More Lorna
May. 26th, 2009 09:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a_qAnother character study. I've marked this fic under "rpg applications" but I can't remember what game was it, or if I even joined one. Perhaps I was just toying with the character. I have played Lorna in a wonderful RPG that sadly vanished when the host forum crashed. Some of my best bits of writing went with it (shows only that one should always have back up copies). 1400 words, PG.
P.E. was the last class of the day, so most of the girls were usually cleared out long before Lorna got out of the shower. That suited her fine, she hated group dressing. And lately the ever surrounding present of metal lockers had made her a tad edgy.
”Hey Lorrie.” Josie greeted her high up from the window sill. Lorna jumped surprised and looked up.
”Oh, hi. I thought I was the only one in here. Didn’t your mom made you quit that?” Lorna asked pointing at the cigarette. Josie skipped P.E. with different excuse every time, but she did came to locker room for a quick smoke once in a while. They had become friends after Lorna had joined her up in the window sill.
Josie shrugged at the question. ”Mother dearest is under that impression, yes. Want one?”
”No thanks. I have to be in the cello class in half an hour.” Lorna said pulling a t-shirt over her head. Then she rummaged through her beutybox to find her comb.
”I don’t get how you stand that hag every day! She’s bitch...” Josie said and blew a perfect smoke ring out from the window. The smell of it made Lorna’s mouth water but there wasn’t time to the lenghty teethbrushing- breath mints-routine. Against the sunshine from the open window, around Josie...Lorna squinted her eyes. It was the aura thing again. Quickly Lorna turned around, taking her hair drier. No need to see that. It wasn’t real.
”Yeah, well, that hag is teaching me to be the best damn cellist I can be.” Lorna answered, running the comb through her hair, opening the tangles. Then she started to dry her hair. She loved Josie like a sister, but she would make her late, as usual.
”Hey! You’ve dyed your hair!”
”What?” Lorna asked shutting the blow drier. Damn thing made such a racket you didn’t hear anything. She should buy a new one.
” Your hair. It got green stripes on it. I didn’t believe you would get that past your mom!” Josie smirked and jumped down. ”Let me see!”
Lorna turned around to look in the mirror. This couldn’t be! She had just dyed her hair brown again, no way there could be any... Green. Dark, luminous green. Like essence of an emerald. Super Green.
Josie dropped the cigaret stump into the sink where it died sizzling. She took a strand of Lorna’s hair around her finger.
”I like it. How did you get this colour? Did you mom freak when she saw?”
”No... I mean, she haven’t seen it. I just... Tested. I’ll dye it back.” Lorna said, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The brown had washed off. Not all of it though, only the new colour.
”You go girl! I was almost giving up on you, I thought you were doomed to that little nice girl role. That’s the spirit! And don’t you dare dye it over! That fancy new boarding school will be at awe in the sight of you!” Josie laughed.
Lorna ran her hand through her hair. It was funny. Slashes of green inside the brown. Like the seaweed.
”I haven’t decided. About the school, I mean.”
Josie sat down, leaning her back against the tiles. ” Are you mad girl? Think about it! Swimming pool alone should make your decision! The place sounds like a heaven compared to this hell hole.”
”This place isn’t so bad and you know it. And there is other things beyond swimming pools.”
”Like, what kind of things?” Josie asked.
...Like waking in the middle of the night because every single iron object in the house is humming in perfect harmony. Like bending a poker into a knot just by concentrating right. Like seeing everything as shining energy and in the next blink of an eye everything goes back to normal. Like having a headache so bad that you just cry in the dark and then curing it simply by holding a fridge magnet. Things like that.
And only for a moment Lorna felt the desire to tell all those things to Josie. But then she remembered... The shame. The fear. The brown, mousy hair. Hiding the truth so deep, that it was lost even from herself.
”Mom. Dad. You. Leaving home...”
”And those are the excatly the reasons why you should do it. It’s the school for gifted kids. You are gifted. We all know it.”
Lorna looked sharply at Josie. She couldn’t know... ”What do you mean by that?”
”You and cello? Gifted? Hello?” Josie rolled her eyes. ”Which, by the way, in the form of a hag is waiting for you right now.”
Lorna glanced at the clock in the wall. ”Oh shit! It’s almost three! Shit!” And there wasn’t more time to worry about the hair. Lorna just grabbed all her stuff and bolted to the door.
”Call me later, yeah? And don’t dye that hair, you hear?” Lorna heard Josie shout, but she didn’t turn to answer.
***
The house was empty when Lorna got home. Mrs. Davies had sent her home after a lenghty lecture of the importance of punctuality and concentration. But she just couldn’t focus on the music today. The notes that were yesterday so clear just blurred in her eyes today.
Lorna walked upstairs to her room and threw her bag into the corner. She placed a cd on the player and turned the volume as high as it would go. Mom hated when she did that and they had had several arguments over it. The old-school punk marched on from the speakers, washing every thought away with mindless screaming. She sat down the bed, amongst the notes and books and clothes. The normal chaos of her room. Another regular argument topic between her and mom. Mom...
When the white heavy envelope from the Xavier-school had dropped in their mailbox, mom hadn’t say a word. She just read the letter and then gave it back to Lorna. That’s all. Just looked at her, long and hard.
”I believe that this matter is yours to decide”, she had said. And after that... It’s not like she refused to talk about it, she just kept her distance. Dad wasn’t much better either. He just said that whatever Lorna wanted to do, they would back her decision. But in the end, it was all up to her.
Lorna took the letter from her nightstand. The paper was heavy and cream coloured, the logo and name of the school gilted. There had been a brochure with it too, pictures of the mansion and its grounds. It all looked nice and happy and shiny.
The song ended and another started with a pang. The singer yelled uncoherent words. Lorna stood up and went to get a wooden box from the back of her closet. With that, she marched into the bathroom.
She placed the box on top of the sink and opened it. Lorna looked up and from the bathroom mirror looked back a girl with pale face and tired eyes. Seaweed hair... Your decision. This was it.
Inside the box rested the long metal scissors. Slender and sharp. They had belonged to her grandmother. You didn’t find scissors like these anywhere anymore. Nobody made these. Lorna picked the scissors up and they purred in her hand. She knew the scissors so well, that only with a single touch she could make these slither around her wrist or shape them like jello or depart them atom by atom.
The music became louder and louder, gathering strenght for the big finalé.
”Time to dig up the truth.” Lorna said, raising the scissors. The mousy brown hair fluttered to the sink like falling leaves.
P.E. was the last class of the day, so most of the girls were usually cleared out long before Lorna got out of the shower. That suited her fine, she hated group dressing. And lately the ever surrounding present of metal lockers had made her a tad edgy.
”Hey Lorrie.” Josie greeted her high up from the window sill. Lorna jumped surprised and looked up.
”Oh, hi. I thought I was the only one in here. Didn’t your mom made you quit that?” Lorna asked pointing at the cigarette. Josie skipped P.E. with different excuse every time, but she did came to locker room for a quick smoke once in a while. They had become friends after Lorna had joined her up in the window sill.
Josie shrugged at the question. ”Mother dearest is under that impression, yes. Want one?”
”No thanks. I have to be in the cello class in half an hour.” Lorna said pulling a t-shirt over her head. Then she rummaged through her beutybox to find her comb.
”I don’t get how you stand that hag every day! She’s bitch...” Josie said and blew a perfect smoke ring out from the window. The smell of it made Lorna’s mouth water but there wasn’t time to the lenghty teethbrushing- breath mints-routine. Against the sunshine from the open window, around Josie...Lorna squinted her eyes. It was the aura thing again. Quickly Lorna turned around, taking her hair drier. No need to see that. It wasn’t real.
”Yeah, well, that hag is teaching me to be the best damn cellist I can be.” Lorna answered, running the comb through her hair, opening the tangles. Then she started to dry her hair. She loved Josie like a sister, but she would make her late, as usual.
”Hey! You’ve dyed your hair!”
”What?” Lorna asked shutting the blow drier. Damn thing made such a racket you didn’t hear anything. She should buy a new one.
” Your hair. It got green stripes on it. I didn’t believe you would get that past your mom!” Josie smirked and jumped down. ”Let me see!”
Lorna turned around to look in the mirror. This couldn’t be! She had just dyed her hair brown again, no way there could be any... Green. Dark, luminous green. Like essence of an emerald. Super Green.
Josie dropped the cigaret stump into the sink where it died sizzling. She took a strand of Lorna’s hair around her finger.
”I like it. How did you get this colour? Did you mom freak when she saw?”
”No... I mean, she haven’t seen it. I just... Tested. I’ll dye it back.” Lorna said, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The brown had washed off. Not all of it though, only the new colour.
”You go girl! I was almost giving up on you, I thought you were doomed to that little nice girl role. That’s the spirit! And don’t you dare dye it over! That fancy new boarding school will be at awe in the sight of you!” Josie laughed.
Lorna ran her hand through her hair. It was funny. Slashes of green inside the brown. Like the seaweed.
”I haven’t decided. About the school, I mean.”
Josie sat down, leaning her back against the tiles. ” Are you mad girl? Think about it! Swimming pool alone should make your decision! The place sounds like a heaven compared to this hell hole.”
”This place isn’t so bad and you know it. And there is other things beyond swimming pools.”
”Like, what kind of things?” Josie asked.
...Like waking in the middle of the night because every single iron object in the house is humming in perfect harmony. Like bending a poker into a knot just by concentrating right. Like seeing everything as shining energy and in the next blink of an eye everything goes back to normal. Like having a headache so bad that you just cry in the dark and then curing it simply by holding a fridge magnet. Things like that.
And only for a moment Lorna felt the desire to tell all those things to Josie. But then she remembered... The shame. The fear. The brown, mousy hair. Hiding the truth so deep, that it was lost even from herself.
”Mom. Dad. You. Leaving home...”
”And those are the excatly the reasons why you should do it. It’s the school for gifted kids. You are gifted. We all know it.”
Lorna looked sharply at Josie. She couldn’t know... ”What do you mean by that?”
”You and cello? Gifted? Hello?” Josie rolled her eyes. ”Which, by the way, in the form of a hag is waiting for you right now.”
Lorna glanced at the clock in the wall. ”Oh shit! It’s almost three! Shit!” And there wasn’t more time to worry about the hair. Lorna just grabbed all her stuff and bolted to the door.
”Call me later, yeah? And don’t dye that hair, you hear?” Lorna heard Josie shout, but she didn’t turn to answer.
***
The house was empty when Lorna got home. Mrs. Davies had sent her home after a lenghty lecture of the importance of punctuality and concentration. But she just couldn’t focus on the music today. The notes that were yesterday so clear just blurred in her eyes today.
Lorna walked upstairs to her room and threw her bag into the corner. She placed a cd on the player and turned the volume as high as it would go. Mom hated when she did that and they had had several arguments over it. The old-school punk marched on from the speakers, washing every thought away with mindless screaming. She sat down the bed, amongst the notes and books and clothes. The normal chaos of her room. Another regular argument topic between her and mom. Mom...
When the white heavy envelope from the Xavier-school had dropped in their mailbox, mom hadn’t say a word. She just read the letter and then gave it back to Lorna. That’s all. Just looked at her, long and hard.
”I believe that this matter is yours to decide”, she had said. And after that... It’s not like she refused to talk about it, she just kept her distance. Dad wasn’t much better either. He just said that whatever Lorna wanted to do, they would back her decision. But in the end, it was all up to her.
Lorna took the letter from her nightstand. The paper was heavy and cream coloured, the logo and name of the school gilted. There had been a brochure with it too, pictures of the mansion and its grounds. It all looked nice and happy and shiny.
The song ended and another started with a pang. The singer yelled uncoherent words. Lorna stood up and went to get a wooden box from the back of her closet. With that, she marched into the bathroom.
She placed the box on top of the sink and opened it. Lorna looked up and from the bathroom mirror looked back a girl with pale face and tired eyes. Seaweed hair... Your decision. This was it.
Inside the box rested the long metal scissors. Slender and sharp. They had belonged to her grandmother. You didn’t find scissors like these anywhere anymore. Nobody made these. Lorna picked the scissors up and they purred in her hand. She knew the scissors so well, that only with a single touch she could make these slither around her wrist or shape them like jello or depart them atom by atom.
The music became louder and louder, gathering strenght for the big finalé.
”Time to dig up the truth.” Lorna said, raising the scissors. The mousy brown hair fluttered to the sink like falling leaves.