All Abandoned Together

Chapter One

As an orphan in nice and tidy Brooks, Tennessee, the worst thing that can happen was losing hope. There was one place that guaranteed that, St. Kate's, home for the troubled teenagers. Basically, if you were complained about by either other orphanages or by foster families and you were in high school it was where you ended up. It was basically rock bottom because while being in an orphanage it was more like prison. It was an old college dorm for an all-girls school, called St. Kate's, where the name comes from. With tiny rooms, uncomfortable beds, and the same three meals every day, it could make the most stable person lose their mind. The occupancy was twenty, a tornado took out two out of the three wings so there weren't that many girls. The boys wing was trashed so for the time being all the boys that were in the program were sent to different orphanages. 

School started at nine and the most troubled group, as they were called, were eating breakfast together downstairs. This consisted of Christina who looked put together ready for the day her backpack at her feet. She was methodically eating her food by size today. She was self-diagnosed with control issues and clinically diagnosed with OCD. She didn't believe them and refused to do anything about it. Katherine who was talking to Amy about school clearly stressed out about grades. Her dream to become a doctor made her put a lot of pressure on grades and on scholarships because she had no one to help pay for med school. Amy was calming the waters; she was the most bubbly and hopeful of the group despite having a close person to her die. The last and only person to foster her had died after three years of being together and it was still traumatic to her at times but she tried to remember the good times they had. She hadn't gotten close to anyone but the girls since then and even that was just surface level stuff. Lisa was staring off in the distance mumbling something to herself. Lisa had the beauty of a homecoming queen and the obsession of perfection to match but being labeled as an orphan put her out of the running pretty quick. She was really anxious today because her doctors just changed the medicine that kept her other personalities under control or as they now changed the diagnoses to side affects from PTSD. Having been abused both physically and sexually as a child brought a lot of baggage into her life including the defense mechanisms of some other personalities and she was not feeling like she was in control of herself this morning. Lastly Lauren and Dani were ogling each other from across the table, Lisa, the captain of their ship along with co-captain Amy, said they were either making out with their eyes or telepathically speaking to one another. Neither of the two girls had eaten anything off their plates just staring at each other with a burning passion. Lauren, the older of the couple, had been abused by her birth father from a young age having been brought into the system when she was six. Lauren has never got fostered or adopted though because she was mute and on the verge of an anxiety attack when she met other people especially grown men. Dani, the yin to her yang, was not calm in any way but assertive and at times aggressive. Never towards Lauren but often in defense of her crush and now girlfriend. Dani was fostered, a hit for her vibrant personality and socialness, but she never found a home. Every time she was fostered, they always complained about her and started self-harming around the age of twelve when the last family to foster her was especially rude. It also had to do with thoughts in her head and kids at school but having a toxic 'home' environment didn't help. She was much happier rooming with Lauren who she knew loved and cared for her. 

As Christina glanced over at the happy couple, she rolled her eyes. Everyone loved seeing their two friends happy but their romantics were gagging at times.

"Why don't you two go to a closet, it's not like you're eating anyways." Christina said bluntly which caused both insecure girls to whip their head at her. Having very opposite reactions as Dani starts shoveling in her food kind of having forgotten about it and Lauren pushes her plate away. Katherine and Amy gave Christina a 'come on' look knowing the youngest two members of their group both struggled with self-worth issues and having a friend bring it up didn't help.

Christina immediately felt bad about the comment, and was about to apologize before Dani said something with her mouth full as she had just finished her food, "Poor Christina can't force food down my girlfriend's throat. We aren't your puppets." Dani was right about one thing. Lauren's lack of eating was bothering Christina for all the wrong reasons. Not because she was concerned, but that was a part of it. The small t shirt basically swallowed Lauren's torso. But because there was nothing, she could do to change the stubborn mind of Lauren and her need for control was itching at her like an annoying bug bite. Lauren has always been a constant for Christina, she never changed, she was constantly anxious, constantly stubborn, and constantly tiny. Christina loved and hated that about her. It made Lauren almost impossible to manipulate, but it also made her a safe place to land when everyone else blew up.

"Spice." Lauren said softly, putting her hand on Dani's shoulder. "Not now." Dani seemed to calm down a bit. Spice was Dani's nickname given by Lauren because she thought that Dani had a punch to her like spice. It was also the opposite of the nickname Dani had given to Lauren when they were roommates, Sugar. Dani thought that Lauren was an innocent lamb and as sweet as sugar.

The calm lasted for about three seconds before Lisa sparked the fire again, "And it speaks." Dani quickly went from slightly less angry to furious at Lisa's words. She knew it wasn't the Lisa she knew and loved because Lisa informed them about the medication change last night. Lucky for Lisa, Lauren stepped in front of Dani who was ready to punch the girl in the face. "And it stands up for itself." Lauren was pretty sure this was Mary. Lisa's uber religious, lesbian hating, and in turn Lauren and Dani hating.

Lauren chuckled thinking about the way Lisa talks about Amy some nights when she's tired. "I'm not an it. I'm a girl." Lauren said as assertively as she could which wasn't much considering Dani was always the one to stand up for her. It wasn't Lauren's fault that growing up every time she tried to speak up it ended with a slap to the face. 

Lisa turned to face Dani, "Is Dan, the boy then?" Dani's fists clenched behind Lauren and Lauren turned around again trying to calm Dani down. Dani found love and care when Lauren called her Dan but when Lisa, or whoever this was called her it, it made her want to slap her.

"Dani, is my girlfriend. We are lesbians for a reason. Two girls in a relationship, no boys." Lauren finishes and Lisa spits on her. Lauren froze feeling the mix of saliva and mucus on her face both disgusting and terrifying her. 

"Disgusting, hope you two dykes rot in..." Before Lisa could finish her sentence, Dani came out from behind Lauren and tackled Lisa.

Katherine and Amy were cleaning off Lauren's face carefully. They both knew better than to fight with the girls.

They had rough times too, Katherine being an orphan and wanting to go to med school. She hated the lack of support, besides from these girls, that she had to pursue her dreams. She knew her parents would have hated it and a part of her always thinks that whenever she remembers her dream.

Amy was an orphan at birth and has been adopted once for about three years before the lady died. It was really hard on her but she always remembers she was lucky compared to the abuse Lisa and Lauren went through and the mental strain Dani has had from numerous failed adoptions. She tries to be positive.

As Dani was basically threatening Lisa with a spoon Christina got in between them. "Dani go to your room to cool off. We will tell Mrs. Jekyll about what happened." Dani muttered something about how this is stupid and Lisa deserves punishment but left basically dragging Lauren after her.

After a silent rest of breakfast Christina went to Mrs. Jekyll's office to talk about Lisa's behavior and medication change getting no empathy from the lady but Lisa scheduled an appointment for later in the day to get it fixed. Thank goodness because all the girls did not want another breakfast like that.