The Crime of Fixation

Chapter 1

"You can be the most ridiculous person on the face of this planet you know that?" I laughed as I listen to my best friend's problems for what would surely not be the last time tonight.

"Well I'm sorry, but since you're my only woman friend, you're the only one I can talk to about this crap." She said groaning into the phone.

"Cara, I don't understand why, every time you have the smallest problem with Ray, the two of you break up." I said laying down on the couch and turning on the TV.

"No Hay, it's different this time. She told me she changed her mind and thinks we should just keep it a secret still. She doesn't want to come out anymore."

"What!" I screamed sitting bolt upright and making myself slightly dizzy.

"The only reason I told everyone and was okay with getting shunned these last two weeks was because I knew she was going to be there with me soon. I thought we could get through it together. But she chickened out after finding me in the bathroom cover in food, because of the whole lunchroom incident." I could now tell that she was and probably had been crying the whole time we had been on the phone. How had I missed that? 

Cara was gay, and had come out about it just a couple of weeks ago. A lot of people were okay with it, but living in a highly religious community a lot of parents and their kids were being really twisted and sick about it. Me, James, and a few others were completely supportive of her, but the one day I had a doctors appointment and James decides to slut around and skip to get get laid, Cara got attacked in the cafeteria by a horde of 'saints'. The poor girl was cover it food, and like any rational person, she went to bathroom to clean up. Apparently Ray walked in from swim practice a couple of minutes later and found Cara. I of course, the following day beat up the idiots who hurt her and proceed to get sent to the principal's office, but seeing as I'm a model student and nice person normally, I was just reprimanded with a warning. Everyone who hurt her however got the schools no bullying policy thrown in their face and a two weeks detention for physical harassment. My negotiation skills are really getting amazing and I mean history of trauma has a great way of getting you out of sticky situations. 

"Come over, now. We'll hang out, James is coming too. You can sleep over and then tomorrow we'll do something fun." I was trying to get her mind off this, if Cara was left alone to wallow in this it would consume her.

"I can't my parents are forcing us to go see our grandparents." She hiccuped and then I heard a new wave of tears come on. My heart broke a little listening to her and I knew I couldn't take no as an answer from her. 

"Then I'm coming over at least for the night." I was on my feet and running up the stairs to my room before she had answered. I needed to be there for her, because she had always been there for me.

"You can't, when mom found me crying- well apparently I'm not allowed to see anyone in this fragile state because anything could set me off and she doesn't want to have to call the psychologist again. She still thinks she need to fix me." She hiccuped again and then sighed, "I had to steal my phone just so I could call you."

"Then I'll sneak in." I said pulling out my duffle so I could pack. I didn't care if I would die at Mrs. Mitchell's hand, Cara doesn't need to be fixed, she was simply heartbroken and it sometimes disgusted me that Mrs. Mitchell couldn't see that.

"She had Bob padlock my window. And as of tomorrow I'll have bars on it because she found out that you and Ray have snuck in before." She gave out a sour laugh that ended in a croak. "I'll be in an orange jumpsuit the next time they let you visit. We'll have to talk through a glass wall using phones."

"You are soooooo depressing sometimes." I groaned dramatically into the phone. That got an honest to god Cara laugh out of her and it brought a smile to my face. Even if she didn't tell me, I knew just a laugh would help her.