Zora

Chapter Sixteen

Terrance kept his head lowered, unable to face Spencer and look him in the eye. He was ashamed of himself, and he needed help. But before he could receive it, he knew he deserved to be scolded by his best friend.

"I can't believe you right now," Spencer muttered as he paced back and forth in front of the couch Terrance sat on. Denise, who sat in the armchair beside Terrance, flicked her gaze back and forth between the two uncomfortably. After hearing Zora cry at her house and then learning about the situation between Terrance and Zora, she didn't know what to think.

"I'm sorry," Terrance whispered.

"Out of all things to call her, a boy is what you chose?' Spencer snarled.

"It was an accident." He wrapped his arms over his head. "I made an honest mistake. I've only ever yelled at you and my dad like this before, and the word 'boy' slipped out of my mouth before I realized it. I didn't even know I said it until she stared at me with those big, puppy dog eyes of hers."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Spencer slumped onto the ottoman with a heavy sigh. "I'd like to know what prompted you to yell at her in the first place," he impatiently demanded.

"I was asking Zora about why she was late. She told me she was at the LGBT alliance thing we have. Then she asked if I was gay-"

"Which I bet you denied," Denise snickered.

"Can it," he snapped. "We got into a small argument. She told me how it was easier said than done to come out, but coming out made her happy. And then she admitted she was taking pills."

"Pills?" Denise quietly asked in fear, and Spencer paled.

"Yeah. These little white pills that make her feel nothing. She feels empty when she takes them, and she said she got them from some creepy man in her old town. She knows how to get more if she needs them, and she said she took them often back in Georgia. I was worried she was addicted, and we argued. There was a lot of yelling, and then I snapped and called her a boy by accident," he explained.

"These pills," Spencer slowly asked, "she takes them often?"

"I don't know if she has since she moved here, but I know she used to."

"Why do you care if she takes pills or not?" Denise asked. Both boys turned to face her in anger. "Whether or not she takes pills is none of your concern. It could be for medical reasons, like depression. If they came in a pill bottle, they must have been prescribed."

"They came from a man who started a religious cult. I don't think he is a doctor with a medical license," Terrance snarled.

Denise whimpered and ran her hands over her face. "Why don't you take them away from her?"

"I tried, but she freaked out when I did. She claims she needs them for really bad days." Terrance let out a short scream before jumping up from the couch. "I'm so worried about her. I don't want her to end up like my mom. You know how bad she was. She was always on a new drug or bath salts or whatever. This pill numbing thing could be the gateway into a dangerous world."

"Then talk to her. Go and talk to her, because she needs to hear it straight from you. Tell her about your mom and why your dad left, because she deserves to know." Spencer sat beside Terrance and hugged him. "We don't care if you are gay. We still love you just the same."

Spencer lowered his head as he began to cry. "I wish it were that easy to believe."

^^^

Walking down the cold road back to her house, Zora wrapped her arms around her body as a cold chill nipped at her back. She didn't want to go home and face Terrance, but she didn't want to be alone outside or head back to Spencer's. It was difficult to believe anything he said after all the horrid things her bullies spat her since she came out. Though he hadn't lied to her, nor gave her any reason to believe he would, she didn't know if he was truly being honest. He was sweet and caring, and she believed someone better would eventually come along who he would rather be with. She didn't believe she would amount to anything. No one ever gave her any reason to believe in herself, and though she had friends she could finally rely on, she needed her Happy Pills.

Zora trudged on, only thinking about feeling numb as she walked home. As she turned the corner, the back of her head ached as someone grabbed her hair and threw her into the adjacent wall. She groaned as she looked up at the attacker. A man with a scruffy beard and crazy eyes pulled out a knife as he inched in close to her face.

"Give me your money!"

Zora didn't say anything, paralyzed in fear as she shook. The knife was very close to her neck. if she moved in any way, she would be cut.

The man grabbed her by the collar and screamed, "Come on, you fucking tranny, give me your money!"

"I-I-I don't have any on me."

"Bitch," he snarled, kicking her in the crotch.

Letting out a screech, she cowered her arms over her face as the man cut her arm as he punched her side. He kicked her again and again and spat on her before running away.

Shivering in the cold, Zora sobbed as she laid in the pile of trash outside a convenience store. She heard people run all around her, but no one stopped to help her. She heard footsteps pad up to her, and she glanced up to find a hand reaching down for her. Releasing a scream, she winced as the hand quickly pulled back.

"My bad," a familiar voice winced.

Opening her eyes, Zora gasped when she spotted Tiffany staring down at her in concern. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked in concern.

"A mugger," she whimpered.

As she struggled to sit up, Tiffany quickly dropped her purse to help Zora stand up and lean against the convenience store's brick wall. "You look horrible."

"I know," she sighed. "Thank you for helping me...but why are you helping me?"

Tiffany shrugged. "Look...I am terrified of what you could do to me. There's still that fear that you are trying to be a creep and watch me use the bathroom or attack me in the locker room, but deep down I have to remember that that's not true. I've been fed lies, and I chose to believe them.

"So when I saw you laying in a pile of trash, I knew I should help you because you would do the same for me. You shouldn't be left out here to die."

Smiling through the pain in her arm, Zora said, "Thank you."

Tiffany ripped the bottom of Zora's shirt and wrapped it around her arm. She walked over to her purse and shopping bag and pulled out a men's medium, gray t-shirt. "It was supposed to be a gift for my brother, but you need this more than I do right now. Wash it and give it back to me on Monday. I doubt he'll care if it's used. He might think it's vintage or something."

Tiffany helped Zora pull the shirt over her head. She knew that clothes didn't make up a person's gender, but she felt more masculine than she did feminine in the shirt. She couldn't pull off the 'girlfriend wearing her boyfriend's clothes' look, and instead looked like the top half of her was a boy.

For a split second, she wondered if it would be better to go back into the closet. But what good would that do for her? Lying to herself would get her nowhere, and she'd be as miserable as she was before. She was better off being herself, as it was how the world needed her to be.

"Do you need an escort?" Tiffany asked.

With nothing more than a small nod, the two began to walk toward Zora's house in silence. Warm tears slipped down Zora's cheeks, and pain struck deep in Tiffany's heart. She could still remember the first time she was almost mugged, but she was thankful Kaden was there to protect her. Zora had no one. She was left defenseless. It sucked, but sometimes that was what came with being a girl.

Once Tiffany saw Zora walk up the front steps to her house, she headed back home. Thought she couldn't stand the girl, Zora was eternally grateful to her for making sure she wasn't alone where anyone else could take advantage of her fragile state. It was one of the most thoughtful things anyone had ever done for her.

The moment she entered the house, she was overwhelmed by her friends running to meet her at the door. They stared at her in disbelief, seeing her dressed in masculine clothing was quite the shock. But when they saw the black eye forming under her right eye, they instantly grew worried.

"Zora?" Spencer began.

The moment she locked eyes with him, she dashed up the stairs and locked herself in her room. She couldn't face him, not then. She didn't want to face anyone, not while she was suffocating in fear. All she wanted was to feel nothing at all, and the pills locked in her desk drawer were the only way to make sure it would happen.