Part 2

The next 11 years of Nora's life

Part 2

Cynthia and Kevin Breedlove were a nice interracial couple with the ages of 36 and 39, respectively. Cynthia looked like an older version of Ms. Osaka, with long black hair, almond-shaped dark eyes, and an hourglass figure. Kevin had military-cut blonde hair and crystal blue eyes with a thin body. She was an editor for a private publishing company, and he was a lawyer. Their house was medium-sized, with little white shutters and an oak wood door. Nora's room was lime green, with a floor made from the same material as the door.

"You're free now," Cynthia told her, which Joe didn't quite believe.

"You won't be trusted here either!" he warned, "Just you wait, and one day, Kevin will leave and Cynthia will abuse you!"

"I doubt it," Venus responded.

"Shut up!"

"Remember what Ellie said!"

"Hush," Nora intervened, and the voices obeyed.

The next day, Kevin took Nora to the doctor, who confirmed that she had childhood-onset schizophrenia, and there was not much that they could do.

"But what about Risperdal, Haldol, or even Abilify?" Kevin asked, obviously worried.

"Unfortunately, the FDA has not approved the usage of drugs like those for children under 13," the doctor frowned, "however, there is an experimental drug for children like Nora, called Quivia."

"Well, can she take it?"

"We don't have it here, but I'll see if the pharmacist can get hold of a bottle or two. For now, I recommend psychotherapy."

"Alright." He sighed.

The Breedloves put Nora in a special school that was disability-supportive, where she was put in a class with two other children with childhood-onset schizophrenia, and the rest with other mental diseases like multiple personality disorder or BPD. The psychotherapist at the school was a woman named Laurette Brown, a young woman (didn't look a day older than 30) with short dark brown (almost black) hair with brown eyes and an apple figure.

"Hi, Nora," she smiled at the beginning of Nora's first session, "I'm Ms. Laurette."

"Hi…" Nora shyly replied.

"I don't like this…" Joe started.

"Mr. Skeptic." Venus interrupted.

"Shut up," Nora whispered, "I don't want an incident like the one with Kika."

Apparently, Ms. Osaka knew Ms. Laurette pretty well, so she faxed her everything she and Nora went through, so it was like the only difference was the woman talking to her, and she enjoyed her company, much to the pain of the voices.

"We'll go away if you continue!" Joe warned before one session two months later.

"I want to be normal now, Joe," Nora explained, "I don't want to believe in unrealistic things."

"But…" He tried, but Nora entered Ms. Laurette's office.

About a week later, when Nora walked downstairs to get some breakfast, she saw Cynthia and Kevin at the kitchen table, drinking dark coffee and talking about her mother and John, a "trial" and them not being able to gain "custody" over her, and that she's to be placed in permanent foster care.

"Cynthia, what's a custody?" Nora peered into the doorway and asked.

The couple turned to see the now-healed body of Nora with shoulder-length brown hair and wearing pajamas with little bunny patterns on them.

"Oh…" Cynthia paused for a bit, "it's if your mother can have you back or not."

"I don't wanna go back there," she frowned.

Kevin walked up and hugged her, "It's okay," he assured, 'I don't think you'll have to deal with her again."

Kevin was right. Not only was Nora's mother stripped from her custody over her younger daughter, but she also needed therapy to manage her grief!

Nora heard about that while she was at the clinic (since her doctor finally got a bottle of Quivia), "At least I don't have to deal with her anymore."

"Indeed." Cynthia also smiled.

After a few more minutes, the two were called to see the doctor.

"Well, you got the call," the doctor started, "right, Mrs. Breedlove?"

"Right." Cynthia nodded.

"Alright. Nora isn't diabetic or have blood issues, so there won't be any problems with trying the Quivia."

"No…!" Ellie started.

"No…!" The other voices followed.

"I'm sorry Ellie," Nora explained, "Joe, Venus, Ethan, but I want to be normal."

"Ok, Nora should take a 0.5 gram dose a day, but it must not be taken less than two hours before or after eating."

Sure enough, thanks to Quivia, Nora's hallucinations, delusions, and other symptoms receded, and Nora finally felt like a normal person, though she still had sessions with Ms. Laurette, who was really happy that Nora could almost-fully tell the difference form reality and fantasy.

"In fact, I think you can be placed in regular classes next semester." Ms. Laurette announced when Nora was 10.

Nora squealed in excitement, "Really?"

"Yep!"

She joyfully wrapped her arms around her, "I'm really happy, Ms. Laurette!"

"I am too, Nora."

So. That January, Nora was placed in the normal classes, and everyone was really accepting of her condition, even though they first believed it was nonexistent.

"So, is it, like, completely gone or…?" One classmate asked her.

"I still have a hallucination every now and then, but otherwise, it's under control." Nora replied with a smile on her face.

"That's good."

"Thanks."

Nora made quite a few friends during the rest of her school year, though she (at 18) doesn't remember as much as she should about them, even after she completed the middle school division of her school. She also grew her interest in theatre, since she seemed to have a knack for being able to act like other people, which motivated her to do a few productions every now and then during the rest of her time at the special school.

At the end of the 8th grade year, she, Cynthia, and Kevin were to move to a city 3 hours from her school, and go to a different high school that the high school division.

"Do you really have to go?" all of her classmates and Laurette asked.

"Yeah, I have to go where my father's job takes me." Nora responded.

"Goodbye Nora," they all told her, "good luck in the city!"

She was also taken off the Quivia and given a drug FDA- approved for children 13 and older: Risperdal.

"Quivia's only intended for children 13 and younger," the doctor explained, "it's been approved a year ago for that age range, but not yet for anyone older."

So, during the summer before her freshman year, Nora started to take 1 mg tablets of that drug each day, which sustained her schizophrenia.

However, one day, Nora forgot to take a tablet in the morning, so when she was going to bed…

"Hello, Nora," it was Ellie, "long time, no chat."

"Go away," Nora groaned, "I'm fine now."

"I'm the only voice right now. Joe, Venus, and Ethan are asleep. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"I forgot to take my pill today, didn't I?" she silently got up, put on her black-rimmed glasses, and walked downstairs to the kitchen, where the small white box of Risperdal was.

"But we have so much to talk about!" Ellie yelled. "Please, I don't want to go away!"

"We don't have anything to talk about. You're just a figment of my screwed-up imagination." Nora turned on the kitchen light and grabbed a glass and the pillbox.

"Please, don't!" Ellie begged as Nora filled the glass up with water.

"I want to be normal, Ellie." she silently popped out a coral tablet and swallowed it."

"Darn it, Nora!"

As Nora drank the water, Ellie's voice faded away. She then silently put the box and glass down by the kitchen sink and walked out of the room, turning off the light behind her.

The high school she was to go to (Morison High) was built about the time Nora was taken out of her mother's custody, and it really showed, with a nearly-new red brick exterior, unscratched windows, and freshly painted hallways and classrooms.

"So, what do you think, Nora?" Cynthia asked Nora during freshman orientation.

"It's beautiful." She replied in awe.

The guidance counselor at the school, Mrs. Lisa Walker, was a 45-year old woman with a pear-like figure, short blonde hair, and hazel eyes in glasses similar to the ones Nora got the day Ellie briefly returned.

"Hi, Nora," she smiled during the orientation, "I'm Mrs. Walked, the guidance counselor here. I talked with your foster parents, and if you ever need to ask me anything, I'm here for you."

"Oh…" Nora blushed a little, "thanks."

Mrs. Walker shook her hand and then walked away, still smiling.

That's an… interesting way to introduce yourself, Nora thought, you usually don't reveal that your parents talked to you, and she sounds more like a mother.

About a week later, the first day of school rolled around. As Cynthia drove Nora to the 

school, she looked at herself in the car window (seeing her bobbed brown hair and black glasses) and then at her clothes: a long-sleeved magenta shirt with a black cardigan over it, a grey skirt, and white socks with licorice-covered converse.

"You look nice." Cynthia said as she pulled up to the drop-off lane.

"Thanks, Cynthia." Nora responded as the car stopped/

"Have fun on your first day! I'll be here to pick you up at 4:00!"

"Alright, bye!" she then got out of her seat and proceeded to enter the main doors of Morison High and go up the first stair case to get to room 221 for homeroom with Mr. Salomon, a tan-skinned man with neatly-cropped brown hair and olive-colored eyes.

"Alright, take your seats, everyone," Mr. Salomon began, "I want to see all of you. Good. Let's take the roll: Christopher Alvarez."

"Here." A Hispanic kid in third row (of desks in rows of 5) raised his hand.

"Madeline Anderson."

"Here." A petite girl with waist-length blonde hair sitting in the second row raised her hand.

Suzuko Ashiri."

"I go by 'Suzu'." A lanky Asian girl with shoulder-length black hair and dressed like a girl in the 1980s raised her hand.

The roll call went on, from James Carrell to Louise Gardens, from Robyn Jones to Jennifer "Jenny" Liu. And then:

"Nora Mason." Mr. Salomon called.

"Here," Nora (sitting next to Christopher Alvarez) raised her hand.

She then heard the girl behind her whisper, "oh my God, is she… the schizophrenic?"

Nora turned around and whispered back, "I'm not that schizophrenic anymore. "Why do you even care?"

"Because my aunt told me and my sister about you."

"Aren't you from a special school?" A red-haired girl sitting next to the one behind Nora asked in a low voice.

"I was with the normal kids, though." Nora tried to explain.

"Yeah, right!" The two girls laughed.

"Jamie Richardson." Mr. Salomon called.

"Here." The red-haired girl raised her hand.

The other girl shook her head, allowing her long, golden brown hair to move a little, "Are you just saying what your voices want you to say?"

"I don't hear voices anymore!" Nora said.

"But you're schizophrenic."

"And I take medication to keep it down."

"And what's it called? Idon'twannabecrazyia?"

"What…" Nora raised her eyebrows as the two blue-eyed girls laughed.

"Juliana Wolf." Mr. Salomon called.

"I go by 'Julie'." The golden-brown-haired girl raised her hand.

"Alright," Mr. Salomon slightly dusted his pants, "I am David Salomon, but you all can call me Mr. Salomon. I teach Pre-AP English 1, as you can see with the posters and books scattered throughout the room." He pointed to the cheesy posters about reading and 

writing styles throughout the room.

"Weirdo," Julie whispered as Nora turned around.

Then, the uneventful announcements began.

The rest of Nora's day was fine. Fortunately, neither Jamie nor Julie were in the same class with her for Pre-AP Geometry, English 1, AP Human Geography, or Drama. However, Jamie was in her Latin 2 class.

"Carpe diem, schizophrenic." Jamie mumbled to her as they took their seats in the class, taught by a pudgy man with greying chestnut hair named Mr. Duke.

Nora then had Pre-AP Biology (taught by an Indian woman named Mrs. Bachchan) with 

Julie, and they had to sit next to each other.

"What are the voices telling you now, weirdo?" Julie asked her.

"Shut up…" Nora groaned.

Finally, worst of all, she had P.E. with both of those girls.

"Hey, weirdo!" Julie called out to her, and the circle of friends crowding around that girl laughed.

"How are you, and your voices?" Jamie asked.

"Go away…" Nora started.

"What's the matter? Are your voices disturbing you?" A golden-haired boy sneered.

"Stop it!" A girl ran next to Nora. (Whom recognized her from her homeroom, English, and Latin classes). She had long light-brown hair, light tan skin, dark chocolate-colored eyes, and a face full of freckles. She was wearing a paint-stained t-shirt and jeans, and was named "Robyn Jones".

"Just because she's schizophrenic doesn't mean that she always goes through the symptoms!" Robyn continued.

"And why should that matter, Robyn?" Julie scoffed.

"It matters because she's a person, just like us!"

"Whatever, I don't have time for this crap." Julie, Jamie, and their friends turned around and kept talking.

Nora smiled as she and Robyn walked in the opposite direction, "Thanks for helping me, I'm-"

"Nora Mason," Robyn said, "I have homeroom and Latin with you, right?"

"And English. You're Robyn Jones, right?"

"Yep," She smiled, "So did you just move here?"

"Over the summer with my guardians."

"That's cool."

"Thanks."

"No prob." Robyn grinned.

So did Nora, ignoring a faint voice in her head that sounded like her mother's.

They met again in homeroom the next day, with Robyn noticing a small white graphic novel with the number "10" in large orange letters Nora was carrying.

"You read Bleach, too?" Robyn excitedly asked.

"Yeah, and I sometimes watch the anime." Nora said.

"I love Bleach!" She reached into a beige-colored messenger bag and pulled out a medium-sized blue notebook and flipped the pages until it reached a well-drawn sketch of some of the Bleach characters.

Nora looked at the drawing in astonishment, "That's really good, Robyn."

"Thanks," she handed her the notebook, "I love drawing. It takes my mind off of terrible things."

Nora flipped through it and saw various drawing of kittens, angels, more anime characters, and other things, all drawn to near-perfection.

"You're a really good artist." Nora commented as she handed the notebook back to Robyn.

"Thanks," Robyn replied, "what do you like to do?"

She thought for a minute, "Theatre, though I've never been in any major production before."

"That's really cool. Are you in the drama class?"

"Yep, and Mrs. Farthings is really-"

"Look at you two, fangirling." Julie tusked.

"Pitiful." Jamie added.

Robyn showed them a slightly nasty face, "Don't you two fangirl about boy bands?"

"Not fangirling, just being a fan." Julie explained.

"Which technically counts as fangirling."

"No, it doesn't!" Jamie yelled.

"Alright, alright!" Mr. Salomon quickly entered the room, "Sorry I'm late, Mrs. Robinson stopped me to ask about some lesson plan. Is everyone here? Yes? Good, let's wait for the announcements.

As everyone waited for the announcements, Robyn turned to Nora and mouthed something at her:

Do you want to hang out during lunch?

Nora smiled and nodded.

So, during lunch, they decided to talk a little.

"So how did you get into theatre anyway?" Robyn asked.

"Well," Nora started, "I found a knack at acting like other people, and my school was putting on a production of this play called Additional Dialogue, and I got the part as some girl named Mollie… I don't really remember."

"Cool."

"Haha," Nora chuckled a little, "thanks."

So that became Nora and Robyn's thing: Going to the table closest to the middle window in the cafeteria to talk, work, laugh, and learn about each other. Nora learned plenty of facts about Robyn by mid-October:

Robyn Amelia Jones was born on November 10, 1995, and was an only child. Her mother was a real estate agent, and her father was a university professor. She first started drawing at the age of 8, when her parents took her to an art exhibit and was fascinated with the work she saw. She also never enjoyed the company of Julie Wolf and Jamie Richardson, whom she both knew since kindergarten. She claimed that they both constantly ganged up on her because she was "different" and "odd", according to them. She was also a Nondenominational Christian and never really went to church.

"I consider myself an Atheist." Nora said at a café once Robyn stated her religion.

"Why?" Robyn asked, sipping bit of her coffee.

"If God existed, then he would've taken me out of what I had to go through from the ages of 2 ½ to 7 way earlier."

"Speaking of which, you never really told me about your childhood. What was it like?"

Nora shook her head, "I don't like bringing it up."

"Then why did you mention you had to go through something? I'm curious about your childhood now because of that fact."

"I can't mention it here for a few reasons:" Nora gently sipped her drink, "First off, we're in public; second off, it's kind of a sad and violent story."

Robyn moved her hands a little, "Now I'm just more curious, but I won't bring it up while in public."

She brought that question up to Nora again the next day, while they were working on their Halloween costumes.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to know about it?" Nora asked cautiously.

"I can handle it." Robyn smiled as she gently sewed black belt loops into the robe-like garment of a similar color.

Nora sighed and started, "You know that Kevin and Cynthia are my foster parents, right?"

"Right."

"In my biological family, I had both of my parents- I think their names were Eric and Emily- and an older sister, Tatiana."

"Ok."

Nora gently laid out the sleeves of the costume next to the arm holes she cut out, "But because of my 'schizophrenia', my real father left us and my-"she chocked, "my 'mother' and 'sister' abused me until I was removed from their custody. It was horrible. I was beaten, bruised, and I was even-"

"That's horrible!" Robyn got up and hugged Nora.

Nora began to softly cry in her arms.

"It's okay, it's over now." She softly comforted.

Throughout the rest of the year, Robyn and Nora remained really good friends, from Robyn attending the drama department's winter play to working together on the Latin project to translate a short story from a list Mr. Duke handed out into Latin. A week before the last day of school, Robyn walked up to Nora during P.E:

"Hey Nora, what are you doing this summer?" she asked.

Nora smiled, "Not much. I'm probably just gonna read plenty of manga, but I might do that youth group's musical. You?"

"I'm a counselor for this art camp at the Rec. Center."

"That's really interesting."

"Thanks, you too. What musical is the group doing anyway?"

"The Producers."

"The film based off of that was hilarious! I would love it if you did it!"

"Well, maybe I will." Nora grinned.

"Well, let's hang out during the summer." Robyn stated.

"Sounds like a plan."

So, during the summer, Robyn and Nora had movie nights, lunches at either the sandwich shop next to the Rec. Center or at the Chinese place two blocks away from that, sleepovers, and attending one-time classes with the youth group (like painting). It was the best summer Nora ever had, especially after being a spectacular Ulla in the musical.

However, during the two girls' sophomore year, a rumor was started by someone (but probably either Jamie or Julie) that they were dating.

"Lesbians! Lesbians!" All of the popular kids shouted at them in the hall.

"We are NOT dating!" Robyn and Nora both screamed back every time that happened.

Julie shook her head and walked up to them, "Get away from me; I can smell your lesBIO!"

Everyone (besides Nora and Robyn) laughed like maniacs in an asylum, though Nora said, "…But you walked up to us, Julie."

Julie blushed, "Go away, you Lesbians! Just go away!"

The rest of the first semester wasn't really bad. Despite the insults that got slashed on the two, Nora got the leading female role in the Fantasticks and Robyn got second place in the annual art show with a drawing of a sad girl holding an umbrella in the rain.

During the winter break, Nora and her family were visiting Cynthia's parents in Minnesota while Robyn was staying in the city. They called each other on Christmas Eve:

"Can't wait for tomorrow." Nora said.

"Yeah, neither can I!" Robyn laughed.

"I'm glad to be away from Jamie and Julie and them all!"

"Me too; I hope they stop with the whole lesbian thing, but can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I'm…" Robyn stuttered, "bisexual."

There was a minute-long pause for Nora to soak that fact in, Okay… she thought, my best friend…bisexual…that's okay, right?

"Alright then," Nora told her, smiling, "you're still my friend."

"Heh," Robyn sighed, "that's good. I'm afraid of coming out to my parents, though."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know how they'll react."

"You'll be fine." Nora reassured her."

There was a voice on the phone (probably coming from the other room), and then Robyn said, "Okay, I gotta go help my mom with something. Bye, Nora! Have a good Christmas!"

"You too, Robyn!" Nora said as she hung up.

The rest of the break was good for Nora, with her getting a box set of volumes 20-25 of Bleach, Monty Pyhton and the Holy Grail, and a set of good earbuds; she enjoyed all of her gifts.

However, when she returned to school after the break (With her dark hair once again being cut in a bun and new rectangular glasses), all of the popular kids were snickering at her, She didn't have homeroom with Robyn that year, but she did have it with Jamie, who poked her with a pencil after she sat down.

Her red hair glowed as she told her, "Robyn cheated on you lesbian."

At first, Nora ignored the snickering and the rants until Latin 3, where she saw Jamie, but not Robyn.

"Alright, what's going on here, Jamie?" Nora demanded.

Jamie steadily looked at the whiteboard that said:

Class- I need to do some business, so I'll be a little late. Until I return, practice what you learned last semester with a neighbor.

-Mr. Duke

Then, she turned to Nora and got out her phone, "I'll show you."

Jamie showed the screen to Nora, where a video was playing. It was Robyn- wait, no. It couldn't be; the woman had no freckles. The light brown-haired woman was making out with another girl with silky golden brown hair and china blue eyes.

"Is that… Julie?" Nora asked when the video ended.

"No…" Jamie slightly blushed, "but that's the proof!"

"That's not Robyn!"

"Oh yeah? Tell me how!"

"The woman in the video has no freckles! Robyn's face is covered with them!"

"So?"

"It's not her!"

"Sorry I'm late, everyone." Mr. Duke stumbled inside of the classroom and sat down at the teacher's desk.

"It's not Robyn." Nora whispered to Jamie.

Jamie didn't reply.

After another two days of ridicule, pity, and no Robyn, Robyn came back, but not with the usual smile on her face.

"What am I going to do?" She moaned during lunch.

"Robyn, I'm absolutely sure that woman in the video wasn't you." Nora said.

"I know, I know."

"Talk to someone about it!"

"But the girl in the video looks a lot like me!"

"Well, you should at least try!"

"No!"

"You should! Anyway, I have a way to do payback, but only as a last resort."

Robyn looked up, having her light hair shrivel a bit, "Thank you, Nora."

As the semester went on, Robyn became more and more depressed as the ridicules went on and on and become worse and worse. Nora kept trying to get them to just shut up, but everyone kept claiming that the video was real.

"The proof's out, lesbian." Julie told her.

"That's…not…ROBYN!" Nora screamed in rage.

"Sure looks like her." Then she walked away, brushing her golden locks and snickering.

After two more months of insults, Nora decided that she had enough and not have the payback as the last resort.

"Y'know, the other girl in the video looks a lot like you, Julie." Nora told Julie once during English class.

"What video?" Julie looked slightly confused.

"The one of 'Robyn' making out with a girl that looks suspiciously similar to you. Speaking of which, how did you get the footage, anyway?"

"I live… next… to her."

"

Okay, that's bull. You live on the other side of the city, near that prep. school."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does!"

"It's confidential."

"I'll tell the principal if you don't tell me."

"You're just going to tell her eventually, aren't you?"

"I don't know." Nora shrugged.

Julie sighed, "Well, it's still confidential, and Mrs. Young has the flu anyway."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

After school, Nora decided to take Robyn to see Mrs. Walker, despite Robyn's protests as Nora knocked on the office door.

"I think my friend here needs your help." Nora explained.

"Aright then Nora," Mrs. Walker nodded in a flirty way, "what's your name, friend of Nora?"

"Robyn Jones." Robyn croaked.

"Alight, we'll be back." Then the two disappeared to the other side of the door.

After one hour of Nora just playing on her phone, nervously dusting her magenta skirt, and doing homework, Mrs. Walked came out, startled, with Nora slightly crying.

"She's facing depression because of what Ms. Richardson and Ms. Wolf did," Ms. Walker explained.

Nora noticed something, "Mrs. Walker, why aren't you wearing your windbreaker?"

"Oh…" she blushed, "it got…hot Anyway, I called the Jones's, the Richardsons, the Wolfs, and Mrs. Young, who doesn't have the flu."

"It was cold in that room…" Robyn sobbed.

"It was hot to me," Mrs. Walker continued, "so anyway, she'll probably need to see a therapist.

Nora shyly nodded her head, but she turned to Robyn and asked, "Was there anything else you two went over, Robyn?"

Robyn fiercely shook her head, and the two girls walked off.

The next day, Jamie, Julie, and the other frontrunners of the "video" were suspended by Mrs. Young for at least two weeks, and would have to write a 2,000-word essay on why bullying was unacceptable. However, kids who just laughed along with the frontrunners just had to apologize to Nora and Robyn.

"You see, Robyn?" Nora told her best friend during lunch, "Jamie and Julie learned their lessons! The ridicule is over!"

"But Nora," Robyn shook her head; "Julie and Jamie never learn their lessons. They got in trouble in 5th grade for harassing a Hispanic girl, and they acted nice to her for a week after they got punished, but then they just went back to normal and ignored the Hispanic girl, even after Julie was assigned to do a project with her."

"So you think they'll just keep harassing others?"

"Yep."

Nora frowned, "I'm sure they'll learn their lesson this time."

"No they won't." Robyn sobbed.

They remained quiet for the rest of lunch.

During the two weeks Julie and Jamie were suspended, Robyn seemed more depressed than ever, having her head down when she wasn't working and not drawing at all. She tended to avoid Mrs. Walker and not liking any mention of her. She also attended two sessions of therapy.

"Isn't the therapy working?" Nora asked her on the Friday before Julie and Jamie's return.

"He doesn't care." Robyn said.

"How?"

"He only says 'mm-hm' when I say stuff, and he doesn't give me much advice!"

"Do you want to talk to Mrs. Walker again?"

"NO!" Robyn screamed, "She did things I don't want to talk about!"

Nora gave her an odd look, "What did she do?"

"I don't want to talk about it here."

"Do you wanna talk to me after school?"

"No thanks, Nora," Robyn shook her head, "I'm good, I'm good…"

Nora pouted a little, "But you said that Mrs. Walker did things to you. What kind of things?"

Robyn didn't answer.

"Hey, Robyn?"

She didn't talk for the rest of the school day.

That evening, as Nora brushed her short, brown locks, Nora got a text from Robyn:

I have decided.

She put on her rectangular glasses and read the text, what…, the thought nervously, and then she texted back:

Decided what…?

Robyn didn't reply, which caused Nora to do nothing but sit at her desk, worried out of her mind for the rest of the night.

The next day, Nora didn't get any texts from her at all during the day, and she didn't answer any of her calls and voicemails. Robyn's father was on a university trip, and her mother didn't answer any calls either.

However, about an hour after went to sleep, her phone vibrated with a text from Robyn:

Goodbye, and thank you for everything you did.

"NORA!" Cynthia yelled early the next morning.

Nora groggily got up, "Yeah?"

She ran to her bedside and handed her a phone, "Its Robyn's… mom."

Nora pressed the phone to her ear, "Hi, Mrs. Jones."

"Nora! Nora!" Mrs. Jones sobbed on the other side, "Robyn's… Robyn's… de… de… dead!" 

She then proceeded to cry.

Nora gasped, "What?!"

"She…she…hung…hung…herself!"

Nora softly started to cry as well, sadly remembering all the timed she and Robyn had together, as it all seemed not-too-long-ago.

Nora was at first unsure why Robyn's parents gave her their daughter's suicide note that evening. But she decided to read it during the drive to school on the next day. Her hands trembled as she unfolded the wide-ruled notebook paper. The note said:

Dearest family and other loved ones-

This is it. When you get this, I should be in my bedroom closet with a rope tied in a noose around my neck. Julie Wolf and Jamie Richardson finally won, they got to my heart, and I'm too deep to get out. I'm sorry, dearest Mother, Father, family, and Nora Mason.

Nora, I know you tried to help me, and you can weep for me all you want. I'm sorry it has to end this way. Those two girls pushed me in too deep. You'll always be my best friend in Heaven above, and I will always watch over you like a sister.

Mom, Dad, thanks for everything. I love you both. I'm sorry that I have to die young, but I can't take the pain of harassment anymore. I will also watch over you two and the rest of my family in Heaven.

Julie and Jamie- I hate you both. I wanted you two to burn in Hell after the "video" came out. You win. I'm dead now, and I hope you both are happy about all the pain you caused others and me.

Now, I have two confessions. The first one is for my parents: I'm bisexual. There. I finally told you. So, in a way, the kids at school were half-right, since they all claimed that I was a lesbian. At least I came out to you all by writing this before my death. The second one is for Nora: Yes, Mrs. Walker did something to me. She kissed me on the cheek after I mentioned the video, and she took off her cardigan and exposed her cleavage to me, saying "I bet that I can make you happy." I don't know how f-ed up that lady is, but I hope to see her locked up in a jail.

My last dying wish is for you, Nora, to show this note to Julie and Jamie, and see how they react. I want them both to scream and cry, and finally try to behave properly. If this helps, I believe that Julie is in a way mentally unstable, so that could turn Jamie against her and finally realize the badness she's done. Thank you.

So, in conclusion, goodbye, world!

Now in heaven-

Robyn Amelia Jones

Nora silently covered her head with her arms, now knowing why the Jones' gave her the note.

"I promise I will, Robyn." She mumbled.

During the announcements, the principal called for a moment of silence for Robyn's death. 

After hearing that, Nora put her head down on her plastic desk, crying while trying to hear if Jamie would snicker at all.

Jamie was as silent as a fox.

During lunch, Nora decided to give Julie and Jamie Robyn's suicide note. She started the conversation by sitting across from them and yelling, "I hope you both are happy!"

Julie and Jamie silently glanced at each other, and then at Nora.

"We're sorry, No-" Julie started.

"NO!" Nora interrupted, ""You both ridiculed Robyn and me, saying that we were 'dating' and calling us 'lesbians'! And then, this semester, Julie made out with a girl that looked like Robyn and videotaped it, claiming she was Robyn! So, she's dead now, and you two are 

just saying that you all are SORRY?!"

She then handed them the note, which they silently read as she covered her face with her short, dark hair and softly cried.

"How do you know if the other girl was Julie?" Jamie asked as she gave the note back to 

Nora, touching her amber hair and shaking.

"She has the same golden-brown hair in a celebrity-like style, deep blue eyes," Nora explained, "and light tan skin."

Julie got up, blushing, "I'm outta here! C'mon Jamie!"

Jamie shook her head, "No Julie. I'm tired of making fun of people just because of 

assumptions. Look at us, a girl is now dead because of something we started!"

Julie screamed and left the table, taking her stuff with her.

She turned to Nora, "Julie usually gets what she wants."

"I can see." Nora nodded.

The two girls remained silent for the rest of lunch, but Nora knew that nothing would come between them for obvious reasons, which were okay to her (even though it would leave her friendless).

Robyn's funeral was on May 22, 2011 (three weeks after her death). To Nora, her body looked beautiful in a birch wood casket, wearing a simple black dress that reached her ankles and having her light brown hair tier up in a bun. As the funeral procedures began, Nora couldn't stop looking at Robyn's limp-less body, and proceeded to once again softly cry.

"It's alright." A familiar voice told her.

It took a second for her to find out: It was Ellie!

"Ellie!" Nora quietly responded, "Why are you here?

"Have you been skipping your Risperdal lately?"

"What?" And then she noticed that through all of her grief, she forgot to take the tablets, "Darn it!"

"It's ok, Nora," another familiar voice said, "we all make mistakes."

"Venus." Nora recognized.

Venus giggled a little, "That's me!"

"What are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to help you like we did years before."

"I don't want it!"

"But your friend is dead."

"How do you two know about Robyn?"

"Nora," Cynthia turned to her, "hush."

The voices surprisingly remained silent for the rest of the ceremony and even for the burial. When Nora went home, however, Ellie spoke up again.

"Don't take the pills!" Ellie screamed.

"Oh, I was just about to." Nora went into the kitchen and grabbed the Risperdal box.

"We only want to help!"

"Well, you're not helping with my grief!" She then popped open a blister and swallowed a tablet.

After the funeral, even though she finally remembered to take a Risperdal tablet, Nora still didn't regularly take them. So, Ellie, Venus, and the other two voices kept haunting Nora, despite her grief. She at first devoted herself to acting, getting a role in the fall production of Fahrenheit 451. However, by her senior year, the voices crazed her to the point where she didn't speak to anyone.

Mrs. Walker was arrested for child molestation and jailed for some time and registered as a Sex Offender. Nora's foster parents also issued a restraining order from her.

Nora has not seen Julie since that incident the day after Robyn's suicide, mainly because her parents placed her in a strict boarding school so she could finally shape up. Jamie's parents would have done the same, but they were passive around their only daughter. 

During Nora's junior year, a rumor went around that Jamie became pregnant by some guy in the band, which turned out to be true. Nora didn't know much about what happened next, but she thought (and thinks) that the baby was a stillborn.

Despite her struggles, Nora managed to graduate high school and get accepted to the city's community college. That day, she saw a familiar face:

"Hello," said Mr. Smith, "remember me, Nora?"

He gave her an update on Nora's biological family: John and Nora's mother were apparently arrested for drug usage four years before, and Tatiana was married to a man named Lucas Martin, and was now known as Tatiana Rose Martin.

"Alright, then." Nora quickly responded, and Mr. Smith said his goodbyes to her.

However, at that point, Nora's thoughts of suicide began to blossom. On August 10, 2014, she went to the store to buy a cold, woven rope and a tiny blue stool (Robyn's favorite color). She put them in the corner of her bedroom (as her parents were on their second honeymoon), and then came the next day-

Author's Note

What do y'all think?