⌜ chapter six ⌟

Letty's sitting on the bench at school with her legs crossed as she takes notes on the lesson in her math textbook. The book's resting in her lap as she writes, trying to concentrate so she can get her work done; she's been having a hard time with just about everything in school lately.

"Mr. Feeny!" Eric's voice catches her attention as he jogs over to catch up to their teacher in the hallway in front of Letty. "Imagine finding you here."

"I work here." Feeny says. "What can I do for you, Mr. Matthews?"

"I've been thinking about school, reading up on colleges, trying to figure out the right one for me." He tells him, and Mr. Feeny nods.

"Are you looking into any state schools?"

"Yeah, I just don't really know...what I'm doing." Eric says. "I've been trying to do this by myself, and I'm having a hard time."

"If you're really serious, I can help you look at schools later on. You and I both have classes that we have to get to right now. As do you, Miss Black." Feeny adds before turning around and walking away from the two teenagers.

Eric looks down at Letty, noticing her for the first time since he walked over. His brown eyes lock with hers, and she wants to talk to him, but she has no idea what to say. She opens her mouth to try and come up with something, but then he turns around and walks away from her as well.

The brunette sighs as she looks down at her notes, choking back tears. She always knew that there was a very real possibility that she and Eric would break up when they started dating, but she didn't think that she'd lose him completely if that ever did happen. And now that she's lost him, she doesn't know what to do. Part of her wants to call Miller and have them come and get her, but running won't fix anything that's happened. And she knows that Hope needs her.

After school lets out, Letty goes over to Turner's and knocks on the door. It opens, and he looks down at the teenage girl. "What's going on, kid?" He asks, and she looks past him.

"There's a pig on your couch." Her eyebrows furrow as she looks back at him.

"Yeah, he's Shawn's. Come on in before he escapes." Turner says and then closes the door behind her. "What can I do for you?"

"I need someone to talk to...and I kinda have no one that I can go to for this." Letty tells him. "I don't trust people easily, and this is...really hard for me."

"Alright, what's going on?" He asks as they both sit down on the couch; the pig runs off toward the bedrooms, much to his dismay.

The teenager turns to face him, one of her legs underneath her. "Eric and I...broke up...and I really don't know... I get why he did it. I mean, anyone in his position probably would've. I just..."

"What's going on, kid? I've seen you with your boyfriend." He shakes his head as he looks at the teary-eyed brunette. "Why would he break up with you?"

"He told me that he loved me...and I didn't say it back." She explains. "I didn't say anything to him, actually. I just...stood up and walked away."

"And why did you do that?" He asks, and she shakes her head as she looks down. "Do you not love him?"

"I don't know."

"Because you've never been in love before."

"No, that's not... I mean, no, I haven't, but..." She takes a deep breath as she looks back up at him. "No one has ever told me that they love me before. And I don't just mean because I've only ever had one other boyfriend, and he was sleazy... I mean, nobody has ever said that to me, so I didn't know what... I-I don't know what love feels like."

"What do you mean nobody?" Turner asks, eyebrows furrowed.

"My mom left when I was five, my brother bolted as soon as he had the chance — I was still just a little kid... My dad hated me; you know how that ended." She shakes her head.

"What about Shawn? Your other friends — the boy you lived with and the ones who were going to help you vandalize Keiner's car?"

"Jason hardly sees his dad, his mom's not that present even when she's in the room. Hope's mom died when she was a kid, and her dad abandoned her the second that he heard that she got pregnant. Miller and Dean's mom died when they were four, and their dad's like this empty shell... They're all just as emotionally stunted as I am." Letty tells him. "I've never heard those three words said to me before, and I don't know what love feels like. Not to give it, not to get it... I could hardly even register what he said to me... I mean, how could I possibly say it back when I don't know what..."

"Listen, kid..." Turner sighs as he moves closer to her, clearly at a loss for what to say. "I've never been in love before...and that kind of love is different than what you feel from your parents or from your friends... Maybe I'm not the best person to be giving you advice here. Not on this."

"Then where am I supposed to go?" She asks, desperate for help and for answers, and he looks at her as she wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"You've gone to Mr. and Mrs. Matthews before. I know that it might not seem ideal right now, but I know that they care for you a great deal. I've seen it myself many times." He tells her. "As two people who are in a loving and happy relationship, maybe they're the best place for you to find your answers."

"And what if I never..." She chokes back tears as she buries her face in her hands.

"No, hey..." Turner then wraps an arm around her as she cries, pulling her to him. "You'll get through what's going on now. Nothing that's happened to you is permanent. You just have some more learning to do." He tells her. "Trust me, one day you will know exactly what it feels like to be in a loving and happy, healthy relationship. Some things just take more time than others."

—

The door to the motel shuts, and Hope looks over as Jason's shrugging out of his jacket. "We need new friends. There's always something weird going on with them." He tells the girls as he locks the door behind him.

"Define weird."

"Shawn's obsessed with a big, and Eric went to an opera with Mr. Feeny." He says, and Hope nods slowly as she lets that sink in.

"Well... Shawn's a freak, and Eric has no other friends." She says, and he chuckles as he walks over to grab a slice of pizza from the open box.

"I need to put more air in my mattress."

"Dude," Hope's eyebrows furrow as she looks up at him. "Chew, swallow, then speak."

"Yeah, yeah. Where's the pump?" He asks, pizza still in his mouth.

"I don't know. Ask Scar." She says as she turns away from him. "She was stress cleaning after she got home earlier."

"Scar?" He turns and sees the younger girl in the center of her bed. "Scarlett?" He takes a step toward where she's laying, and Hope looks over just in time to see her wipe a tear from her face.

"Oh, babe..." She takes a deep breath as she walks over and climbs onto the bed behind her best friend, wrapping her arm around as she lays down as well. Hope finds her hand, and Letty grips it tightly in her own.

Jason sighs as he looks at the two brunettes for a moment, then he walks over and takes his shoes off before he lays down with them as well. He scoots over as Letty reaches for him, and he lays on his back so she can rest her head on his chest. She lets go of Hope's hand so that her fingers can curl around his t-shirt, and she squeezes her eyes shut to fight back her tears.

His position isn't the most comfortable as he hooks his arm so he can brush her hair away from her face, but his comfort is the last thing on his mind at the moment. Hope stays in her spot with them, not wanting to leave Letty when she's hurting so much.

Truth be told, they're all hurting. Hope and Dean broke up when he left with his family, and there's zero chance of Jason and Melissa making things work. After all, she's stuck on the road with her dad for the foreseeable future, and he has no plans of going back to Philly. So they're just as brokenhearted as Letty; the three teenagers need each other now more than ever.