Thank you for beta'ing, A Star In My Universe! Warning, torture, homophobic slurs, and abuse.
Raindrops skitter down the windows as Red drives a solemn Lorna back home and Nicky to her NA meeting. Nicky examines the big cast on Lorna's hand and wrist that make her fingers look extremely tiny. "How'd you get this, kid?"
"I sprained it...in drama class, we were acting out arm wrestling. Christopher picked me! He's out of Angela's spell!"
"He did this to you?" Nicky demands. "I'll fuckin' kill him!"
"No, it wasn't deliberate! It's like how I hurt you...not meaning to."
"It's not at all the same thing!" Red tells Lorna firmly. "I'll make him regret it, just as I did with Stella!"
"You're both overreacting, it's a minor sprain, not that serious. It should heal in two or three days. He stopped when there was a pop and he apologized right away," Lorna insists. "Ugh, I shouldn't have told you..."
"Oh, this situation is definitely serious, and I'm glad you said something. He's exactly like Arturo!" Nicky mutters.
Lorna rolls her eyes. "He is not!"
Nicky's phone buzzes, so she takes a look at it. There's another pathetic text from Christopher, pleading for her friendship. She's been ignoring all of his messages and is going to delete them now.
Come on, I'm concerned about you! Why do you never answer?
I consider you a friend. I talked to Joey about how it was rude and homophobic of him to ask for pornos of you and Alex...lesbians aren't a fetish. Since I stuck up for you, I expect you to be nice and respond to me! It's not like I'm asking for sex.
Okay, I know you're not dead, because you're on Facebook giving status updates, so maybe you're relaxing from stress and pain which I can understand. I'm sorry Lorna hurt you like that, told you the bitch was crazy! Hope you're okay, we need you back in school!
"Fucker," Nicky snaps, closing her eyes in exhaustion.
"Huh?" Lorna asks.
"Christopher got my number from Humps...he's been trying to reach me, but I don't have the energy to reply to dumbasses like him. I'm blocking that garbage turd right now!"
"Good idea!" Red comments.
"How come he's talking to you?" Lorna wonders out loud.
"He wants me to be his lesbian best friend, I guess. He lost that privilege a long time ago, and I'm not sure why he hasn't realized that yet. I even told him before that I wasn't interested in his friendship!"
"It's fine if you're close to him! That's a sign we're really meant to be if he likes my girls! Just look at Aleida and Leon, he's respectful to Gloria and Daya and the little ones, as well!"
"We all despise Christopher because of how he treated you, we don't owe him a second of our time, and neither do you! Leon hasn't caused Aleida a visit to the doctor's office, there's the difference. That's why they like him, he's not a nasty little prick!" Red explains.
"Christopher isn't either. You just gotta give him a chance, okay?"
Nicky rolls her eyes internally. She just hopes Lorna won't be a battered wife in the future because of how naive she is by taking Christopher's shit. "Sure. Anyway...how was the rest of school today?"
"Miserable, because of the three bags of dicks, Piss-cuntella, Dick-man, and Humps."
"I can tell something else is wrong. You barely ate your breakfast this morning, playing with your food instead, and you usually shovel it in by the double mouthful."
"I wasn't hungry."
"Since when?" Red wants to know. "You didn't eat much at school...I know people cope with harassment differently, but you've never let them bring you down before."
Lorna scoffs. "What do you want me to say? Piscatella used me as his personal punching bag, Humps forced me to almost murder my bestie, and Dixon felt me up a few times! Yes, I'm sure to lose my appetite over those traumatic events! I can't keep my meals down when I think about them..."
"This has always been happening, them being disgusting in one way or another, but you're always talking a mile a minute, you clean your plate or bowl for every meal, and you're so cheerful at school, no matter what they do. What could possibly be worse than their behavior towards us?" Nicky asks.
"Nothing...I'm just being weird." Her breath hitches and she turns to face the window. "I'll...I'll be back to myself soon enough." Nicky can tell she's trying not to cry, and she moves to the middle seat so she can hold Lorna. The brunette snuggles into her and puts her thumb in her mouth as she closes her eyes, just as she'd done the previous night. Nicky's been forever wondering why Lorna sleeps like this, but she assumes it's from her past. The nightmares hadn't started until last night, though.
"When I was exactly your age, Piscatella's family hosted me as a foreign exchange student. Piscatella would abuse me in secret," Red lets the girls know.
Nicky's heart breaks for the older lady. "I'm so sorry to hear that, what an asshole!"
"Oh my goodness, Red..." Lorna murmurs. "Did ya get him arrested?"
"I went home soon after, claiming I was homesick and continued schooling in Russia. I let him drive me out of America, and I've always regretted not reporting it to his parents. My advice for you, honey, is to not keep things bottled up inside you, otherwise, parts of you will be so damaged that you can't put them back together. That's eaten away at me for years and made me vulnerable, and he knows it. I only work at the school to look out for the students and younger staff members he decides to make suffer. I coaxed Gloria out of a flashback once, and you know some of the girls come to the backroom for ice."
"Mm, that's terrible that you've gotta face him every day," Nicky says sadly.
"I know, but it's all because I didn't turn him in and I foolishly believed I'd never see him again when I moved to America ten years later. I'm nauseous all the time because I cannot get rid of him, no matter what. He's relentless."
"I feel like that, too," Lorna mumbles, sounding extremely fragile. "The nerves are so jumbled up in my tummy that I just get...blech! It's hard to breathe and stuff."
"Same for me," Nicky agrees. "I'm sorry I couldn't go there to protect you...my world can't stop spinning and I can only stand for so long, and I have the dentist tomorrow."
"I understand."
"I really hope I'll be back on Thursday." They arrive at the place for NA and Nicky presses her lips to the top of Lorna's head and her fingers that are sticking out of her cast before kissing Red's cheek and leaving the car. "Thanks for the ride!"
"You're welcome, sweetheart."
Continuing to panic inside, Daya tugs on John's shirt and he glances down at her. "Sorry, just catching up with an old friend." He gives Mendez a fast hug and steps away from him. "Well, see you later, dude!"
"Goodbye!"
"John, I gotta tell you something about that guy-didn't you hear on the news he was arrested for-"
"That was a misunderstanding, he never raped or sexually assaulted anyone...and now, I need to talk to you about something serious." He takes her outside where it's quieter.
Daya braces herself for what he's about to say. "Yeah?"
"We just had sex, and now you're pregnant. I could go to jail...I can't handle that, let alone raising a child with a fifteen year old girl! That'll be hard enough for me to deal with."
"Who's gonna tell?"
"You'll start showing eventually and people would ask who the father is..."
"I'll just say some random tenth grader who bailed out...or Mendez, since he...he's a creep. Who cares?"
"You can't pin it on him."
Daya scoffs. "Okay, then some dude who couldn't keep it in his pants at a wild party."
"Why do you have to keep it?"
"Uh, hello, getting an abortion is expensive, plus my mom doesn't believe in killing fetuses or babies, and she wants to teach me responsibility, something you oughta learn, too."
"I can't be with you anymore. We...we have to break up." She can hear the regret in his voice, but it doesn't hurt her any less. Her heart plummets into her stomach and her breath trembles.
"What?"
"You refuse to do the one thing that would allow us to be together, and that's terminating your pregnancy. It's not even a fully developed human being yet!"
"I'm not icing my child and preventing him or her from living a full life," she says coldly, on the brink of tears. "That's fuckin' final."
"You're turning into your mother, what's that all about?"
"I guess I'm really getting along with her these days. I've told you how she's changed lately."
"So have you...and I really don't like it. You're not the same person I fell in love with. We're not compatible." He turns around and walks away from her.
"John!" she hollers after him, but he doesn't spare her a glance. "John!" Her voice is drowned out by the busy street. She tries to catch up with him, but he's nowhere to be found by the time she gets to the end of the block.
That's when she breaks down and cries hysterically against a pole while hugging her purse close to her belly. A few African American girls not much older than herself with skimpy outfits, complete with fishnet tights and high heels, loiter near her while smoking. One of them comes up to her and pulls her cigarette out from between her dark red lips. "You're sittin' in our corner! Have your sobfest somewhere else. It's kinda dangerous here anyway...Daddy's comin' and he could mistaken you for a prostitute like us."
"Your dad doesn't mind you selling yourself?"
"I mean like our pimp, we ain't got no parents. Yo, get outta here before he sees you!"
Daya feels incredibly stupid, since she's street smart and knows about the bad areas in New York City. She really should've just gone to Dave and Busters, but she accidentally went the wrong way because she was so upset that she couldn't think properly. "Okay. Uh, sorry..." She gets up and goes back the way she came while watching out for people who could be scary. Luckily, she makes it to the arcade without any trouble. She sees the word fun everywhere, but she's not having any. It's so loud in here, though, so she goes into the bathroom to call Adarsh to meet her outside of the restroom. He doesn't pick up, probably because he can't use his phone while paragliding, so she has no choice but to admit the truth to Gloria and ask her to pick them both up when he's done with his activity.
As Gloria stands outside the Burset house smoking for a much needed five minute break, she hears a ringtone and feels her phone vibrating in her pocket, so she takes it out without looking at who it is and lets her cigarette dangle from her index and middle fingers. "Hey."
"Hi, Gloria...it's me...Daya. Umm...I messed up real bad..." Daya starts out in a wavery voice and gasps out loud. "Oh...oh my God! I can't...I can't really breathe in here...it's my claustrophobia. I apologize for interrupting whatever you got goin' on-"
She immediately gets worried. "Where are you? What happened? He do somethin'?"
"I'm in the bath...bathroom at Dave and Busters. No, he ain't done nothin'...he's fine, but, um...ummm..." Gloria's fully aware that Daya is attempting to tell her something extremely difficult. "You gotta pick us up..."
"Okay, I'm comin'." Gloria begins to go back inside and tells everyone that she needs to get Daya and Adarsh. Sophia and Crystal nod in understanding and continue cooking enchiladas for the kids. It's a good thing that Benny had already gotten past the separation anxiety phase, Christina is content playing with him, Emiliano, and Michael, and Julio is napping upstairs. The children all hug her before she leaves.
"I...I'm so sorry, but I tricked you...I went to the bar with John..." Daya confesses, and Gloria drops the cigarette on the ground in shock that the girl would go behind her back like this and ditch a seemingly perfectly nice boy for her teacher, but at the same time, she's proud of Daya for being honest. "Then I saw Mendez and got a panic attack...and John left me stranded at the place...and I...now I'm all alone...Adarsh is paragliding somewhere near here because it's not like I was gonna hang out with him...a-and the father of my child just dumped me for good this time!" she explains through sobs. "You were right all along...men are assholes!" she adds tearfully. "You're...you're probably ecstatic at this news! Am...am I in trouble?"
Gloria's heart shatters at Daya's words and how hurt she is. "Nah, bebe, I'll let it slide this time. You just had the worst night ever, how could I ever be pleased about that? Stay where you are, I'm on my way."
"Thanks...see you soon."
"Bye!"
Gloria hangs up and drives to Dave and Busters as fast as possible without running red lights or speeding. She parks and hastily goes to find Daya. She enters the women's restroom and sees her splashing her face with cold water. Tears still glisten in her eyes.
"Hey, honey...let's go talk in my car, and you can have Adarsh text you when he's done, and we'll get him. Want a hug?" Gloria questions her kindly.
Daya scrubs the mascara off her cheeks and dashes straight into Gloria's waiting arms. She swallows hard. "You didn't even need to ask."
Gloria leads Daya out to the parking lot and they both get into the backseat. "Your mother and I are gonna chop off his balls tomorrow."
"They're already missing," Daya mumbles and then sniffles. "Seriously, don't discuss this with him. If he wants to come back to me, he will."
"We'll at least give that fuckin' douchebag extra spicy fire-alarm sausages, if you catch my drift. It'll be like a metaphor for us kickin' him, but he'll feel it in his mouth."
"I can't wait...but I rang him up a few times and messaged him to come back," Daya admits brokenly. "I'm not able to bring myself to delete his number. Why are you punishing him if you hated us being together anyway? This should be like, a dream come true."
"You know, I never liked him after I found out...but I completely get that you're deeply saddened by him being such a jerk. I would've rather had you drop him like a hot potato, but him doing this to you...and especially now that you're pregnant...it's a shame he won't ever find out what a wonderful mother you turn out to be. Single parents are pretty great, just look at me, Aleida, Red, Theresa, Norma, Juliana, Diane, and Maria and Blanca's mamas."
Daya sighs while leaning into Gloria's embrace. "I know, I shouldn't need him, but I do...I'm trying to get over him. I don't think I can."
Gloria strokes her hair lovingly and pecks her temple. "It's only been a half hour, baby. You will, eventually."
"Does it ever get easier? Heartache, I mean?"
"Yes, with time."
"How much?"
"Well, it's hard to determine, because everyone's experiences with that are different. Some can move on quicker than others. You're such a strong young woman, though, and you're fifteen...you got, what, seven decades left in this life? Even if you never settle, you could still find happiness...with friends and family. You got a kid to think about now, not some useless son of a bitch who left you in high school. I promise you, John Bennett does not deserve a second of your time, and in a few years from now, or hell, even a couple months or so, he will no longer be important," Gloria assures Daya gently.
"He was gonna stay...if I just got an abortion. Why'd I have to listen to Aleida?"
"Wow, what a gentleman, controllin' you like that!" Gloria says sarcastically. "You agreed with her-"
"Yeah, after she convinced me..."
"Okay, well I'm glad you picked your child over your boyfriend-"
"I wanted 'em both."
"I'm aware of that, but if some guy gets his girlfriend pregnant, he's expected to stay with her because it's half his responsibility. This fuckin' idiot freaked out and ran because he's not mature enough to handle being a father. He should not have been in your life at all, and he should've told you it wasn't appropriate to be dating you!"
"He did...I pushed it."
"Well, he should've kept telling you no. I'm not trying to insult you, but this is just a fact...teenagers' brains aren't as fully developed as adults' are, Google it if you want, and he took advantage of that. You are much better off without him."
"Thanks for trying to make me feel better, Gloria, but I feel like I've been fuckin' shot in the heart."
"Oh, honey," Gloria murmurs and rubs Daya's back soothingly. "I'm truly sorry." She holds her pseudo niece until Daya's phone vibrates.
"John?" she mumbles while turning over her phone so quickly that it skids to the carpet. She picks it up and the light leaves her eyes again when it's just Adarsh, letting her know that he's finished. "I guess we gotta take Adarsh home now."
"Well, since you never really went out for dinner, I could take you both to the Dave and Busters restaurant and you can play games there if you wanted to."
Daya sniffles and wipes her wet eyes with her palms. "Maybe some other time...we'll eat at home, it's okay."
Gloria picks up Adarsh and he gets into the backseat with Daya. "Hey, I'm sorry about your boyfriend," he tells her gingerly. "Having a broken heart isn't fun."
"Yeah...it never is," Daya responds, and then the waterworks start up again. "I apologize, I keep..." She breaks off into loud sobs and Gloria wishes she could embrace her again, but she's on the highway.
"It's okay. If you wanna talk about it, I'm here."
"Don't pretend you never listen to the rumors," she mutters and brushes off a tear falling down her cheek. "Of course he would leave me, right? Nobody wants a child in high school!"
"I don't believe the gossip...I'd rather hear the actual story from the person who knows it, that is, if they're willing to share."
"Well, I really am pregnant...and John, the father, refuses to be a teen dad. He knocked me up and just...walked. It wasn't right away, though...he waited a week to drop the bomb. He gave me an ultimatum...either I get an abortion or he bails. He doesn't even realize that I'm the one carrying the kid for nine months, he just has to be there...and then I can fuckin' give my baby up for adoption until I'm ready to care for him or her...he's such a wimp, but I can't make him leave my mind. Isn't that stupid?"
"It's his loss, because you seem like such a nice girl. The only thing that's dumb is him, in general. What an asshole...I don't know him from Adam, but I feel like punching him! My parents taught me to respect people from a very early age, and to take responsibility for my actions. They also said as a boy, I need to treat girls and women like they're princesses. It makes a lot of sense."
"Those are good lessons...I guess John never learned 'em."
"Yep, or he never followed them. Would you maybe wanna hang out sometime, like for real, not a fake thing? It'd be cool if we got to know each other better."
"Sure."
She knows it's too early for Daya to date again right now, but Gloria is hoping that Adarsh will be Daya's future boyfriend, or at least an excellent guy friend, because he appears to be extremely compassionate, from the way he's looking at her and speaking to her, and he's age appropriate. With those thoughts in her mind, she smiles at them in the rearview mirror, but they probably don't even notice.
As soon as Red stops at the curb in front of Lorna's house, she gets her key out of her purse and leaves the older woman's vehicle after hugging her good night. She sees Franny's car in the driveway while sluggishly walking up to her front door and hopes her sister hasn't done the trash yet, because Lorna doesn't remember completing the chore. She lets herself in and locks the house up.
"Lorna, is that you, sweetie?" Franny asks from the kitchen.
"Yep...I'm gonna do the garbage!" Lorna's feet pound up the stairs and she holds onto the stair rail when she starts to lose her balance.
"Have you eaten?"
"I get a dinner break at volunteering, so yeah," Lorna responds. It's not a full lie, because she'd had Jell-O from the hospital cafeteria and didn't want anything else.
"Okay. Thanks for helping out around the house, I really appreciate that."
"No problem!" Lorna scampers into the bathroom and takes out the plastic bag full of trash. She makes sure her tattered clothes are in there before she ties it up tightly, does the rest, and dumps all of it into the bin outside.
"Wanna cook with me?" Franny asks Lorna. When the sisters come face-to face, Franny instantly gasps and cups Lorna's cheeks. "Oh my god, Lorn..."
"Piss-cuntella. I don't wanna talk about it. Let's make food."
"He's a monster!"
"Yep."
They proceed to prepare dinner for their parents and brother, and then Lorna's family eats while she goes upstairs to get ready for bed. It's only been twenty-four hours since she was so savagely violated. She starts to drown in her own dark thoughts before a knock comes to her bedroom door. "Yo, we thought you'd wanna see this!" Tricia says.
Lorna unlocks her door and lets Nicky, Alex, Tricia, Taystee, and Poussey in. The dark-skinned girls seem to be looking a bit better. "Hi..."
"Hey, kid, so check this out!" Nicky hands Lorna her phone while pressing play. It's a video of Red, Diane, and Aleida confronting Brandy. The girls giggle, and eventually, Lorna joins in.
"Thanks for showing me!" she exclaims while handing Nicky back her phone. "It cheered me up immensely!"
"I'm happy to hear!"
"I'm so proud of them, especially my mom since I'm biased!" Alex tells them.
"Same here! Why would they let her run off and cause more problems, though?" Lorna asks.
"Vee took care of her...she put that cunt in a noose and had us whack her like a piñata!" Taystee says, and their mouths dropped open in surprise.
"Is she dead?" Poussey wants to know.
"Hell yeah, probably, but who the fuck gives a shit about a Nazi's life? The bitch tried to kill us black folk! My, how the tables have turned...that bitch hung off a tree and swung in the wind!"
"You're right, Tays. I would've loved to see that!"
"Come by anytime, she's still there, struggling to live. Suzanne talks to her a lot. She...doesn't do well with death...she doesn't quite realize that the Confederate flag ho is alive. I think Vee's just trying to run her out of town."
"Oh...okay."
"Well, my mom's waiting out front, so Taystee, Poussey, and I have to go," Alex announces, and the three of them bid Lorna, Nicky, and Tricia good night.
"Tricia, Franny's home, so you and I can sleep in here and Lorna can be with her sister. First, though, I'm gonna accompany Lorna until Franny joins her."
"Yeah, I'm not really in the mood to be alone at the moment," Lorna says somberly.
"Alright, that's fine."
Nicky and Lorna walk to Franny's room. "Hey...you're still limping," Nicky points out.
"The doctor said I should be good in a week. Both my legs are sore. I pulled some muscles when I tried to do a split and discovered I couldn't do them. I thought I was flexible..."
"Lorna, you are, but splits aren't your thing, and everyone on the cheer squad is aware of this, including you. Why would you attempt at something so wrong for your body? That's like me running a marathon at full speed. I wouldn't dream of it!"
When the atrocious creatures had stretched her legs all the way apart, she'd done a split and it felt like her legs were being pulled out of their sockets, but she's obviously not going to tell Nicky this. "I just wanted to see if I could...sometimes I wanna be in a wheelchair because it hurts to walk, and I hobble around like a little old lady." At school, the rude students are saying she may as well have a cane, and it makes her feel even more like an invalid. She flinches when Nicky's hands reach for her legs, and then realizing it's only Nicky, who doesn't mean any harm whatsoever, Lorna bursts out crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I dunno why I did that...it's a...a reflex thing...those animals just love my thighs and squeezin' 'em extra tight."
"Come here, doll, it's okay, I should've warned you..." Nicky gathers her into her arms and rocks her from side to side until she steadies her breathing. "I was just gonna give you a massage. If you don't want me to-"
"No...I'd love one, thank you! You're too sweet, like honey."
"So are you, babe."
Lorna puts her hands over where it aches the most. "Can you kinda just go lightly?"
"Of course."
Nicky uses the pads of her fingers to knead circles into Lorna's tense muscles in her legs. "Does this feel good?"
"Mm-hm." She winces when Nicky hits a damaged area under her pants.
"You stiffened...you can let me know if it hurts, and I won't touch the spot again."
"Okay. I just wish things could go back to how they were before...all this happened. It was shitty, but it was still normal."
"Same here, kid."
Lorna decides not to wear makeup until Nicky's back in school. She holds her friends' hands now because she's getting bullied and her high self esteem is chipping away. Piscatella kicks her hard when she's down, and Dixon, loathing that he was left out of the rape, jams his filthy penis into her bare bottom after gym class in the girls' bathroom while clamping her mouth shut with his sweaty briefs and tying them at the back of her head and telling her she's just as tight as Gloria. She hasn't seen or heard from Christopher at all today, so Angela must be in charge of him again. Her whole Biology class hates her, except Nicky and Pennsatucky, who aren't in the room, so they're all encouraging Humps to do whatever he wants to her while recording it on their phones. He prowls around her like a predator stalking its prey while grinning and showing a full set of sharp, white teeth. Lorna shivers and averts her eyes away from his staring. "I must say that you are not my favorite...it's the little Mexican hottie, but she was unfortunately pulled out of my class since she's not in your grade. You're the next best thing, and you're really busting out of your shirt there. Get up on my table there, sexy tits. I could pound you in front of each and every single person here, and they wouldn't care."
If Nicky were in this room, she'd probably slice his throat open, and so would the lunch ladies, Diane, the rest of her friends, and Christopher. Her entire body is clammy, her heart is beating so fast it's about to jump out of her mouth, and her legs are shaking so much that when Humps forces her out of her seat, she drops to her hands and knees. "I can't do this no more..."
"That's just really too bad. Crawl, bitch!" he commands and sends his shoe-covered foot into her belly. She scoots away from him, but he snatches her up by the back of her shirt and smashes her down so hard on his desk that she hits her head and there's a ringing in her ears. She jerks involuntarily at the blunt force of being crashed onto a table. "I want to see you fully naked."
"Yeah, Mr. Humphrey! That's what she gets for rejecting me!" Gustav calls out.
"Take all your clothes off, we're waiting!" Ralph yells after him.
"I'm ravenous," Humps adds lustfully, and an unexpected jolt runs through her body. "Feed me your juices." He unbuckles his belt and winds it around his hand except for a few inches including the buckle. She shields her face and curls herself up when he raises it, and it lands hard on her back. Lorna yelps shrilly and the students guffaw. "What'd I say? I'll whip you until you obey me! You're my sex slave since the other one can't do the job!"
Trembling, she undresses herself and then he pounces on her. She squeaks loudly when he sinks his teeth into her vagina hard, breaking one of the cuts that was trying to heal, and he digs into her breasts so deep that blood drips off his fingers. He assaults her lower region with his tongue and smacks his lips when he's finally finished. There's some blood sliding down his chin like he's a vampire, and Lorna throws up while sobbing. "Please just let me go..." she begs helplessly. The class sniggers as Humps holds her down with one hand and takes out a long extension cord from his desk drawer with the other. He ties her to the surface in place and the cord is wrapped around her wrists, causing further strain to her injured one, and she's bound underneath her breasts and then he loops the cord around her stomach. She can't move anything except her legs, but before she can kick him, he has two of the largest boys in the class gripping her ankles to keep her legs up. Humps instructs the male students to lick her, but after a minute or two, she can't handle the trauma, so she twitches and urinates all over Paulie, and gets some in his mouth, as well. He spits it back out at her and she coughs hard while gagging.
"Ew, you're so gross!" Kristy exclaims.
"You're supposed to shoot out cum, not piss, you big baby!" Jody chimes in.
"She's such an idiot loser!" Tammy shouts.
"Bad girl!" Humps roars at Lorna. He backhands her and her entire face is numb. "Now it's time for the rat torture! You're a martyr, so act like it! Sit back down, guys." He sticks cheese inside of her and on her nipples. She whimpers as he takes a rat out of its cage, with its feet wiggling and teeth baring. Just before he sets it on top of her, though, Aleida shows up outside the door and she appears horrified. She tiptoes into the room with a dish of soup and places her index finger on her lips as a sign for Lorna to be quiet. Thankfully, nobody else notices her until she smashes the bowl over his head, making boiling soup and ceramic shards rain down on top of him, slicing and burning parts of his face.
"Always wanted to do that to a motherfucker who hurts women," she mutters as she hurriedly unties Lorna. A few of the boys help her, but only because they think she's hot and want to impress her, but at least Lorna is getting rescued instead of dying from rat torture. Aleida makes sure Humps is still knocked out while she assists Lorna back into her clothes, grabs her bag, and escapes the classroom, and Lorna never thought she'd ever be clinging to Daya's mother for protection, but she is doing just that.
"Oh my god, thank you..." she mumbles as she stumbles along with Aleida into the cafeteria's backroom.
"Don't mention it."
Maritza gasps out loud when they arrive and grabs Lorna's hands. "Your clothes are soaked with blood! Lorna...did that vile monster seriously torture you in front of a bunch of would-be witnesses?"
"He made 'em all watch and said if they said a word, they'd suffer through the same thing," she lies straight through her teeth as Maritza throws her arms around her tightly. She has no idea why she's protecting them, but it could have to do with the fact that she doesn't want to actually admit that she has numerous bullies. She used to be so well liked, and she's embarrassed that she isn't anymore.
"There were rats when I went in, but I dumped a whole dish of soup on his fuckin' face and broke it all over him," Aleida reports.
"Terrific job," Gloria praises her. "Lorna, I'll get you some bandages and ice, you sit tight. Red's currently getting Nicky from her appointment, but she'll be here soon."
"Okay..." Lorna takes a seat on the tile floor against one of the cabinets and pulls her knees up to her chest. She leans her head back and keeps her arms around her knees as Gloria plays gentle Spanish music. Things are calm until Humps stomps into the area, and both she and Maritza scream at the top of their lungs. Aleida and Gloria look at him, alarmed, and hold each other in fear. Norma and Claudette stand in his way, and he just chuckles lowly as he pushes himself in between them and strides up to Aleida.
"I need to have a little chat with Mama Diaz...she keeps messing around, and it's making me angry!" He shoves Gloria into the counter to separate her from Aleida, and she gasps in agony. "Should I tell Mr. Caputo about how you harassed a co-worker, or could I deal with your ass myself?"
"I was stopping you from killing her!" Aleida snaps. "If she was dead, you couldn't torture her anymore! See my point?"
"Sure, I'll believe that. I was just gonna have one rat crawl across her luscious figure, but yeah, that'd be lethal, because most animals bite." He grins spookily at Lorna and Maritza and bares his teeth while growling. "Mmm, you both would taste so good," he comments before finally leaving.
Maritza, who's perched on the counter, starts panting heavily and whimpering, but Lorna doesn't see or hear anything else since she's having a panic attack of her own.
After their last period classes are finished, the other girls hug Lorna once she tells them where she is and what Humps had done when they ask about her new wounds. The strongest reaction, though, comes from Nicky, after they fill her in on everything. "Rat torture, tying you up, and biting you?" she practically hollers, and her cheeks are almost damp with moisture. "That's it, I'm returning tomorrow! I don't care if I have to ride through the halls on a wheelchair. It looks like those assholes have chosen to torment you because I'm not there. I'd rather have 'em do it to me instead!" She sinks down next to Lorna.
"No...I...I don't want you to go through it either, Nicky!" Lorna cries.
"Fuckin' hell, he could've murdered you, baby. I'm relieved that Aleida stopped him just in time!"
"Me, too." She's soon cradled in Nicky's arms with her head tucked under the blonde girl's chin and her legs sandwiched in between Nicky's. Flaca is holding Maritza about the same way. "I deserve it, at the same time," Lorna says under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I love your comfort, is all."
"I have no problem giving you it."
"Guess who I ran into at Bloomingdeals when we were picking up maternity clothes for Daya?" Aleida asks Cesar before she has to go to college. She doesn't let him answer. "Margarita! You still with her!" She'd almost taken her down right there in the store, but Daya had stopped her and convinced her to visit Cesar and ask him why he got some other woman pregnant. This is the second gruesome thing she'd gone through today, and she's tired of it. The only part of today she'd enjoyed was meeting Adarsh and introducing herself as Daya's mother when Gloria pointed him out. He's perfect, and she's looking forward to Daya being with him.
"Well, yeah...you knew that!" Cesar says. "You actin' like a jealous bitch again! What's the problem?"
"You put a motherfuckin' bun in her oven!" Aleida hisses. "You been runnin' around with her behind my back for almost a year! I been loyal to you until you was arrested!"
"Okay, well that's only one of my side hos. You're my main chick. Why you mad?"
"My other boyfriend isn't just nobody to me like Margarita's a hooker to you...he thinks I'm real important in his life, and I love him, too. Leon ain't never got me pregnant 'cause he always uses a condom! He's responsible, unlike you, makin' babies right and left!"
"What a pansy ass he is, and you're totally falling for it! College, condoms, what's next? Family road trips? Working in some stupid cube office in front of a computer?"
"I ain't doin' clerical shit. I'm gonna earn money from bein' in charge of a nail salon, like I told your ass five thousand times already!"
Cesar snorts. "Get real! You'll give up on your GED in a few days! You're not a manicurist, you pack heroin! Men like that dude...they're boring! They turn you soft, like Daya here! A fuckin' English teacher, seriously? She don't need him! You gotta be hard."
"I don't fool around with drugs no more...it's bad for me and the kids. Everyone else is sayin' I can do school, and I believe 'em."
"Who, brainless brats, a bunch 'a skirts, and some closeted faggot?"
Aleida tries to ignore the crack in her heart as he insults the people who are close to her. "Shut the fuck up!"
"It's true, ain't it?"
"Leon for sure ain't gay, my babies are precious to me, and my friends are the best."
"Ma, let's go, we don't need to listen to his shit!" Daya cuts in for the first time since they got there. "Her new guy is straight and more of a man than you could ever dream of being!" she shouts at Cesar. "You're losing her every day. We don't need you!"
"I wish I could blow your head off right now, you selfish, nasty bitch," Cesar snarls while glaring at Daya, and Aleida holds her daughter's hand in solidarity. His hateful eyes trail to Aleida and he points at her. "As for you, you're makin' a huge mistake. You're fuckin' up your life."
"Nah, I used to, and there were definitely consequences, such as Daya learnin' from me that it was okay to smoke and be with child at fifteen." Aleida shakes her head in disappointment at herself. "I didn't even know her life back then...when her whore friend disappeared, I was partying with you...even though I didn't like that slut, I should've been around for Daya, and I wasn't. I gotta live with that regret. Now, I ain't doin' nothin' bad no more...in fact, I just saved Lorna...remember her?"
"The short one with big knockers like Daya's?"
"Yep," Aleida says stiffly, despising that she ever allowed him to say things like that about teenage girls.
"Damn, she was stacked. Anyway, what'd you do that was so heroic?" Aleida can tell by his smirk that he thinks she's a joke, and it makes her heart clench in pain.
"Never mind, I don't feel like bein' bothered to tell you anymore. Maybe you need a cold shower, and I'll let you know next time I visit when you ain't so horny and can have a decent and normal conversation with me. It must be difficult not having women to fuck while you in prison. Could you have lost your balls and your dick's shrinking?" Aleida asks. "Leon's cock is so much bigger than yours," she whispers, since she doesn't need Daya to hear this. He groans as Aleida and Daya both stand up and walk out quickly.
"Holy shit, Ma!" Daya exclaims and then hugs her. "That...was...great! You totally burned him!"
"Hell yeah, but I'm not done with him yet!"
"Why not? He cheated on you and caused a fuckton of trauma!"
"I wasn't faithful to him, either," Aleida reminds Daya as they go to the car.
"Margarita betrayed him, too."
"She wasn't with him for as long as I was...we got a deeper connection."
"Leon's better for you."
"I ain't ready to lose the attachment I got with Cesar yet."
"Okay..."
As she'd promised, Nicky returns to school on Thursday and Lorna clings to her. Their friends and the kitchen workers welcome Nicky back with open arms. It's a new era for the two of them now, since the bantering has stopped completely, they take each other seriously, and Nicky notices something is up with Lorna. Not only is she Piscatella, Dixon, and Humps' new target, the students are giving her vulgar hand signs, calling her mean names such as bitch, slut, cunt, Lorna the Loser, Lorna the Whore-na, and Looney Tunes Lorna, and even spitting at her. They're also shocked and happy that Nicky's here again, but she doesn't return their hugs or smiles, because of the way they're mistreating Lorna. Nicky and Alex are currently taking Maritza to Geometry and exchanging a group embrace before she goes into the dreaded classroom. On their way to English, they walk by Christopher, and he smirks at them and extends his arms out toward them. "Hey, where's my hugs?"
"I dunno, moron," Alex snaps at him.
"You gave her one!" he protests, nodding towards the spot where Maritza had been standing.
"She's a good friend of ours." Nicky's blood boils at his douchey behavior. "I can pop wrists, too, fuckwad! Only thing is, I don't do it to girls who aren't hurting me! You lay one more cruel hand on Lorna, and I'll beat both your balls and dick so far up your ass that you won't be able to walk right!" Nicky snarls at him threateningly. She sees Lorna out of the corner of her eye, appearing to be hurt, and then the brunette disappears.
"I'm only doing it to defend Angela," Christopher snaps back at her. "That insane bitch choked my girlfriend and installed a bomb in her car! Wouldn't you bust some girl's ass if they did that to Miss Looney Tunes?"
"Well, yes, but-" She stops herself, not wanting to be caught in his trap. "You're getting revenge on Lorna, who may have a severe mental illness and doesn't understand what she'd done that was so bad! You can talk to her kindly or suggest she get help, but you don't need to rough her up, or you'll have to deal with me. Got that?"
"Joey was right about you, unfortunately. Lesbos really do hate men."
Alex rolls her eyes. "Just the ones who are heartless, and that goes for women, too, you damn homophobe!" He storms away from them, and Nicky gets an uneasy feeling in her tummy.
When gym class is over, Piscatella stops Lorna from coming out of the locker room until it's empty. He orders her to change back into her regular clothes and then leaves while turning off every one of the lights, save one. She hurriedly does so, but all of a sudden, she sees someone just standing there. Lorna jumps nearly a foot in the air and presses her hand to her heart. She's thankful that it's only Christopher. "Oh, Jesus Christ on a cracker! You scared me!"
He emerges from the shadows, appearing unapologetic and she's confused. "Do you know why I went out with you? I was thinking I'd get an easy hookup out of it and tame the dragon. I was also impressed that a hot girl was being so forward, but then I got turned off when you took it a bit too far. You're my annoying little groupie!"
Lorna gasps in disbelief and her heart breaks. "Did that cooze tell you to say that?"
"No, and don't you ever call her that again!" He slams her headfirst into a locker so hard that she's bleeding somewhere and then he twists her unscathed arm behind her back until there's a sickening snap of bone. A high-pitched gasp and shrill scream escape her mouth, and that only makes him angrier. He squeezes her forearm even tighter. Lorna had been ignoring his nastiness up to this point, and now she can't take it anymore.
"Ow! Let go of me! Why...why are you doing this? I thought...I thought we were in love! I even quit cheerleading for you!" she cries while trembling and stumbling away from him. Help me! Anyone, please!"
"You're so desperate! I'm not surprised that you let the prank happen, and you wanted to play with the big boys...you're getting a taste of your own medicine!"
"I...I was raped-"
"Good! I'm overjoyed for my buddies! They had a fun time that night! I'll smack the psycho out of you!" He clenches his jaw while swinging his fist into her face, and he won't stop. He tackles her and she collapses to the ground as she shrieks in pain. "How'd you like that, you demented stalker?" he yells while repeatedly kicking her so her belly lurches and something cracks inside of her as he stomps on her chest. "Huh?"
"I'm sorry...please...just stop it..." Lorna sobs out. It crushes her so much and her heart rips itself out of her chest. She's dizzy with tears.
"Why would I? I won't, until you're just a rotting corpse! You're such an evil cunt!" He bends down, puts his hands around Lorna's throat, picks her up off the floor, and presses his thumbs into her pulse point, choking her while shaking her frail body up and down. "I can bench one hundred and thirty-five pounds. What about you, fifty? Fuckin' wimpy rag doll!"
"Hey, get the fuck off her, asshole!" That female voice is so familiar and like music to her ears. Nicky hurls her heavy bag squarely into the back of his head while standing on the silver bench so she has more leverage. It causes him to release his firm grip and Lorna sinks back to the floor, wheezing and coughing. She digs her fingers into his eyes to make him stagger backwards and crash to the floor. "Drop fuckin' dead!" She shoves her knee up his crotch about ten times, and steps on his throat until he stops struggling. "You're welcome."
"Thank you...but I deserved that..." Lorna rasps when she gets her breath back.
Nicky wipes the flowing tears off Lorna's wet cheeks. "Are you okay? Can you stand?"
"No. I can't walk, just go on without me."
"I'd never leave you! Let's get you outta here." Nicky scoops Lorna up and carries her to the nurse's office bridal style. Lorna stares up at Nicky with stars in her eyes since the blonde is emanating hero vibes.
"You're like...my knightress in shining armor," Lorna murmurs as her heart leaps. "My Princess Charming...you saved my life."
Nicky gives Lorna a friendly smile, and for the first time, Lorna really notices how pretty she is, and not just attractive in general. She's never felt this way about another girl before, but she's really falling for her best friend. The genuine kindness Nicky has shown her all this time when she was blind to Christopher's hatred of her, even when she'd raged on Nicky, makes guilt flow through her veins. "It was no big deal, kid. I'm always gonna protect you. I'll call the cops on that creep-"
"You can't, Nicky, he'll get me arrested instead...and they won't do shit anyway..."
Nicky puts Lorna down and they sit in chairs to wait for Dimaguiba, the school nurse. "CO Ford will when he gets better!"
"Christopher's gonna tell him everything...he...he tricked me!" Lorna blubbers and starts hyperventilating.
"Just breathe, baby…you're okay, I promise, just breathe."
"I can't breathe, I can't –" Lorna snivels and grabs her chest as it rises and falls rapidly.
"Do it with me. Inhale, then exhale." Somehow, this works just in time before the Filipino man shows up and calls her in. Nicky insists on going with her.
Dimaguiba looks annoyed as he works on Lorna and cleans up the laceration on her forehead. He tells her in a bored tone to put ice on her contusions and that she may have a broken arm and to get a cast at the hospital.
"Gee, could you sound a little more sympathetic?" Nicky asks him harshly. "She's badly hurt!"
"It's fine...let's just go back to our classrooms now," Lorna mutters.
"Alright..."
"My mind is a dark place...you don't wanna be there." Lorna says as Nicky walks her to Diane's English class, just to tell her teacher that she has to get a cast now.
"You have a beautiful mind," Nicky disagrees, but Lorna doesn't take the compliment to heart. Little by little, she senses that she's not all the way there in her head. "You're bright and optimistic."
"Not anymore. I just wanna be loved," she murmurs wistfully.
"You are," Nicky assures her, winding her arms around her as they stroll along. Lorna beams, but then wails as her knees give out, plopping on the floor and pulling Nicky down with her.
"I shared a lot with him, you know? Like my getting back at Vinnie...hitting Piper...and the prank, to name a few things. He didn't get me..."
Nicky coos while running her hand through Lorna's hair. "Hey, I understand you wanting revenge on that cheating jerk...and why you'd bitchslap Piper. She probably said something rude to you. Those things happen in life."
"Yeah, but I...I'm real messed up..."
"Aren't we all?"
Lorna cuddles close to Nicky for comfort and the other girl takes her in her arms and rocks her back and forth. "He called me a stalker...I just thought I was supposed to do anything for someone I really love, even if I have to knock people out of my way that are trying to interfere...but I feel terrible that I did that...no wonder he beat me up like a savage! He's a mean guy, but it's all my stupid fault!" She groans while clapping her hand against her forehead and then remembers she has a severe cut there. "Ouch!"
Nicky kisses the spot and her lips are so warm on Lorna's skin. "Is that better?"
"Mm-hm..."
"Awesome! I'll ask you some questions, is that okay?"
"Yeah."
"Did you guys kiss, hug, hold hands, say I love you to each other, have deep conversations into the night, have nights out or in, laugh together under a warm blanket while cuddling, etcetera?"
"I...I wanted to...he was always busy...Angela was taking up his time! Well, she can have him, because I hate him now!"
"That's because she's his girlfriend! Look, I'm sorry that he was your unrequited crush, and he's an idiot for not seeing how great you are beyond all your...romantic aspirations...but you can't try to destroy two people's lives like that...otherwise you're gonna end up in an adult prison eating eggs and waffles while showering naked with a hundred other women and wearing orange and then beige! That's what you were in for last time, wasn't it?"
"I don't understand..." she mumbles, puzzled.
"Lorna, you just need some help, okay? I know you didn't mean to come off as a stalker, it's just, there's ways to control those tendencies."
"Why was he being mean to me?"
"Because he's an asshole!" Nicky pauses for a moment and sighs. "Well, if someone was stalking me, creeping me out, and threatening to strangle my girlfriend and acting on it, I wouldn't be all that nice to them...would you?"
"No!" Lorna gasps. "Oh my god, I'm just like..." She stops herself.
"Who?"
"What if I am, and I don't even know it? My poor friends...they're all being tortured..."
"What are you talking about? Tell me, kid, come on." Lorna just wordlessly plucks her phone out of her purse and shows Nicky the texts from P. She buries her face in her hands while crying. "You can't possibly send a weird anonymous text to yourself...listen, I'll protect you from whoever this is, and we should get CO Ford involved."
"I've already caused him enough trouble...and now I've broken the law twice...disobeyed a restraining order..."
"We don't need to tell him...it's a secret, as long as you promise you'll get help, since you seriously need it."
Lorna nods. "I will, I swear to you."
"I'll fully support you, like taking you to a good therapist and shit."
"Thanks..."
Thank you for reading and reviewing, A Star in My Universe!
