Chapter Eleven

"So, Lorn, how's school going?" Franny wondered as she stood in the kitchen preparing dinner. She grabbed a pot from beneath the counter and brought a can of crushed tomatoes, that was opened seconds earlier, to pour into it. Her blue eyes peered over at the other girl, who was busy fixing a fresh pot of coffee. She watched her closely—trying to figure out if anything physically was off with her. Ever since she left their childhood home, the fear and worry she held for her sister's wellbeing intensified.

While placing a few heaping tablespoons of freshly ground coffee into the filter, Lorna stared across the room at her sister with an indecipherable expression on her face. She decided against sharing any of the information on her grades or bully, instead choosing to focus on the new friendship she seemed to be forming. "It's okay, I guess. I kinda been talking a lot to my new friend, Nicky."

Franny nodded with a kind smile. She was relieved to hear that some things in the younger girl's life were turning around in a positive manner. "She's the girl who you were at the coffee shop with, huh? I'm glad ya seem to be making friends, that's good for ya." Her hand reached for a spoon from a drawer; she brought it back over to the pot of heating sauce and used it to stir in the ingredients.

"Yeah, she's real nice and fun to hang out with. Would it be okay if I meet her at that coffee shop tomorrow? Dad never lets me do anything other than chores so I never really get to see Nicky outside a school," Lorna asked, grabbing a mug from the cabinet right above where the coffee pot sat. She took out a carton of creamer from the fridge and placed it beside her mug.

"As long as ya get your schoolwork done, that's fine. I know dad's been a real jerk for the past year and I'm so sorry, hon." Franny covered the sauce with a lid and lowered the heat.

Lorna nodded in response. The coffee finished percolating, so, she took the vessel from the machine and poured it into her mug. She placed the vessel back in its spot before retrieving a spoon to mix the cream and coffee together. "Don't worry, Fran, I'll go work on my assignments now while I have my coffee."


Sitting out on the small balcony off the living room, albeit chilly, Lorna placed her coffee on the small table and pulled up her bookbag. She unzipped it to retrieve her notebook. The notebook she finally started using to write all of the assignments she needed to finish in it. She exhaled slowly, flipping through to see what was first on her to-do list. Getting a passing grade was her main priority; she refused to spend a whole entire other year in that god-awful high school.

There were only five assignments written on the paper in front of her, however, just seeing them in her face like such overwhelmed her tremendously. She grumbled in frustration, setting the notebook aside on the table and reaching for her coffee. She took a sip of the steaming liquid, watching as a few birds sat on the brim of the balcony. The sight mesmerized her for several long moments; she almost forgot what the purpose for her sitting out there was.

But then the wind blew and the birds flew away. Lorna came back to reality and glared in frustration at her notebook. She loathed the idea of starting on the daunting task of completing her many assignments. Though, if she didn't want to repeat ninth grade, she had to suck it up and get to work. She opened the book back up, deciding to start on her study-guide first.

It was a couple hours later when she was halted from her homework by the vibration of her phone going off. She set her assignment aside, taking her phone from her pocket and clicking on the talk button. "Hello?" Her voice greeted into the receiver, she hadn't checked the caller ID and was curious to know who'd been calling her.

"Hey, uh, kid," Nicky's voice responded on the other line.

However, something seemed off with her tone, Lorna quickly observed. She was a bit surprised that the girl called her but glad as well. "Hi, Nicky. I was just finishing up my homework—glad ya called, do ya wanna still meetup for coffee tomorrow?"

The redhead on the other side of the phone swallowed a lump. There was some unfortunate news she had to share with her friend and hearing that question only worsened the anguish she felt. "Course' I wanna, but um—I may be moving outta town tomorrow afternoon, that's kinda why I called ya, kid."

Lorna nearly choked mid sip of her coffee. "Moving outta town? Like permanently? Why—how come?"

"My lovely mother, Marka, is fed up with me so she wants to ship me to my father. And he lives all the way across town. Believe me, kid, I don't wanna move but I ain't got much of a choice in the matter. Honestly, I don't think my father will even show up to get me tomorrow."

She could hear the sadness in Nicky's voice and it broke her heart. She knew exactly what it was like to not be wanted by a parent and it caused her heart to ache to recognize that her friend was suffering through a similar situation now. "I-I'm sorry, hon. We could see if there's any apartments for rent around here, we could be roommates and that way ya wouldn't have to go live with your dad."

Although she felt completely depleted at that moment, Nicky couldn't resist from laughing at Lorna's suggestion. "Aw, kid, that would definitely be nice but, uh, I don't think any landlord would rent to a couple a teenagers, yeah? We couldn't afford to live in our own apartment right now. I really appreciate your effort, Lorna, but it wouldn't be doable."

"I didn't really think that through. I wish there was something I could do to help. I don't want ya to have to move."

Nicky smiled sadly, holding the phone tight against her ear. "Don't worry, kid, everything will be fine. Even if I do have to go live with my dad, I'll keep in touch with ya. And find a way to move back there. But I just wanted to give ya heads-up in case he actually does show up tomorrow."

"I'll call ya every day to check on ya, Nicky. Do ya wanna meetup today in case ya do move tomorrow? I finished most of my work so I'm sure my sister will be okay if I go out for a bit."

"Ya know what, kid? That sounds like a great idea. We can still meet at that coffee shop, my friend Alex is working tonight and she'll let us stay a little past closing time," the redhead stated, a smile slightly forming on her face at the thought. Spending time with Lorna was the perfect antidote for the anxiety she had been exhibiting at the moment.


The walk from Franny's apartment to the coffee shop only took fifteen minutes. It was just starting to get dark outside, the sun nearly set down the horizon. Lorna entered into the building, welcomed by the aroma of strong coffee. She caught sight of the familiar redhead standing at the sales counter and hurriedly made her way up to her.

"So, yeah, I really hope my father forgets to come tomorrow. He's always had an excuse not to see me before so I don't see why he would show up tomorrow," Nicky was saying to the black-haired barista behind the counter. The sound of footsteps caught her attention and had her head turn in their direction; her eyes landed on her petite brunette friend. Seeing her brought a smile to her face.

Lorna waved her hand at the other with a warm grin. "Hi, Nicky—sorry it took me so long, the walk from my sister's was a little longer than I thought."

The redhead studied her features intently, making sure every inch of Lorna's face was ingrained into her brain. In case she did end up moving across town the next day, she wanted to make sure she always remembered her friend's features. Yet, had she not taken that time to study them, she knew the girl had a face she could never forget even if she wanted to. Although the two had only become close in the past month, Lorna already had a very special place in Nicky's heart.

"Ya walked here? It's getting dark outside, kid, probably not the safest idea. I'll drive ya back after," Nicky stated, not giving her a choice in the matter. She placed her satchel on the countertop and searched through for her wallet. Her eyes peered back at the brunette. "What kinda coffee ya want, kid?"

"Um, I'll get that cinnamon toast crunch latte please."

Nicky nodded and ordered herself her usual plain coffee. After both of them were handed their drinks, she led them over to a table near the window. She situated herself in the stool across from the brunette and took a rather large sip of her bold-flavored coffee. Her hands covered over both temples, rubbing at them to stop the forming headache in its tracks.

"So, how are ya feeling?" The brunette questioned, sipping her latte and watching her friend with empathetic eyes. She related quite a bit to her situation in that her own father couldn't bare to look at her without some degrading remark or another.

"I'm really hoping my father doesn't come tomorrow. I don't wanna move away from here, I already got friends and shit." Nicky sipped her coffee and inwardly grumbled. The thought of packing up her items, leaving behind her two close friends, and the one person who cared for her better than both of her parents put together did—it was all way too much for her.

Lorna watched with concerned eyes; it was easily noticeable the apprehension that Nicky's body language seemed to be exhibiting. She cautiously reached a over to place atop the older teen's. "Is your dad nice at least?" She questioned, hoping that her friend's father wasn't anywhere as cruel as her own. She didn't want anyone to suffer that kind of pain.

"Hell if I know, kid," the redhead responded with the shrug of her shoulders. The sensation of Lorna's hand over her own brought a comfort she never realized she needed. She sighed, wanting nothing more than to go back to before her mother decided to up and throw her out with her deadbeat father. "I can't even remember the last time my father and I were in the same room together."

"I—I'm sorry, Nicky." Empathy took over her facial features at that point. Lorna used her thumb to soothingly stroke around the other's knuckles. She hoped that everything would work out in their favor.

Nicky gave a sad smile and shook her head slightly. "Don't be, kid. I still have hopeful doubts that he just won't come—he was always good at coming up with excuses to not spend his weekends with me when I was younger so why change now, yeah?" She gulped her bold beverage, letting her eyes stare blankly ahead at the framed painting on the wall at the front of the building. The last time she remembered seeing her father was right before she started middle school. She exhaled a rather large breath of air, using her hands to massage at her temples.

The brunette kept her thumb stroking softly at Nicky's knuckles. She wasn't entirely sure what to respond with but felt her heart aching for the older girl's hidden pain. "That must be real hard, hon."

"Honestly? I stopped caring years ago, kid. Can't miss what ya don't have, yeah?" Nicky grabbed a cigarette from her pocket.

Lorna swallowed thickly as she watched her friend light the cigarette she just grabbed hold of. She stopped the motion around her knuckles and instead wrapped Nicky's hand in her own. It wasn't hard for her to miss the faint tears that looked ready to spill out of the other's eyes. "Is there anything I can do for ya, Nicky?"

With a sad chuckle, Nicky took a puff of the cigarette between her fingers and let out a breath of smoky air. "You're already doing it, kid. Just sitting here having coffee with ya is perfect. How about we talk about something else, though? My dead-beat parents aren't the most pleasurable topic."

Hearing that only strengthened the empathy Lorna felt for her; her brown eyes peered intensely across the table at her friend. She longed to be there for her, to help her through the uncertainty of the situation. "Sure, what do ya wanna talk about?" She knew all too well how easy it was to ignore the actual problem and didn't feel it was her place to persuade Nicky otherwise.

"What assignments were ya workin' on? Anything good?"

Lorna sipped the rest of her coffee and shook her head. "Just some stuff for my science class, pretty boring honestly. I just wanna be an adult already so I can live on my own and not have to work on these dumb assignments anymore."

"You're funny, ya know that?" Nicky chuckled, tapping the butt of her cigarette against the edge of the table. "That's what I want too, though. To be an adult so I can move the hell away from Marka and not have to answer to anyone."