Paralyzed In Happiness

Part The Twelfth

Summary
In which two friends are found.

Part The Twelfth

January

Zoie sat with her back against the wall next to her masterpiece. She was snoring, and there was a granola bar in her hand. The canvas next to her was close to the point that it had been when Sera had first seen it, a black and purple starscape with bright white stars and nebulae stood out as the background, and in the foreground was a pale goddess stark naked, with arms held to either side, but she had no face, and nothing below her.

The front door of the manor house was unlocked, and a woman walked in, she was tall, perhaps 6'3", she had bright blue eyes, and tanned, golden skin, the tan one would receive from living in southern Italy. The woman looked up the stairs and smiled at Zoie before walking behind the main stairs and out the back door to the garden.

The manor garden was large, spanning at least half an acre. Marble statues lined the main pathway, until about halfway down, where the statues became clay. The clay statues were all women, some clothed, most not. On the feet of all the clay statues, a signature was carved, Z-P the signature read.

The woman walked past all of these statues, to where she knew she would find who she was looking for.

Kyra laid in a hammock, staring up at the night sky, watching the stars make their faithful path through the inky-black night. The tan woman walked up next to her and crouched down.

"Hello Corrine." Kyra said, still watching the stars

"Hello." The woman, Corrine, responded

"You know, the stars all look different in Afghanistan. Nothing is in the right place over there."

"We would know dearest."

Kyra smiled sadly and turned her head towards the woman she used to call sergeant.

"I'm so glad you got out of that place. I didn't think I could stand it much longer, knowing that you were out there, and then you showed up in Carron. That was one hell of a busy December." Kyra said, taking the taller woman's hand.

"You could say that. Or you could say that December was just a beginning of much more to come." Corrine replied

Kyra smiled.

The next morning, Zoie stumbled down the stairs into a kitchen filled with sound of her cousin giggling. The artist knocked on the doorframe and entered the door to see a tanned woman hugging Kyra from behind, wearing nothing but a pair of blue panties.

"Okay... Not something you expect to see every morning." Zoie announced loudly.

Kyra's mouth dropped open, and Corrine held back a laugh.

"Z... Zoie... Umm... Good morning... This is uh... This Corrine..." Kyra stammered

"Good morning, Corrine."

"Um... Cor', maybe put some clothes on... Then come back and join us."

"Absolutely, babe. Nice to formally meet you, Zoie." Corrine said, walking out of the room

Sera

Sera was walking down the street in her usual winter attire, hands in her pockets, and softly kicking snow drifts out of her way. A soft, acoustic version of Silent all these years by Tori Amos was playing into her ears via the black earbuds she was using. She wasn't really going anywhere particular, just following a pair of footsteps that weren't there yet.

The dark-haired girl only looked up as she was walking into someone's back, and consequently falling on her ass into the snow. Sera was about stand up and punch whoever she'd just run into, until she saw their face.

"Sera?! Oh my God, I haven't seen you in like two years!" She said, her long red hair, spilling down to the small of her back, leaving stands all over her grey Patagonia coat.

"Chloe, shut up, I know how long it's been, but you can't use my real name here." Sera replied

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you live near here?"

"Yeah, about two minutes away."

"Then we need to go to your house to talk."

"But... I was... Nachos."

Sera sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine." She said, "but as long as I'm in public, my name is Hayley."

The two girls found themselves in a warm restaurant, eating nachos off a plate in front of them, Chloe picking off the jalapeños that Sera had insisted on, and both drinking some sort of milky drink that looked and smelled like bubble gum.

"So," Chloe started "what's with this Hayley business?"

Sera sighed, setting down a nacho, and said "it's a long ass story, Chloe."

"Well, I've got time."

Sera glanced around the quiet restaurant, which was completely empty aside from them, and she said "fine, but only if you tell me why you're here."

"This is where I moved, Se- Hayley." Chloe replied

"Seriously? You and your parents decided that this hellhole was a good place to move?"

"It's nice. Quiet."

"So was Carron!"

"Not when you were around. You got me into more trouble than I'd ever been in."

Sera laughed before saying "I'll bet I did, sorry about that."

"No worries, I had fun, but I definitely needed some peace and quiet."

"Did you even realize why I started hanging out with you?"

"What d'you mean?"

"I had the hugest crush on you, and I started hanging out with you to try and ask you out, but... it never really worked out that way."

"What?" Chloe asked incredulously

"Yep, I was hopeless."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright. You left later that year anyway, and I realized I just kinda had a thing for redheads."

"I would've said yes you know."

Now it was time for Sera to respond incredulously. She had never expected that Chloe would have said yes.

A mountain of emotions collapsed on top of Sera, some of them she couldn't even explain completely. In an instant, Sera started crying, tears streaming down her cheeks as she laughed hysterically. Not knowing what to do, Chloe slid into the booth next to Sera, and tried to hug her, but Sera pushed her away, preferring to lay her head on the table, and devolve into choked sobs. Eventually, Sera fell asleep on the table.

When Sera woke up she was in an unfamiliar bed, and unfamiliar clothes. The dark-haired girl threw herself out of the bed and found herself kneeling on grey carpet. The sound of footsteps on hardwood resounded outside the door, and Sera had just enough time to run and press herself against the wall next to the doorway. As the shadowy figure crept into the room, Sera jumped on its back and put it into a headlock.

"Where am I, who are you, and why am I here?" She asked, threatening to snap the figure's neck.

"It's Chloe, Sera. I'm just Chloe." The terrified figure replied

"Oh, shit!"

Sera jumped off Chloe's back, and took a step away while Chloe flicked on the lights.

"I'm so sorry Chloe. I didn't know where I was." Sera said.

"It's alright, it's alright. When did you get so paranoid, Scotch?" Chloe replied, bringing back an old nickname

"Honestly? When my father broke out of Redcrest Prison."

"What?"

"You asked why I was here, I'm answering. Cain was arrested for domestic abuse, sentenced with 25 to life, but then he broke out, and my mom and I got put in protective custody. I hate it here, Chloe. I finally had a life in Carron, but it was taken away from me by my bastard father."