Admiring the Light

Ep 7

Natalie tightened her lips, releasing a single "Bye" before hurrying out. "Sport wants boneless chicken and waffle fries, mom. BONELESS CHICKEN AND WAFFLE FRIES!"

"BONELESS CHICKEN AND WAFFLE FRIES?" Her mother called back, even after it had been repeated twice. "YEP! JUST PLAIN." She didn't care, she was too Natalie to care as she merely confirmed it.

"Natalie..." Just as the teen was going to come downstairs, Lola came up. "Natalie, she's literally victim blaming." She groaned. "She's a fucking officer?! And she's saying they should've just slowed down so the crash wasn't so bad."

"That's my mom for you, she hates anything she sees as an inconvenience. But who does? Who would want to work overtime?" Natalie sighed, she didn't want to defend her mom, she got the discrimination firsthand sometimes. But she knew Katherine could do better, she just needed the chance to. "And what's better, they probably desensitized them in training and stuff."

"I don't give a shit, my job is 24/7 on our farm, and I've woken up in the middle of the night to nurse sickly calves back to health. I can look at blood with no problem." Her fiery gaze stared up into her girlfriend, daring her to continue this. "And you cannot tell me she puts you and your sister before her job and herself, because I've seen it."

"I'm not saying you're wrong, believe me. I'm just saying that God loves everyone, and his forgiveness is endless. And so is mine." Natalie wasn't going to just back off, but she didn't want to fight the validity of Lola's points, she just wanted to lessen the rage.

"Don't see why she's deserving of jack shit..." She cursed under her breath, but the taller girl still managed to pick it up. "Because she's a human, and all humans deserve rights and opinions, even those perceived as the absolute worst." She sighed. "That's like saying that you and I don't deserve mercy after we mess up a few times. I'd forgive you after any dispute, even if our opinions clash. And I'd accept that I'm in-"

"Stop, please just stop. You can talk, but if she ever hurt you further, I'm scared that you wouldn't react and you'd still give her more chances." She tried to get her perspective out, and the two girls just stared at each other for a minute. "And you'd be my first contact if anything were to happen. Of course."

"I'd hope I could help if anything went south, but anyway-" They stared at each other some more. "Good plan, let's do that." Natalie smiled. "Just Dance? Or Mario Kart works too, but I only have Wii wheels and remotes, no controller."

"Yeah, but those Just Dance levels are so corny? Like they don't get you moving much at all, it's just dumb stuff." Lola had a year of gymnastic experience, Natalie knew that much. So of course a Wii game would probably be boring for her. "Girl, look, Just Dance is pretty much all I can do." She joked.

...

Flashback

"And stretch... use your whole body." All of the other girls could do what the instructor showed, but Natalie struggled to even touch her own toes. "My arms... oh crap my arms..." She swore she heard something pop as she attempted it again, but her arms really seemed too short.

"And moving into another..." The rest of the group had already gotten off their feet, she really seemed to be the only one with difficulty. And if anything, it made her resentful, as she shot a glare toward where her mother should've been, and of course wasn't. Katherine hadn't even tried to get her into a beginner group, she'd just insisted on adding her wherever free like it was babysitting.

"Natalie, get up, go with the rest of us." The girl to her left tried to help pull her up, but Natalie was a good six inches taller than her, than all of the others. "Thanks for the amazing advice, Obrero. Now, if you'll excuse me from your almighty presence-" She hissed back at whoever had tried- and failed to help her, getting to her feet herself. Lola, that was her name, but ultimately an unimportant piece of information in her mind.