For as Sick as it May Seem

14 - Goodbye

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Scranton is a pretty small town; so word that Cory was dating and living with 28 year old metal singer Chris Motionless got around pretty fast. Unfortunately, so did the news of Cole's death. So when Cory got to school on Monday, half of the students were calling her a slut or a whore, and the other half were giving her their condolences. Neither of which did Cory enjoy.

None of that first day back was very fun. Cory hadn't been to school in quite a few days so she wasn't caught up. Her lessons were confusing, and she was behind on a lot of her homework. Luckily, her teachers understood and told her to take her time when trying to catch up. Though, none of that changed the fact that Cory would practically be up all night this week trying to catch up. Her OCD wasn't going to let her be behind for very long.

When Cory got home that day, she was immediately greeted by Wendesday. Cory got as much homework done as she could before she absolutely had to start getting ready for work. She made sure Wednesday had enough food and water in her bowls, then headed out.

Cory headed to Starbucks, as she normally did before work. This time though, she made sure to actually tell the barista that her name ended in a 'y'. When she got it, she even checked to make sure her name was spelled correctly so that Chris' tour bus didn't crash or something else terrible. (A/N: I'd just like to clarify that bad things don't REALLY happen when Cory's name is spelled with an 'i' and not a 'y'. However, on days when she did drink coffee with her name spelled with an 'i', bad things JUST SO HAPPENED to occur. And with Cory's mental illness added into the equation, she now believes it. It has nothing to do with the actual coffee though. It's all Cory.)

Once Cory got to Hot Topic, Mandy was the first to greet her with a hug.

"How you feelin' honey?"

"I'm fine." Cory sighs as they break the embrace.

Mandy had taken Cole's death really hard as well. She'd known Cole since Cory first started working for her and had always gotten "annoyed" over Cole's little crush on her. In actuality though, she'd actually thought it was kind of cute.

"Here's all the money I owe you for the clothes you got me." Cory says, handing Mandy a wad of cash.

"Oh, no, you don't owe me anything."

"Yes I do. Just take it."

"It's okay, really."

"Come on!

"Cory."

"Mandy."

"You're not gonna stop until I take the money, are you?"

"Nope."

"Ugh." Mandy groans before taking the money and putting it in her bra, "Happy now?"

"Yes. But if I were you, I'd put a little something in the other cup 'cause now you look lopsided."

Mandy looks down at her chest, then looks back up and shrugs, "Eh. The left one's bigger anyway." She says, "C'mon. We just got a new shipment in. Help me put some stuff on the mannequins in back."

Cory nods and follows Mandy to the back room of the store where only employees were allowed. Cory liked it when Mandy had her help out back there. They could really get some privacy.

"So...I know you hate talking about this, but...with Cole gone and all...Maybe you should start looking into your birth fam -"

"Don't. Even. Start." Cory says.

Mandy shrugs, "Just trying to look out for you." She says, "Anyway. How's living with Chris been?" Mandy asks, grabbing a few pieces of clothing from some boxes.