the way i am

Uh huh. I’m sure. Well, have a handful of condoms. And here’s a card for the free clinic. They do STI screenings. You’ll probably be needing both. 

No thanks, I can supply my own shit.

Don’t tell me how the fire changed things like I don’t already know.  I didn’t expect you to stay the same, but I didn’t expect you to become this.  Fine.  Whatever.

That’s my job. So do you not go here? Or do you just think you already know everything?

I know enough to not get a girl pregnant, that's for sure. The rest I'm sure I couldn't care too much about.

That doesn’t mean I don’t still give a damn!  I knew you before the fire and I know you can be better than this.  I don’t know what’s going on with you, but whatever it is, trying to ignore it through drugs and alcohol and being a reckless ass isn’t going to make it go away…  But whatever.  If you want me to leave, I’ll leave.

Cora – that fire changed this town. Changed people. I've changed. I like the way I live my life. It's a lot more fun than what you think it looks like. So with that – leave.

You sit around looking pissed off? Hell of a hobby. I’m here to give a safe sex talk to a bunch of teenagers. Should be a laugh riot. 

Enjoy that, I'm sure most of those losers in there don't even know what a condom is. You're doing this town a real service.

She’s ten this time, running through a field with a laugh careening its way from her throat. Nothing matters, not in this  moment, with someone bearing down on her from behind, nothing but the chase and the fun and the field of cotton that seems to stretch out forever in front of them. 

“I can’t just turn this off.” She snapped, tone making a quick and sudden shift from angry to desperate. Everything Derek had ever taught her had flown somewhere far, far from her head, her entire body coiled tight with the effort of keeping the rage contained. He was right—not that she’d admit it—but that didn’t mean she had any better control. “I can’t keep it together—and don’t give me the bullshit about not trying hard enough.” Breath was coming faster, her senses going bezerk, every nerve in her body tingling as she curled into a ball in the seat, head tucked against her knees as she tried to reign it in. It didn’t make sense, she’d been angry before, sure, but nothing like—and then it struck. The memory seeping over her reality, coloring everything around her. 

He listened, but Frankie had nothing else to say. Nothing else to argue against her, nothing else for him to get through to her. It was on her this time, and there would be no one else responsible but Amelia. Eyes rolled dramatically as they came to another stop, quickly making a right at the lights. The long, winding road that led to the mansion at the top of the hill. Everyone in town knew that someone had moved into it – an unfamiliar Russian woman and her degenerate family – Beacon High School students knew one of those degenerates happened to be Amelia. Even if he didn't consider her as such. Looking over, her head between her knees caused a sudden sinking to his stomach. Being known to push it too far was a horrible trait of his as he pulled over to the side of the road. Four ways all on, car in park as he undid his seatbelt.

“Oh fuck you.” She hissed at his response, unbuckling her seatbelt as she spoke. “I can walk.” There was something definitive to it—something that said, get me out of this fucking car right now because I can’t think straight anymore and I think you might be why. Or at least, that’s what she heard, what she forced herself to think as the sound of him saying her name echoed in her ears. Her hand went for the door handle, fingers curling around it gently so she wouldn’t break it. Angry as she was, she just might. 

“You take one step outside of that seat, and you and I both know I'll make you regret it,” he shot back coolly, a look flashed in her direction, daring her to try it. Frankie was beyond reason, he was just beyond annoyed: he was purely pissed off. “Whether you like it or not, I'm stronger than you, and I'll make you regret getting out of this car. Here is where you're safest, whether you like it or not. So shut the fuck up, don't break my fucking handle, and sit fucking still until you're home.” His tone was so strong, secure – it startled him. But there was no way she was getting out of his sight, not now.