AN: Just a little reminder of that abuse TW. And I have updated the warnings in the Part 1 note, so check that out if you are sensitive to or triggered by this kind of content.
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Toni and Regan bunked off their last three classes and hung out together until the final bell. Even between the mindless chatting, joking and making out, Toni couldn't fully enjoy it with the memory of Carol's message lingering in her mind.
It's funny how when you are really excited for something time goes by so slow but when you are dreading something the minutes fly by at the speed of seconds. Every minute that passed Toni became more and more distant. She hoped Regan didn't think it had anything to do with her. Better yet, she hoped Regan didn't notice at all.
She was in the midst of drawing a sharpie tattoo on Regan's forearm when the bell sounded, making her jump. Her artistic masterpiece was marred by a large black line running directly thought the love heart as though it was crossing it out.
Regan laughed at the ruined image and at Toni's pouting face. "Well that's a bad sign."
Clicking the lid back on her sharpie with a chuckle, Toni stood up and extended her hands to help Regan up from her position on the floor. Regan grabbed them but didn't stand up. "Don't break my heart Shalifoe." She said it jokingly but Toni detected a small amount of seriousness in her tone.
There were too many heavy things on Toni's mind to make promises she wasn't sure she could keep. She knew she could never break Regan's heart on purpose, but the side of herself that she couldn't control had hurt people before. Shelby sprung to her mind in that moment. She shook her head, first at herself to clear her mind of Shelby and then at Regan.
"Never on purpose. You can hold me to that." She plastered a smile on her face and pulled Regan up to eye level. Putting on a posh English accent she joked, "Also, my art was not made to be analysed, so please refrain from allegory."
The comment drew a laugh out of the other girl, "Alright Constable, what is it for then?"
Toni looked her up and down, and smirked, "To cover up that funky mole on your arm."
"See, 30 seconds in and you've already broken your promise." Regan shoved her playfully. "Heartbreaker."
"I don't appreciate being labelled," Toni quipped back.
Regan simply rolled her eyes in response, trying to hold back a smile. "Do you want a lift back home?"
There were pros and cons to this decision. If she rode with Regan, she would be earlier back home and maybe Carol would be less mad. On the other had if Carol saw her in someone else's car it could make it much worse. She decided on the option that would give her the best of both situations. "Yeah, Actually. That would be great."
"Okay! Where do you live?" she said, spinning her car keys around her finger.
"I'll direct you. Its not too far."
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"Yeah, if you could just pull over here," Toni mumbled, directing Regan to the grass on the side of the road.
"You live..." Regan looked around as she pulled the car over, "In a corner shop?"
With a laugh Toni clarified, "No, my foster mom, Carol, is just really strict about like, dating and stuff. I live just down this road."
"Is this just a really roundabout way of saying you're not out to your-" Regan stopped abruptly, "Wait, foster mom?"
"Nah, can you imagine? Me, closeted?" She attempted to unbuckle the belt but she couldn't press the button down properly.
The other girl noticed her struggle and reached over to undo it for her. "Sorry, it's a really old car, there's a method."
Toni laughed but was grateful to be free of the restricting waistband. "Also, it's a long story but yeah, I've been in the system for years."
Regan nodded sympathetically and said, "Well, good luck with Carol." Toni shuddered slightly at the thought of what's to come. "I'll text you tonight."
"Don't worry, she's all bark no bite." With her first real lie of their relationship, Toni exited the car and began the short walk to Carol's house. Dread reverberating through her with every step she took.
The door opened before she had even climbed the two porch steps. "Oh, look who finally rocked up, I expected you an hour ago," Carol growled from the doorway.
"I'm sorry, school wasn't even finished an hour ago though-"
"Don't talk back to me. Get inside."
Toni stepped inside. A sharp slap to the face came simultaneous to the door slamming shut. Shit.
Carol reeked of cigarettes and wine. Great, Toni thought, she's wine drunk. For someone with experience of dependent drinkers, Toni was well aware that wine drunk was always so much worse than any other type of drunkenness. She found it made them more emotional. And when their predominant emotion was anger, such as with Carol, it did not bode well for Toni.
There was a thud as Carol stumbled back and ran into the dining room table. Hopefully she was too drunk to do any damage, but Toni didn't bank on that.
"Do you have any idea, how much you embarrassed me the other night?" The intoxicated woman grabbed Toni by the collar of her jacket. "Eric has huge bruise on his face. He is terrified to come back. I'd have a mind to send you away."
Toni gulped.
"But then I got to thinking," Carol let go of Toni and paused her speech to light another cigarette. After blowing the smoke directly into Toni's face, she carried on, "Your principal was talking about your next stop being a group home. So you've been kicked out of a bunch of houses right?"
Carol took a drag of her cigarette. Toni's heart dropped at the direction of the conversation but stayed silent, waiting for Carol to finish her point.
Carol hit her up the back of the head. "Right? Answer me when I talk to you."
"Yeah, yes; seven before you."
She stumbled to the ground as Carol pushed her away. Her body still sore from last week's incident.
"Rude girl. Okay so I thought, 'why is she still here?' Then it hit me." Carol stared down as Toni's defenceless form on the floor. "You're more scared of where you will be going next than you are of me."
I am really fucked now. If she was holding back before thinking I was going to leave her, what is she going to be like now that she knows I won't? Toni stayed where she was, collapsed on the floor and looked up at the woman standing above her. The unhinged, pathetic, wretched woman that now had complete control over Toni's life.
The first kick went straight to her jaw.
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Toni had never felt so spineless in her life. She hated this whole situation for so many reasons but the powerless, pitiful feeling that she felt after just letting herself get beaten was probably the worst part. She could cope with the pain, but the emotional damage was starting to take a toll.
Carol had ran out of energy about 2 hours ago and Toni had retreated to her room where she tended to her injuries. There was a long cut on her arm from God knows what, her torso was sore but not nearly as bad as last time, there was a gash above her eyebrow and a rapidly blossoming bruise on her jawline. The last two were going to be the most troublesome in terms of covering up. She was lucky that it was the weekend now so she had time to figure out an excuse for it or practice her makeup skills, which, due to this kind of thing happening fairly often, were pretty good.
Her phone buzzed on her nightstand. Putting down the physics textbook, she picked up the phone to see a text message from Regan. She smiled involuntarily seeing her name on her phone screen.
Regan: Hey! How did it go? I hope she wasn't too angry.
Regan: What are you up to tomorrow?
She started typing out a response when an email popped onto her screen. She opened the notification. It was an email from Mr. Winters detailing the first assignment for science. Toni decided to read it later and responded to Regan.
Toni: It wasn't too bad, she was just going off about my thing in science.
Toni sent the message but suddenly regretted bringing up her meltdown in science class. She had forgotten that Regan had been there as well. She hoped she didn't judge her too harshly. Toni searched through her sparse makeup drawer before replying to her second message. It seemed like she had enough to cover up the marks on her face. She would have to buy more tomorrow though.
Toni: I am hopefully seeing you tomorrow.
She held her breath.
Regan: I'll pick you up at the corner store tomorrow afternoon then :).
Toni: Can't wait.
She really couldn't have sounded less cool than she did whenever she opened her mouth around Regan.
'Seen' appeared under her last text message but Regan didn't respond. Toni immediately started to feel a bit insecure so she distracted herself by bringing up Mr. Winter's email. She read the first few lines and chucked her phone to the end of her bed.
A group project. With her desk partner.
Shelby Goodkind was 50% responsible for whether or not she got accepted back onto the basketball team.