woman like me - j.f✔️

XXX

"Before you go off on a rant," Justin spoke, the pair of them sitting on the couch. "There's more. Not about Hannah, but why I'm in Middlegate." Love didn't know if she could take more, but she had to at this point.

"After everything went to shit, I needed to leave. I didn't have a great home, my mom was a junkie and her boyfriend was an abusive drug dealer." As soon as he said those words, Love's heart softened for him. She placed a hand on his knee, begging for him to continue. "I needed to do anything I could to be able to leave Evergreen, so I stole money from my mom's boyfriend. But it wasn't enough to get me started out here, so I went to Bryce's."

Love's blood boiled at the sound of his name. She prayed to God she never gets the chance to meet him.

"I held him at gunpoint, stole all of the money from his account, and took his car." He admitted, looking down at her hand. Which stayed put. "I traded it in for a cheaper car, found an apartment, found a job. And I still have money left over. The horrible thing is, I don't feel bad."

"You shouldn't." She spoke up, placing her fingers under his chin, and pulling them up so they could meet eyes. "He deserves all of that and more for what he did, don't feel bad." He nodded, but nothing felt good right now. He was waiting for her one comment. "And despite what you did, I still want to be your friend. A lot of people on there are probably good people, but did a bad thing. Apart from Bryce, and Sheri. Courtney seems like a dick."

"Welcome to Liberty high." He chuckled. "And thank you, Love." She smiled, standing up to leave. She brought him into a hug — of which they both needed after today. "Text me when you get home safe."

As she'd pulled into her drive, she knew WWIII was about to erupt. Her mom was usually nice, polite, respectful of others. But if it came to her child acting out, she'd switch up in a matter of seconds. Love opened to door, looking at the time on the clock above the TV. 4.12pm.

"The school called," her mom spoke, taking Love by surprise as her tone was unusually calm. "Where were you all day?" Love threw her bag against the floor beside the stairs, entering the kitchen where her mom was sat with paperwork.

"I was out. I'm sorry for skipping, mom. I just needed a day away." She replied, which was the truth. There was no way she'd function properly in school with this news floating around her head. Her mom didn't seem in the slightest bit mad, which Love was shocked about.

"You could've told me." Her mom stated, standing up and opposite her daughter. She placed her hands on her shoulders, seeing Love's desolate eyes. "Since I found you in Kenny's room, I know bad things have been happening. And what you tend to do, is cover it up as if everything is okay. But it's okay not to be okay."

Her mom's sweet words reduced her to tears, as she held her tightly. "I have to get to work, but Margot is at her friends house for the night. So, you can have Rowan over, or Justin. Or whoever. Just relax." Love nodded as she watched her mom leave, part of her was hoping she didn't. She needed someone to hold on to.

She'd had enough of thinking about Hannah for one day, and she needed someone who was entirely disconnected from that part of her life. So she called Rowan. Love laid on her couch, crossing her legs and laying her head back, waiting for the call to connect. "Hey, Ro."

"Hey, babe. Is everything okay?" She asked. "I didn't see you at school today."

"Yeah, I had the day off." Love mumbled. "I need you, I need you right now." Her tears had started up again. She should be happy; she was in a good place with Rowan, her and Justin are still friends, summer break was so dangerously close.

"Of course, I'll be over as soon as I can." Once the call ended, Love laid there and sighed. Maybe it was her period making her so emotional? But it definitely had something to do with the tapes, hearing Hannah's last time shattered her heart. She didn't know her cousin was so desperately needing someone.

Love heard the door open, not even looking up to see if it was Rowan or a masked murderer. She'd almost run to the side of her girlfriend, bringing her into a hug. They were both small girls, Love shorter than Rowan only by a few inches, but their hugs felt like everything was okay. She didn't know if she needed Rowan, or just needed someone.

"It's gonna be okay." Rowan whispered, crouching beside the couch with her crying girlfriend in her arms. "Talk to me, Lo." She remembered the conversation behind that nickname. They were in gym, stretching before their class. And they were thinking of nicknames for Love, as a name like that didn't have many. Rowan had lots; Love called her 'Ro' and her younger brother called her 'Wawa'. And Rowan decided on calling Love 'Lo', as it's like 'JLo'.

"Can we just lay here? I don't want to talk." Love croaked out, placing her hand onto Rowan's cheek. Rowan nodded, joining Love on the couch and sitting beside her, Love's head falling into her lap. As she laid there, Rowan was dragging her perfectly manicured nails through her hair. And for a moment, everything felt like it was going to be okay.

Hannah was no longer in pain, but she didn't know about the other girls. Love's thoughts were consumed by Bryce, and how bad she wanted to rip every limb off of his body. But her thoughts had quietened once she fell asleep, Rowan still delicately playing with her hair.