Name: Clare
Story: The Moonsisters
Colors: Antique Brass 22, Oh my God, you're gay? Finally! Thank God, someone who will appreciate all this. It's a waste of time working out for these people. Here, I'll take my shirt off for ya.
Supplies and Materials: novelty beads (http://25.media.tumblr.com/a4db7adbf79b2b927767b1b9685822bf/tumblr_mg9p8zdwIm1qmelsoo5_250.gif “I was much better off as a coward.")
Word Count: 1,952
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some violence and blood.
Notes: Wow, it's been a while, hasn't it? Recently I've felt the urge to write some short pieces again, so here's another episode in the story of the Moonsisters and Maureen! I actually did not expect this to go as dark as it did...

Laura knew she shouldn’t have let herself be alone.

She’d gotten so confident since meeting her sisters, though. She’d never been this confident before moving here—always in Amy’s shadow. Not that she’d ever thought about it in those terms. She’d been happy to let Amy take the lead in everything; it was easier than making her own choices, even if she wasn’t entirely happy with how she ended up.

She never would have walked home by herself from an after-school activity before meeting her sisters; of course, Amy would have been in the same activity. And the girls had offered to come along with her—had wanted to be there by her side—but she’d felt she needed to do this alone. Anyway, people thought Angel and Charlotte were gay often enough. She was perfectly fine being the only gay Moonsister.

But now she was walking home alone… or she had been.

“I know what meeting you were at,” said Maureen with a sickly sweet smile. “You think you’re the only one?”

Laura clutched her bag, swallowed, and tried to think of a reply. Of course she wasn’t the only lesbian around—the meeting had just proved that. But she had a strong feeling that Maureen was not really a lesbian. She didn’t know what the other girl’s angle was here, but “attraction to Laura” definitely wasn’t it.

“Come on.” Maureen tossed her hair in what was undoubtedly an alluring manner. Laura could appreciate that intellectually. But attracted to girls she may have been—that didn’t mean she was attracted to Maureen.

It was like looking at a magazine picture, or an actress strutting her stuff on a screen. But worse, in a way, because those people were putting on a show for whoever happened to watch, and Laura knew what they were getting for it—they were paid. Maureen was putting on a show for Laura alone. And she didn’t know why.

“Come on,” Maureen said again, taking a step toward Laura, so that her flowery-scented breath washed over her.

Laura wished she dared just walk past. She wasn’t physically cornered. She was just scared.

Maureen reached out and touched Laura’s face, and suddenly she was attracted. Desire washed over her like an ocean wave, from her flushing face to a warm spot between her legs.

Screw being scared. Laura backed away from Maureen. “Get away from me.” The feeling faded as soon as she broke contact, and with sudden boldness, she dodged away to her right, trying to get past Maureen so she could continue on home.

She didn’t make it. With eerie speed and aim, Maureen stuck out one foot just in time to trip Laura, and before she could even make it halfway down, shoved her shoulder. She flew sideways, her head striking a brick wall, her ankle twisting under her.

She screamed as pain blossomed in the side of her head and she collapsed to the ground. Maureen hesitated over her for a moment, hands held out, something blazing in her eyes. Then she turned and walked away.

“Help!” screamed Laura. She wasn’t screaming at Maureen. She didn’t know who she was screaming at, but she wasn’t that far from the school, and this was a partly residential neighborhood—someone must be able to hear her.

Of course, it was Ivy she needed. Charlotte she needed to hear her. Angel she needed to have predicted this.

“Help!” she screamed again as Maureen disappeared from view. The side of her face was damp, and she knew her head was bleeding. She was trying to breathe, but her breaths kept getting stuck. She wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

No one was coming. No one could hear her. She had to find help. Where had the others gone? Were they at Angel or Charlotte’s house? She had to hope so. Her house and Ivy’s were too far away. She couldn’t make it to the bus, not like this. Someone else would find her before her sisters would.

She pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, then tried to stand. She didn’t make it far enough up to even tell whether her ankle was strong enough to support her. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she fell to the ground, this time cushioned by her bag—but she heard something inside it break.

Laura realized that she was crying. Her face was wet. When she wiped her cheek, her hand came away smeared with tears and thinned blood. She gasped at the sight, feeling shaky and afraid. A little sick, then more sick. She didn’t want to vomit here. She couldn’t vomit.

But she could get herself closer to help. First, she disentangled herself from her bag. Then she crawled toward the street. Shouldn’t have taken a shortcut, she told herself; not on her own.

One limb at a time. Left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg. Her right ankle twinged when she moved it, but it wasn’t too bad. She thought she could probably put weight on it. But first she’d have to stand, and she didn’t think she should try that again.

She was still crying. When she moved her hands forward, she put them in tiny damp puddles.

She reached the sidewalk and she couldn’t see anyone. “Help,” she screamed. She felt another wave of dizziness and fell gently onto her side. Her necklace swung out and smacked her in the shoulder. She reached up and grabbed it, holding onto the silver moon and rose quartz crystal. She screamed again, but she thought her voice was getting quieter.

—

Laura woke up with hands on her face. “Laura!” someone was screaming. It was Angel’s voice. She was crying.

“Calm down, Angel,” said Ivy calmly, though her voice was tight. “Laura, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” said Laura. Her head was throbbing where she’d hit the wall. She didn’t think nodding would be a good idea. She was crying again, but this time she thought it was from relief.

“Okay, good,” said Ivy. “You’re going to be all right.” The pressure of her hands increased slightly. “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

“No,” said Laura. It hurt a little, but it was making her headache feel better, and that more than made up for it. Her tears were drying. So was the blood.

Ivy took a deep, shaky breath. “You’re going to be all right,” she said again. “Angel, would you—I’m not sure. Take her hand or something.”

Immediately, Laura felt pressure on her hand, Angel’s slim hand in her own. She hadn’t realized her palms were scraped up until the touch made it sting. She gasped and jerked away, but Angel didn’t let go.

“Did you hurt your hand, too?” asked Angel.

“Just a little,” said Laura.

“I’ll get to that,” said Ivy.

“Don’t worry about it.” Laura’s head was getting clearer and clearer, and the pain had faded almost to nothing. She’d been more badly hurt than she’d realized. It probably hadn’t been a good idea to move at all. Now that her head was clear, she knew it must have been a concussion. If it hadn’t been her sisters who found her… she didn’t want to think about what her chances would be.

This must be taking a lot out of Ivy. But they were all there together. Laura knew that it was always easier for her to move things around if they were close. That had to be helping. She hoped.

Finally Ivy pulled her hands away from Laura’s face and sat back on her heels. Her face was pale and her hands seemed to be shaking a little. “I think that’s all of the concussion. Laura, does your head hurt anymore? Any dizziness?”

Laura moved her head from side to side slowly, then more quickly. She felt fine. “Back to normal,” she reported. Charlotte, hovering with her hands clasped, gave a little silent cheer.

“I know your ankle is hurt too,” said Ivy. “Give me a minute. I’ll fix it. And your hands.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Laura said firmly. Her ankle hurt, but she was pretty sure she could put weight on it. “I’ll stand up in a few minutes and we’ll see whether I need to go to the hospital or just rest it. I don’t want you to do anything else.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Ivy.

“No, Ivy,” said Charlotte, holding out a hand to stop her. “You’ve done enough. You’re tired. Both of you need to rest for a little bit.”

Laura smiled at her, then at Angel, still squeezing her hand. “How did you guys find me? Were you close by?”

“No, we were at my house,” said Charlotte. “But then I heard you. It wasn’t exactly something I heard, actually. Usually there’s words, but this time I just got a sense of direction and you in pain. I touched my necklace and it got stronger, but then it cut out entirely.” She reached up and took hold of her necklace as though demonstrating.

“We thought something horrible must have happened,” said Angel.

“I guess it did,” said Laura. She reached up and touched her own necklace. “You must have heard me when I grabbed my necklace. I should remember that. Hopefully something like this will never happen again, but just in case…” She took a deep breath. She didn’t think that with Maureen still around anyone would be safe. Certainly not on her own.

“What did happen?” asked Angel. “Did you fall?”

“Let me get your stuff back together,” said Charlotte, walking a short way into the alley—a very short way. It had looked so much longer when Laura had been crawling this way with a head injury.

“It was Maureen.” She told them about how Maureen had cornered her here, tried to flirt with her—or pretended to be flirting with her—and then gotten angry when she wouldn’t respond. She shivered at the memory of the anger in the other girl’s eyes.

“What does she want?” asked Ivy in frustration. She was looking a little better. “Why doesn’t she tell us?”

“Maybe she thinks she has,” said Angel. “Or as much as she can say in front of other people. Maybe if we see her alone and ask, she’ll explain.”

Laura shivered. The last thing she wanted to do was be alone with Maureen. But she wouldn’t be alone—she’d be with the Moonsisters. Was that enough?

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said.

“We’ll figure something out,” said Charlotte, returning with Laura’s bag. “Are you ready to try to stand, Laura?”

“Yes.” She really felt stronger now. Angel stood with her, and she carefully put weight on her ankle. It hurt, but it wasn’t too bad. She took a few steps and found she could keep going. “I’ll be okay. I’ll just wrap it up when I get home.”

“I’ll go get my mom,” said Charlotte, handing her bag to Ivy. “She can drive you home. What should we say happened?”

“Maureen’s done something we can tell other people about,” said Ivy. “We can tell an adult. Perhaps they’ll stop her.”

They were looking at Laura for an answer. She hesitated. The idea of telling someone what Maureen had done to her made her feel sick, and she couldn’t pin down why. “No,” she said. “No one would believe us with the concussion gone. Just say I tripped.”

“Are you sure?” asked Angel.

Laura nodded. It was a relief to be able to nod again. “Besides, I don’t want Maureen to think she wins. We can stand up to her on our own.”