"We have to find something. Taissa grumbled as she walked out of school followed by Natalie. "She can't be that untouchable."
"First you want to freeze Hallie out. And now you want compromising information on Montgomery ?" She rolled her eyes as she stopped walking.
"You were with her in middle school right ?" Taissa asked ignoring her sarcasm also stopping to walk.
"No I don't think so-"
"Weren't we all with her ?" Mari asked coming into the conversation as she passed by.
"I think I would have remembered a face like that in middle school." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, but I remember a Montgomery." Mari added, crossing her arms too. "There aren't millions of Angela Montgomerys in this little town."
"She disappeared in 8th grade."
Everyone turned to Misty.
"Angela." She said as she put her glasses back on her nose. "We had Spanish together. And the year after she wasn't in that school. She only came back for freshman year."
"Wait-" Mari seemed to think for a moment. "I remember Angela in Spanish. Jelly fatty."
Taissa opened her eyes wide with revelations, she clapped her hands and pointed at Mari like she was a genius. "Jelly fucking fatty !"
Natalie growled. "The girl you harassed almost every day ?"
"Yeah that's her !" She slapped her forehead. "How could I not recognize her ?"
"Well-" Mari smirked as she stared at Angela frôla afar who was scolding Lottie. "She's changed a lot."
"Oh god." Taissa rolled her eyes. "She just lost some weight."
"Maybe we should let her in peace then-"
"Which side are you actually on ?" She cut Natalie off as she approached menacingly.
"What is going on?-"
"Shut the fuck up Laura Lee !"
-----------
Angela had come to the pep rally as promised. With all the teenagers cheering for the team. She was taken for a moment by everyone's shared enthusiasm.
Lottie hadn't failed to give her an awkward little wave.
Which she thought was cute, just like the little bee painted on her left cheek. And the yellow barrette in her hair. And her bangs style like this. She was literally so perfect it warmed Angela's heart.
But unfortunately, something happened in practice afterwards. And a sinister atmosphere reigned when the whole team left the locker room.
Angela could feel the tension.
But she didn't know more than the others, apparently the team's freshman player had been injured.
"Are you okay ?" She asked quietly, looking at Lottie.
"I'm fine." She shrugged in response.
"You don't seems fine to me." Angela added, she hesitated for a moment.
Maybe just because of her and her problem with it.
But she slipped her hand into Lottie's and intertwined their fingers shyly.
Sure she had already kissed her. But this time it was different. Because it wasn't to prove to anyone. It wasn't to show it.
It was to comfort Lottie.
It was genuine.
And that terrified Angela. Because she only held on to three people, her father, her brother and Mia. If she felt that bad for Lottie. It meant she cared. And she didn't want to let another person into her heart.
"Is it okay ?" She asked, squeezing Lottie's hand lightly.
"It's more than okay." Lottie smiled, squeezing her hand back to empathize with her words. "Thanks."
Alfred looked out the rear view mirror at the two girls and smiled before shaking his head.
-----------
"Paul ! Open that damn door !" Gabrielle continued to drum and even started kicking the door.
Angela ran down the stairs trying to put on her lip gloss at the same time.
She opened the door. And her face crumbled.
"Mom ?"
The woman's face beamed. "Hi Angelina. Can you tell your father I'm here please ?"
My name is fucking Angela-
Her whole body tensed, she squeezed the door in her hands and forced a smile. "Sure."
She turned towards the stairs. "Dad ! Gaby is here !"
The older woman grimaced and nudged Angela inside. "I could have done that by myself."
The blonde rolled her eyes and let her in before huffing in annoyance.
She was going to be late for Lottie's game.
"Paul ! Paul ! We need to discuss the alimony !" Gabrielle screamed as she ran up the stairs.
Obviously she was there for the money. Why else would she be there ?
Timothy came out of the kitchen with his bowl of cereal and took his headphones off his ears with a frown. "What is Gaby doing here ?"
"Alimony."
"Oh." He nodded with an understanding expression. "And you're going to Lottie's game I see."
Angela smiled proudly. "Isn't it obvious ?"
She had the yellowjacket's jacket on, the number 5 on both cheeks marked in blue, and a yellow ribbon to tie her hair in a high ponytail.
Paula ran down the stairs and a vase brushed against her head, crashing against the door. The two turned their heads at the same time and Gabrielle quickly came up with a broom to continue hitting him.
But suddenly she stopped when she saw how her daughter was dressed. "Where are you going like this?"
"Huh-"
"Her girlfriend's game."
Paul and Gabrielle both glared at Angela sending shivers down her spine.
The only thing that brought them together was being angry at her.
"Excuse me ?" Gabrielle hissed as she let go of the broom and held out her hand for Paul to straighten him up.
"You have a girlfriend ?" Paul asked, massaging the back of his head.
"You didn't tell dad ?" Timothy leaned over to his sister as he scooped out his cereal.
"You didn't tell us ?" Angela's mother corrected, putting her hands on her hips.
She was screwed.
-----------
"I'm sorry Lottie." Angela apologized as she saw the girl walk out of the field with a sad pout.
Lottie sighed and didn't give her a look as she continued walking.
The blonde must have argued with not one but two of her parents. She couldn't handle another emotional fall.
But the universe decided otherwise.
Jackie came over and patted her shoulder with a proud smile on her face. "I scored !"
"That's great Jackie but-"
"No but, you owe me your number now." She smirked.
Lottie stopped walking immediately. A stab of curiosity struck her.
"Why would you want her number ?" Shauna asked as she approached.
"Yeah." Taissa smiled mischievously. "Why do you want Jelly Fatty's number ?"
Angela felt her stomach drop. It was as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest for Taissa to play soccer with.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Every word that could exist had been taken away from her and shoved down her throat.
When you've buried everything without looking back, it's devastating to take it all in your face once you look forward.
"What is wrong with you Taissa." Lottie gritted between her teeth as she walked past Angela putting her arm in front of her to protect her.
"Fuck this." She rolled her eyes as she walked away.
Jackie frowned at how Angela looked on edge. "What is she talking about ? Why did she call you that ?"
Angela brought a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob, and closed her eyes causing several tears to flow.
Shauna scoffed and grabbed Jackie by the shoulder to get her attention. "We should go."
"Angela-"
"Just go." Lottie said aggressively turning to the blonde.
Jackie got dragged away by Shauna with a heavy heart, she was worried Angela.
Lottie pushed aside all her anger, frustration, and annoyance for her. It wasn't hard since just seeing the tears on her cheeks made her expression soften.
"Don't listen to her Angela." She reassured her by placing her hands on both of her shoulders.
"Look at me."
Angela looked up and Lottie froze on her eyes, glossy, blue and sad.
"I know her words hurt you. But that doesn't mean it's the truth." Lottie mumbled, wiping away her tear with her thumb. "I'm begging you Angela, don't take what she says to heart. She's trying to get at you through the wound."
The blonde shook her head, letting out another sob. "She, she-"
"She left. It's just you and me." She nodded. "We'll get through this."
-----------
Since this incident, Angela has not returned to school for a week.
After Lottie had brought her home, she had locked herself in her room without saying a word to anyone.
Timothy knocked on the door with a sigh. "Angela ? Did you eat my chocolate bars ?"
The blonde crushed the package in her hands as quietly as possible. "No..."
"Then where are they ?" He groaned, rolling his eyes. "I'll ask dad."
"Yeah, I thought I saw him eating them it this morning." She replied as she got out of bed, but landed on an empty cereal box.
Timothy frowned.
Angela put her hand over her mouth to cover her gasp, but too late.
Her brother opened the door.
"Are you okay ?" He asked seeing how messy her room was.
A wave of shame washed over Angela. "Yeah."
Timothy didn't really like Gabrielle, because she was the one who made his sister like this. She had caused her to lose so much weight by starving her that the blonde now had an unhealthy relationship with food.
As soon as she was upset, Angela ate for comfort. Because she's been deprived of it for so long that she can't tell the difference between real hunger or just her emotions taking control of her actions.
And now her room was filled with dirty dishes, boxes of food of all kinds, empty bottles. Everything that came to her hand had been eaten.
"Do you want something in particular ? I'm going to go to the groceries." He asked, his hand still on the doorknob.
"Cheetos."
He nodded. "Noted."
Timothy closed the door and sighed. He didn't want Angela to feel any worse than that. So he'd bring her whatever she wanted until she clicked and started eating her disgusting, bland taost again.
But, he must have called one of her friends so that she wouldn't feel alone. So by grabbing her car keys, he picked up his phone and dialed Mia's number.
His call immediately went to voicemail. He rolled his eyes, now he had to find someone else.
He opened the door.
He bumped into a chest.
He backed away and looked up to see his sister's girlfriend.
Bingo !
"Hi, Angela hasn't been to school for a while. I just wanted to check if she was okay-"
Timothy took the bouquet of flowers she had in her hand. "Magnolias ? Okay, Angela is in her room, knock before entering."
Lottie nodded with a confused expression.
"I'll be right back." Timothy waved his car keys in front of her with a smirk.
He walked down the driveway to his car and waved one last time at Lottie with the flowers still in hand.
------------
"Angela ?" Lottie knocked softly on the bedroom door.
The blonde sighed and looked around her room. She let her shoulders drop, it was too late to put everything away in a hurry. She walked to the door and opened it, closing it immediately behind her.
Lottie thought she was hit in the head when she came face to face with the girl.
"I'm sorry Lottie, but I'm not continuing." Angela whispered her back still against the door as she looked up. "I know I had a commitment to you but I can't anymore."
Lottie felt her chest grow heavy. Her throat tightened as she stared at Angela. She was the one she wanted. She couldn't lose her now.
"I-I don't care about what Tai said-"
"I do." She affirmed looking away. "I'm really sorry. But I can't anymore."
Angela felt the tears come back to her, she would never have thought that Lottie would have had such an impact on her.
Finally after being so patient with her, Angela had made room for the girl in her heart. A place that only someone she truly loved could have. She had been the one who had been the most at her side these last two months.
She hated herself because she knew Lottie hadn't really known who she was. She knew this shell that she had created years ago so that no one could ever hurt her again like we had done before.
"Are we still friends ?"
Maybe Lottie was crazy for those words, but she would do anything to stay close to Angela.
"I'm so sorry Lottie-"
She immediately hugged Angela at her response. She buried her neck in her shoulder, her eyes closed, inhaling hee scent.
Angela froze for a moment, then responded to the hug. She wrapped her arms around Lottie's neck. She felt a comfort she had never felt before in her arms.
It was their first real hug.
Probably the last.
Lottie was now clutching Angela's t-shirt between her fingers, she knew for sure that she loved her. She may have had a little crush, but now things were different. Very different.
And everything was about to change.