Chapter Forty-Eight
Immediately, her eyes squeezed tightly shut when she realized that damn bag fell out from her shirt. A lump was swallowed down to her throat as she shook her head at herself. She should have been more careful—should have made sure not to bend over the way she had, which clearly happened to be the perfect angle for the stupid little piece of plastic to fall out of. At least it was only Alex who witnessed that and not Red or Lorna. Regardless, she wished none of this would of taken place in the first place. A sigh tumbled out of her.
"You gonna answer?"
Albeit the sternness of her voice, concern and worry were the main culprits that took over Alex's face. Her hands gripped the baggie tight within them, distrustful of Nicky if she put it back on the coffee table. Blue eyes peered intently at the younger girl beside her. She swallowed thickly while observing her closely. It was a bit of challenge to get a good read on what Nicky was possibly thinking or feeling in that moment. However, Alex assumed the reason for her possession of that baggie having something to do with the stress of what was going on with her girlfriend.
Nicky opened her mouth but no words came out. Her eyes peered onto the baggie that now lay in Alex's firm hands, secretly longing after it. The one drug she yearned heavily for. Shame and guilt settled in to acknowledge that she broke her promise to Lorna by having heroin in her possession once more. It wasn't done intentionally, rather out of sheer impulse. An instinct, really. Of course, deep down, she knew that wasn't an excuse for her to even have the damn heroin just sitting in a baggie in her pocket.
"Obviously it's heroin," she pointed out, bouncing her shoulders up in a shrug. There was no sense in lying, she knew; besides, lying wasn't in her nature, anyway. The guilt rapidly intensified the more she sat in her spot and pondered over what the hell she had done. Despite the intensity of the guilt, Nicky still craved to have that baggie back in her own hands. She just wanted one measly, innocent, little sniff of it. That wouldn't hurt her. No, of course not.
Alex nodded attentively. "Clearly. Why do you have it though? Where'd ya get it, kid?" She slipped the bag away into her own pocket so that it was no longer in Nicky's line of vision and folded her arms over her chest as she waited for a response.
The questions whirled profoundly through her mind while her brain tried to come up with some sort of answer. No matter the answer she gave it would never be excusable or good enough, she deemed. And, really, when would there ever be a plausible reason for her to use heroin? A drug that was blatantly harmful and incredibly addictive. She shook her head at the ramped thoughts.
Saliva pooled at the bottom of her tongue, she swallowed thickly to rid herself of the build up and inhaled sharply. "Why do I have it? Good question, I don't really know. I just—I do." Her hands nervously folded together atop her lap. She cleared her throat and deterred her eyes from the black-haired woman across from her. "Does it really matter where I got it from, Al?"
Narrowing her eyes on the girl, Alex inched herself slightly closer. Worry lines creased onto the flesh of her forehead as her eyes kept their gaze on Nicky. She wasn't sure what to make of the explanation that was given to her only seconds earlier. A hand reached over to lay comfortingly overtop one of the other's shoulders, giving a tender squeeze to it.
"What do you mean you don't know? Nicky, obviously you have the heroin for a reason—what is it? It sure as hell does matter where ya got this, who knows what is in this damn bag? The person who gave it to ya coulda put some crazy shit in here and you'd never know," she pointed out, her voice growing louder with each word that emitted from her.
The care that inflected through Alex's voice was enough to instinctively move Nicky closer to her. Suddenly craving the closeness of another human. As if her life depended on it. Or maybe she moved closer because she knew that plastic entrapment of heroin was sitting in one of her pockets. Either way, she found herself scooting onto the same cushion that Alex had been siting on. A lump could easily be felt in the pit of her stomach.
"I need something to take the edge off, okay? And cigarettes aren't really cutting it anymore. I've been craving heroin since the first time I tried it and with what's going on with Lorna, I cracked and gave in. It's from Boo—the girl from the one school I briefly went to when I was living with my dad. She gave me the first stash I ever tried and so I called her and told her I needed another."
A sigh pushed its way up through the older woman's larynx at her friend's revelation. Exactly what she had suspected as the reasoning. The realization innately caused a pang to mold into her chest and she felt her breath slightly hitch in her throat. She wrapped her arm gently around Nicky's shoulder and pulled her closer, soothingly combing a hand through thick red locks of hair. "Nicky, did you ever think that maybe you need to open up to someone about your own feelings? Because obviously you're struggling a lot right now, too."
Squinting her eyes, Nicky peered at her as if she had two heads. She swallowed thickly, a faint tightness in the back of her throat. "What? Alex, that's crazy. I'm fine, I'm just worried about my girlfriend."
Alex curved an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes on the younger girl. "Is it though?" She twirled a finger comfortingly around a strand of Nicky's hair. "You're fine, yeah? That why ya called up a drug dealer to get another stash a heroin, kid?"
The interrogation instantly ignited an intense uneasiness within Nicky's body. She shook her head in a rather maddening manner and averted her eyes away from the older woman. The comments and questions that sputtered form her felt like an attack to Nicky. She balled her hands into fists on the sides of her legs and fixed her gaze directly in front of her at the clock on the wall ahead. "Boo ain't a damn drug dealer. She's just a friend who happens to have heroin handy," she bitterly retorted.
Clearly she hit a nerve. That much was obvious, Alex noted. And though the last thing she wanted was to upset Nicky even further, as her deeply concerned friend, what mattered most was making sure she knew that heroin certainly hadn't been in her best interest. So, albeit Nicky's stance being on the defensive side, Alex kept her grasp on the girl and even pressed a comforting kiss atop her head. "A friend who happens to have heroin handy?" She repeated Nicky's words in a way that she hoped would show her the absurdity of it.
"Nicky, that is the literal definition of what a drug dealer is. Sorry to burst your bubble, kid."
"The literal definition of a drug dealer? Hmm, since when does the dictionary definition of drug dealer include a friend who happens to have heroin handy? Nice try, Vause, but last time I checked that was not in the dictionary," Nicky stated through gritted teeth.
She didn't know where the sudden urge to be defensive and snarky came from but she couldn't stop herself from acting on it. It was as though she had been possessed by another being or entity. The guilt that followed only tightened the knot that sat in her gut. Alex was only trying to be helpful and comforting, she acknowledged. She sighed, looking down at her hands that remained folded atop her thighs.
The black-haired woman felt her own sigh involuntary escape her windpipe. Despite her friend's defensive attitude, Alex took none of it personally. Not when it was obvious to her just how hard Nicky was working to cover her true emotions with sarcasm and bitterness. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what? The heroin? No. There's nothing else to say about it. Unless you're gonna give it back?"
Nicky's big brown eyes perked up, a hopefulness lurking within them as they stared intently over onto Alex.
Alex returned her gaze and mentally pondered whether or not it would be smart of her to keep the heroin in her possession or return it to Nicky. Sure if she kept it in her pocket that would mean Nicky couldn't use it but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to get more from the infamous Boo. She sighed at the realization that, despite her intentions coming from a place of concern, keeping the baggie would only mean that Nicky would have the chance to reach out for another one. Neither option seemed to have a positive outcome.
"I don't know, kid," she truthfully admitted, placing one hand into the pocket where the plastic bag resided. Her blue eyes lingered on Nicky. "I mean I know if I don't give it back, there's a chance you'd just call your friend for more. Wouldn't you?"
Nicky watched the older woman closely and felt her breath catch in her throat when she noticed the obvious apprehension displaying on her face. She swallowed thickly and was disturbed by her own behavior now that she'd seen how bothered it made one of her best friends. Slightly coming to her sense, she gently lifted a hand up to cover onto one of Alex's cheeks. "I-I don't know, honestly. If the craving gets too strong, I probably would."
Sighing, Alex gave a small nod. The answer she was given hadn't been much of a surprise. It was getting clearer and clearer with each passing second that Nicky was in the early stages of having a drug addiction and Alex wasn't sure she liked that fact. She brought one of her hands up to rest gently over the one that was on her cheek and caressed her palm softly up and down it.
"I really don't wanna give it back to you. I don't want to enable you, Nicky. But I also don't want you going back to this friend of yours for heroin, either. It seems really sketchy to me." A deep breath of air expelled from Alex's lungs. She sucked in her bottom lip and contemplated on what to do. Either way she looked at it, the situation appeared to be a lose-lose.
"Well, what if I promised you that if ya give me this baggie back that it'll be the last time I use heroin?"
Nicky nervously bit down on her tongue after the words spewed from her mouth. Deep down, she knew that was a promise she wouldn't be able to keep. The same promise was made to Lorna several months earlier and clearly she broke that one, too. She felt ashamed of herself for that, which only made her desire for the heroin stronger. At least the heroin would temporarily numb out her feelings, she thought.
Looking her over precisely, Alex didn't know whether she could believe any of what she just said. Or if she could even trust any of it. She wanted to believe and trust the girl, yet, she knew if Nicky truly was an addict that she would find a way to make herself sound convincing. And something about the way she worded her comment caused suspicion to ooze through Alex's body. "I want to believe you mean that, kid, I do. But I'm having a hard time doing that."
"Look, Al, I know heroin will only clog my brain and stuff. And with what Lorna's dealing with, I can't afford to have a clogged brain. So I really do mean it when I say if ya give me that one bag back that I won't get anymore of it. Please, Al."
The tone of Nicky's voice held a decent amount of sincerity in it. Alex let out a sigh that built up and rewrapped her arm around the younger girl's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Although she hadn't been particularly fond of giving the baggie back to her, Alex deemed that was the best choice she could make on the matter. At least it would stop Nicky from trying to obtain a new one, she tried to reason with herself.
She used her free hand to reach back into her pocket for the small plastic bag of brown powder and, with an intense volume of resistance, very cautiously handed it to the redhead. "Please just promise me you won't get any more after this? I care about you, Nicky, and I just don't want you to do anything that will hurt you." Blue eyes peered pleadingly into the big brown ones of her best friend's.
Returning her gaze, Nicky felt her breath slightly catch in her throat. The clear desperation and worry that oozed from her friend's face sufficiently formed a guilty pang within her chest. Nothing perturbed her more than when she was the culprit of any of her loved one's trepidation. A knot slightly sat at the top edge of her throat as she carefully grabbed the baggie from Alex's outstretched hand. Her eyes averted onto the brown powder that resided within the plastic bag her hands had now possessed.
"I promise not to get any more heroin, okay? This is it, I mean it." Despite what she stated, Nicky wasn't sure how true her words were. She wanted to them to be truthful, however, the craving for that damned brown powder was almost too overbearing.
Alex slowly nodded her head in response, eyes peering her over rather intently. She didn't know whether she fully believed her friend's comment, yet, she also had no desire to argue with her over it. A sigh pushed up from her lungs and expelled through her mouth. Deep down, she hoped that Nicky was being honest—the last thing she wanted was to witness one of her closest friends battle an agonizing addiction to something as hardcore as heroin.
By the time Friday rolled around—which to Lorna felt like an eternity had passed before it finally arrived—a sense of ecstasy loomed over her as she forced herself out of bed early that morning. The sun's ascension up the horizon caused its rays to dimly beam into the bedroom from the window right behind the headboard of the bed. Such a sight molded an even bigger smile to Lorna's face while she went to retrieve an outfit from her suitcase that leant up against the dresser.
Once she was dressed and put together to her standard, she exited the room in leu of the staircase at the end of the hallway. As she approached the last step, her smile faded and she remembered she wasn't at the Morello house but the Chapmans' and suddenly didn't feel quite as giddy as she did only seconds ago. Fortunately, no one was in the sitting room to witness her entrance and that gave her the chance to catch her breath from her descension down the mahogany case of stairs.
Though her body craved a cup of coffee, Lorna decided against having one and instead picked her bookbag up off of the floor, slipped her shoes on her feet, and made her way out the front door. The sun shined above—and despite it being still rather chilly—its rays heated Lorna's cheeks nicely as she stood on the stoop of her foster family's house. A small smile returned at the warmth and she made the choice to walk to school rather than waiting around for the bus. It was too nice out to not walk, she thought.
Arriving inside the school—a mere thirty-minutes after the fact—Lorna stood with her back leaning against the door she just entered through while trying to catch her breath from the high velocity of exertion her body was put through. Her eyes searched around the area and she quickly came to observe how empty and quiet the hallway happened to be. With her breathing finally easing up, she scoped the walls until her eyes landed on the clock that hung above the door to the secretary's office and nearly felt her mouth gape open to see that it had already been half past eight. She swallowed a large volume of her saliva at the realization. Maybe her decision to walk wasn't such a good one.
Entering class late was never a task that Lorna found herself fond of. In fact, just the thought made her skin crawl and the hair atop her arms stick slightly up. However, being that it had already been past eight she had no choice but to enter inside the science lab after it had previously started. She shut her eyes while grabbing hold of the knob and pushing open the door. As if on que, the bottom of the wood squeaked rather loudly through the room as she very cautiously walked inside.
The noise from the door's opening up instantly caused all heads to pop up and turn their direction onto Lorna. She swallowed the lump that was sitting in her throat, quickly making her way to her desk. It wasn't until she sat down and started unpacking her backpack that she noticed Annalisa's presence unswervingly in front of her. A deep breath of air forced itself from her lungs to see her bully already waiting for her. The day was off to a bad start with her decision to walk there and now, it only seemed to get worse.
"I hope ya only late because you were working real hard on our project," the blonde retorted once Lorna was sitting atop the metal chair connected to the desk right in front of her own.
Blue eyes peered fiercely ahead into brown ones. The way the shorter teen looked back at her with obvious despair showing on her face simply formed a smirk on Annalisa's. It never ceased to amaze her how easily she had been able to get under Lorna's skin and she treasured that capability of hers quite highly.
Lorna brought a hand up to the back of her neck and rubbed it rather vigorously. Even just the sound of Annalisa's voice ringing through her ears was enough to churn the contents of her stomach. And although she desired to ignore her, her better judgment kicked in and encouraged her what a lousy decision that would be since it'd only fuel the older teen's rage. She sighed and settled on busying herself with retrieving her binder from her bag which now lied on the floor, tucked up to the leg of her desk.
Not even a second after the plastic binder had been laid out on the surface of Lorna's desk, Annalisa roughly reached her hands over to snatch it up. She harshly flipped it open—nearly breaking it in half from her harshness—and searched through for any remnants of their allocated assignment. The papers crinkled profusely as her hands moved them violently to one side. After a few minutes of looking through her victim's science loose-leaf folder, she returned her gaze up onto Lorna.
"Where the hell are the papers, Morello? I don't fuckin' see shit in here for the damn project," her voice progressively grew louder as she slammed the lid of the binder back over to the other side and merely hit Lorna in the face with it from how far her hand tossed the object.
"I-I haven't finished them yet. And you have to write your own, Mrs. Bell said—"
Annalisa rapidly interjected by leaning over and grabbing the brunette by the cheeks. Eyes darkened an intense amount as they glared vehemently down into Lorna's. "I don't care what Mrs. Bell said, Morello," she taunted, her voice low so that only Lorna could hear her words. Because of the close proximity between them, the blonde's breath easily trickled onto Lorna's face.
The sensation resulted in a grimace out of her and that widened the smirk on Annalisa's face. "Ya wanna make sure ya pass this project, yeah?" When she received a timid nod from the younger teen, she mirrored her nod and brought a finger underneath her chin. The finger she held onto the bottom flesh of Lorna's chin she harshly used it to lift her head upwards so their eyes were looking right into each other's. "Then you better make sure you write my paper, too. Ya got that? And don't forget the PowerPoint, either. I want to see them all by the end of today or else."
Lorna gulped uneasily at the disclosure but bobbed her head compliantly. Relief came over her when Annalisa's grip on her had finally been released. Her head bent down, slightly, and she focused on the pattern of the surface of her desk. She needed something to distract herself from the incessant anxiety that slowly seemed to be engulfing her. How the hell was she supposed to write two papers and make an entire PowerPoint presentation before school let out? She swallowed thickly, tapping her foot copiously on the metal leg of the desk it was resting against. There were still seven other classes for her to get through, she hadn't the time to go to a computer lab to complete all the work that Annalisa was requesting of her to do.
With her elbows resting on the top of the desk, she simply put her face in her hands and rubbed the palms along pale flesh. Enthralled in her mind, the ringing of the bell went unnoticed until she caught sound of shoes clacking against the tiled-floor. She removed her head from her hands and watched as the classroom emptied out of all the students. Well, all students except her, she acknowledged. A long airy breath came out of her larynx. She gathered her things and, in almost slow motion, made her way to the door to exit out of. Today went from almost decent to shit-storm level bad rather swiftly.
Her third class of the day finished up and instead of going to the cafeteria to meet Nicky for lunch—who she longed to see more than anything, especially right now—Lorna found herself walking the opposite direction in leu of one of the computer labs. Annalisa's words from earlier swirled through her mind convincing her that getting those papers written were her top priority over anything else. She certainly didn't want to end up on the bottom of Annalisa's shoes had she come up empty-handed by the end of the day. Something she knew the girl could definitely be capable of given the right circumstances. And not complying with her demands were those right circumstances that would have her flattened flatter than a pancake on a gridle.
The computer lab wasn't too far from her last class she just left and by the time she arrived, it hadn't been more than a few minutes. The door had been propped open so Lorna easily made her way through. As her eyes scanned the room, she was grateful to find it rather empty. Aside from a couple of the computers being in use she had top of the pick. She settled on the one closest to the door—not only so she could hurriedly leave as soon as she finished but also because it was the farthest from all of the other students.
Because there were only two other teens in there, clearly focused on their work, the room was significantly quiet. So quiet that Lorna could hear the ticking of the clock on the wall above the door. She looked up at it and suddenly a sense of restlessness came over her. Her lower lip was sucked in under her top one, eyes averted to the dark screen of the bulky computer in front of where she was sitting. Using her thumb to push in the button on the bottom of the screen, Lorna waited for it to boot up.
She looked back on the clock when the ticking became too much and grumbled out a breath. The time was dragging on. Of course that was something Lorna needed if she wanted to accomplish everything Annalisa asked of her. If time slowed down enough she might just be able to get at least half of the work done by her last class. That was what she was banking on, anyway. Maybe she just needed a miracle to happen, she shrugged.
The start-up sound from the machine quickly took Lorna's attention off the clock—along with her thoughts—and brought it back to the now lit screen right in front of her face. She entered her login information, watched as the almost microscopic dots spun around the screen while it processed the request, and after the desktop loaded, she opened up a blank work document.
Staring at the blank document formed a throbbing ache between her temples. Lorna brought her hands up to them and exhaustively pushed back her brown waves. The ticking of the clock merely deafened her ears. She closed her eyes and tried her hardest not to let out a scream. Which proved to be quite the chore. She desired nothing more than to open her mouth and shriek until her voice-box collapsed in on itself. Out of respect for the other students in the vicinity, Lorna refrained from acting on the urge and instead let her face collide with the keyboard several times.
The repetitive motion, naturally, only worsened the headache she was experiencing but she hadn't cared. It was the only way she could keep from screaming or shrieking. Her brain refused to cooperate with her so the word document remained as blank as it had when she first opened it. A breath of air came involuntarily out of her mouth causing a muted squeal. Her cheeks turned red, she looked around to see if the two other teens noticed and, fortunately, neither budged from their spots.
After spending a good ten minutes staring daggers at the bright screen foisting its light into her eyes, Lorna finally started constructing her paper. She was around halfway through with it when the vibration of her pant's pocket interjected her. Reaching a hand inside of it, she pulled out the culprit of such sensation—her phone which she forgot she even put there earlier before departing the Chapman's house.
Lorna flipped up the top of it and felt a rush of warmth tingle through her body when her eyes read Nicky's name on it. Automatically her thumb slid its way to the talk button, clicking it, and she lifted the phone up to her ear. She felt rebellious—sneaky even—having her phone out in plain sight which exhilarated her, even though there were no teachers lurking in the lab she occupied.
"Lorna, where are you? I've been looking for ya everywhere, kid. I haven't even seen your cherub face since yesterday," Nicky's voice sounded rather desperately on the other line. "I miss you. Tell me where to find you, yeah?"
I miss you. The tender words echoed through her mind and Lorna couldn't resist the smile that naturally melded onto her face. Nicky sounded so innocent and pure in her ear; she yearned to finally be in her presence once more. To throw her arms tight around her, letting themselves get lost in each other's warm embrace. Taking her mind off of the building pile of shit she had to do. That was what she craved, needed right now more than anything.
"Sorry, hon. I'm in the tech lab, hadda get some work done for my science class. It's, uh, kinda empty in here if ya wanna join me? I could use the company while I work," she warmly suggested, secretly hoping that the older girl would agree. The more she pondered the more she realized how much she loathed being apart from her beloved redhead. Nicky made her feel. Something she hadn't allowed herself in a long time. Or maybe she never let herself at all.
Nicky's lips innately curled into a smile at the offer and she quickly got up from the bench in the cafeteria that she'd been sitting upon. The phone was held to her ear by one of her shoulders as she speedily made her way out of the room and down a corridor towards the computer lab. "Course I will, kid. On my way, I'll be there in like three minutes."
The two hung up when Nicky started making her way down and while Lorna waited for her arrival, she turned her focus back on the computer. A few more sentences were typed out before the sound of footsteps nearing her caught her attention. When she twisted her head around and found the culprit to be the very redhead herself, Lorna swiftly jolted up from her chair and threw her arms quite tightly around Nicky's upper body. Her face naturally fell into the crook of her neck and she happily took in the scent of her girlfriend's perfume.
Being engulfed in her lover's arms as enthusiastically as she had been, Nicky felt a strong bout of adoration overpower her. She returned the embrace without a second of hesitation, encircling her own arms securely around the shorter teen's waist which instinctively brought her closer to her own body. Her lips found their way onto the top of Lorna's head, pressing down on it in a tender kiss. "What are you working on, my little studious lover?" The question asked while her mouth still slightly rested over the same spot it just kissed.
Lorna easily nuzzled herself closer to the warmth radiating from her girlfriend. She pressed her face into the flesh of her neck, gently reaching a hand up to stroke the tips of her fingers around it. "Just a couple a papers for my science class," her voice spoke out, slightly muffled from her mouth being constrained up against Nicky's neck. Suddenly, all thoughts of assignments and that god-awful Annalisa dissipated from her mind. Her focus, now, on Nicky and Nicky only.
The sensation of the brunette's soft face tucked up along the skin of her neck—teetering on the top of her chest that was barely peeping out from the collar of her shirt—Nicky could acquaint to that of a rather fluffy pillow. It caused her to swell with the utmost compassion and affection. Had it not been for the fact that they were in the computer lab at their public high school, Nicky easily would have taken Lorna right then and there against one of the walls. Yet, because of that very fact, she chose not to act on that urge and instead settled on dropping a warm kiss atop the head that rested beneath her chin.
"A couple of papers? That's a bit much—when ya gotta have em' done by, kid?"
Within a matter of seconds, the earlier thoughts that plagued her mind came whirling back once more. An uneasiness established itself in the pit of Lorna's stomach by means of a vast knot. She swallowed thickly while forming what to respond with. Certainly, she needn't mention anything in regards to Annalisa. That would only dig her a deeper hole.
"Oh, I know, but some of it's for extra credit," Lorna quickly mustered up an explanation and simultaneously waved a hand in the air. "Mrs. Bell was nice enough to give me a chance to get my grade up so I don't fail." A breath of air puffed out of her as she moved her eyes over onto the screen of the computer she'd been using and she felt herself becoming farther and father away from what she needed to accomplish. "Erm, it's due Monday but I, uh, I wanna get it done before school ends so I don't have to do it over the weekend."
Nicky nodded her head in a slightly unnerving manner. A bit unsure of how to process her girlfriend's clarification. She released the embrace just enough so that her hands were framed around the cheeks of Lorna's face, holding it a few inches from her own in order for her to properly examine every inch of it. "Well, just don't overwork yourself. Don't want my sweet Lorna burning herself out," the comment murmured in a voice that she was sure only Lorna could hear.
A strand of brown hair was tenderly tucked behind an ear and soft lips stroked over the corner of a temple. The two shared a warm smile before breaking apart completely and going to sit back at the table where Lorna previously occupied—Nicky claiming the seat right next to hers. Lorna quickly refocused herself on the screen in front of her, looking what she had so far over before picking up where she previously left off.
Occupying the chair beside her, Nicky turned her head so that her eyes were able to peer over the screen that her girlfriend was typing away on. A cheeky grin rapidly took up form on her face. One that she didn't even plan to show up there. But she didn't stop it, either, and let it sit on her face as her eyes shifted from the computer over to the brunette. The brunette who sat highly focused on the task at hand, whatever it may be. And Nicky's eyes found watching her to be the most mesmerizing thing. She couldn't tear them away. Lorna was the most beautiful girl to ever exist, her thoughts concluded.
Lorna felt her stare and a small giggle innately erupted from within. She turned slightly to return the gaze. "Having fun, hon? I'm sure watching me write a paper is almost as interesting as watching paint dry, huh?"
That giggle about took Nicky's heart out. Thoughtlessly, she reached a hand over to cup a loving hand around her cheek and stroked her thumb around its flesh. "I can't help that my girlfriend is the cutest thing to ever exist, kid. I could sit and watch ya all day," the words all but purred out of her mouth.
They shared a loving gaze for several seconds longer before Lorna went back to work on her assignment. Nicky retained her watchful eyes and when Lorna scrolled the document back to the top, a name on the header instantly stuck out and caught her full attention. She squinted a tad before shifting her eyes back on the brunette, "Why is Annalisa's name on your paper, kid?"
The simple question was all it took for all of the color on Lorna's face to drain away.
