‹ Prequel: Metamorphosis
Status: In progress
Ascension
Shake It Out
Chapter 18
Shake It Out
"A straight camp? Are you fucking serious?" Katherine Perry exclaimed. Russell sat at the kitchen table, tumbler of scotch in his hand.
"I thought it would help," He said weakly, sipping at his drink.
Katherine stared in disbelief, "How… how could you? His friend just died! From a disorder he also suffers from!"
Russell didn't answer, just rotated his wrist, watching the scotch move around in the glass. His silence only upset her more.
She slapped her palm on the table to get his attention, "What the hell is the matter with you? Is him being gay so terrible that you have to treat him like this? No one's pregnant, he's not on drugs, it's not that horrible!"
"Yes it is!" Russell stood up, "Kathy, he's a fa-" he stopped himself before the word could come out.
"Fag?" Katherine finished for him. "You've never held back in calling him that before. Why start now?" She asked nastily.
Again, her husband didn't say anything. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was ashamed.
"He was bashed, Russell," She continued, "A group of kids didn't like who he was, so they decided to let him know. And now," she paused control her tears, "now he has had to deal with the same kind of hate from you."
"Don't pin this on me!" Russell protested, "You can't stand there and say you're okay with what he is!"
"Who he is, not what," She corrected. "And of course I'm not. I'm not okay that he has been so horribly treated for being who he is. But I've accepted that he is gay. And no one can change that. Not me, not you, and not that little asshole that attacked him."
She ran one hand through her dark hair and rolled her head around on her neck. "I… I think you should go."
"What? Go where?" He asked, setting the glass on the table and stared at his wife.
"I don't care. A hotel, a motel, a friend's house. I really don't care. Just leave."
"You can't throw me out of my own home!" He exclaimed.
"Oh yes I can! If I have to look at you anymore than necessary, then something bad is going to happen! Now get out!"
Russell took a step back and held his hands up, "Okay, okay, I'll leave. But we're not through talking about this."
Katherine waited until he left before she picked up the glass of scotch and threw it at the wall.
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Ryan looked at his cards, then brought his hazel eyes up to meet Mira's across the coffee table. Her baby blues stared back at him coolly. She was bluffing, she had to be.
He slapped his cards down, "Two pair," He declared, gesturing to them.
Mira smirked and set her own cards down, "Three queens. I win."
"Three queens, huh?" Faith asked from the couch, "sounds like one of Ryan's wet dreams."
Ryan elbowed her leg and scowled as Mira brushed the small handful of pennies into her palm.
"I'm rich!" She exclaimed, "I'm fabulously well off!"
Ryan snorted, "Where did you learn to play poker?"
"My big brother's been teaching me for years." She counted her twelve pennies, then shoved them in her pocket. "Wanna play again?"
"I'm out of change."
"I like your watch." Ryan hugged his wrist to his chest protectively, glaring at her.
From the couch, Faith giggled and drummed her heel against the floor nervously. What was taking so long?
"Faith?" There it was. She turned her head and saw Dr. Kientzle and her parents standing before her. "Are you ready for your evaluation?"
Ryan placed his hand on Faith's knee and gave it an encouraging squeeze. She smiled down at him and tossed her magazine aside.
"Yeah sure." She stood up and followed the three doctors away.
Ryan turned back to Mira, who was watching Faith leave. "How do you think her evaluation'll go?" she asked.
"Probably good, she's been doing really well with her progress."
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There was a bump. Placed between her sharp hipbones, a bump was forming.
Leda stared at herself in the mirror. There it was. Her baby bump was shaping. She rubbed her hand along the tight skin. Yesterday confirmed it; she made it through her first trimester.
Adam still didn't know. She had tried telling him at least forty times, but every single time she chickened out. She could practically hear him yelling at her, telling her she's not ready to be a mother, that she was too irresponsible. She wanted to tell him, to tell someone. No one but Marli knew.
She had done some serious thinking about going to the ward and telling Mira. Being that she was the most recent pregnant member of the family, she knew there would be no judgment. But she didn't know how much progress Mira had made, so she decided to tell her after she got out. She only hoped her niece would get better before the baby was born.
Sleeping with Reid had been a mistake. She had only intended it to be a one night stand, but that became complicated when he confessed the next morning that he was married. Then the asshole shows up at her office. She'd never tell him. He belonged with his wife.
She looked at the alarm clock beside the bed and cussed loudly. She had a meeting in twenty minutes.
Pulling her shirt back down, she rushed around the room to get ready.
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"Got any fives?" Ryan asked flatly.
"Go fish," Mira answered. The boy sighed and reached into the pile of cards, pulling one out and putting it in his hand of cards. "So you never did tell me how things went with Seth the other day. You came back all blushy."
Mira smirked, "A lady doesn't tell."
"Oooh," Ryan said girlishly, "So there's something to tell." Mira kicked his leg under the coffee table.
"Just play the game."
"Got any- here comes Faith."
Ryan and Mira stood up in time for their wavy haired friend to approach them. Her eyes were a little wide.
"What?" Mira asked urgently, "Was it bad."
"No," Faith whispered, "they-they told me my prognosis is really good."
"Then why the face?" Ryan asked, confused.
Faith blinked out of her daze, "They said that… I can leave by the end of the week."
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Paige yawned as she padded her way down the stairs. She had slept in again past noon, and with school starting up again soon, she couldn't afford to keep doing that.
She needed coffee, badly. Rubbing her eye with the heel of her hand he walked into the kitchen and reached a hand out to turn on the coffee maker.
"Hey."
Paige screamed, knocking the toaster to the floor with her arm. She whirled around to see Sara sitting at the kitchen table.
"Jesus fucking Mary and Joseph! How… how did you get in here?" Paige asked, hands over her heart.
Sara held up her key ring between two fingers, jingling it a little. Paige dropped her hands from her chest and raised an eyebrow.
"How long have you been sitting here? No one's home. My parents aren't back from their trip and I don't even care where Zack is."
Sara stood up, "I know, I came here to talk to you."
Paige crossed her arms, "Oh now you wanna talk? What happened to last week when we were supposed to hang out and you canceled last minute?"
Sara blushed, "Paul got tickets to the community theater."
"Of course he did." Paige turned and turned on the coffee pot. "Paul says jump, you ask how high?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you ditched me last minute to see a half-assed version of Cats!" Paige said, "And that hurts."
"I know," Sara replied quietly, tracing a finger along the dark granite countertop. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just… can't say no to Paul, you know?"
"Yeah, I do know. I know that is guy is keeping you from hanging out with me. Did you know I went to see Mira last week?"
Sara looked up, alarmed, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried calling you," Paige said coolly, "You didn't pick up."
"How," Sara hesitated, "How is she?"
"She's… better I guess. At least, she looks better. She's starting to look like pre-pregnant Mira and not Holocaust victim Mira." Paige paused, then added, "But she asked about you." Paige was a little happy that Sara looked guilty.
"I-" Sara's phone vibrated loudly on the countertop. She scooped it up and looked at the screen. Paige scoffed and snatched it out of her hands. "Hey!"
"I'm in the mood for figure skating, meet me at the rink in twenty minutes?" Paige read out loud, face scrunched up in disgust. Looking at her friend, she tossed her the phone.
"Paul is not a bad guy!" Sara exclaimed.
"No, he's not," Paige agreed, "You've just become a little lapdog!"
"I have not!"
"Since when has a guy ever been able to tell you what to do? You're acting different with him!"
"I am not!"
"Bullshit!" Paige ran a hand over her face tiredly, despite having just woken up. "You wanna be with Paul, then be with Paul. But do I really have to remind you that I've had a lot of boyfriends and I never neglected you!"
Paige turned to leave the room, "I have to go brush my teeth, show yourself out."
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"Are you excited about coming home, Faithy?" Lynette Roberts asked excitedly.
"I guess," Faith replied. She crossed her arms and looked at each of her parents.
"Your mother and I have been talking," Timothy said, "We think it would be best if you stayed with Stacey and me for a while."
"Excuse me?" Faith's brows knitted together.
"Stacey has been dying to meet you, and I was hoping you would want to stay with me," Timothy said hopefully. Faith looked at her mother, and Lynette didn't exactly look happy with the idea. Of course, she didn't say anything.
"What do you think, mom?" Faith asked, begging with her eyes that she say something.
"I… I think it's a good idea. You need to spend some more time with your dad."
Faith stared at Lynette for a long moment, her eyes showing her disappointment.
"Actually," Faith finally said, "I've been talking to Aunt Lindsay." Lynette and Timothy frowned.
"Why have you been talking to her?" Lynette asked, glaring at the mention of her sister.
"I want to stay with her," Faith said simply.
Timothy burst out laughing, "You wanna live with Lindsay and her wife on their horse farm in Montana?"
"Yep."
"well, the answer is no," Timothy stated firmly, "You belong here with your family."
Faith huffed a laugh, "My family?" she asked dryly. "Which family are you talking about? My dad who abandoned me for a bubble-headed bimbo and didn't talk to me until I put myself in the hospital? Or my mom, who is so male-dependent that she would light herself on fire if you told her to?
"I took care of you, mom. I cared for you and did the shopping and cleaned the house and did everything while you were wallowing in self pity. You never even stopped to think that maybe… maybe I needed help too."
Timothy and Lynette looked down guiltily.
"Please," Faith begged, "I already talked to Aunt Lindsay and Aunt Melissa, and they said they'd love to have me. You're marriage is over and neither of you really want me, I can tell. And you know what? That's okay. You don't have to keep pretending that you want me. But I'm not going to be passed around. I wanna live in Montana. Please… please let me go."
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"I told Seth the truth the other day," Mira said. It was time for her one-on-one therapy session with Carla Kientzle.
"The truth?" The woman asked.
"About my eating disorder. I told him the real reason."
Carla looked interested, "Really? And how did he take it?"
Mira shrugged, squirming on the couch under the therapist's intense stare, "Um, not well."
"What did he say?"
"He said that just because we drifted apart a little, didn't give me the right to 'try to kill' myself." She did bunny ears around Seth's exact words.
"Ouch. Did he say anything else?"
"Yeah, we worked through it and…" She trailed off, blushing at the remembrance of the events of that day. Carla raised an eyebrow and suppressed a smile.
"As your doctor, I need to ask, did you and Seth sleep together."
"Uh, yeah, we have a baby, don't we?"
"I meant the other day."
Mira looked surprised, "What? No, of course not. We just… made out?" She blushed again, toying with the drawstring of her sweats.
"I see. Because you know that in your physical condition, sex would not be recommended," Carla warned. Mira scoffed a little.
"I'm not having sex because the last time I did, I ended up with a baby. You don't have to worry about that." Mira was a little annoyed that Carla would think that. Who has sex four months after giving birth and while anorexic?
"I didn't mean anything by that," Carla said, noticing the look on the blonde's face, "I just had to make sure."
"It was really nice though," Mira said, "Just being around him. He has this… I don't know energy about him that makes me feel so alive."
"I assume that because you have a baby, I don't have to tell you about the importance of contraceptives?"
"Please don't."
"Condoms, birth control, you know about all this?"
"My mom gave me the safe sex lecture when I was thirteen. And Seth wore a condom when we slept together; he just… tore a hole in it." Mira looked down, a little embarrassed.
"I see," Carla said again, "So what is it about Seth that makes you feel alive?"
"I don't know, but being around him… it makes me want to get better."
Carla smiled, "Well that's good to hear."
"I mean, I'm not a kid anymore, so I need to stop acting like one. I need to get my act together, go home, and be the mother my daughter needs."
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"Excuse me?" Nurse Ruth Bergner looked up from her computer to see a dark haired woman standing there. She immediately recognized her as Ryan Perry's mother, and scowled a little. She knew about this woman from what happened at parents' day a couple weeks ago.
"May I help you?" She asked as politely as she could.
"I was wondering if I could see Ryan."
"He's in a session right now," The nurse replied, "But you're welcome to sit and wait."
"How long will it be?" Katherine asked.
Ruth looked at the time on her computer, "another forty minutes," she answered. Katherine sighed.
"I'll be back later."
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"Cuz baby toniggghhttt," Ryan sang, playfully spinning Faith around in his arms as they headed toward the cafeteria for meal time, "The DJ's got falling in love agaiinnnn!"
Faith fell back against his chest laughing. It wasn't often that they were both in such a good mood. Mira had gone ahead of them, so they were free to goof around.
"Ryan?" A soft voice said. Ryan stopped mid-note and spun around, taking Faith with him, to see his mother.
"Mom?" He stood frozen, his grip on Faith tightening. Faith glared at the woman, remembering the last time she had seen her was when she let her husband bully and hit Ryan.
"Hi honey," Katherine said gently. "I've missed you."
"Uh, Faith could you give us a minute?" He asked. Faith stepped away, eyeing the two carefully.
"Sure," she finally said, "I'll save you a seat."
When Faith was out of sight, Katherine took a step to embrace him, but he flinched and took a step back. The sight literally made her heart drop.
"W-what are you doing here, mom?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"I… oh baby, I came to apologize."
Ryan's heavy eyebrows lifted toward his forehead, "For what? You didn't do anything?" he asked quietly.
"I stood by and let your father treat you the way he did." She sniffled and blotted her eyes with her sleeve. Ryan just stared at her uncertainly.
"Well, I forgive you," He said, mostly because he didn't know what else to say.
"That's not all." She met his eyes, "I want you to come home."
Ryan's eyes widened, "What? I kinda can't come home."
"When your treatment is over," she clarified, "I want you to come home."
"Dad said-"
"Don't listen to what your father said; listen to what I'm saying. You are coming home."
"I'm not going back there if he is going to keep treating me like that," Ryan said firmly.
"He won't," Katherine said confidently. "I'm going to take care of it. He won't treat you like that anymore."
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"Rigged piece of shit!" Mira said, annoyed, as she beat her hand against her laptop. After losing her fifth game of online chess, she got mad.
"Computer giving you trouble?" Her brother's voice said from the doorway.
"Go away, Matt," she said automatically, not looking up from the screen.
A split second later, her head snapped up. "MATT!" She squealed, diving off the bed and into his arms. Matt's strong arms enveloped her tightly, nearly lifting her off the ground. "What are you doing here?" She asked against his shoulder.
"I haven't seen you in weeks, and I thought I'd come visit my favorite sister." Mira smiled widely.
"I heard that!" Marli's voice said. Mira pulled away from Matt, looking at the door.
"Marli's here?" She asked excitedly.
"Not just me," Marli said. She appeared in the doorway, but she wasn't who Mira was looking at.
"Lucy!" Mira squealed, scooping the baby out of her arms and kissing her cheek again and again. The baby gurgled happily, swinging her fat little legs.
"Figured you might want to see her again, even though you just saw her a couple days ago." Marli crossed her arms and smiled a little at her niece and sister. Mira reached an arm out and tugged Marli to her side, hugging her tightly.
"Thanks for bringing her here," Mira told her siblings. "It's good to see you two again!"
"And it's about to get better." Matt held up something up out of thin air.
"Scrabble!"
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"I heard from my Aunt Lindsay today." Faith grinned at Ryan beside her on the couch. "She said I can come live with her in, like, a month."
"That's great," Ryan said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He was glad Faith was moving on with her life, he really was, but he couldn't help feeling hurt and sad that she was leaving.
"I used to spend every summer up there at their farm. I can't wait!" Faith bounced a little on the couch. Again, Ryan just smiled as wide as he could and kept toying with his bronzed guitar pick necklace.
"Maybe," Faith began, looking shy all of a sudden, "Maybe when you get better, you can come visit me."
Ryan shrugged, "I don't think that'll be anytime soon."
Faith sighed, "Ry, you need to stop thinking like that. Your mom said you could come home when you get out of here. So why are you still so against getting better?"
He shrugged again, still spinning the guitar pick around his fingers. He knew why. He'd never tell her, but he knew why.
Getting better meant leaving, and leaving meant going back into the world. A world that hated him. A world that would never truly accept him for who he was.
As much as he hated it in this ward, he hated it out there more. He was safe here. He was accepted here. No one judged him or was cruel to him. It gave him a sense of security he didn't know existed.
But now Faith was leaving, Tabitha was dead, and he knew Mira would be leaving soon too.
Faith snuggled up to his side, looping her arms around his arm and resting her head on his shoulder.
"You gonna miss me, Ry Ry?" She asked sweetly.
He snorted, "You wish."
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"T-R-A-P. Trap" Marli said, laying the tiles along the board. Matt counted her points, and then tallied them into the notepad in his lap.
"Not bad, Mar," He said, "Your turn, Mira… Mira?"
"Who's my sweet little baby?" Mira was cooing to her daughter, sitting cross-legged on the ground beside the game board and lifting the baby high above her head.
"Mira are you going to play the game or not?" Marli asked. Mira lowered her baby and reached for her row of tiles, placing a single one beside another letter.
"Is," She said, "your turn, Matt."
The sound of rattling came to their attention. Marli's phone vibrated loudly on the linoleum floor next to her. She picked it up and rolled her eyes.
"It's Leda again."
"Why does she keep calling?" Matt asked, tallying up the points so far.
Marli toyed with her phone a little, looking at her older brother and sister. Neither of them knew that Leda was pregnant, and though she had sworn she wouldn't tell, the pressure was getting to her.
She moved a little closer to the board and leaned in, "If I told you something big, would you swear not to tell anyone?"
"What?" Matt asked, switching into big brother mode, "Is it Zack? Did he pressure you into something?"
"Shut up, Matt," She dismissed, "It's about Leda."
Mira pressed her cheek against Lucy's forehead and frowned, "What is it?"
"Leda is," She paused for dramatic effect, "Pregnant."
"Oh shit," Mira said, forgetting her promise to not swear in front of the baby.
"Are you serious?" Matt asked.
"Totally, I was there when she took the tests. She's been harassing me ever since." Marli held up her phone as evidence.
"Do mom and dad know?" Matt asked.
"How far along is she?" Mira asked.
"Nope, mom and dad don't know, and I think…" She scrunched her face up in thought, "Maybe twelve weeks?"
"Jesus," Mira murmured, "Leda's gonna be a mom."
"Mom and Dad are gonna freak," Matt said with a shake of his head.
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Four days later, Faith pressed her palms on the top of her suitcase until she heard it click. She looked around the room one last time. It looked empty without her many female sport figure posters, her purple bedspread, the clutter, and her lucky alarm clock.
She sat on the bed and looked at the Tabitha's necklace that remained would around her wrist. With a sigh, she held it close to her chest.
A few days ago, so called her father and asked a favor. Timothy, desperate to make his daughter like him again, eagerly agreed before even knowing what it was.
In a few days, a new metal picnic table would arrive, paid for by her father, with a plaque in the center of it in honor of Tabitha Verticheli. It probably cost her father a pretty penny, which made her happy.
In a few weeks, she would be on that plane to Montana, and out of this hellish town. Away from her male-dependent mother and cheating, lying, bastard of a father. Until then, she would be staying with her dad. At least he and Stacey had a big enough house that she didn't have to be around the dumb bitch.
Faith dragged the heavy suitcase off the bed and dragged it out of that room, out of that room forever, and into the hall, where Ryan and Mira were waiting for her.
"You got everything?" he asked. She nodded excitedly. Ryan reached down and took her suitcase from her.
Side-by-side, the three of them walked to the door, the exit. Faith brought a hand up and pushed it open.
Timothy's car was parked in front, trunk open, while he was placing her other suitcase in it. He smiled at the three teens before taking the suitcase from Ryan and walking back to the car.
Faith took a step forward and spun around so she was facing Ryan and Mira. The amount of sadness oozing off them was almost palpable.
"I guess this is where we say goodbye," Faith said eventually. Mira was blinking rapidly to keep away her tears, while Ryan just looked immensely sad.
Mira went first, "I… you somehow made this horrible place tolerable. I'm gonna get better, and I'm gonna go on with my life, and I have you to partially thank for that," She said softly. Faith smiled and embraced the girl tightly.
"Take care of yourself, Mira," Faith said against Mira's hair, "and take care of your baby." Mira laughed tearfully, but nodded her head.
When they ended the hug, she turned to Ryan, who avoided her eyes. Faith took his hand and squeezed it.
"I'm really gonna miss you, Ry," She said tearfully. Ryan pulled his hand back and tugged Faith to his chest, hugging her as tight as he could.
"Love you, Faith," He whispered.
"Love you, Ry," She said back.
Mira hugged herself tightly, watching the scene before her. She knew this had to be hard for both of them. For the last couple months, they had been each other's life lines.
"Faith?" Timothy asked hesitantly, "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?"
Faith pulled away from Ryan, then raised herself up on her toes so she could kiss his cheek. "Later."
"Later," He said back, watching his friend get into the front seat of the car, give them a small wave, and then drive off.
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It was five days later that Mira's own evaluation came. She had been really nervous about it. This meeting could mean that she could get out, or be stuck here for who knows how much longer.
Ryan hadn't been too good the last few days. In a way, it was understandable. Faith had been the first person he told about being bashed. She had been his real first friend since he was forced out of the closet. And being separated from her was probably very hard for him.
Mira crossed and re-crossed her legs before finally settling for crossing her ankles beneath the chair.
"Sit still, Mira," Audrey said from the chair beside her.
"What is taking that doctor so long?" Adam grumbled from Mira's other side.
"What if it's bad news?" Mira asked. Audrey placed a hand on Mira's back.
"Sorry that took so long, the printer was jammed!" Carla Kientzel said, rushing into the room and sitting at the desk, smiling at the three anxious people across from her. "So let's get this evaluation started, shall we?"
The next several minutes, Dr. Kientzel spoke of Mira's progress. "Mira has been cooperating much more in group, her weight is better," Carla paused, reading over something.
Mira grabbed both her parent's hands, "And…?" She asked.
Carla smiled, "And if things keep up like this, you should be out by the end of the week."
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Shake It Out
"A straight camp? Are you fucking serious?" Katherine Perry exclaimed. Russell sat at the kitchen table, tumbler of scotch in his hand.
"I thought it would help," He said weakly, sipping at his drink.
Katherine stared in disbelief, "How… how could you? His friend just died! From a disorder he also suffers from!"
Russell didn't answer, just rotated his wrist, watching the scotch move around in the glass. His silence only upset her more.
She slapped her palm on the table to get his attention, "What the hell is the matter with you? Is him being gay so terrible that you have to treat him like this? No one's pregnant, he's not on drugs, it's not that horrible!"
"Yes it is!" Russell stood up, "Kathy, he's a fa-" he stopped himself before the word could come out.
"Fag?" Katherine finished for him. "You've never held back in calling him that before. Why start now?" She asked nastily.
Again, her husband didn't say anything. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was ashamed.
"He was bashed, Russell," She continued, "A group of kids didn't like who he was, so they decided to let him know. And now," she paused control her tears, "now he has had to deal with the same kind of hate from you."
"Don't pin this on me!" Russell protested, "You can't stand there and say you're okay with what he is!"
"Who he is, not what," She corrected. "And of course I'm not. I'm not okay that he has been so horribly treated for being who he is. But I've accepted that he is gay. And no one can change that. Not me, not you, and not that little asshole that attacked him."
She ran one hand through her dark hair and rolled her head around on her neck. "I… I think you should go."
"What? Go where?" He asked, setting the glass on the table and stared at his wife.
"I don't care. A hotel, a motel, a friend's house. I really don't care. Just leave."
"You can't throw me out of my own home!" He exclaimed.
"Oh yes I can! If I have to look at you anymore than necessary, then something bad is going to happen! Now get out!"
Russell took a step back and held his hands up, "Okay, okay, I'll leave. But we're not through talking about this."
Katherine waited until he left before she picked up the glass of scotch and threw it at the wall.
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Ryan looked at his cards, then brought his hazel eyes up to meet Mira's across the coffee table. Her baby blues stared back at him coolly. She was bluffing, she had to be.
He slapped his cards down, "Two pair," He declared, gesturing to them.
Mira smirked and set her own cards down, "Three queens. I win."
"Three queens, huh?" Faith asked from the couch, "sounds like one of Ryan's wet dreams."
Ryan elbowed her leg and scowled as Mira brushed the small handful of pennies into her palm.
"I'm rich!" She exclaimed, "I'm fabulously well off!"
Ryan snorted, "Where did you learn to play poker?"
"My big brother's been teaching me for years." She counted her twelve pennies, then shoved them in her pocket. "Wanna play again?"
"I'm out of change."
"I like your watch." Ryan hugged his wrist to his chest protectively, glaring at her.
From the couch, Faith giggled and drummed her heel against the floor nervously. What was taking so long?
"Faith?" There it was. She turned her head and saw Dr. Kientzle and her parents standing before her. "Are you ready for your evaluation?"
Ryan placed his hand on Faith's knee and gave it an encouraging squeeze. She smiled down at him and tossed her magazine aside.
"Yeah sure." She stood up and followed the three doctors away.
Ryan turned back to Mira, who was watching Faith leave. "How do you think her evaluation'll go?" she asked.
"Probably good, she's been doing really well with her progress."
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There was a bump. Placed between her sharp hipbones, a bump was forming.
Leda stared at herself in the mirror. There it was. Her baby bump was shaping. She rubbed her hand along the tight skin. Yesterday confirmed it; she made it through her first trimester.
Adam still didn't know. She had tried telling him at least forty times, but every single time she chickened out. She could practically hear him yelling at her, telling her she's not ready to be a mother, that she was too irresponsible. She wanted to tell him, to tell someone. No one but Marli knew.
She had done some serious thinking about going to the ward and telling Mira. Being that she was the most recent pregnant member of the family, she knew there would be no judgment. But she didn't know how much progress Mira had made, so she decided to tell her after she got out. She only hoped her niece would get better before the baby was born.
Sleeping with Reid had been a mistake. She had only intended it to be a one night stand, but that became complicated when he confessed the next morning that he was married. Then the asshole shows up at her office. She'd never tell him. He belonged with his wife.
She looked at the alarm clock beside the bed and cussed loudly. She had a meeting in twenty minutes.
Pulling her shirt back down, she rushed around the room to get ready.
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"Got any fives?" Ryan asked flatly.
"Go fish," Mira answered. The boy sighed and reached into the pile of cards, pulling one out and putting it in his hand of cards. "So you never did tell me how things went with Seth the other day. You came back all blushy."
Mira smirked, "A lady doesn't tell."
"Oooh," Ryan said girlishly, "So there's something to tell." Mira kicked his leg under the coffee table.
"Just play the game."
"Got any- here comes Faith."
Ryan and Mira stood up in time for their wavy haired friend to approach them. Her eyes were a little wide.
"What?" Mira asked urgently, "Was it bad."
"No," Faith whispered, "they-they told me my prognosis is really good."
"Then why the face?" Ryan asked, confused.
Faith blinked out of her daze, "They said that… I can leave by the end of the week."
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Paige yawned as she padded her way down the stairs. She had slept in again past noon, and with school starting up again soon, she couldn't afford to keep doing that.
She needed coffee, badly. Rubbing her eye with the heel of her hand he walked into the kitchen and reached a hand out to turn on the coffee maker.
"Hey."
Paige screamed, knocking the toaster to the floor with her arm. She whirled around to see Sara sitting at the kitchen table.
"Jesus fucking Mary and Joseph! How… how did you get in here?" Paige asked, hands over her heart.
Sara held up her key ring between two fingers, jingling it a little. Paige dropped her hands from her chest and raised an eyebrow.
"How long have you been sitting here? No one's home. My parents aren't back from their trip and I don't even care where Zack is."
Sara stood up, "I know, I came here to talk to you."
Paige crossed her arms, "Oh now you wanna talk? What happened to last week when we were supposed to hang out and you canceled last minute?"
Sara blushed, "Paul got tickets to the community theater."
"Of course he did." Paige turned and turned on the coffee pot. "Paul says jump, you ask how high?"
"What does that mean?"
"It means that you ditched me last minute to see a half-assed version of Cats!" Paige said, "And that hurts."
"I know," Sara replied quietly, tracing a finger along the dark granite countertop. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just… can't say no to Paul, you know?"
"Yeah, I do know. I know that is guy is keeping you from hanging out with me. Did you know I went to see Mira last week?"
Sara looked up, alarmed, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried calling you," Paige said coolly, "You didn't pick up."
"How," Sara hesitated, "How is she?"
"She's… better I guess. At least, she looks better. She's starting to look like pre-pregnant Mira and not Holocaust victim Mira." Paige paused, then added, "But she asked about you." Paige was a little happy that Sara looked guilty.
"I-" Sara's phone vibrated loudly on the countertop. She scooped it up and looked at the screen. Paige scoffed and snatched it out of her hands. "Hey!"
"I'm in the mood for figure skating, meet me at the rink in twenty minutes?" Paige read out loud, face scrunched up in disgust. Looking at her friend, she tossed her the phone.
"Paul is not a bad guy!" Sara exclaimed.
"No, he's not," Paige agreed, "You've just become a little lapdog!"
"I have not!"
"Since when has a guy ever been able to tell you what to do? You're acting different with him!"
"I am not!"
"Bullshit!" Paige ran a hand over her face tiredly, despite having just woken up. "You wanna be with Paul, then be with Paul. But do I really have to remind you that I've had a lot of boyfriends and I never neglected you!"
Paige turned to leave the room, "I have to go brush my teeth, show yourself out."
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"Are you excited about coming home, Faithy?" Lynette Roberts asked excitedly.
"I guess," Faith replied. She crossed her arms and looked at each of her parents.
"Your mother and I have been talking," Timothy said, "We think it would be best if you stayed with Stacey and me for a while."
"Excuse me?" Faith's brows knitted together.
"Stacey has been dying to meet you, and I was hoping you would want to stay with me," Timothy said hopefully. Faith looked at her mother, and Lynette didn't exactly look happy with the idea. Of course, she didn't say anything.
"What do you think, mom?" Faith asked, begging with her eyes that she say something.
"I… I think it's a good idea. You need to spend some more time with your dad."
Faith stared at Lynette for a long moment, her eyes showing her disappointment.
"Actually," Faith finally said, "I've been talking to Aunt Lindsay." Lynette and Timothy frowned.
"Why have you been talking to her?" Lynette asked, glaring at the mention of her sister.
"I want to stay with her," Faith said simply.
Timothy burst out laughing, "You wanna live with Lindsay and her wife on their horse farm in Montana?"
"Yep."
"well, the answer is no," Timothy stated firmly, "You belong here with your family."
Faith huffed a laugh, "My family?" she asked dryly. "Which family are you talking about? My dad who abandoned me for a bubble-headed bimbo and didn't talk to me until I put myself in the hospital? Or my mom, who is so male-dependent that she would light herself on fire if you told her to?
"I took care of you, mom. I cared for you and did the shopping and cleaned the house and did everything while you were wallowing in self pity. You never even stopped to think that maybe… maybe I needed help too."
Timothy and Lynette looked down guiltily.
"Please," Faith begged, "I already talked to Aunt Lindsay and Aunt Melissa, and they said they'd love to have me. You're marriage is over and neither of you really want me, I can tell. And you know what? That's okay. You don't have to keep pretending that you want me. But I'm not going to be passed around. I wanna live in Montana. Please… please let me go."
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"I told Seth the truth the other day," Mira said. It was time for her one-on-one therapy session with Carla Kientzle.
"The truth?" The woman asked.
"About my eating disorder. I told him the real reason."
Carla looked interested, "Really? And how did he take it?"
Mira shrugged, squirming on the couch under the therapist's intense stare, "Um, not well."
"What did he say?"
"He said that just because we drifted apart a little, didn't give me the right to 'try to kill' myself." She did bunny ears around Seth's exact words.
"Ouch. Did he say anything else?"
"Yeah, we worked through it and…" She trailed off, blushing at the remembrance of the events of that day. Carla raised an eyebrow and suppressed a smile.
"As your doctor, I need to ask, did you and Seth sleep together."
"Uh, yeah, we have a baby, don't we?"
"I meant the other day."
Mira looked surprised, "What? No, of course not. We just… made out?" She blushed again, toying with the drawstring of her sweats.
"I see. Because you know that in your physical condition, sex would not be recommended," Carla warned. Mira scoffed a little.
"I'm not having sex because the last time I did, I ended up with a baby. You don't have to worry about that." Mira was a little annoyed that Carla would think that. Who has sex four months after giving birth and while anorexic?
"I didn't mean anything by that," Carla said, noticing the look on the blonde's face, "I just had to make sure."
"It was really nice though," Mira said, "Just being around him. He has this… I don't know energy about him that makes me feel so alive."
"I assume that because you have a baby, I don't have to tell you about the importance of contraceptives?"
"Please don't."
"Condoms, birth control, you know about all this?"
"My mom gave me the safe sex lecture when I was thirteen. And Seth wore a condom when we slept together; he just… tore a hole in it." Mira looked down, a little embarrassed.
"I see," Carla said again, "So what is it about Seth that makes you feel alive?"
"I don't know, but being around him… it makes me want to get better."
Carla smiled, "Well that's good to hear."
"I mean, I'm not a kid anymore, so I need to stop acting like one. I need to get my act together, go home, and be the mother my daughter needs."
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"Excuse me?" Nurse Ruth Bergner looked up from her computer to see a dark haired woman standing there. She immediately recognized her as Ryan Perry's mother, and scowled a little. She knew about this woman from what happened at parents' day a couple weeks ago.
"May I help you?" She asked as politely as she could.
"I was wondering if I could see Ryan."
"He's in a session right now," The nurse replied, "But you're welcome to sit and wait."
"How long will it be?" Katherine asked.
Ruth looked at the time on her computer, "another forty minutes," she answered. Katherine sighed.
"I'll be back later."
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"Cuz baby toniggghhttt," Ryan sang, playfully spinning Faith around in his arms as they headed toward the cafeteria for meal time, "The DJ's got falling in love agaiinnnn!"
Faith fell back against his chest laughing. It wasn't often that they were both in such a good mood. Mira had gone ahead of them, so they were free to goof around.
"Ryan?" A soft voice said. Ryan stopped mid-note and spun around, taking Faith with him, to see his mother.
"Mom?" He stood frozen, his grip on Faith tightening. Faith glared at the woman, remembering the last time she had seen her was when she let her husband bully and hit Ryan.
"Hi honey," Katherine said gently. "I've missed you."
"Uh, Faith could you give us a minute?" He asked. Faith stepped away, eyeing the two carefully.
"Sure," she finally said, "I'll save you a seat."
When Faith was out of sight, Katherine took a step to embrace him, but he flinched and took a step back. The sight literally made her heart drop.
"W-what are you doing here, mom?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"I… oh baby, I came to apologize."
Ryan's heavy eyebrows lifted toward his forehead, "For what? You didn't do anything?" he asked quietly.
"I stood by and let your father treat you the way he did." She sniffled and blotted her eyes with her sleeve. Ryan just stared at her uncertainly.
"Well, I forgive you," He said, mostly because he didn't know what else to say.
"That's not all." She met his eyes, "I want you to come home."
Ryan's eyes widened, "What? I kinda can't come home."
"When your treatment is over," she clarified, "I want you to come home."
"Dad said-"
"Don't listen to what your father said; listen to what I'm saying. You are coming home."
"I'm not going back there if he is going to keep treating me like that," Ryan said firmly.
"He won't," Katherine said confidently. "I'm going to take care of it. He won't treat you like that anymore."
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"Rigged piece of shit!" Mira said, annoyed, as she beat her hand against her laptop. After losing her fifth game of online chess, she got mad.
"Computer giving you trouble?" Her brother's voice said from the doorway.
"Go away, Matt," she said automatically, not looking up from the screen.
A split second later, her head snapped up. "MATT!" She squealed, diving off the bed and into his arms. Matt's strong arms enveloped her tightly, nearly lifting her off the ground. "What are you doing here?" She asked against his shoulder.
"I haven't seen you in weeks, and I thought I'd come visit my favorite sister." Mira smiled widely.
"I heard that!" Marli's voice said. Mira pulled away from Matt, looking at the door.
"Marli's here?" She asked excitedly.
"Not just me," Marli said. She appeared in the doorway, but she wasn't who Mira was looking at.
"Lucy!" Mira squealed, scooping the baby out of her arms and kissing her cheek again and again. The baby gurgled happily, swinging her fat little legs.
"Figured you might want to see her again, even though you just saw her a couple days ago." Marli crossed her arms and smiled a little at her niece and sister. Mira reached an arm out and tugged Marli to her side, hugging her tightly.
"Thanks for bringing her here," Mira told her siblings. "It's good to see you two again!"
"And it's about to get better." Matt held up something up out of thin air.
"Scrabble!"
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"I heard from my Aunt Lindsay today." Faith grinned at Ryan beside her on the couch. "She said I can come live with her in, like, a month."
"That's great," Ryan said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He was glad Faith was moving on with her life, he really was, but he couldn't help feeling hurt and sad that she was leaving.
"I used to spend every summer up there at their farm. I can't wait!" Faith bounced a little on the couch. Again, Ryan just smiled as wide as he could and kept toying with his bronzed guitar pick necklace.
"Maybe," Faith began, looking shy all of a sudden, "Maybe when you get better, you can come visit me."
Ryan shrugged, "I don't think that'll be anytime soon."
Faith sighed, "Ry, you need to stop thinking like that. Your mom said you could come home when you get out of here. So why are you still so against getting better?"
He shrugged again, still spinning the guitar pick around his fingers. He knew why. He'd never tell her, but he knew why.
Getting better meant leaving, and leaving meant going back into the world. A world that hated him. A world that would never truly accept him for who he was.
As much as he hated it in this ward, he hated it out there more. He was safe here. He was accepted here. No one judged him or was cruel to him. It gave him a sense of security he didn't know existed.
But now Faith was leaving, Tabitha was dead, and he knew Mira would be leaving soon too.
Faith snuggled up to his side, looping her arms around his arm and resting her head on his shoulder.
"You gonna miss me, Ry Ry?" She asked sweetly.
He snorted, "You wish."
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"T-R-A-P. Trap" Marli said, laying the tiles along the board. Matt counted her points, and then tallied them into the notepad in his lap.
"Not bad, Mar," He said, "Your turn, Mira… Mira?"
"Who's my sweet little baby?" Mira was cooing to her daughter, sitting cross-legged on the ground beside the game board and lifting the baby high above her head.
"Mira are you going to play the game or not?" Marli asked. Mira lowered her baby and reached for her row of tiles, placing a single one beside another letter.
"Is," She said, "your turn, Matt."
The sound of rattling came to their attention. Marli's phone vibrated loudly on the linoleum floor next to her. She picked it up and rolled her eyes.
"It's Leda again."
"Why does she keep calling?" Matt asked, tallying up the points so far.
Marli toyed with her phone a little, looking at her older brother and sister. Neither of them knew that Leda was pregnant, and though she had sworn she wouldn't tell, the pressure was getting to her.
She moved a little closer to the board and leaned in, "If I told you something big, would you swear not to tell anyone?"
"What?" Matt asked, switching into big brother mode, "Is it Zack? Did he pressure you into something?"
"Shut up, Matt," She dismissed, "It's about Leda."
Mira pressed her cheek against Lucy's forehead and frowned, "What is it?"
"Leda is," She paused for dramatic effect, "Pregnant."
"Oh shit," Mira said, forgetting her promise to not swear in front of the baby.
"Are you serious?" Matt asked.
"Totally, I was there when she took the tests. She's been harassing me ever since." Marli held up her phone as evidence.
"Do mom and dad know?" Matt asked.
"How far along is she?" Mira asked.
"Nope, mom and dad don't know, and I think…" She scrunched her face up in thought, "Maybe twelve weeks?"
"Jesus," Mira murmured, "Leda's gonna be a mom."
"Mom and Dad are gonna freak," Matt said with a shake of his head.
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Four days later, Faith pressed her palms on the top of her suitcase until she heard it click. She looked around the room one last time. It looked empty without her many female sport figure posters, her purple bedspread, the clutter, and her lucky alarm clock.
She sat on the bed and looked at the Tabitha's necklace that remained would around her wrist. With a sigh, she held it close to her chest.
A few days ago, so called her father and asked a favor. Timothy, desperate to make his daughter like him again, eagerly agreed before even knowing what it was.
In a few days, a new metal picnic table would arrive, paid for by her father, with a plaque in the center of it in honor of Tabitha Verticheli. It probably cost her father a pretty penny, which made her happy.
In a few weeks, she would be on that plane to Montana, and out of this hellish town. Away from her male-dependent mother and cheating, lying, bastard of a father. Until then, she would be staying with her dad. At least he and Stacey had a big enough house that she didn't have to be around the dumb bitch.
Faith dragged the heavy suitcase off the bed and dragged it out of that room, out of that room forever, and into the hall, where Ryan and Mira were waiting for her.
"You got everything?" he asked. She nodded excitedly. Ryan reached down and took her suitcase from her.
Side-by-side, the three of them walked to the door, the exit. Faith brought a hand up and pushed it open.
Timothy's car was parked in front, trunk open, while he was placing her other suitcase in it. He smiled at the three teens before taking the suitcase from Ryan and walking back to the car.
Faith took a step forward and spun around so she was facing Ryan and Mira. The amount of sadness oozing off them was almost palpable.
"I guess this is where we say goodbye," Faith said eventually. Mira was blinking rapidly to keep away her tears, while Ryan just looked immensely sad.
Mira went first, "I… you somehow made this horrible place tolerable. I'm gonna get better, and I'm gonna go on with my life, and I have you to partially thank for that," She said softly. Faith smiled and embraced the girl tightly.
"Take care of yourself, Mira," Faith said against Mira's hair, "and take care of your baby." Mira laughed tearfully, but nodded her head.
When they ended the hug, she turned to Ryan, who avoided her eyes. Faith took his hand and squeezed it.
"I'm really gonna miss you, Ry," She said tearfully. Ryan pulled his hand back and tugged Faith to his chest, hugging her as tight as he could.
"Love you, Faith," He whispered.
"Love you, Ry," She said back.
Mira hugged herself tightly, watching the scene before her. She knew this had to be hard for both of them. For the last couple months, they had been each other's life lines.
"Faith?" Timothy asked hesitantly, "Are you ready to go, sweetheart?"
Faith pulled away from Ryan, then raised herself up on her toes so she could kiss his cheek. "Later."
"Later," He said back, watching his friend get into the front seat of the car, give them a small wave, and then drive off.
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It was five days later that Mira's own evaluation came. She had been really nervous about it. This meeting could mean that she could get out, or be stuck here for who knows how much longer.
Ryan hadn't been too good the last few days. In a way, it was understandable. Faith had been the first person he told about being bashed. She had been his real first friend since he was forced out of the closet. And being separated from her was probably very hard for him.
Mira crossed and re-crossed her legs before finally settling for crossing her ankles beneath the chair.
"Sit still, Mira," Audrey said from the chair beside her.
"What is taking that doctor so long?" Adam grumbled from Mira's other side.
"What if it's bad news?" Mira asked. Audrey placed a hand on Mira's back.
"Sorry that took so long, the printer was jammed!" Carla Kientzel said, rushing into the room and sitting at the desk, smiling at the three anxious people across from her. "So let's get this evaluation started, shall we?"
The next several minutes, Dr. Kientzel spoke of Mira's progress. "Mira has been cooperating much more in group, her weight is better," Carla paused, reading over something.
Mira grabbed both her parent's hands, "And…?" She asked.
Carla smiled, "And if things keep up like this, you should be out by the end of the week."
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