Song of the chapter - 'Wiser' by Madilyn Bailey

'Turning pages, bruises fade and I made it through the deep,
I earned my stripes from battle cries this skin is thick.'

The doorbell rings, the abysmally cheerful chime out of place in a house where sorrow reigns, and I hear footsteps and a click. Van's voice carries into my room through the door, even though I can't comprehend the words.

Shrugging it off, I carefully turn my head up and stare at the ceiling, immaculately white and pristine. My thoughts drift into vagueness and, before I know it, my eyes shut but I can't sleep. The aching in my head makes sure of that.

The sound of footsteps nearing me wake me as I gingerly move my head to see Nat and Ros walk in and settle down by my side on the bed. I scoot over to my left, making space for them to sit and turn on my side, facing them.

"Thia and Lau ought to be here anytime soon," Ros says.

When I nod in response, Nat starts up.

"That's my phone," she smiles sheepishly as she fishes her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. She holds it up to her ear as she exits the room while Ros compliments the light blue and white theme of my room, which was Mom's room.

Minutes later, we're all sitting on my bed in a circle facing each other. I can't help feeling Lau's feeling a little pensive by the look of her. I look her in the eye and very lightly lift a brow. She nods her head almost imperceptibly.

"Val, how are you doing?" Ros asks me, prompting me to respond with an okay.

"Hey, what did he want to talk to you about earlier today?" Thia asks, probably a tad cautiously.

"Just a continuation of what happened in class today, that's all. No biggie," I say, a tinge of carelessness seeping into my voice.

"He had no right to say that, don't even dignify it with a second thought, Val," Lau snaps angrily.

"Chuck it, Lau," I respond in a voice that's barely audible even in the unnervingly silent yet charged room.

"Don't do that, Val, please," Thia whispers.

"Whatever, what's going on with you, Lauren?" I quickly change the topic.

Lau casts an understanding look at me. "We're definitely talking about this later, and I mean it, Val. As for what you asked, there's something I need to tell you all about," she pauses and takes a deep breath.

"Go on, Rennie," Ros prompts her.

"Will you still be my friends?" Lau asks nervously.

"Always," I say, clutching her hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

"Don't hate me for this but I discovered I'm a lesbian," she blurts out and then clamps her free hand over her mouth and looks at us with wide eyes.

Lauren's confession earns a gasp from Thia (followed by a "I knew it! You were totally checking out that girl Andrea in choir yesterday!") and wide eyed stares from Nat and Ros. Lauren glances fearfully at the latter two.

"That's a travesty, Lauren! You are an abomination and a threat to humanity. You are leaving us in two minutes or you're going to be thrown out. I'm giving you those two minutes in mourning for the amazing friend Straight Lauren was. Now get," Ros snarls at her and crosses her arms over her chest, impatiently tapping the floor.

"Rosaly, how dare you?" Thia growls.

"How dare she do what is right? Shush, Thia," Nat dismisses Thia's words with a wave of her hand.

"You're so-" I cut off Thia's words by stepping between her and Ros and turn to the latter.

"Rosaly, you have till the count of two to leave, two for the amazing friend Rosaly had been," I put it simply.

"Shut up, you've got no right to be saying a thing, child," Nat pushes me back by my shoulder, making me wince. She smirks, knowing fully well why that hurts as much as it does.

"Oh yeah? Then why do you ask for her help in everything, Natalia?" Cynthia nears Nat so menacingly that the latter runs back.

"Valerie, are you seriously kicking me out after everything I've done for you? Especially after earlier this evening?" Ros asks, the calm tone of her voice in no way masking the evil intent being her words.

"Yes," I stutter in response, "Lauren matters more."

"More than your life?" she queries, disbelief writ large on her face.

I sneak a look at Thia, Nat and Lau who are looking at me with eyes so wide they might even fall out of their sockets.

"Ros, let's not talk about what doesn't matter now," I mutter.

"Oh really? So you're telling me Cyn and Lia don't want to know of how you could've been close to dead now if it weren't for me?" Rosaly says, calmly but loudly.

"That's an overexaggeration now-" Thia cuts me off by demanding an explanation from Rosaly.

Rosaly, smirking Rosaly, recounts the story of how, after I left college after Mr. Ertiga's class, a stray football hit my head with more than enough force to knock me out and I was right in the middle of the street. Rosaly had barely managed to pull me out of the way of a speeding car.

She pulled me over to the side of the road and managed to wake up a very confused Val with terrible headache. After half-dragging me home, she went back and brought Violet and a very confused and scared Van home.

After ensuring there were no serious injuries, she went back home and came again when Thia had called her.

"You're so ungrateful, kiddo," Nat tells me after Ros stops.

"You can't talk to Lau like that, Ros," I say.

"I can talk to Lauren anyway I want. Get out, you sliding door," she points at Lau and at the door.

"Lauren is not leaving!" I yell.

"You aren't going to get anywhere by raising your voice," Thia tells me.

"Alright, I'm leaving now but don't say I didn't warn you," Ros says, picking up a heavy box close to her and aiming it at my head. I react a second too late and it hits the already aching part of my skull.

Lightly massaging my head, I tell Ros she needs to try more than that to dissuade me.

"Unbelievable!" Ros says before storming out.

"Great going, idiot," Nat tells Lau before exiting, pulling Thia along with her.

"I'm so sorry, Val," Lauren sobs sputteringly as she pats my shoulder while I lie down, desperately trying to drown out the pain in my cranium.

"Don't be," I tell her.

Soon, she's asleep and I tuck her in before heading to the kitchen for some water. The glass in my hand drops to the ground when a scream rings through the apartment.

- - - - - - -

Hey yey! In a way it's nice for the story that I already know how they're going to shape up soon so I can mould them properly.

Thoughts on individual characters? Which of the girls would you be most likely to befriend and why?

Here's one of my current obsession's beautiful songs!

I spy Kurt, Peter Hollens, Lilly Singh and Alyson Stoner in the video! Also, Madilyn made a piano version with the one and only Kurt!

I love them so much! Also, I accidentally published this before it was done so sorry for that.

Also, the story is from the point of view of one character so if things seem too dramatic or bland, it's because of her mood or behaviour at the time. As one person, she could forget things, not notice them or suddenly notice them. She could get sudden pangs of grief or sorrow about even the littlest of things. If the language is too flowery or descriptive, it's because she thinks that way. I'm not trying to make excuses for my errors, but just stating that fact..

Hopefully see y'all soon!

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