HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER TWO !

CLAD IN THEIR GYM CLOTHES, Nola and Shauna made their way about the school, clutching tightly to their gym bags as they chatted away about the party that was happening later that night. If there was one thing Nola Rilke loved more than anything, it was a good party. The ability to drink and joke around, laughing at absolutely anything as you got more and more inebriated.

   In all of her time getting drunk over the years, not once had her parents caught her. They would have to be home to do that which was the only upside that came from having parents who didn't care enough to monitor their daughter's comings and goings.

She also enjoyed watching as Shauna let loose. The girl was forever tense and on edge. Whether it was appeasing Jackie by agreeing to attend Rutgers (despite not wanting to), school work piling on top of her or training for Nationals, it all weighed heavily upon the Shipman girls shoulders. The secret regarding their relationship certainly didn't help either.

As they approached their teammates, they couldn't help but overhear as Taissa asked,"You really want to take that chance?"

"Yeah. Cause I'm not a fucking asshole." The Scatorccio girl snapped back.

    "Hey, what's going on?" Nola inquired as she and Shauna entered the conversation. They both glanced around in confusion as the tension that bounced between Taissa and Natalie grew thicker by the second.

The Shipman girl's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you guys talking about?"

   Hesitancy was rife in that group as they shared looks of contemplation. Finally, Lottie Matthews decided to be honest. "Allie."

   That was all Nola Rilke needed to hear. It was now as clear as the blue sky above them on what they were discussing. Or fighting about it. Talks of the plan to rid the team of Allie flashed through her mind as images of herself and Taissa whispering in agreement accompanying them.

   Shauna remained oblivious on the topic as she inquired, "What about her?" Her soft, brown eyes resembling that of a doe's which caused guilt to begin creeping its way around Nola's veins.

Taissa stared down at Shauna, her eyes narrowed and filled with scepticism. "Did you black out at States? She totally choked."

    "She's a freshmen, Tai." Natalie spoke up once again in defence of their teammate. It was admirable, Nola could admit that but stupid. Allie would never do the same for her.

In fact, Nola wasn't even sure that Allie knew all of their names.

"She's a liability." Taissa retorted.

Shauna tightened her grip on the strap of her gym bag. "So what do you want to do about it?"

    "She can't screw up if she doesn't get the ball." Taissa explained, folding her arms across her chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the Rilke girl opposite her. This was the plan she had been talking about. It was their only option if they wanted to win nationals.

It was horrible. It really was because...well, Nola found herself agreeing with Taissa, something she never believed possible. She agreed and while she wanted rid of Allie, if Shauna was to find out about her involvement, would she understand?

With eyes swimming with disbelief, Shauna muttered, "You want to freeze her out?"

   Nola watched as Taissa's hands broke free of the folded position and rose in the air in a mock surrender. "At least we'd know what we're working with."

   "She kinda sucks, but..." Lottie muttered as her eyes danced about at the faces of all the girls that stood surrounding her. "I don't know."

"That's because it's bullshit." The Scatorccio girl was absolutely dumbfounded by the lack of teamwork that existed

    "It's not the worst idea ever." Nola tentatively spoke up. She had agreed to have Taissa's back and she wasn't about to go back on her word. No matter if agreeing with the Turner girl pained her so harshly.

It was a dick move. They all knew that. Every single one of them yet only Taissa and perhaps Nola, who had only now spoke up in support of the plan, had the guts to admit the truth. If Allie played at Nationals, everything they had worked towards, everything they had fought, scrapped and slaved away to achieve could vanish in the blink of an eye.

   The winning of Nationals was so incredibly close that they could almost taste it upon the taste buds that grouped together at the back of their tongues. This was their last year before graduating, if they didn't win now, they never would.

"See?" Taissa stated as she gestured towards the Rilke girl's direction. Having someone who typically argued with you over everything backing you usually proved you were right. Though that didn't appear to be the case as Natalie continued to look extremely pissed off.

Taissa huffed as her arms folded across her chest. "What's your plan, then?"

"I don't know. Play like a fucking team and win?" Natalie sarcastically replied as she snarled up at the curly haired girl. "It's worked so far."

   The chatter of their fellow classmates infiltrated the discussion as a group of people passed by causing every single one to fall silent. "Everything works until it doesn't. And for the record, you smell like a wino. Get your shit together." The curly haired Turner girl threw out the dig at the bleached blonde girl.

   Natalie scoffed. The air grew dangerously thin as she practically glared holes into Taissa's head. "You know what? Fuck this!" She announced before spinning around and storming off. Her gym bag swung aggressively from side to side, slamming into her as she went.

Lottie's eyes stayed locked on their teammate as she disappeared into the crowd. "Doesn't feel right." She quietly muttered with a shake of her head.

    "Jackie's not gonna like it." Shauna noted with a frown. She found herself glancing over at her girlfriend who's head had fallen, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Instead, Nola chose to stare down at the grass stains that riddled her pair of Converse.

Taissa followed her gaze for a second before it returned to Shauna's face. "Then we probably shouldn't tell her." She uttered with a shrug. Winning Nationals was everything and telling Jackie would ruin it all. It was best to simply remain silent.

What Jackie didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

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GRUNTS AND DEEP BREATHS filled the field as the team began to warm up. From toe touches and stretches to sprints up and down the field, each of them prepared for the scrimmage that was taking place. For many, the daunting reality of what was ahead loomed over them. They needed to see if Allie was capable of playing to the best of her ability before nationals.

Nola stood off to the side of the pitch, stretching her arms high in the air while standing up on the tip of her toes, taking in a deep breath as she slowly lowered back of the ground.

As she began to repeat this movement again, a voice suddenly spoke from behind her. "Hi, Nola." Right away, Nola spun around in a slightly frantic state. There stood Misty Quigley, staring back at her through her thick rimmed glasses with a smile pulling at her lips.

The girl had freaked her out. Having been too focused on her stretches, the young Rilke girl had completed missed Misty approaching her. Nola breathed out a laugh as her heart, which had began to race, slowed down. "Hey, Misty. How's it going?"

A bright beam of excitement flashed through Misty's hazel coloured eyes, her body shaking ever so slightly. A multitude of different answered to the Rilke girls question invaded her mind, though just as the most perfect answer lay on the tip of her tongue, her opportunity to reply withered away.

"Alright. Bring it in. Take a knee, ladies." Coach Ben called out, gathering all of the girls attention. Nola shot Misty a sympathetic half smile before following behind everyone else and kneeling down on the grass before the Coach. "What's up, state champs?"

A mix of cheers and excited whoops filled the air. "Okay, so JV is gonna help us out with a little scrimmage today. Uh, Coach Martinez has to take care of a family thing. So, JV, you're gonna grab a pinny from Misty and let's get started."

    "Uh, excuse me, Coach Scott." One of Nola's fellow teammates spoke up, stopping everyone from rising to their feet. Heads turned to face the young Laura Lee, who held a hopeful expression. "Shouldn't we say a prayer first?"

    "Uh, it's just a scrimmage, Laura Lee." Coach Ben had uttered with a small laugh which swiftly faded as the man noticed the serious expression that etched upon Laura Lee's face. "But, sure. Knock yourself out."

   A grateful and joyous beam was flashed the man's way before the young blonde allowed her eye to close. Everyone followed suit. "Heavenly Father, let out efforts remains fruitful so that we may perform in ways glorious to You. In your name we pray. Amen."

   A series of Amen's rung out amongst the group in a unisonous manner which left Laura Lee happy as everyone broke off from one another and got into their assigned places on the field. Nola stood off left midfield by Jackie, who shot her friend a smile before putting her head down and focusing on the scrimmage.

The ball flew down the field. Everyone watched on as Allie, —the target of their cruel but necessary plan, struggled to gain control of the ball long enough to run it down field. Groans of annoyance from the Yellowjackets filled the air as yet another JV member was able to snag the ball from the girl.

"Come on, Allie. That should've been yours." Coach Ben called out, his voice carrying over the field, allowing for everybody to hear his reprimand of the frustrated blonde.

Taissa was quick to jog from her spot of centre forward up to the coach. "I want to switch sides. I'll take Allie." She uttered, taking hold of a pinny that the coach willing held out.

    "Okay." Coach Ben exclaimed with a grin. He was excited to see a little healthy competition. "All right, let's go Varsity. Taissa wants to see you step it up. And, quite frankly, that makes two of us."

   The determined Taissa ventured across the field, pulling the red piece of fabric over her chest. Her gaze was sharp and focused as she mentally prepared herself to do whatever was necessary for her team to win nationals. Despite her focus, out of the corner of her eye, Taissa was able to pick up the figure of Nola Rilke speedily approaching.

"Tai. What are you gonna do?" Nola whispered as she halted directly in front of the girl. She remained cautious enough to remember that Jackie, who knew absolutely nothing of their plan to deal with Allie. stood mere feet from them.

"Apply some pressure." Was all the Turner girl said with a shrug. At the hesitant look that crept onto Nola's face, Taissa released a heavy sigh. "Relax, I got this."

   With that, the girl took off after Allie, leaving Nola unable to utter a word in reply. Releasing a sigh, the Rilke girl returned to her original place on the field beside Jackie, who was quick to send her best friend a look of complete bafflement.

    "What's going on?" The Taylor girl couldn't believe what she had just seen. Nola and Taissa chatting amongst themselves with nary a raised voice or dirty look in sight. "Why were you talking to Taissa? I thought you guys despised each other."

    "W-we were just talking about..." she stuttered out, wracking her brain for an appropriate response that didn't reveal the plan. "—our Home Ec project. I just needed her opinion on something."

The look that Jackie gave the brunette told Nola Rilke everything she needed to know. She didn't believe a single word that had just come out of her mouth. Jackie's arms folded across her chest instantly as her stare hardened upon her friend. Before another word could be spoken between the two, a sudden cry of agony filled the air.

   Heads turned in the direction of the scream. They were greeted by the sight of Allie curled in the feral position on the grass, clutching her leg tightly to her body. Both girls immediately ran over to assess the situation, though both regretted it the moment their eyes landed upon the protruding bone that obnoxiously stuck out of Allie's leg. The girl cried out in pain, as everyone began to freak out around her.

"Help!" Allie begged.

   Like the speed of light, Misty came rushing over to the scene, gripping tightly to a pinny. Her hands reached out to Allie's leg as soon as she dropped to her knees. "Okay, apply pressure to stop the ble—"

Her frantic hands jostled the injured girls leg, pulling out another scream of pain from deep within Allie.

    "Jesus, Misty! Get the fuck out of the way!" Coach Ben's hand slammed hard against Misty's shoulder, sending the girl flying back and away from Allie's leg. "We need an ambulance! There's a phone in Bill's office."

"You mean Coach Martinez?" Misty stuttered out as she rushed to her feet, ignoring the slight wobble in her knees.

The coach released a loud, exasperated sigh. "Christ! Yes! Go! Now!" He demanded, as his gaze bounced back and forth between the frazzled young Quigley girl and the crimson soaked bone that was snapped out of place.

Time seemed to speed up for everyone as they waited for Misty to return and the ambulance to arrive. One by one, everyone was led back into the locker room by Jackie. She had kicked her captain skills into gear. A lull had developed amongst the teens, every single one of them refusing to make eye contact with each other as they sat about.

"I know we're all really worried about Allie. But..." Jackie solemnly began her attempt to lessen the blow. No matter how bad things seemed, Jackie could only hope that Allie was as gravely injured as she appeared. "It might not be as bad as it looks."

   A derision filled snort resounded off the walls. "You could see her fucking bones, Jackie. I'm pretty sure it's exactly as bad as it looks." Natalie snapped at the Taylor girl, finding her optimism incredibly stupid.

    "Oh, God. I'm gonna throw up." Van suddenly spoke up. One hand covered her mouth while the other held her increasingly queasy stomach.

   Nola was quick to hand over her water bottle. "Drink some of this." Van accepted the offer with a quick grateful smile before tilting her head back and downing the cold liquid down her throat, pushing away the bile that had crept up her oesophagus.

   Jackie nervously glanced around the room. "Okay, but, I mean...we're still a team. And we still have each other." She wanted desperately to keep the team together.

"And the Lord works in mysterious ways." Laura Lee added on with a gentle smile. A twinkle danced around her baby blue eyes.

   Natalie's fist pounded hard against a locker. The stomp of feet against the tiled locker room floor rung out as she jumped up from the bench. "Nice work, Taissa." She sneered while grabbing her gym bag, rushing past everyone as an aura of red-hot rage surrounded her.

    "This is so fucked." Nola said under her breath. Her eyes scrunched shut as she ran over hands over her face and through her hair, effectively messing up her ponytail. She couldn't believe how fucking horrible their plan had ended up.

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   TENSION LINGERED IN THE air, thick and weighty as Nola sat quite stiffly upon Shauna's bed, watching as the girl rummaged through her closet for something nice to wear for the night. Though they should have been in the party mood, ready to enjoy the night ahead, instead the two had been quite quiet around one another.

Nola knew that Shauna was upset. It was as clear as day to her by the darkened mood that had followed them through the day. Plus Shauna's furrowed brow and permanent frown helped clue her in faster.

"What times Jackie getting here?" Shauna inquired as she continued rustle through her clothes. She didn't even spare Nola a glance, leaving the brunette disheartened.

Jackie had said she'd arrived at around 8 o'clock and after checking out the time on the clock that hung on Shauna's wall, the Rilke girl answered, "She should be here in a few minutes."

    "Shauna?" Nola then called out, receiving a quiet hum in return. While a small sigh fell past her lips, she came to the decision of just being up front. "You know that I didn't want Allie to get hurt, right?"

   Shauna remained quiet for a short while, her fingers gripping into the fabric of some random top that hung in her closet. Then after some time, she replied, "I know that."

   The Rilke girl shuffled to the edge of the bed then rushed to her feet and over to Shauna, who stared back at her in surprise. She'd never seen her move so fast. "It's just...I just didn't want her jeopardising our chance at Nationals. I didn't think she'd end up in the hospital!"

    "Nola, relax!" Shauna hushed the frantic girl, clasping her hand gently over the Rilke girls mouth. With a small laugh, Shauna said, "I'm not mad. I understand why you agreed. She is a shitty player, I know that and I'm not angry that you and Tai had that plan. I just wish you'd told me."

   As she carefully peeled her hand away from her girlfriends mouth, her nimble fingers grazing softly over Nola's cheek, Shauna then quietly muttered, "I would have supported you, you know."

"You would have?" Nola questioned as she stared over at the girl before her. "You don't think I'm an evil bitch?"

"No more so than usual." Shauna jokingly replied with a shrug of the shoulders as a cheeky little grin grew across her lips.

    "Oh so you've got jokes now, huh?" Nola smirked over at her doe eyed girlfriend. Her hands fell to Shauna's waist pulling the brunette close until their bodies pressed against one another's. "We'll see how funny you are when you're practically begging me to kiss you later tonight when you're drunk and I leave you to wallow."

    "You wouldn't do that. You couldn't do that." Shauna exuded confidence in that moment. She knew Nola like the back of her hand. No way could she ever be so cruel as to deny either of them the sweet romantic gesture.

"I couldn't?"

   The Shipman girls head shook gently from side to side, the curled ends of her hair brushing against the tops of her shoulders "Nope. You love me too much."

Nola just couldn't help herself. She leaned herself forward just as Shauna uttered her final word and captured the girl's lips with her own. A squeak of surprise from Shauna was soon replaced by a soft and satisfied sigh as she found herself kissing back, wrapping her arms around Nola's neck as her fingers crept into the girls hair.

   The sound of heavy footsteps ascending the staircase caused the two girls to speedily part ways, with Nola heading back to the bed while Shauna turned back around to look in the closet. Their cheeks burning and their breaths haggard as they moved. They were barely able to gain control of them before the bedroom door all but slammed open.

    "The party has arrived!" She excited claimed while practically slipping into the room, her hands up high in the air. Jackie was swift in halting her feet as she grinned at her two best friends. "What did I miss?"

   Nola's thoughts ran rampant through her mind as she attempted to think of something to say. "Just Shauna suggesting that she wear her old Halloween costume." She uttered with a bout of forced laughter, hoping that her lie was believable.

    "It was a mistake. I forgot it was a costume." Shauna played along, feigning embarrassment at Nola's words. Their ruse seemed to work as Jackie appeared none the wiser.

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   THE PARTY WAS IN full swing by the time many of the Yellowjackets had arrived. After a quick hug from both Jackie and Shauna, Nola had ventured off and had been taking advantage of the unattended keg ever since. To say the hangover she would have the next would be absolutely brutal was an understatement. But in that moment, as the alcohol slipped down the back of her throat, all Nola cared about was forgetting.

Forgetting the horrific sight of Allie's mangled leg, forgetting how many of them had colluded with the hope of driving the girl from the team and definitely forgetting the disappointment she had felt in herself. Her drive to win National's had sent a girl to the hospital and Nola felt like complete and utter shit.

The dress she had chosen to wear did little to protect her from the chill of the night air, though the alcohol helped in warming her up from the inside.

A figure approached out of the corner of her eye. "Don't you look nice." She sarcastically quipped with a drunk little wink as she watched Taissa grabbed a red solo cup.

Taissa, who had gotten dressed up for the party and looked incredibly pretty, sent the brunette a half smile. "You feelin' okay? How much have you had to drink?"

"Not much." Nola shrugged her shoulders, holding up her hand that wasn't grasping her cup and began to awkwardly count on her fingers. "Only like f-four or five cups."

Laughter bubbled up from the back of the Turner girl's throat. She couldn't help but find the inebriated slur of the brunette's words and the glazed over look in her eyes adorable. "You're so wasted."

"Hey, what's going on?" Said Van as she stepped up alongside the two girls, shooting them both a smile.

Nola let out an excited gasp. "Van! I missed you." She uttered as she pulled the redheaded girl into a tight embrace. The cheap liquor in her cup sloshed about, spilling slighting on the grass beneath their feet.

"We saw each other earlier at school?" The Palmer girl questioned with a confused expression on her face. She returned the hug with equal enthusiasm however, finding her friend's already drunken state funny.

"And I missed you between then and now. What's your point?" In her boozed up mind, Nola couldn't understand why Van was confused because of course she missed her. They hadn't seen each other in at least five hours.

"Can't be easy knowing you fucking crippled someone today." Shauna could be heard harshly snapping at Taissa over by the row of cups and kegs.

Apparently Shauna had also been abusing the alcohol that night. She was at least five cups in and while Nola was a happy drunk, Shauna had instead the tendency to speak any thoughts she had while sober. Whether they were nice or not.

   Both Van and Nola pulled away from their embrace, glancing the way of the two girls. The combative words of her girlfriend was enough to begin sobering up the Rilke girl. Suddenly, the once delicious alcohol that had aided in helping her forget, now tasted like shit.

The Turner girl was quick to back away, not wanting a confrontation. "Cool. Good talk."

    "Just admit you did it on purpose." Shauna refused to back down, the girl taking an aggressive step forward. She attempted to goad the Turner girl into an argument.

Sober Shauna would never do this but drunk Shauna was another entity entirely. She was pissed off at what had happened earlier today, despite her words of understanding and more importantly, she was extremely pissed off that Nola had kept it a secret. And with Taissa of all people?

   Taissa turned back around, the girl offended by the baseless accusation. "Excuse me?" She would never admit it. She hadn't done it on purpose and the fact that Shauna believed that well and truly pissed Taissa off.

"You heard me."

Taissa scoffed at the attitude thrown her way. "You're wasted."

The Shipman girl threw aside her cup as she took her another step towards Taissa. "And you're a fucking sociopath."

   Van left Nola's side to run forward and hold out her arms, attempting to keep some distance between Shauna and Taissa. "Whoa! Calm down." The last thing they needed was a brawl with nationals only days away.

"No! Listen, you guys, we don't have to worry about the Allie problem anymore because Taissa fixed it for us." Shauna bellowed in anger. Her raised voice captured the attention of those around them as more and more of the team gathered around.

   Drunken onlookers watched in excited at the growing tension that surrounded the two girls. The Yellowjackets watched on in rigid anxiety as Shauna and Taissa glared at one another, neither willing to concede defeat.

    "What? What's she talking about?" Laura Lee, ever the innocent, inquired. She was so confused on what everyone was arguing about because of course she was. No one had told her anything in regards to the plan.

She'd been in the dark about everything for the entire day.

   A wicked smile appeared upon Natalie Scatorccio's lips. "She's talking about Taissa's little plan." She willing handed over the information, eager to call out Taissa's two faces tactics.

    "Oh please. Since when do you give a shit anyway?" The Turner girl retaliated to the jab with a roll of the eyes. She slowly stepped forward towards Natalie, sneering at her. "Don't you have a bong to hit or a dick to suck."

"Don't talk to her that way." Shauna snapped at Taissa in defence of the leather jacket clad girl.

   Natalie didn't appreciate Shauna's words of defence. "Oh, fuck off, Shauna. I don't need you to defend me. Last time I checked, you were fine with the whole 'freeze her out' strategy."

Again Laura Lee spoke up in bewilderment. "Okay, seriously. What are you talking about?"

"Shut the fuck up, Laura Lee!" Everyone yelled in unison. As if a switch had been flipped, suddenly every girl began to scream and yell at one another. They fought over everything and nothing.

    "No, no. Stop it." Van attempted to raise her voice above everyone's else's, though it didn't little to put a stop to the increasing hostility that enveloped them all.

   Nola had officially sobered up at this point. "Guys, stop fighting." She cried out, the girl desperate to stop the brawl before it came to blows. They didn't need to be another girl down for Nationals.

"Somebody needs to take her wasted ass home."

    "Say that again, bitch!" Shauna bit back, advancing on the Turner girl with a fist clenched tightly by her side. At that point, Shauna was looking for any reason necessary to lay one on Taissa, to blow off some steam, to blame her for Nola's secret keeping. A few girls jumped in between them at the sight of the decreasing distance that existed.

   Natalie spun around on Nola with a harsh glare. "If you hadn't sided with Taissa, none of this would have happened." She growled out with a forceful point of the finger.

    "Shut the fuck up, Natalie! It was a fucking accident." The Rilke girl screamed back, rolling her eyes at the blonde's ability to place herself high upon a pedestal.

    "Enough!" Jackie Taylor appeared with wild eyes. The authoritative tone in her screech managed to shut up all of the girls, who all looked over at her, each with their own version of a guilt expression marred into the features of their faces. "Yellowjackets, with me! Now!"

   With many heads hung low, they followed behind the Taylor girl as she lead them away from the crowd of drunken teens that had gathered. Finally, —once they stood far away enough that the music was just faint enough that they would have to strain to hear the words, Jackie let out a sigh of disbelief.

   Her hands fell to her hips. "I don't know what the fuck that was but I do know that it's over. We're about to go to nationals. And based on what I'm looking at right now, we might as well not even bother getting on that plane." Jackie said in pure disappointment at the behaviour of her teammates.

   She couldn't believe how immature they were all acting. The way in which every single one of them, save for Laura Lee who had stood off to the side confused, had been willing to rip each other to shreds.

    "All right. Everybody line up." She demanded loudly. When no one made a move to line up, she scowled at them all. "No, I'm fucking serious. Line up! Come on!"

   Once they were all lined up, she continued with, "Here's what we're gonna do. I want each of you to go down this line and say one nice, true thing about every other girl on the team."

    "What is this, fucking Girl Scout camp?" Taissa could be heard faintly saying to Van, causing both herself and the redhead to lowly laugh.

"Who wants to go first?"

    "I'll go, Jackie." Laura Lee smiled over at the team captain as she moved to stand in front of Taissa. "Taissa, you are beautiful in the eyes of our Lord."

   With a smile still gracing her lips, the blonde moved down the line to Van, who stood directly next to the curly haired Turner girl. "Van, you are beautiful—"

   Laughter from deep within Van's chest bubbled up at she realised that Laura Lee planned to say the exact same thing to them all. "Oh my god!"

    "Okay, Laura Lee, fall back. Fuck, okay. I'll go first." Jackie nervously rubbed her hands together. She took a few steps towards the waiting Turner girl. "Taissa Turner, you have more fight in you than anyone I've ever known. I'm inspired by your determination."

    "Vanessa Palmer. Your smile makes me feel happy every time I see it." Jackie smiled at the redhead before moving down the line once again. "Laura Lee. I truly admire your faith."

   Taking the appreciative beam from the blonde as a sign to move on, she sidestepped to the next girl. "Nat, I love that you don't care what anybody thinks. And you're so completely yourself."

"She's also deadly at beer pong." Van complimented, drawing out a laugh from many of the girls.

    "So, go on. Tell her. Come on, guys." Jackie said, her words pushing the team to begin apologising to one another for the animosity that had grown out of control so quickly.

   Nola sniffed as she shot the bleach blonde Natalie a nervous smile. The two girls moved beside one another, knowing that they needed to smooth out the mess that had developed between them. "Nat, despite our differences, I actually consider you a really good friend. You never have an issue with telling me when I'm fucking up and I really appreciate that."

    "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier." The Scatorccio girl admitted with a guilt filled half smile. "I know you guys didn't plan on what happened."

   Nola lowly laughed. "Water under the bridge. Now give me a hug." She muttered before reaching out and pulling the leather jacket clad girl into an embrace. Though Natalie groaned and playfully rolled her eyes, her arms wrapped around Nola's waist with ease.

   Although Nola felt better after having mended the riff between herself and Natalie, she hated knowing that Shauna hadn't been so truthful earlier in the night and that she most definitely was still pissed off with her, no matter if she claimed she wasn't.

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THE ENGINE RUMBLED LOUDLY as it traveled down the road in the direction of Jackie Taylor's home. The party had ended only an hour and a half after the big altercation between Shauna and Taissa and the Shipman girl had not spoken a word to her girlfriend since.

    "Are you mad at me?" Nola quietly questioned as she shifted over towards Shauna, her movement only being halted by her seatbelt. All she received was silence in return. "Shauna please talk to me. I can't handle you ignoring me."

   Shauna remained quiet, choosing to focus on Jackie and Jeff's conversation instead of giving Nola the time of day. "You know I have a curfew too." She uttered as Jackie asked to be dropped off at home first even though Shauna's house was on the way.

   Jackie simply brushed off her words, claiming her parents would be more annoyed and unforgiving if she missed curfew. She didn't even seem aware of the tension that was close to boiling over between the two girls in the backseat.

    "Shauna." The Rilke girl attempted once again to get her girlfriend to talk to her, her voice low as the pair exited the car to hug Jackie goodbye. When no response came, Nola internally sighed before wrapping her arms around her best friend. "Bye Jackie."

   Jackie bid everyone a fond farewell before sauntering up the path to her home. Nola turned to re-enter the vehicle just in time to see Shauna hop in the front.

Right next to Jeff.

   Insecurity overcame her as she sat back down in the backseat, watching as Shauna buckled up her seatbelt. She loved Shauna and trusted her more than anything but knowing that her girlfriend once crushed on the boy left Nola feeling a little...out of sorts. Jealousy was natural in a relationship though, right?

"This is you." The first words Shauna had spoken to her since the altercation. She was confused however because what did she mean? Nola glanced at the Shipman girl, confusion painted across her face though Shauna didn't seem to notice as she continued, "See you tomorrow."

    "Oh." She hadn't even realised that the car had pulled up outside her house. Her gaze shifted to the darkened windows of the house, indicating that no one was home and she'd be alone for the night.

   Nola hopped out of the car, her arms wrapped tightly around herself to preserve some warmth against the nipping nightly breeze. She truly wished she didn't have to go to bed tonight knowing Shauna was mad at her but what else could she do?

    "See ya later, Jeff." Nola waved bye to the boy who sent her a nod of the head and a slight smile in return. He was actually really nice that she couldn't even hate him. Her voice grew softer as her gaze fixed upon the Shipman girl. "Bye Shauna."

   All that was sent her way was a tight-lipped smile, once that screamed at her how much Shauna was upset, before the vehicle pulled away, leaving behind a dejected Nola Rilke.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter two. not proofread.
finished reworking the plot to add in her relationship with Shauna. i hope nola seems integrated into the plot well enough. anyway hope you enjoyed :)