Samantha Carpenter felt stupid.
If it wasn't bad enough that she had to repeat freshman year, she was somehow managing to flunk every lesson and assignment she was tasked with. To be honest, ever since the girl had fallen down a spiral of drugs and deliquancy, her attention span had become short of nothing.
At this point, she was gonna end up repeating freshman year a third time.
God, as if being nearly 16 and in freshman year wasn't embarrasing enough.
And it was that deep feeling of insecurity and embarrasment that ended up with Samantha Carpenter in Kirby Reed's bedroom on one very, very strange day.
///
Okay, so maybe taking a shit ton of pills and tabs in the school bathrooms was not the best decision Sam had ever made.
Even after she started taking drugs, there was one thing Sam steered very clear of; LSD. Sam was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 9 years old after she started hallicunating her parent's and sister's dead bodies on the floor, so it wasn't like she needed any more delusions.
So, take a wild stab at what Sam decided to do in her moment of impulsiveness. You guessed it! LS-fuckin'-D!
Arguably the worst choice she had ever made, because now she was sat crying in a ball on the floor of a bathroom stall, rocking back and fourth as she tried to calm the thoughts and visions invading her head.
Seeing and hearing your dead, serial-killing dad was unsettling enough, but when he was motivating you to commit acts of literal fuckin' murder (and the fact that Sam actually felt a little tempted to follow through), there wasn't a word to describe how terrified she felt.
The brunette just sat there crying uncontrollably, praying that nobody would find her.
But of course, there was nobody God liked to taunt more than Sam Carpenter herself, proven by the sound of the bathroom door creaking open. Sam held a hand over her mouth to supress her cries, but couldn't repress the child-like whimper that left her throat when she saw multiple versions of her father popping up in every corner of the inclosed space.
Kirby was washing her hands when she heard it. The whimpering and the crying. Her head turned to try and find the source of the noise, and she soon realized it was coming from one of the stalls.
The third stall, specifically.
She patted her hands on her jeans to dry them off, slowly walking towards the door and knocking quietly. Sam jumped out of her skin, letting out a yell. Kirby recognized the voice immediately. Her and Sam weren't exactly friends, but Sam babysat with Jill so they had a few encounters every now and then.
"Sam," she whispered, leaning her head on the door. "You okay?"
"Go away!" the brunette choked out, her body shaking so much she was sure she was moments away from having a fit.
Kirby sighed. "Look, Sammy, I'm not leaving, okay? You sound upset."
A bit more than upset, really. Kirby knew what was wrong, but it felt shitty to call the girl out then and there. Everyone in school knew Sam was a junkie, they just never said anything in fear of getting their skull crushed in.
"Are you deaf?" Sam seethed, her hands clutching at the fabric of her cargo pants. "I said go away! Fuck off, you bitch!"
Had that been anyone else, or had the circumstances been any different, Kirby would've already knocked down that door and started swinging. But this was Sam. Sweet, funny Sammy who she'd known since she was 13 years old. "Okay, Sam, either you come out or I'm breaking in."
"Would love to see you try." Sam said with a scoff.
Kirby raised an eyebrow at the confidence in that sentence. "Bet." she shrugged, pulling out a pen from her pocket.
It was a trick she'd learned from Jill having locked herself in the bathroom one too many times when she was crying. The trick was, you got the pen and spun it across the lock until it unlocked from the outside. She felt kinda pervy unlocking a bathroom door, but it's not like Sam was actually doing anything other than freaking out.
It was then she was revealed with a very panicked Sam curled up in a ball on the floor. She was now sobbing heavier, head buried in her arms.
"Oh, Sammy..." she cooed, kneeling down to the younger girl's stance and shutting the door again. She moved a few strands out of the girl's sweaty face, making her realize just how blown Sam's pupils were and how shaky her jaw was. "Okay, Sam, I need you to be honest with me right now. What and how many did you take?"
Sam looked down in embarrassment, fiddling with the bottom of her pants. She held up two fingers and muttered, "Acid." under her breath.
Kirby felt herself get irritated at the girl's stupidity. The blonde knew Sam was schizophrenic (Christina had told Jill's mom at an NA meeting, and Jill told Kirby), so the fact she'd taken Acid of all things was beyond ridiculous. But she remained calm, knowing getting mad would not help Sam's state right now. "Okay, okay. You can't be in school right now, you look crazy and you're bound to get caught - "
"I can't go home!" Sam suddenly yelled, eyes watering and pleading. "Please, Kirby, don't make me go home! I don't wanna go home!"
Kirby shushed her, rubbing circles on the younger girl's knee. "Shh, shh. I'm not gonna make you go home. You just can't be in school, okay? Can you walk by yourself?"
Sam's silence was answer enough, so Kirby laced her hands in the brunette's and lifted her to her feet, snaking an arm around her waist so she could carry her deadweight. Thankfully, the teachers and students were still in lessons, so Kirby managed to get Sam to the carpark and into her car whilst remaining unnoticed.
God, Kirby thought.
What had happened to sweet, funny Sammy?
///
Kirby's parents were on a work conferance, so the blonde had no issue with placing a roof over Sam's head until she sobered up. The brunette stumbled through her bedroom door, eyes squinting in confusion. The girl had only gotten worse overtime.
“This isn’t my room…”
“Well done, Sammy, you're right. It isn’t. It's my room.”
Kirby sighed in relief. At least Sam was aware of her whereabouts, that was a start. "My parents are away, so you're staying here for the night. We're gonna have a sleepover" yeah?”
Kirby had only met Christina Carpenter a number of times, and that was enough for her to know that she was not a good parent, and that Sam would probably end up getting hit, or worse, if she went home in this state. Plus the panic Sam had in her eyes at the thought of returning home, there was clearly something there she didn't wanna return to.
She removed the girl's jacket after noticing she was burning up, causing Sam to lean forward. Her hand landed on Kirby's nape and she pulled her down, pressing her lips onto hers.
Kirby's eyes widened in shock. Okay, she had to admit, feeling Sam Carpenter kiss her wasn't the worst feeling in the world, but it probably would've felt better if Sam was sober and actually meant it.
The blonde instantly pulled away and took a step back from the tanned girl. "Sam-"
The brunette looked up her like a wounded puppy. "You..you don't want to?"
Kirby sighed, running her hands through her hair. "It's not-it's not that, it's just...we can't Sam-"
"Cause I'm too young?" Sam automatically assumed. "Cause I'm not, by the way. You're seventeen, I'm nearly sixteen..."
"No, no, no." Kirby shook her head. "It's not that, I know you got held back a year. It's just...you're fucked, Sam, you're not in the right frame of mind, okay? You don't mean it, and even if you do, I can't take advantage of you-"
"But I do mean it." Sam whined, pulling Kirby closet towards her.
"Sam." Kirby snapped, making the girl recoil. "No. You're not sober and I'm not taking advantage of you. End of story."
Sam nodded sadly, leaning back into Kirby's bed. "Okay..." she murmered, fiddling with her necklace. "Can I...can I at least have a hug?"
Kirby's face softened. There it was. Sweet Sammy. All she wanted was to be loved. Drugs aside, Sam Carpenter was pure. "Yeah," she whispered, taking a seat beside her and letting Sam rest her head on her chest. "Yeah, you can have a hug."
"Sorry about all this, by the way..." The brunette said. "We're not even friends, you-you didn't have to do all of this."
Kirby shook her head. "It's okay. If I didn't wanna help, I wouldn't have."
///
And even though Sam was gone before Kirby woke up, and even though the two never discussed what went down between them again, neither ever forgot what Kirby had done for Sam.
So when they met again twelve years later, and Kirby told Detective Bailey they had a "certain history together" with a slight glimmer in those goddamn eyes, Sam knew what she meant.
She knew, and Kirby knew.
And neither would ever forget what happened that night, no matter how hard they tried.