Chapter Forty-Seven

Both girls froze in their places as they waited for Miss Warren to finish her task. Each covered their mouths to retain themselves from breaking into laughter at all that had occurred seconds prior. It seemed like an eternity had passed before the sound of the door swinging shut finally sounded through their ears when in reality, it was only a matter of minutes. Now that they were alone once more, both uncovered their mouths and allowed the laughs to come pouring out. Almost as if they were part of a Tsunami.

Nicky shook her head while refocusing her eyes directly ahead of her onto Lorna's face. She placed a hand on her cheek and caressed the palm of it delicately around the soft flesh underneath it. Heat radiated from her own cheeks, she brought her other hand right back to where it was before the interjection and slipped it slowly inside of Lorna's jeans. Gradually her hand made its way to the rim of her panties and gently began moving back and forth around her vaginal area, slowly and with the utmost tenderness.

The tips of her fingers circled around the outside of it for several seconds and she felt her heart burst when a whimper escaped through Lorna's windpipe. Whether that whimper was voluntary or not didn't come across in Nicky's mind. Her focus remained on making the petite woman next to her come in the most glorious way that she possibly could.

Three of her fingers entered through the opening of Lorna's vagina, stroking all along the inside of it with the softest of touches.

Lorna squeezed her eyes shut from the bubbling sensation of pleasure that slowly started to overpower her. All thoughts from her mind rapidly flooded away—even the ones prompting her how bad of an idea it was to allow Nicky to touch her; her mind became occupied with only what was happening presently.

While her fingers kept up with their magic touching and stroking, Nicky's lips found their way back onto those of her girlfriend's. She used her free hand to cup around the back of her head and naturally deepened the kiss. Feeling Lorna's body very faintly tremoring against her own formed a smirk on her face. She put her attention back on her fingers that remained inserted up inside of Lorna's vagina. With tenderness and gradual movements, Nicky pushed her fingers further inside. She stroked up and down around the top part of her vulva, then in a circular pattern. Her eyes gazed intently up on Lorna's face and the smirk on her own intensified to observe the clear pleasure that resided on the other's.

"Mmmy god, Nnnicky," the words fumbled together and shook from Lorna's mouth as she said them aloud. Her vagina sat in a mixture of fluids within her panties. The stroking of Nicky's fingers inside of it easily had her back slightly arch upwards. She reached her hands forward, grabbing fistfuls of the older girl's t-shirt. The only thing that was able to steady her.

"Hmm, ya like it yeah kid?" Nicky huskily asked, dousing her face in a truckload of kisses. The nod she received in response only fastened the pace at which her fingers caressed inside of her vagina. She leaned her forehead closer so that it was resting right onto Lorna's. Lips touched gently onto the corner of her girlfriend's, nibbling very delicately over them. "Don't you worry, babe, I'll make sure to keep you feeling good." Her voice all but purred against the skin that her mouth rested tenderly over. And she meant every word—she'd do anything she could to make her girlfriend feel like she was floating on a cloud.

Her body arched even higher when the sensation finally peaked. "Ahh," her voice involuntary squealed out. Lorna tightened her hands on the cloth of Nicky's shoulders. The orgasm engulfed her entire body and all she could do to stop herself from falling to the floor was grip onto the person who was the culprit of such an overwhelming feeling. "Nnnicky." The name came out of her mouth like a cat prowling after its prey with sheer excitement.

Nicky took the moaning as encouragement to explore even further up her vaginal canal, moving away from the beginning of the vulva and into the clitoris where Lorna's flesh was blatantly pulsing against the tips of her fingers. As if Lorna's heart was no longer inside her chest but now within her clit. Her eyes momentarily peeped up onto her face, immediately noting the euphoric mien that sat upon it. The smirk that was molded on her own adapted into a full-on smile. Nothing made her happier than to be the cause of Lorna's undeniable pleasure.

The sound of the bell reverberating piercingly through the walls of the bathroom halted their activity rather swiftly. Nicky sucked down on her bottom lip, and felt a reluctant breath of air puff its way from her lungs. Of course, she thought, just when things appeared to be heating up between them the damn school bell would deem that the perfect time to go off.

Despite the resistance and yearn to keep going, Nicky forced herself to release her fingers from inside of her girlfriend and awfully carefully took them out of both her panties as well as jeans. She brought them up to her mouth, sticking them inside and pleasurably licked the juices of her lover off of her fingertips. Their foreheads still lay gently against one another and Nicky brushed her lips, one last time, affectionately over the brunette's.

She used a hand to tenderly push back strands of Lorna's hair from covering over eyes. "That was totally worth skipping lunch, my sweet Lorna. We'll have to pick this up the next time ya sleep over my place, yeah?"

Lorna shuddered at Nicky's warm breath that trickled over her own lips. Though she'd shuddered, her lips curled into a pleasant smile and her head bobbed up and down in a highly enthusiastic nod. "I wouldn't mind skipping lunch every day to be locked in a stall with you," she all but purred, pecking softly at the nape of Nicky's neck. "But yeah, I like the sound of that. Maybe this weekend we can have another sleepover."


Albeit having the longing desire to walk to Franny's apartment after school ended that afternoon, Lorna reluctantly found herself taking the bus back to the Chapman's house instead. It was a short bus ride, unfortunately, and not before long she was getting off of it and walking down the sidewalk towards the grand home of her foster family. When she finally made her way inside the front door, she entered into the living room that had both Cal and Piper sitting on the adjacent sofas. Cal, clearly focused on a school assignment no doubt, and Piper with her nose in a book. How nice it must have been to no longer be a high school student, Lorna thought as she stared at the oldest of the Chapman children.

A sigh simply escaped through her larynx while she pondered on what to do. Her eyes fell onto the floor where she realized her shoes still covering her feet and decided she'd start by taking those off at the very least. Once they were taken off and in her hands, Lorna walked a few steps over to where the shoe rack was located and placed hers on the bottom in the only vacant spot. She reached her hands up to her temples and stood there rubbing at them for a few moments longer. Still unsure of what her next move was going to be.

The sensation of her bookbag on her back reminded her that she should probably copy what Cal was doing and get to work on that science project she'd been assigned. Another breath of air expelled from her lungs as she settled on the decision of following suit. She tiptoed her way in the room as to not disturb either of them and situated herself on the other end of the couch that Piper was sitting on, eyes still glued to the book in her hands.

However, if Lorna thought she had gone unnoticed, she was blatantly incorrect. The second Piper felt the further sinking of the couch, her eyes shifted up from her book and landed on such culprit. When she caught glimpse of Lorna sitting all the way on the other side near the other end-table, her blonde eyebrows curved up out of interest. She hadn't seen her since the day she was brought over by the CPS worker two days earlier. By the time she came home from her late night college course yesterday, Lorna had already left to her friend's house was what she had heard from her parents.

"Are you settling in okay?" She bookmarked the page she was on and then set the paperback aside so she could focus her blue eyes across at Lorna. Her leg crossed neatly over the other in the same position that Mrs. Chapman always chose to sit while in her desired armchair.

Lorna merely jumped at the sound of another's voice; she hadn't expected for either of the Chapman siblings to acknowledge her presence. In fact, she had hoped her footsteps were quiet enough to not interrupt the two from their tasks. Clearly, she estimated the loudness of her footsteps entirely wrong by the question being directed at her from Piper. She busied herself with removing the straps of her bookbag from each of her shoulders and placing it onto her lap.

Brown eyes returning the gaze, she searched meticulously over the blonde girl sitting two cushions away from her. There was an authentic vibe seemingly emanating from her, which, unexpectedly came as a comfort to Lorna. She certainly hadn't anticipated that from Piper, despite the fact that Piper didn't appear as pretentious as her mother had. "Uh, yeah, I think I am. Thanks for asking."

Piper nodded and gave a slightly tighter smile than she originally set out to. It wasn't that she had felt disdain to have Lorna staying with her family—she just happened to be terribly socially awkward when it came to people she hardly knew. And that always happened to bring out her mother's not-so-genuine mannerisms in herself. A quality she wasn't particularly fond of.

"Of course. I know it can be a little stuffy in here so I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay," she knowingly acknowledged the fact. Despite the love she had for both of her parents, Piper knew more than anyone how truly painful both of them could be to deal with at times. Mrs. Chapman more so than her father, she knew. Though they meant well deep down, they didn't always show it.

Swallowing uneasily, Lorna forced a smile on her face and nodded her head. Comfort was brought over her from the ostensibly sympathetic words that came from the young woman's mouth. Albeit still feeling some amount of resistance towards her, she could easily observe that Piper really was trying to be friendly. "I appreciate that. I mean you all seem real nice and everything but I just—I ain't from a fancy home or nothin'. I guess I feel outta place here is all," she honestly commented, her shoulders recoiling upwards in a shrug.

Picking up on bits and pieces of the conversation that was buzzing through the room, Cal decided to take a break from his school work and tune into what the two girls were conversing about. He set his stack of papers onto the pristine coffee table in front of the sofa he sat upon and then turned in his seat so that his blue eyes were looking between his sister and Lorna. Arms crossed intriguingly over his chest.

"What's public school like? I've always wondered about it but never knew anyone who went to one."

Piper threw a look towards her brother along with the remote for the television at his head for asking such an insensitive question. She arched up her eyebrows while shaking her head at the teenage boy that she happened to be graced with as her younger brother. "Really, Cal?"

The blond teen twisted his neck so that his eyes were staring directly into his sister's. He threw up his hands and furrowed the blond brows above his eyes. "What? I wanna know," persistence inflected in his voice as he stated the comment. Deterring his focus back onto Lorna—who clearly seemed a bit uneasy—Cal bounced his shoulders in a shrug. "Was that a dumb question for me to ask you?"

Lorna shifted uncomfortably in her seat, moving the leg that was crossed on top so that it now resided underneath the other. She sunk her right shoulder inwards and cautiously returned the youngest Chapman's gaze. Despite the unusual question he'd asked, the expression on his face was anything except mockful. Such observation eased away some of the nerves that built up inside her. "I mean I wouldn't say it's dumb," she softly admitted, repositioning her shoulder in a more normal one. "Just a bit odd, I guess."

A breath was gradually inhaled through her nose as she took a moment to gather her thoughts into an appropriate sentence to recite out from her mouth. "It's really nothing special, honestly. It's school. I go, I learn, and I leave. Why? Is private school different?"

Cal gave an intuitive nod while tapping his fingers against the plastic of the folder that sat closed-up on his lap. Lorna's response only confirmed that his asking the query, to begin with, was a rather a pointless thing to do. He tilted his head sideways and an innate chuckle escaped through his windpipe. "I guess there's not much difference. Of course we have to wear uniforms to the private school but I just go and learn and leave, too."

Nodding slowly, the brunette's eyes averted down onto her lap. There was an urge within her to ask if bullies existed in private schools as well, however, she refrained herself from ever allowing the words to slip from her mouth. Instead, she focused on the mixtures of blue that swirled together and made up the pair of jeans covering overtop of her legs. She subconsciously traced a finger down along the length of it and felt a puff of air expel from her lungs.

Reaching for a cup of tea that was sitting on a coaster atop the coffee table, Piper cradled it in her hands and sipped it slowly. The liquid was closer to room temperature since it'd been over a half an hour since she had prepared it. She took one more sip before putting the cup back in its previous spot and then focused her attention on the two teens. The topic of high school made her glad that she was no longer attending it—it was always only ever full of the most petty of drama. At least people who attended college did so because they wanted to be there.

"You know," the words slipped out, her eyes seemingly staring ahead into the void. "Hearing the two of you talking about school makes me so happy I'm an adult now. College is much better than high school, either public or private—those both suck."

The comment gained a snicker out of her younger brother, who took the folder from his lap and set it into his backpack that was lying on the ground beside his feet. "I can drink to that."

Shoes clacking against the hardwood that fused together as the floor beneath quickly halted the conversation and had all three sets of eyes peering in the direction of where said sound seemed to be approaching from. Mrs. Chapman stood in the elegant archway that divided the sitting room from the dining room with her arms crossed defensively over her chest and a rather stern mien displaying on her face as she looked between her two children.

"What's this I hear about drinking?" Her eyes darted from Piper to Cal; she didn't budge an inch from her stance. "I sure hope I misheard whoever said that because I know neither one of you are at the legal drinking age."

The brother and sister shared a look, both covering their hands over their mouths to keep the laughter from expelling out.

Clearing her throat, Carol shifted her gaze onto the eerily silent Lorna a few feet away. Her eyes narrowed in on her and she tapped her foot impatiently against the ground below it. "Lorna, you weren't out drinking last night were you? I know you've come from a family with different values but here in our house, we don't approve of underage drinking," she furrowed a brow while slightly interrogating the young brunette. Her head shook lightly as she held her gaze on the girl—despite her husband's desire to bring in foster children, Carol felt a lot less enthusiastic towards it. This here now was one of the main reasons she'd been apprehensive over taking random children into their home. She certainly hadn't wanted a problem child coming in and influencing her own children in a negative way.

Both siblings' heads turned to peer at Lorna, curious to see her reaction to their mother's blatantly out of place accusation.

It brought a slight frown to Piper's face after hearing her mom's immediate change of tune and assumption of blame on the foster child both she and their father had willingly agreed to bring into their house. The expression that her eyes observed on Lorna's face only heightened the guilt she felt over Mrs. Chapman's behavior. Second hand guilt, rather.

"Mom, Lorna didn't even say anything," Piper informed the middle-aged blonde. She gestured her hands between herself and Cal. "I made a comment about how high school sucks and Cal being Cal said he'd drink to that it. It was just a joke. Calm down."

The words that spilled out from her daughter's mouth instantly caused Carol's gaze to swiftly avert onto her. Her head shook slowly as she looked the blonde over precisely. That tone wasn't something Mrs. Chapman allowed for either of her children to speak to her in, ever, regardless of whether she jumped to conclusions or not. "You don't need to cop an attitude over it, Piper. I'm allowed to ask a simple question to a young girl that your father and I are being kind enough to let stay here with us. And because of that, I have the right to make sure she knows our rules."

Taking a moment to breathe, Mrs. Chapman deterred her glance onto her son. Disappointment melded onto her face as she did so. "Cal, making jokes about drinking is distasteful. Don't do that, please. You're going to be graduating high school this summer, you need to start acting more mature."

Giving one last shake of her head, Carol moved her eyes between the three of them and said, "All of you better make sure you're not making inappropriate jokes. Now, I'm gonna go see that dinner is being prepared. I'll call you down when it's finished." She quickly turned around and walked back through the archway in leu of the kitchen.

"There goes our favorite killjoy of a mother," Cal muttered once Mrs. Chapman was fully out of the room.

The comment instantly earned him a pillow to his head roughly tossed at him by Piper. With one leg crossed over the other and her head tilted in a way that she was directly facing her brother, she peered at him with a heavily irritated expression melded onto her face. "Well, Cal, if you'd be more careful with your words, maybe this all could have been avoided."


As soon as school had ended and she and Lorna unfortunately parted ways, Nicky made the decision to drive herself over to Alex's house for a much-needed evening of venting and, hopefully, smoking, too. The two situated themselves on the sofa in her living room, just moments upon Nicky's arrival, each with a cup of coffee cradled in their hands and a pack of cigarettes rested on the bare cushion between them. Aside from spending time with her beloved Lorna, there was nothing Nicky favored more than an evening of bold coffee and the bitter taste of a cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

Sitting on one side of the cushion that contained the heavily desired pack of lung-killers, Nicky sipped her coffee that was cradled in her hands and allowed her eyes to peer longingly at the rectangular piece of plastic laid out between both she and Alex. There was nothing her tastebuds craved more than the bold, bitter, flavors of both the coffee and cigarettes. She could easily sense her mouth salivating just at the thought of it.

The silence became all too deafening for Alex as she sat on the other end of the sofa, right leg crossed over left, her coffee mug held by its handle in one of her hands. She brought the mug to her lips and sipped it a few times before setting in on a coaster on the small end-table right on the other side of the armrest that her elbow rested atop of. Her eyes shifted onto Nicky, looking her over methodically. It didn't take much for her to pick up on the clear exhaustion that appeared to ooze from her aura.

"So, did you and Lorna happen to talk about her mom?"

Alex's innocent query was enough for Nicky to give in to her temptation right then and there. She set her coffee aside and quickly grabbed the pack of smokes from the cushion between them, rather violently whipping a cigarette out from within it. Holding it between her fingers, she replaced the carton back in its original spot and reached in her jacket's pocket for a lighter. Once it was lit and in her mouth, a breath of air was drawn in by the action of her taking a drag of her cig.

Eyes returned the older woman's gaze. Shoulders recoiled into a subtle shrug. Right now, Nicky's focus was only trying to forget about all of the negativity for an evening. Despite realizing how ironic that was for her when she continuously spent so much time and effort making sure Lorna knew not to keep her emotions locked up. As she took another drag, a chuckle came out of her windpipe. "You could say that. I mean she did finally cave and admit the truth," she responded.

Tilting her head slightly, Alex peered harder at the teen. There was blatantly something up with her, she easily noted. It was as though her facial expression contradicted the words that she spoke. Even though the truth had come to fruition Nicky still seemed distinctly perturbed. "Yeah? That's a good step for her. But how come ya don't look so thrilled? I mean I guess I can understand why, the situation isn't the best."

"I just feel like she's still not accepting that what happened happened."

Alex gave a slight nod, reaching for a cigarette of her own. A rather large volume of saliva formed into a gob within her mouth and she swallowed it uneasily down her esophagus. She couldn't blame Lorna if that was how she was feeling—losing a mother took a lot out of a person, she knew that from her own experience. Wrapping her fingers around the cigarette she retrieved from the rectangular box on the middle cushion, Alex carefully brought it up to her mouth; and with the use of her other hand she snatched a lighter from upon the coffee table.

One hand cupped underneath the cig, she used it to light the butt of it and once it was she inhaled a sharp breath. Upon exhale a large swirl of smoke escaped from between her teeth, faintly clouding the air around her. "What makes you say that, hmm?"

Letting out an airy breath from the smoke she just inhaled, Nicky found herself staring ahead out of the window directly behind the small television set. The sun had set only moments ago, leaving behind an array of colors that shined through the dimming sky. Her mind pondered on the question for a moment. She sensed Lorna's sudden change in demeanor—albeit being mesmerized by it at the time—was only a mechanism she was utilizing to distract herself from the grief. Of course, Nicky rationalized, it wasn't all just an act; she knew Lorna was always genuine with her actions even when they were also to protect herself from possibly getting hurt.

"I don't know," the redhead gave a muted shrug and took a drag of the cigarette between her fingers. Wind whirled through causing the trees to waver slightly from impact and Nicky deterred her eyes away from the window to focus them back on her friend. "The past couple of days Lorna's been kinda wanting to be more intimate, which I am totally on board with…however, now that I sit and think back on it—I just I wonder ya know?"

Alex found herself nodding once more. She tapped her cigarette on the edge of the ashtray she'd picked up from her coffee table and moved onto the end-table for easier access. "You think she might be using it as a crutch to shield herself from the grief?" When her inquiry received a profuse bobbing of the younger girl's head, she mirrored her behavior and exhaled a breath of smoke. "She could be, kid. I mean grief isn't an easy thing to deal with. I know the first couple a months after I lost my mom, I found certain things to numb out the pain. I wouldn't be surprised if that's something Lorna is seeking out, too."

A slight tightness started to form in Nicky's chest at her friend's comment. It seemed like all of the people she cared for had suffered through the loss of a loved one. And in a strange way that made her feel comparable to an outcast. How could she help her girlfriend when she couldn't relate to any of things she was suffering through? She merely felt helpless and thought it was pointless of her to even try to help.

"What can I do for her? I wanna be there for her but Lorna is also the most stubborn person I've ever met. It feels like I'm pulling teeth sometimes just to get her to talk to me," frustration clearly made up the entirety of Nicky's voice as the words slipped from her mouth. She gripped tighter onto the cigarette between her fingers, focusing her glance on it and acknowledging just how much smoking calmed her. Took the edge off. She sighed.

Sensing the uneasiness that loomed over her friend, Alex set what was left of her cigarette into the ashtray and picked up the pack lying on the cushion between them so that she could scoot over onto that one. She put the carton down on the surface of the coffee table before situating herself in a way that her eyes had a clear view of Nicky. The paleness on her face quickly washed Alex with a heap of concern. Cautiously, she reached a hand over to gently place atop the younger girl's.

A breath puffed its way up from her lungs as she tried to construct her thoughts into a proper response to share with the obviously desperate Nicky. The hand that she covered with her own, she brushed the tips of her fingers comfortingly along pale knuckles. "All you can do is just let her know you love her and you're there for her. When she's ready, she'll come to you on her own. I wouldn't force her to talk about anything she's not ready to, that would just cause unneeded stress for the both of ya. I know you probably don't wanna hear this but it's coming from my own experience with grief—I know exactly how Lorna's feeling. Patience and time are the only things that will really help her right now," Alex gently admitted, giving a sad smile to the other girl. Who she knew wasn't the most patient when it came to Lorna. Not that she could blame her for that, really.

Nicky grimly nodded her head. Of course the words of her friend were only from a place of empathy and care, she mentally acknowledged. However, that certainly hadn't meant Nicky liked it. Patience was not one of her strongest virtues. And waiting around for Lorna to finally open up to her on her own was another virtue that wasn't her strongest. When it came to her Lorna, she wanted to swoop in and magically swipe away every last ounce of her pain and suffering. Yet, she knew that hadn't even been close to being realistic. Only in her dreams would that be a realistic outcome, she sadly deemed.

"Me be patient? Vause, do ya know who the hell you're talkin' to?" Despite the mental conversation with herself, Nicky couldn't refrain from making the comment. A comment that was made in a rather light-hearted tone and followed by a small chuckle.

Mirroring the redhead's actions, Alex found herself chuckling as well. Her head nodded in agreeance to the statement her friend had made—Nicky was anything but patient. Sometimes she wondered if the girl had any understanding of what being patient actually meant. Out of impulse, she wrapped a friendly arm around the younger girl's shoulder and felt a second snicker escape from her. "Oh, believe me, I know you aren't patient. You should be the poster child for impatience, kid," she replied in a good-natured manner.

Nicky shot her a look, though another chuckle came out and showed that she wasn't truly upset over the words. Words that were only the truth. Her eyes momentarily glanced down at the cigarette in her hands and were slightly disappointed to see all that was left of it was the butt. She set it in the ashtray Alex had placed on the coffee table, a grimness looming over her. However, as she bent over to put the cig down, something slipped out of her shirt pocket and fell onto the coffee table's surface. Crinkling as it did so.

The sight hadn't gone unnoticed by Alex, who quickly reached over to grab what fell out of intrigue. Though, the second it was in her hands, she felt an uneasiness overpower her to see what was contained within the small plastic bag. Her eyes shifted across onto Nicky. "What is this, Nicky? You're not into heroin again, are ya?"