Over the years, Lenora had learned that trying to cure an addiction, learning to cure a parent’s drug addiction, felt almost impossible. And trust her, she done the worst in hopes of helping her. And after her mother’s recent breakup with another unmemorable boyfriend made it even worse, Lenora knew that professional help was the only way some breakthrough would occur. So over the last few weeks, she had been contacting therapists and doctors about her, though any successes were limited by the fact that she didn’t have her mother’s medical records. Hence, the hunt began.
At any times her mother wasn’t at the apartment for whatever undisclosed reasons she had, Lenora would. rummage through cupboards, wardrobes, kitcken drawers, finding anything and everything but the correct papers. It was only when Lenora looked in the boxes under her mother’s bed did she find something. But not medical records, instead a handwritten envelope to a Mikel Lucas with a letter enclosed.
Mikel,
My name is Alison Foley and a few months ago we met at a party and slept together. It had been my first time since breaking up with my boyfriend a month before… and the last time since now. And since then I realised I was pregnant, and it’s yours.
I’m sorry. But I really can’t do this on my own. I just need… a little help, as the father of our daughter, please.Take your time, I understand. But my number is at the bottom when you’re ready,
Alison
Shaky hands lowered the letter to the ground, as Lenora turned to the envelope, and the unavoidable bright red [RETURN TO SENDER] stamp. Her mother knew who it was the whole time, despite eighteen years of suggesting to her otherwise. But this was it, evidence, an attempt - a single attempt - to contact the person her mother knew her father. What if this had been delivered? Not only would it cure, it probably would have prevented the start of her addiction, it probably would have changed everything. Why hadn’t she tried again? Did her mother really give up this quickly?
Amongst all the other overwhelming thoughts Lenora had been having about this, what she knew was that she wasn’t going to give up as fast. This could still be a good thing, if she finds Mikel, he could help them. They could even be a family, maybe, it wasn’t too late. Eighteen years isn’t too late, right?
After finding out after a brief search that Mikel Lucas had another daughter at Cerulean High, the prom consisted of trying to find a seemingly-invisible Laurel Parker to somehow approach with the new findings. Since, it would be common courtesy to tell someone if they shared the same father, right? Question: how would one usually tell someone that they are their sister? Well, half-sister. Which she hoped made that revelation half-less absurd. However, with both a Blue Royalty post and some speech by Quinn Castillo that essentially took over prom, talking to Laurel seemed almost impossible. At least she had extra time in the form of the afterparty being hosted by Veronica Charlotte.
@lenorafoley_ has just posted
A matter of minutes before Enrique Montoya had left a comment on the post. A comment, which brought on a sigh and then an endless stream of responses from both her and… Laurel. Would she mind also dropping her location in this landmark of a house in one of those comments? No? Instead the comments took a turn which quickly ended her ability to subtly be replying to them while at the crowded party, and so having to abruptly leave to one of the empty corridors while she read and reread and… reread Ricky’s comment.
ricky.m @itsLore I can say way more than a f*cking word and so can the internet. How sure are we he didn’t die of alcohol poisoning because watching you - who the actual fck even knows?
Lenora’s heart fell to her stomach at Ricky’s words towards Laurel’s father. Her father. Her father whom’s existence she had only just become accustomed to, only to be wasted hope by the reveal of his death. In the short time since finding out about him, Lenora had imagined many scenarios of meeting him, hoping that maybe he would be able to help her mother - and inadvertently her. Or maybe he wouldn’t want anything to do with her. But one scenario she hadn’t covered was one where that meeting didn’t happen at all.
Her urges to ask more on this briefly mentioned death were prevented by responding to other comments. There was no way Lenora was finding out more about this from Ricky. But she couldn’t help wondering when his death was. How late was she finding out about Mikel Lucas being her father? How many months, weeks, days earlier would she needed to have been to—?
“Lenora!” There was a small pause in order for her to even attempt to match her boyfriend’s energy to her. “Elio, hey!” Her artificial enthusiasm towards him didn’t seem to catch his attention, which sent a wave of relief - now was not the time to talk about it. It also seemed that he wasn’t in much of a talking mood either, from the way he quickly took her hand and pulled her through a door which led to a very small closet. “Ah, so this is why you wanted to come to the afterparty?” Maybe this was a good thing, maybe he was a distraction for a moment, which she needed. A lot. Lenora’s hands fell to both Elio’s shoulders, to which she gently pushed him back to be against the wall.
Though the space between Elio and Lenora was blocked by his phone that was brought up to face her. After realising he wasn’t joking, Lenora looked at the screen to see the post he was showing her. “Yep, another baseless rumour of me cheating. What does that make it, like 20 now?” She joked with a light laugh before her eyes reverted back to Elio, who was looking at her in a significantly less light-hearted manner than what she had. “Is that not like, 20 too many? You cheated, you have before and so you must have cheated like 20 times, everyone sees and everyone knows and I know too,” Lenora narrowed her brows at the quick turnaround- yes, consider her now distracted. Looking into his eyes, surely he was high or something? That didn’t mean she took it any less seriously.
“No, no, Elio, I didn’t, I would never, I love y–” Her hands cupped his face as Lenora tried to gently reassure him while her eyes filled with tears, though her hands were quickly pushed back which cut off her words. “But JP, or Eziekel, or, like, Raph or Fin or–” “Or anyone I’ve ever talked to? Because I would just go for anyone?” Lenora interrupted, the patience she had disappearing, regardless of whatever state he was in. “Cheating… on Ricky was not-” Lenora sighed, leaving a long pause to linger on her abruptly stopped words. “It was a mistake. And if you can’t see past that then you clearly just have never trusted me.” She covered her face with her hands in frustration at the one moment in her past still creating problems even now. Without looking back, Lenora turned to leave, her hand on the closet door handle. She even started to turn it. But then she stopped.
“And if you can’t trust me to not throw myself at and sleep with any guy I speak to, and you believe that JP or Zek would only want something like that to happen when they talk to me…” Lenora stopped before saying to him what she knew was long overdue. “Then you think of me as just as much of a slvt as what this whole town does. And I can’t date someone like that anymore, I won’t,” Lenora took a long exhale. One that she didn’t realise she had needed for almost a year now. Whatever words Elio had mustered up had become merely a muffled voice to her, as it was nothing that was going to take back the meaning in her words.
It felt like hours had passed since being in the heart of the party - though it had actually only taken Lenora around half an hour for her to have temporarily escaped and forgotten that it was a party. But alas, she had returned with her original intentions. “Hey, have you seen Laurel?” Was the repeated question that she asked to everyone she encountered on her trail, ignoring the surprise from most at the random combination of Lenora and Laurel to be having a conversation. “Have you see-” She stopped when the nth person she was approaching revealed themselves as they turned. “Jay,” Lenora said as she slightly took off her friendly-party-Lenora front she had been putting on previously for JP Medina. “Hey, how’s- how’s prom been?”
@/CerealKiller JP Medina, Raphael Montoya
@/Madilnel Elio Esposito, Mikel Lucas
@/benitz786 Enrique Montoya
@/Littlefeets Laurel Parker