Lavish | on hold

5 | Sweet Little Lie (ii)

Portia made her way downstairs, hopping down each step in her Lucas Hugh sportswear. The bags under her eyes still remained there as she thought back to her sleepless nights filled with guilty thoughts and paranoia.

Ever since Claudia had let her know that she needed to tell Victoria, she had found it pretty hard to sleep or do anything without thinking about what she'd done and who she'd hurt.

Portia had attempted to text Roman and tell him that he had to tell her but was only replied with laughing emoticons and a good night to which she responded with a large chain of swears and curses that was certain to give him something to have nightmares about.

Exercise had been one way to get her away from all of the drama she knew she'd have to face today but only made her feel a lot more worse once she realised she wanted to brush away her problems and deny they ever existed.

Once she made her way down the stairs she was greeted with her mother's presence with her unconscious body on their soft and european couch, a bottle of vodka still in her grip. Portia slowly shook her head and remained mute, removing the bottle from her and replacing it with painkillers and a tall glass of water.

The longer she looked at her mother's unappealing state, the longer she realised that is someone she didn't want to be.

Portia just needed to find out how to escape that world before it's too late or else the downward spiral would be the only direction she could go in.

'Help me' She thought to herself, knowing one day she'd say those words out loud and one day someone would respond.

One day.

–

Victoria made her way down the hall, the student body moving out of their way whilst keeping all eyes on her - just the way she liked it.

This time it was different. Instead of the looks in awe and amazement, there were looks of pity and sympathy and Victoria didn't like pity. She kept her head up high and made her way into the ladies room, letting out a small sigh of relief once she realised she wouldn't have to scare people into leaving the bathroom.

As she added another coat of ruby red lipstick onto her lips, she heard small footsteps coming into the direction of the bathroom. If there was anything she could count the other girls at Lancaster Prep on, it would be gossip.

Without another thought, she packed her things and hid in a bathroom stall with her heels on top of the bathroom for her to not be seen.

"So, Roman cheated on her?" She heard a squeaky little voice say, a voice that sounded like it needed a strong dose of puberty.

"You're acting like this is the first time." Another girl dismissed, her voice sounding slightly more mature. "I don't know why Victoria hasn't left him already."

"She is nothing without him." The squeaky girl added in, those exact words feeling like a stab to the heart.

She then kicked open the stall and smiled at their completely shocked faces, knowing that they were regretting not checking the stalls.

"Honey, I won't need anyone to make the rest of your days at Lancaster hell." Victoria then took a step closer to the smaller girl that had the squeaky voice that she heard previously. "Gossip is for people for that matter, remember that."

She then twisted her heel and began fixing her hair, bringing out her makeup bag one more time. The girls did not move at all, still paralysed in position with the same expression plastered on their faces.