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She had managed to hold out pretty well with the crowd for almost an hour, which was pretty good for Tatum. It wasn't until almost quarter to eleven that Tatum excused herself from Frankie for a few minutes, and stepped out of the dance, and into the outdoors. It felt amazing to have a few moments of silence without music pounding in her head, or other students bumping into her as if she wasn't even present in the room. If she could just have a quick smoke, she could relax enough to pull off the rest of the dance, anyway.
She walked until she was far enough from the building that she felt she was safe, turning her back to it, and fishing around inside of the small clutch purse she had brought along. Producing a lighter, she held the joint between her lips and lit it up, inhaling deeply and feeling better already.
Totally clueless, of course, to the approaching figure behind her.
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Any chance that she had to run away was destroyed as soon as Amber had a hold on her hair, and Tatum now realized that. Try as she might to try and act calm and collected, there was no denying that tension in her whole upper body, and the way her legs were now shaking. She was thankful that the tights would at least silence the sound of her knees knocking together in fear.
"T-The orange was pretty, uhm.. ugly, yeah, I guess so," Tatum replied quickly. She had learned with assholes, especially in high school, it was easiest just to play dead and agree with them. If you didn't give them a rise, sometimes they left you alone. It didn't usually work on girls, especially Amber, but she still tried.
"I didn't-- I didn't pick it, I--" she began, quickly cutting herself off. It wouldn't be wise to tell Amber that her mom dressed her for the night. "My sister picked it. For me. I mean."
When Amber wrinkled her nose up at the joint, Tatum considered just dropping it all together, but held strong. It was really good weed, she didn't really want to throw it away. "I guess," she offered instead.
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"No!" Tatum replied quickly, looking momentarily offended for only about half a second, before restraining herself back to that look of pathetic obedience. It was the default look she usually had around Amber, really. "I mean, I.. don't think she hates me. She might, but I.. I don't know. She doesn't say so."
When Amber mentioned shopping, Tatum managed a weak little smile, nodding a bit in response. If there was one thing Amber liked to rip on her for, it was definitely the clothes. At least she wasn't being as mean about the dress as she usually was about the rest of her wardrobe.
"M-Moisturizer? Uh, I.. I don't know. Whatever, I guess?" she managed, feeling her cheeks flushing. She tried to think of a brand, something she had seen Frankie or Sera use, anything to just give a proper answer, but she was coming up blank. "The, uhm.. regular kind?"
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"S-Sexy? I dunno, I just usually--" she tried to begin, but shut up quickly as Amber began to name off more and more ideas. When she mentioned swimwear, Tatum's cheeks flushed even more. She usually hated swimming, often just wading in up to her knees. Swimming with Frankie this summer had been the first time in forever, and even then, she had worn shorts for as long as possible. This was getting more and more potentially scary as each word left the other girl's mouth.
"I like my shoes," she added a little sulkily, her own semblance of defense, before she shut up again. She let Amber continue, before sheepishly adding. "Scalp t-treatment? For what? Why? I-- I'm dying my hair back, it's fine. I mean, like.. over Christmas. I am. I'll get a scalp treatment. I guess. If you want."
She needed some kind of excuse, something to get her away, but her brain was blank.
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"B-Bald? Seriously?" Tatum replied, biting her lower lip roughly. She had smoked a majority of the joint by now, and the paranoia was setting in, getting worse with every thing that Amber picked apart. As if she didn't have enough self-esteem issues already, this was doing her zero favors in that department. "I know I'm-- I'm not.. trying to be Britney. I don't want to be bald. I mean, not that I know who Britney Spears is. I don't listen to Britney Spears."
Which was sort of a lie, but as if she'd be telling that to Amber.
"I should, uhm.. like g-get back inside. When I'm done this," she managed to murmur, holding up the tiny bit of joint that was left. Two puffs at best. Just two puffs and then she'd bail. "My, uhm.. girlfriend, she's.. probably wondering what's taking me so long. Not that I don't want to like, t-talk.. to you. And stuff. She's just waiting, that's.. all."
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Over the time of standing out there, Tatum had relaxed a bit. Enough that her shoulders and neck hadn't been tensed up, and enough that her knees weren't shaking. She was in the process of tossing the roach onto the ground, when Amber started talking about Frankie, and all of the tension rushed back into the girl's body. She stiffened up, a frown crossing her face as she listened to Amber speak.
"W-What? No! Why would she be with Gray? She's not-- she's.. she isn't.. I mean, she was, once, but that was like.. n-nothing. It wasn't anything. She's with me," Tatum managed, trying not suppress the stammering, to stand up for once. She felt actually offended for the first time. She could take everything else Amber said with a grain of salt, she always did, but this was somehow different.
"Why does it matter what we have in common?" she snapped, coming off a little bitchy, and immediately regretting it. If she didn't watch her mouth, she'd be getting her ass kicked, either by Amber herself or one of her cronies. Either way, not good. She hadn't actually gotten beaten up since sophomore year when those girls stuffed her into the trashcan after astronomy, and she intended to keep it that way. "We have.. lots in common. We're not weird. She's not-- she isn't weird. I guess I'm weird, but she's not.. she isn't weird. At all. She's amazing, like.. we like each other. So who cares?"
Getting back to Frankie was at the back of her mind now. She was more concerned with, what she considered, defending her honor. At least for the time being.
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When Amber relented, Tatum relaxed a bit, though she still seemed more on edge than before. "Yeah, it is the important part," she replied, trying to sound confident in it, but coming off a little faltering. She even let the comment about plaid slide by, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Amber had been ripping on her about plaid since the first time she ever spotted her. In fact, Tatum was pretty sure that was why she had even spotted her at all.
When she asked about the dress, Tatum began to blush furiously, turning her head a bit. "I-I.. guess so, yeah. That's part of why."
Really, it was most of why, other than appeasing her step-mother, but she still wasn't admitting that little gem.
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