"What are you two-" A familiar southern accent shouted in distaste, obviously thinking that Dot and Toni were hooking up before taking note of Toni's battered body. "Lord, what happened to you?"
Dot stepped back allowing Toni's hoodie to fall back into place.
Toni stared at Shelby in shock for a moment until she cleared her throat and replied, "A fight at basketball yesterday."
"Not like you to just take a beating," the blonde girl shot back. With sympathetic eyes she stepped forward and reached for the bottom of the other girl's top.
Toni slapped her hand away and leapt back, her hip catching the edge of the sink. "What the fuck are you doing?" She yelped, reeling from the unexpected touch. She quickly regained her composure. "Why are you getting involved, I know you don't care. I saw the way you looked at me and Dot before you realised what was going on. You practically shuddered." Toni was seething at this point.
"Just because I don't agree with that lifestyle doesn't mean I don't care about-"
Toni scoffed, cutting her off. Every word out of Shelby's mouth was causing her anger to rise more and more. "Don't do me any favours, we're literally strangers. Just forget about this and get off my back!"
Dot stepped in, "Look Shelby just... Don't tell anyone about this."
Toni grabbed her bag and started to walk out of the bathrooms but Shelby stopped her at the door with a hand to her shoulder, "I won't, but should I be worried?"
Toni clenched her teeth and shoved her away. "Maybe if you got your nose out of everyone else's business you would be able to pay a little more attention to that boyfriend of yours because he's starting the find it elsewhere." With that, Toni stormed off.
"What are you talking about?" She heard Shelby shout after them. Dot just turned around, gave her a pitying look and followed after Toni.
--------
Toni couldn't believe the what she had said to Shelby. Or, she could believe it but she seriously regretted it. She was sure if she looked in the mirror right now she wouldn't be able to see her own reflection beyond that of her mothers.
She sat in her final lesson of the day, her cruel words floating around in her mind. She beat herself up until Shelby's words resurfaced in her mind, "I don't agree with that lifestyle." she had said. The memory instantly brought Toni out of her state of self-loathing. Who did Shelby think she was saying that to someone she barely knew? One of the most important people in Toni's life had been Christian, and had about 45 years on Shelby, but never had a bad word to say about her sexuality.
Toni cleared her head of the painful memory of Mrs Conners, now was not the time revisit that grief.
With her actions justified, Toni managed to get through the rest of the day with very few thoughts of a certain blonde haired bigot. Before long the final bell of the day rang. She was equal parts relieved school was over and dreading going home.
She quickly exited her final class and made her way to the locker room to grab the thin jacket which matched her school basketball uniform. The snowfall had lightened throughout the day so Toni was sure that the jacket would keep her warm enough to walk home if no one could offer her a lift. She wrestled the jacket on with very minimal grace and made her way to the carpark.
She pulled her hood over her head and stood under the broken floodlight in front of the library waiting for the others. As she was detangling her earphones she spotted Dot, Fatin, and Martha heading her way.
"Where are the others?" Toni asked once the other three girls were in earshot.
Fatin was the first to speak, "Nora went home with her sister," She paused, eyes glistening in intrigue as she continued, "I think Leah's dating someone."
"Really?" Martha responded, almost too quickly. Toni knew her well enough to detect a hint of jealousy in her tone.
"Yeah she got into a car with someone wearing a Cliffside uniform."
"A private school boy," Dot crooned, clearly excited to badger Leah about this tomorrow. She then glanced down at her robust digital watch. 'Oh shit, I've got to go guys, I forgot Mateo's got a day off so I have to take care of my dad today."
Toni's heart clenched in empathy for the girl. For years she had been her dad's primary care taker. Toni didn't know exactly what his illness was and she had left it too long to ask now. She knew enough though; he was dying. Dot had managed to make enough money through her job as a waitress and a bit of dealing on the side to hire a part time nurse. Toni had only met him once. He was very quiet but, if he was able to take some weight off of Dot's shoulders, that was all that mattered to Toni.
Fatin caught a lift with Dot as her house was on route.
It got much colder as it approached 4pm and it became pretty clear that Carol was not going to be picking Toni up today, this was no surprise as it had been the case for the past few months. She didn't was to put Martha out again though. "Hey, head home," she said when there was a lull in their conversation, "Carol's probably just running late."
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely!" A lie. "She always rocks up eventually." Another lie.
"Okay," Martha said and hesitated, "Text me when you get home."
Toni watched her walk away, get in her car and pull out of the parking lot, skidding on the ice and she peeled off but never slowing down.
Chuckling to herself at her friends terrible driving, she finished detangling her earphones, started her playlist and began her cold walk home.
After about 20 minutes, walking in the cold, paired with the sudden exertion constricted her lungs causing her to take heaving breaths. Of course, Toni thought bitterly, the basic act of breathing was now agony, as if the below freezing temperatures and dangerously icy sidewalks were not bad enough.
With her music blaring though her earphones, Toni didn't notice that a car had slowed to a crawl beside her until her song ended.
Toni ran both hands through her hair in frustration upon recognising the face that had been annoying present in her life today.
She yanked out her earphones and shouted through the open window, "Leave me alone Shelby."
"I was just-" Shelby cut herself off, shook her head and drove off; obviously deciding Toni was not worth the effort.
Shortly after that, when she was about halfway there, Toni messaged Martha.
Toni: I'm home
Almost instantly Martha replied, leading Toni to believe she had been waiting by the phone.
Marty: Great! I was worried. I think you should talk to Carol about getting a check up. It is not normal to be sick so often
Toni could have cried at that text. Martha barely knows Carol. In fact, she had never even seen her in person, but she still worried. Toni wondered if she would feel the same if she knew what was really going on with Carol.
Toni: Not everyone has your impenetrable immune system!
Martha sent back a string of emojis that Toni decided to decode later. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, she hunched up against the cold and picked up the pace. Almost eager to get home and defrost her frozen toes.
She forgot why she was so keen to get home when she finally wound up in front of the familiar grey door of her house. She quietly opened the door, pleading to a God she didn't believe in that Carol would be civilised.
Carefully, she crept through the house, hoping that Carol would be asleep so that she could head to her room without having to interact with her foster mom. She poked her head through the doorway of the lounge and spotted Carol out cold in her recliner with the TV remote in one hand and an extinguished cigarette in the other.
Toni smiled to herself and made her way through the house to her bedroom at the end of the hall. She squeezed her eyes shut in dismay and the door squeaked slightly before clicking shut. Forehead against the doorframe she listened for any sign that her foster mom had stirred at the sound. Nearly a minute of silence passed until Toni was able to move away from the door and let out a breath, flopping down on her bed. Her mattress was old and concave in the middle so she instantly was sucked into the centre of the bed.
Despite Carol being a few door away, Toni was finally able to unwind after the day she'd had. She closed her eyes and within moments, was fast asleep.