When Kaya Perry graduates college, the last place she wants to go back is Layton, the town that she left behind. She left that place with bad memories and no friends, so there is no way she's looking to go back. So it's really a bummer when the job...
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After calming Kaya down and getting her into the house, Ty called Lauren and Olivia over and headed straight to her kitchen to make them all some dinner. Kaya could hear him rummaging around the kitchen as she slowly walked to her room to gather her clothes for a shower. She couldn't stop herself from crying in the shower, and then a couple of times more when Olivia and Lauren burst in carrying ice cream and Kaya's favorite bad movie "The Room."
She thanked whatever deity for the friends that she had as they enveloped her in a group hug.
Once Ty joined the girls in her living room, Kaya explained what happened. Everyone reacted differently: Lauren started cursing Alison out, while Olivia stayed silent, fuming, and Ty walked out the door to get some air. She almost wanted to stop him, but she knew that he would come back when he cooled off and she also had Lauren and Olivia to keep her company. Lauren especially comforted Kaya with small back rubs and words of affirmation; like Kaya, Lauren had been the target of rumors when she arrived in Layton as well, though no one tended to mess with her because people were both afraid and in awe of Olivia.
It made Kaya a little bit happy to know that these people cared for her, because her mother was too far away and her uncle and aunt would coddle her. She remembered that she needed to call her family and tell them the news, but she needed time and would tell them tomorrow, once it sunk in and she got some sleep.
"This is so stupid," Ty said a couple of hours later. Lauren and Olivia had left—Lauren had an early flight to New York for a client the next morning and Olivia was driving to see her father a couple hours away—and it was just the two of them in Kaya's house now. She was huddled into his side covered in a blanket, while he stared at the blank TV. Though she hated to admit it and could hear both Lauren and Olivia's voices in her head cheering her on, Ty's body was warm, comfortable, and felt safe. Not to mention that every once in a while, most likely without him noticing, he would rub her back or squeeze her shoulder or pull her a little bit closer.
Kaya wasn't sure if he was talking about the romantic comedy they had just finished watching, or her getting fired. More than likely he was talking about both. And she agreed with both sentiments.
He shifted and looked down at Kaya. "I'm serious," he said, his voice quiet. "Alison fired you for a ridiculous reason, and I'm pretty sure that's illegal. She should be talking to her other employees about this instead of coming down on you. For fuck's sake, you could sue her for it."
"I know," she whispered. "And the worst thing is, I did all of the right things. I didn't get in her way, I helped the kids, and I even volunteered for those crappy events that people thought up." She sniffled once again.
Ty sighed. "You should do something about it."
"And get the entire town of Layton angry at me for pushing back against their golden girl and calling her out?" Kaya snorted. "No thanks. I didn't come here for drama. Plus, I don't want to deal with the financial burden of suing someone, even if I have a chance of winning."
