Chi, Jack White, Pedro Johnson, Samantha Sen, Lorie Mansfield, Nona Milos, Kate Ranka, Alaya Slim, Cassie Daft, and Rhonda James, pummel into Lorna and trample her as they race each other around the gym, and Piscatella chortles. She can barely breathe as Michelle and Alana help her back up. She's sure she has bruises now, but she lets the abuse roll off of her. After all, it's what she deserves, and it's no different from what Piscatella does. She limps at first and decides that she'll blame her injuries on the animalistic gym teacher.

Lorna keeps to herself as she and Maritza walk to English, linking arms. It's usually Lorna who starts the conversations, since Maritza's nervous to talk about anything in the hallways where Humps could be lurking around. Luckily, though, her friends assume that her silence is due to Nicky not being at school, which is definitely a huge part of it. They'd already told her not to let mean comments bother her, so she won't burden them with her whining. She takes care of it anyway by giving the awful students the evil eye or sticking up her middle finger on one or both of her hands.

"She'll return here soon enough," Maritza soothes Lorna while rubbing her back. "That's so sad that Piss-cuntella got you, too."

Lorna winces. "Yeah, but we gotta deal."

"It don't mean you gotta like it."

"I know. I feel like I been under an elephant stampede."

"Ow, that must really be painful!"

They enter Diane's classroom, and Alex's mother gives them friendly hugs. "Piss-cuntella?" she asks.

"Yep," Lorna mumbles as she plops into her seat next to Maritza.

"I'll get you some ice, those look serious!"

"No, they'll go away on their own," she insists, but Diane's already gone.

"Ice helps the process," Maritza says.

Lorna presses her lips together tightly to keep herself from crying. Piscatella's bad enough, but now, her fellow classmates are joining in.

As nice as Diane, Ms. Fischer, and her friends are, English and Art aren't the same without Nicky, and neither is lunch. The cafeteria workers, Diane, Ms. Fischer, and her friends have each wrapped their arms around her, but it only makes her smile for a second. The one and only thing that makes her really laugh is when Stella's food is laced with laxatives and she keeps having to use the bathroom while letting a few loud ones rip. She can't quite concentrate on the conversation the girls are having. "So, yeah, he offered to do the whole thing for free, but still...Cesar did a lot of shit for the kids," Daya's saying.

"That don't matter, though, it's how each dude treats 'em, and you, your ma, and Gloria. Leon seems respectful, but Cesar is a shitbag!" Maria responds.

"Mm-hm," the other girls agree, and Lorna nods while twirling her noodles around her fork a few times.

"How's Leon doin', by the way?" Blanca wants to know.

"It's gonna be a week," Daya reports.

"Same for Charles...it sucks," Alex mutters. She spoons a bite of rice into her mouth, chews it, and swallows. "Good thing that ugly Nazi will get punished for that shit she pulled."

"Mm-hm," everyone murmurs.

"Lorna, Flaritza, you guys haven't said a word, what's wrong?" Blanca asks.

"We just ain't up to talkin'," Maritza answers while Flaca leans against her shoulder, looking glum.

"Humps was extra gross today," Flaca informs them quietly. "He...he made me drink actual blood...because he figured I'd enjoy it because I'm goth...goin' all the way with it and bein' a vampiress." The girls' faces turn pale at hearing this, and Lorna feels squeamish inside.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, girl...and he's a cannibal, too, I think he wants to eat me, he implied it during his Lingchi lesson," Lorna chimes in.

Flaca wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue. "Ugh!"

"Ew, I hate him!" Maritza whispers.

"I really...I don't wanna go to my last period. I'm gonna skip," Lorna decides aloud.

"Good idea!" Maria says, grinning.


"You didn't even try to get him busted, and now, he's tormenting another one of my friends!" Flaca snaps at Maritza in the cafeteria's backroom when the shorter Latina gets off the phone from telling her mom about what Humps had done to her and how he's torturing Lorna. "The fuck?!"

"He wasn't even fired, nor arrested, exactly what I knew would happen, since CO Ford got coffee poisoning, but even if he was, his buddies would bail him out! My mom's trying to build a case against him, but it's hard when she's got so many idiots to work with!"

Flaca scoffs. "Whatever...you had the chance a long time ago."

Maritza folds her arms across her chest and looks down at the floor sadly, appearing to be hurt, and before the other girls can say a word to add to the brewing argument, Gloria steps in. "Hey! You gotta stop, Flaca. I don't like where this is goin'. Your anger is valid, but I believe it's misplaced. It's difficult to report sexual assault, given that we live in a society that's not inclined to believe victims. Not only that, but abuse of any kind is obviously very psychologically damaging and everyone reacts to it differently. While you and I might instinctively want to tell the police, others might not and while I think it's important that people do speak out about the abuse they've suffered, I also think it's reasonable that there are people who don't." Gloria puts her hand on Maritza's shoulder and squeezes it soothingly. "Maritza ain't the one to blame, Humps is. She is your best friend...you should never victim-blame her. That ain't what a friend does. If people said it was my fault that Arturo hit me and my son, I'd consider 'em fuckin' bitches! Maritza's still a victim and needs to be supported. I don't think you're necessarily wrong for feeling the way that you do. I can understand how aggravating it would be to see a second friend be hurt that way, but the problem isn't Maritza. It's the system, it's society, and it's the abuser. I would truly urge you to remember your friends are both victims and the way they each deal with it is what they're doing because that's how they think they'll survive it, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Flaca murmurs. "It's just that she could've stopped it..."

"I can understand why you would be upset, but that was definitely the wrong way to approach that. You gotta comprehend that she's been through a lot and sort of throwing the blame on her like that is real damaging...especially for someone who has been through sexual assault!"

Flaca sighs. "Okay. I get it. Sorry..."

"You're like, the last person I expected to have that reaction when I finally called my mom on Humps...I'd never do that to you," Maritza says.

"I know you wouldn't." Flaca wheels herself to Maritza's side and holds her hands. "I really do apologize."

"It's fine..."


After Spanish, Lorna and Daya hug before the Latina goes into the locker room to meet up with Flaca. Lorna passes the gym and sees Christopher playing basketball. She admires him doing a pull up on the basket and she takes this chance to skip inside the room and catch his rebound. "Hey...here's your ball." She tosses it to him and giggles. "It's just you and me...why don't we play together?"

"I thought I told you-"

"Angela isn't here."

"I have get into my uniform," he mutters shortly, and she follows him through the boys' locker room, where she's met with lots of wolf-whistling and jeering. She draws in a deep breath and yanks him to her side. "You won't quit, huh?" he asks sharply while finally facing her. His hard eyes turn gentle and for a second, she thinks he'll kiss her in the middle of everyone, but he doesn't. He does, however, appear to be free from the confines Angela had kept him in all this time, since he's finally not turning her away.

"Nope. You're my soul mate."

"Wear the prettiest dress you own. I want to take you out after school. Meet me by the theater at eight-thirty."

Lorna gasps as her heart almost stops. "Really?"

"Yeah. Angela and I broke up."

"Oh my goodness!" Lorna squeaks. "I have the perfect one! Is this alright?" She gestures to her pink summer dress. "Only I don't want Humps to see me in it, especially since Nicky won't be there."

"I'll be watching very carefully."

"You protect me so well!" she squeals.

"Where's your little victim?" Humps asks her cruelly when she reaches the top of the stairs, and she shrinks away from him. He just snickers and pulls her into his classroom. She has to suffer through it, including Polly, Larry, and Pete's merciless insults tossed at her, and then at the end of the day, she's done. She goes home to shower and tell Nicky and Franny the big news, but neither of them are around. Franny's at work and Nicky's at the doctor's.


"Hey...Daya, right?"

Daya turns around to face a nice looking Indian boy. "Yeah...do I know you?"

"I don't think so, since we've never spoken to each other before, but I'm in Mr. Bennett's homeroom...and he calls your name a lot. I sit more in the front."

"Oh, no wonder! I like the back better. Are you here for a checkup, too, or waiting for someone?"

"Neither, I'm training to be a nurse like my mom...so I'm shadowing her."

"Cool!" She's shocked because he hasn't yet said anything nosy or rude about her being pregnant. "Uh, I haven't thought too much about life after college, but I'm a good artist. My siblings and my mom's friend's kids love the mini comics I draw for 'em, so...maybe that."

"Can I see them sometime?"

"Sure..."

"Adarsh, come on!" A woman waves him over.

He smiles at Daya, and she returns it. "Mom wants me. Nice meeting you personally!"

"Same to you!"

"Adarsh Khanna!"

"Coming!" he says in an annoyed tone while still looking at Daya. "See you tomorrow."

"Okay, bye!"

"Why ain't you never noticed him before?" Gloria asks behind Daya. "Now I like that one!"

"Yeah, he seems like he'd be a nice friend." An idea pops into Daya's head and she grins. "You know what, Gloria, you've got a point. I'll call things off with John-"

"You're a smart girl."

"-and make plans with Adarsh tomorrow at school." It's the only way she can go on her date with John tomorrow evening in New York City. She'll have Gloria take her and Adarsh there and meet up with John, and she'll make sure Adarsh has someone who will join him when she leaves for the bar with John. That way, she gets what she wants, and Gloria will be happy.


When Lorna gets back to school after community service, the theater is dark and abandoned, except for Maritza, who's standing outside of it on her phone.

"Hey, I'm just waiting for Flaca and going to the little girl's room. Wanna come with?"

"Sure. I need to touch up for my date anyway! I can't believe I never told anyone, but I guess I'm still in shock! Christopher...he chose me over Angela, at last!"

"Wow, that's...awesome."

"I'll tell people as I see 'em."

"Okay...lemme just tell Flaca where we are."


Flaca searches around for Maritza and Lorna, but they'd disappeared. They'd been in the bathroom for quite a long time now. "Maritza? Lorna?" she calls out apprehensively, but there's no answer. Then, she sees Maria about to leave the school. Maybe she knows where they are. "Hey, Maria, you seen Maritza or Lorna?"

"Nope, not since Maritza finished directing practice, and Lorna quit, remember? I wonder why she's even here... I'll check outside, you check around here, look in every nook and cranny."

Flaca nods as she leaves.


Maritza is just leaving the bathroom when someone grabs her from behind, walks her towards a closet in the theater, and shoves her inside. The last person she sees is Humps, and he's grinning creepily at her. The door slams, and she's in pitch black darkness. She can't even see the door and she's scared out of her wits. "Please, help!" she screams, banging on a hard surface, hoping someone will hear her. It's very quiet in the theater, so she's worried that she's stuck here. "Lorna, are you there?" she calls out, wondering if Humps is about to stick her in the small space, too.

She doesn't answer, so Maritza guesses she'd already left with Christopher or she's still in the bathroom. She curls herself into a shaking ball and starts to cry. She shrieks when she hears the door opening and a thin stream of light floods the room. A dark shadow is standing by her, and she screams again. "I'm afraid of the dark," she whimpers. "Please don't hurt me!"

She hears the light switch on and she can finally see everything. She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees Flaca. She runs to her best friend and crush, sobbing into her shoulder while Flaca strokes soothing circles on her back.

"Humps threw me in here and I got so scared!" Maritza wails.

"Shhh…it's okay, you're safe with me. I can go home with you, but we have to first find Lorna. Maria's helping me look. She's outside, and I think Lorna is, too."

"Nah, she's in the bathroom." Maritza doesn't want to tell Flaca about Christopher because she doubts that Lorna's really telling the truth about him.

She may just be planning to trash the bad teachers' offices or something.


It's pouring outside and Lorna's walking down the dark street, searching for Maritza. She wonders if the Latina is still in the bathroom. After calling her name for the fifth time, she gives up and returns to the theater to find Christopher, since she thinks Maritza has already gone home with Flaca.

"Hey, little Lorna, where you goin'? I wasn't finished with you! You can't dump me! Sing me a song, or dance for me!" Eric Sonmad, one of Franny's worst boyfriends, demands. She has no idea what he's doing here or why he thinks he was ever with her. Joey follows him with a video camera.

"Get away from me, you pigs," Lorna mutters under her breath she tries to run on her trembling legs, but fear strikes within her and she trips over herself. Her heart pounds faster and harder when Paulie, Alexi, Greggy, Bob, Jack, Pedro, Damon, Jerry Fransisco, Adam Kwoch, and James Cav chase her and back her up against a wall. She realizes that she's now trapped. They let Eric through and then he pushes Lorna to the ground. She crawls backward on her hands and feet, away from all of them, but he easily grabs her by her hair and yanks her up. She's tiny, but she'd never felt this small until now.

"Eric Sonmad doesn't get rejected. You know what he gets? You."

"No, please, don't!" Lorna yelps in terror as he pulls off her jacket, revealing her pink dress. Greggy, Adam, Pedro, Jerry, Paulie, Alexi, and Damon start tearing the material, ripping pieces of it off of her. Bob, Jerry, and Jack are trying to lift up her dress, but she's holding it down with all her might. James kicks her hands away and Eric slams her into the wall so she falls. One of his hands grips both of her wrists like a vise, and the other cuts off the straps of her dress with a razor blade and snatches it all the way off. The piece of clothing is soon flung aside on the dirty ground, along with her undergarments, and she shrieks again as they all take turns pinning her down, forcing her legs wide apart, and ramming their ugly penises inside of her as they grunt. They claw at her like a bunch of beasts and bite her most sensitive areas. Blood seeps out of her and she can't catch even one gasp of air. Lorna's in such severe pain and she thinks this is how Nicky must have felt when she beat up the blonde.

Joey snickers as he continues to film her getting so violently raped. "Nice tits! You're such a slut!"

"Stop it! Help me!" she screams, but Eric slaps her across the face and she starts to cry.

"Don't talk back to a man, young lady. Learn some manners!"

"You're hurting me!" she yells through a few hiccuping sobs.

"We're fucking you, you stupid virgin! What are you, Sandra Dee?"

"No, she's Lorna the Whore-na! I took care of your friend, Morello," Humps snickers, coming up to the guys. He walks away with the monsters. Piscatella comes up and kicks her so she's facedown on the ground.

"Outta here, sir, I want her all to myself," Eric says and laughs evilly.

"Where's the other one?"

"Coat closet," Eric sniggers.

"Leave Maritza alone!" she attempts to shout, but it sounds hoarse because of Eric's firm grip on her throat.

"You bitch, I told you not to say anything," Eric snarls, bashing her head into the wall, so her world goes black for a second or two. "Don't even try to fight back."

"Lorna!" someone cries out. "Where are you?"

"I got Maritza," another person informs her. It sounds like Flaca. Lorna wonders who's with them.

"There she is!" a female voice filled with relief says through the darkness. Lorna knows that's Maritza.

"Oh! Oh, shit! Damn it, get the fuck off her!" Lorna hears a Spanish accented voice yell angrily. "I'll get her, Maria, you and Maritza can go home."

"She's mine, filthy taco cunt!" Eric shouts.

Eric is pulled off of Lorna immediately and thrown into a wall until he's unconscious. Lorna just sits there, scared to death and panting. She feels like she's being lifted up because her body is off the ground. Her dress is back on her and Maria picks up her bag by the strap and slings it over her shoulder. Like they'd done with Nicky, Maritza and Maria put her across Flaca's lap, with her legs dangling over one arm of her friend's wheelchair. Flaca holds her close and rocks her from side to side.

"I ain't never been so frightened in my entire life," Lorna whimpers.

"I got you now, cariño," Flaca assures her.

"I don't want nobody knowing what happened…especially not Nicky. Please…don't tell her! You c-can't!" Lorna begs the girls, burying her face into Flaca's shoulder, forgetting for a second that her mascara is running down her cheeks and her lipstick is smeared and her makeup is now on Flaca's new top. "Oh no, I just made a mess..."

"Don't worry about it. Okay, I'll respect that you want to keep this private, but I'll make sure that bastard's behind bars. We need to get you to the hospital-"

"No! Just...one of you take me back to your place and clean up my wounds so they don't look horrible."

"We can go to mine, then we'll get you home," Maritza offers.

"Thanks..."

After the incident, Lorna is empty and assumes she'll be ruined forever, but she doesn't think she should be. She's already lost her virginity, last year, and at least she didn't almost die from it. So she keeps going, holds her head up and her tears in. No matter how much she wants to break and let a panic attack consume her, she won't. She'd learned a long time ago that God punishes those who sin, and what she'd done to Nicky was unforgivable. This is her comeuppance. Slowly, she goes into her house and locks the door, passing her father and brother, whose eyes are glued to the television set. She trudges up the stairs, takes her pajamas from her room, ventures into the bathroom, and locks the door. She removes her clothes and drops them into the trash without bothering to wash out the bloodstains. They'll just serve as reminders. The clasp on her bra is broken anyway, her soiled underwear had been ripped to shreds, and her dress is missing both of its straps and a lot of the fabric.

She gets a glimpse of her appearance and even though she's mostly patched up and has no broken bones, she's damaged. Every part of her is all scratched up and bruised, especially her breasts. She throws up in the sink without warning, getting some in her hair, so she washes the chunk away with soap and water. She rinses her mouth out, brushes her teeth, and takes a warm bath, but she's still sick and trembling involuntarily.

It's only on her bathroom toilet where she cries quietly, touching the tender spots beneath her bandages, the red handprints around her wrists, sides, and thighs from being held down, and the bite marks inside her vagina, which make it hard to urinate. Her tongue runs along the cut on her bottom lip and she knows that she'll develop a black eye soon. When she's done using the bathroom, she wipes away the salty tears dripping down her cheeks and off her chin and takes many deep inhales and long exhales until they subside and her breathing stops being shaky.

It's hard for her to sit down sometimes, so she just lays on her bed. Luckily, she'd gotten into her pajamas, flossed, washed her face, and done her business for the last time tonight, because she doesn't have the energy to do anything else. She's only going to school tomorrow to see her friends and apologize to Christopher for not being there. She'll explain the reason why, and he'll definitely understand. She can't wait for him to kick those creeps' asses.

Someone knocks on her door, startling her. "Open up, kid, it's me!"

She wishes she'd given Nicky her own key, because she doesn't want to move. Sighing heavily, she gets up and lets her best friend in. Nicky's smile turns into a frown and her eyes grow wide. "Shit, Lorna, I take it your day was awful?"

"Yeah...I missed you," Lorna mumbles softly.

"I missed you, too, but...it appears that you were badly mauled!" Nicky looks over Lorna in concern and moves her hair away from her neck. "Jesus, those are terrible...and he fuckin' punched you, too?" she hisses. "Damn it, he needs to rot in hell!"

Lorna shrugs. "It had to be my turn sometime, right?"

"No, baby, I never wanted this to happen to you." Nicky embraces her and half carries her to the bed. Lorna falls on it immediately and gets into the fetal position. Nicky gently lifts her legs up and pulls the sheets and comforter out from under her. She covers Lorna with them and kisses her temple as she finishes tucking her in. "Want me to stay with you? It looks like you could use a little TLC."

"Mmm-hmm...you need it too, though," Lorna murmurs brokenly. "Your injuries are purple...and worse-worse than mine. I just had to use some ice...I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"You should get those looked at!"

"Don't push me, I'm so done with it!"

"Okay. I won't. Let's just hold each other, then, yeah?" Nicky asks sweetly, getting in on the other side and stroking her now flat curls.

"Sounds good..."

It's so cold, to the point of freezing. Lorna is comfortable in Nicky's arms, but she can't quit shivering, no matter how much they're bundled up with Nicky's body heat enveloping her. She can still feel their hands groping her everywhere on her body. She wakes up from nightmares a few times, of both the assault and an image of two hands crawling up and down her legs as the little girl version of her squirms and sobs in protest, and Nicky soothes her back to sleep with different lullabies she'd somehow memorized.

The next day is just as hard. Nicky had tried to go back to school, but she'd fainted in the middle of packing her bag. She still has to stay home and rest. Lorna applies her makeup carefully over her black eyes and cut lip. She can't walk anyplace without stumbling over students' or Piscatella, Dixon, and Humps' purposely-stuck out feet. When Lorna sees her rapists for the first time since last night, her heart stops and then starts up again a few seconds later. She runs into the girls' restroom with her stomach in knots and her heart rapidly thudding against her ribcage. She hurriedly locks herself in a stall, nearly collapsing while clutching her hair and pulling it to one side as she chokes up disgusting bile and pukes into the toilet. She flushes it and gets out to wash her hands and mouth. Unfortunately, Polly is standing right in front of her. "We heard you blowing chunks in there. Are you bulimic or something?" Polly imitates retching and then her friends cackle hysterically along with her.

Lorna gives them all an icy stare while flipping them off and leaves the restroom as quickly as possible. She doesn't think she can take Polly and her whole group.


Alex and Lorna go together from Spanish to Drama and leave Maritza in the backroom with the lunch ladies after her Spanish class. Lorna seems pleasantly surprised to see that Christopher is back in the class, especially since she hadn't caught even a glimpse of him all day. "Maybe Angela doesn't have him tied up anymore!" she says to Alex excitedly, her eyes widening innocently. She beams and bounces in place. "Things are really working themselves out."

"I don't think he's doing this for your benefit." Alex thinks back to how she and Blanca had seen Christopher giving Joey cash after watching a video on the other douchebag's phone with much interest. The sentence thanks, man, let's hope she got gang banged into reality repeats itself in Alex's head, and even though she doesn't want to imagine what happened and to who, she knows everything. Lorna has all the signs of being brutally raped or at least physically abused, from the multiple prominent bruises on her skin that's paler than usual, to her limp and squeaky sigh when she takes a seat anywhere and the emotional tremor in her voice. She doesn't talk as much anymore, except for when the girls speak to her and like Blanca had mentioned, Piscatella's handprints on someone would be much larger than a normal person's. The two girls had tried to see what Joey and Christopher were looking at, but Lorna's asshole crush had already deleted it while holding it high over Blanca's head and his cruel friend restrained Alex and clipped her wrists together behind her back like he was handcuffing her.

"I just know he is."

"Lorna, he's not a good person...he's friends with that idiot Joey, and they made a plan for you to get...gang raped," Alex whispers. "Joey taped it, apparently...but it was Christopher's idea. He even paid Joey to do it. You can ask Blanca if you don't believe me. We witnessed them discussing it after History class when Joey shared what I'm thinking is footage of you getting...I can't even bring myself to say the word, let alone think it."

"No, he would never do that," Lorna mumbles, casting her gaze onto the floor while holding herself around her waist. "No, no, not my Christopher. He's a good guy. Joey blackmailed him for money, I-I'm sure! He isn't involved."

There isn't a lot of time for her to debate with herself over this subject, since class has begun. Ms. Rogers instructs the class to pick scene partners for the first ten minutes. A girl named Jeanie Babson picks Alex, Maureen and Gina are together since Suzanne isn't present, and the pattern of not choosing a best friend or significant other like always goes on when Christopher announces, "Lorna, let's pretend we're father and daughter...or brother and sister, and my character will challenge yours to an arm wrestle."

"Okay..." she answers him uncertainly.

"You can say no if you want to," Alex says when she notices a scary glint in Christopher's eyes, but Lorna waves her away.

"I don't want to be disagreeable!" She switches her attention to Christopher. "Don't let me win!" she says a little more cheerfully.

Christopher sneers. "Oh, I won't! Call me Daddy. You told me once that you have daddy issues, so I wanna see you let 'em out."

Alex shakes her head as Lorna responds, "Okay, Daddy."

"Good job, now try to struggle against me," he tells her condescendingly while grabbing her hand and squeezing it way too tight, but of course, Lorna doesn't see it that way. She must still have lingering feelings for him deep down and may feel obligated to obey his commands. Alex knows this from two second-hand experiences, with her mother giving Lee another chance and continuing to not believe a word he says or thing he does, and Gloria forgiving Arturo up until he hit her son. "I'm your brother now, actually."

"That's fine!"

"Go easy on her, she's much smaller than you," Ms. Rogers tells Christopher.

They set both their elbows on the table and Lorna starts pushing his hand down with her whole body shaking as she uses all of her strength. This only lasts for a few seconds, though. Alex hates how manipulative Christopher is being, especially when he makes a big show of groaning and twisting Lorna's wrist while slamming her hand down on the table a few times, making loud bangs. Lorna gasps and squeaks. "Ow, you totally did that on purpose!" she hollers, still in character.

"That's enough! What's wrong with you, is that your definition of what I asked you to do?" Ms. Rogers puts her hands on her hips.

Christopher ignores their teacher. "That was a real struggle! You made Daddy work hard!" He shakes his hand out and cracks his knuckles. "Damn, it was worth it, though."

"What the fuck was that?!" Alex yells. "You meant to hurt her!"

"I'm fine," Lorna insists, but Alex can tell she's lying.

"You were too hard on her, young man. Therefore, you're in detention for the rest of the week!" Ms. Rogers picks up Lorna's hand, which now has a bruise forming on it. "You took it too far. When we act, we don't use all the power we have with people who are easy to beat."

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake...I don't know my own strength..."

"Well, then learn and memorize it!" she says sternly.

"Why are you holding your wrist like that?" Blanca asks Lorna after school once they meet up with Maritza.

"Oh...Piscatella tried to break it."

"Christopher sprained her wrist in drama class," Alex mutters.

"It was an accident! I'll only need a small cast!" Lorna protests.

Daya gasps. "That was an act of abuse!"

"Yeah, he doesn't love you!" Maria agrees.

"We all know Christopher isn't into you, and we're all aware that if someone was bothering us like you were bugging Christopher, we'd wanna hurt the person too!" Flaca puts in, but Lorna still doesn't listen.


"This is my mom's friend, Gloria, she's like my aunt," Daya informs Adarsh as they get into the backseat of Gloria and Aleida's car. "Gloria, this is Adarsh from English class."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, ma'am."

"You, too." They shake hands. "By the way, just Gloria is fine, or Ms. Mendoza."

"Sorry...Ms. Mendoza. You work in the cafeteria, so it's weird for me to call you by your first name. You're more like a staff member, so...I apologize, again," he murmurs nervously.

"No worries! I'm glad you said that, since sometimes, I don't feel like one." Gloria sighs as she starts up the car and begins driving. "You're very polite, I like that in a dude who's takin' Daya out."

"Thank you."

"I trust you'll respect her boundaries?"

"Yes," Adarsh responds.

"Gloria!" Daya exclaims, blushing out of embarrassment. "We're not going out as anything more than friends."

"Good." She drops them off near Dave and Busters. "Have fun!" she calls out through the rolled-down window.

"We will! Bye!"

"Buh-bye!" Gloria zooms away and the awkward silence between Daya and Adarsh has stopped.

"Thanks for doing this favor for me, really!"

"No problem! Uh, I also have a thing to do that my mom would freak out about...paragliding with friends, so are you okay waiting here for your boyfriend?"

Daya nods her head yes. "There's tons of people around. Go ahead, dude, but be safe!"

"I always am!"

Daya watches for John in the crowds and when she sees him, she runs up to him and they kiss. He leads her into Applebees Neighborhood Grill and Bar and they drink, play darts, and eat French fries for a while. It's enjoyable until Mendez shows up and claps John on the back.

"This is my former work buddy, and college roommate, George!" he introduces her. "George, this is my girlfriend, Daya."

"I'm his student," she admits. "We've met," she lets John know while sending a bitter glare towards Mendez.

"Oh, really? That makes sense, seeing that he's a cop and your mom's boyfriend was arrested."

Mendez chuckles. "Not exactly, but okay, we'll go with that." Daya can barely get a word in as the two men discuss their college days and tell her funny stories. She only finds John's interesting, since Mendez was just a disgusting frat boy who never grew up. He's acting like he never touched her grossly, and she wishes he would just do something so John can punch him out cold and then hopefully, dead. She'd wanted to tell her boyfriend what happened, but she wasn't sure how to explain it. There would've been no Mendez without P being involved. "Oh man, you could go to jail if anyone finds out about your delicious relationship! Of course I won't turn you in, but my co-workers are a whole other story, especially that dickweed Ford. It's a good thing he only arrests kids now."

"That's why we're hiding it! We've only told her mom and her mom's friend so far, and the other woman didn't take it well. Her mom was waiting for me to be honest and open about us."

Daya's finding it difficult to breathe after being in Mendez's presence for too long. She can't meet the slimebag's eyes or even look at him without wanting to pass out. She feels a bit dizzy, and she's not sure if it's more from the beer or seeing her rapist, but probably a mix of both.

Thank you for reading and reviewing, A Star In My Universe, LindaAndrewsfan, and HannahMiley1fan!