Tori finally faces consequences to her actions. {takes place Monday morning}.
In a matter of a few minutes, the Santamaria women were out of their locked up house and into the white Mercedes Benz that neither of them even worked for. Most of their belongings were thanks to Tori’s dad - anything her mom made from pageant work was either put back into pageants or Tori’s university fund and Tori had yet to work a job a day in her life. In a matter of seconds, the radio was turned on and they both sat in silence as a song from the top 40 quietly played in the background. Tori’s attention went to her iPhone as her finger slid upward on the screen, a soft smile forming on her lips as her eyes scanned through the photos she’d taken of herself and Cam dressed up at Fiona’s party. The night had gone perfect for the two, at least until the train had to be stopped and the police came, but she loved everything up to that moment - the outfits, the decorations, the entire party itself.
Mrs. Santamaria pulled the car into a parking spot before turning the key and killing the ignition. Glancing up at the building, Tori furrowed her brows together. She must've been distracted by her phone for a good while to miss the fact that they had no idea where they even were. "Mom, this isn't the school," she muttered the obvious, annoyed with the fact that they'd taken some sort of a detour that would probably result in her being late for homeroom. Her mom didn't say anything; instead, she just grabbed a small duffelbag from the backseat after unbuckling her seatbelt. "We'll only be here for a few minutes honey, come inside with me."
Tori rolled her eyes as she involuntarily opened the passenger door and stepped out into the cool morning air. "If I get detention or something for being late, I'm making you talk to Simpson," she warned her mom as the two made their way towards the unfamiliar building. It looked like a typical building in Toronto, with more floors than she cared to count as she approached it. There was a stone walkway that led to the entrance, as well as a tacky blue awning with the name 'Bellwood' in white and stairs to match. As she entered the building, Tori crinkled her nose at the smell. It was a mixture of a hospital and dentist office, both of which made her feel uneasy.
Tori's mom went straight to the counter, talking to an elderly woman in a hushed tone. Figuring it would take forever, Tori plopped down onto one of the chairs in the lobby as she waited. Crossing her arms over her chest, she let her eyes wander throughout the building of what she could see. Different words were plastered onto a variety of things: Bellwood, health services, medical inn, et cetera. Was something going on with her mom that she wasn't telling Tori about? She bit down on her lip as she impatiently waited for the two women to finish talking about whatever it was.
"Victoria, if you'll follow this woman, she'll lead you to your room and give you a tour of our facilities for your stay here."
Tori whipped her head around at the words, her mouth dropping open in confusion as she eyed the woman introduced. "But I.. what? I'm not staying here, I have school to go to. I don't even know what this place is," she stated, shaking her head. Tori's mom quickly came over to the chairs, sitting into the one next to the niner. "Look, honey.. Your friend Cam, is that his name? The short one with the eyebrows? He got in touch with me after that party you went to this weekend and was saying you hardly ate and that you went to throw up what you did eat later," her mom explained quietly, resting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "If you want to stay in the pageant world you can't be doing stuff like that. You just need to eat less fatty foods, not starve yourself because if you pass out on the stage then there's no way you're taking home any title."
None of this made sense to Tori. She was angry and upset, but mostly just confused. How did her boyfriend even know about her eating habits? Zig was the only person she'd ever said anything to about it so it had to be him who spilled. And then of course Campbell had to run his mouth to her own mother, landing her in whatever this place was. "I'm fine," she muttered, only to receive an annoyed look from her mom. It didn't seem like there was a way to get out of this; her mom seemed set on it and her tour guide was waiting on her to say her goodbyes. "The next time you and Campbell have a little gossip sesh, tell him he sucks."
All Tori was given was the duffelbag of clothes that her mom had secretly packed for her. Everything else - her currently jewelry, her electronics, anything that actually served her any type of joy - was given back to her mom to take home for the remainder of Tori's stay. She didn't know what was worse.. the fact that she was stuck here or the fact that she now had no contact with the outside world. The girl didn't tell her mom goodbye, or even bother hugging her for that matter; she was too annoyed to want anything to do with her at this point. So with her tongue between her teeth to keep quiet, Tori made her way through a set of doors with this strange woman to begin the 'tour' of her new, temporary home.
