Lindsay sighed as she picked up yet another box of tennis rackets, carrying them over to her father. It was 8pm on a Thursday night, and A1 Sporting Goods was not exactly where she wanted to be, but it had been this way since her parents found out the truth about the academic summit. Amongst all the exhilaration that came following a band around the country, Lindsay had partially lost her sense of good judgement. She should have picked up on the strange noises the vans engine had been making during the last few days on tour. She probably should have also pieced together that usually when vehicles make strange noises, it probably means they don't have much life left in them. Which was exactly what happened, of course. As though the van knew that Lindsay had to meet her parents at exactly 4pm at Ann Arbour station on that fateful day, it decided to die halfway down the 101 freeway. That, and the summit had called her parents when she hadn't shown up.
In some ways, Lindsay didn't mind getting caught. For one, she was a horrible liar. She was essentially convinced from the start that her parents would find out at some point, and at least this way she didn't have to hold onto that guilt forever. Plus, following the Dead around the country was the best thing she ever did, and she didn't regret it in any way. Maybe at first, when her parents confined her to the house for two weeks, there was a little bit of doubt as to whether she had made the right choice. She didn't see any of her friends for weeks, with the exception of Daniel, who had seemingly taken a fancy to playing Dungeons and Dragons with her little brother. But even then, she had barely managed to say two words to him before her dad sent her back into solitary bedroom confinement.
Of course, Lindsay knew she had let her parents down. The Weir household had never been so tense. There was one afternoon where the fridge had stopped working, and somehow a conversation about how expensive fridges were nowadays turned into one about how Lindsay was throwing her life away. Naturally, she needed to convince her family that she wasn't the complete screw up she was being painted to be.
So, she re-joined the Mathletes on her first day back at McKinley. She had signed up for the yearbook committee, and was tutoring three first years in English, Maths and History. And in between spending her entire rest of summer working at A1 with her dad, she was in her room studying for the year ahead. Lindsay wanted everyone to know that despite her choices that summer, her motivation to succeed had only increased. Watching The Dead play and seeing how in love they were with their music had pushed Lindsay to find out what it was she wanted to do with her future. And in that moment, she was pretty sure she didn't want to be stacking boxes with her dad for the rest of her life.
"Thanks Lindsay." Harold Weir placed the box on the counter behind him, then turned to her. "I want to talk to you about something. Sit down."
Lindsay gulped, heading over cautiously. She was pretty certain that whatever this was about, it couldn't be good. She wondered if it had something to do with Kim's unexpected visit to the store earlier that afternoon. She'd come barging in like she owned the place, her eyes frantic as she searched the store for Lindsay. When she spotted her, she started to yell that they needed to talk, as soon as possible. But that moment never came, seeing as Harold had essentially chased her out of the store with a broom. Lindsay had mouthed that they could talk at school the next day, which Kim seemed less than happy with.
Shaking away the memory, Lindsay jumped onto the bench next to the register, her dad folding his arms opposite her.
"Lindsay, I want you to know that what you did, it really upset your mother and I." Harold began, and Lindsay felt her heart dropping, just as it had so many times the past few weeks. The constant tears, arguments, speeches about how her Grandma would have been so disappointed in her, had taken a toll on her. It wasn't a nice feeling to know how badly she'd let everybody down, and sometimes it was hard to ignore. Especially right now. "You scared us Lindsay. When we got that call, saying you hadn't shown up to the summit – well, you know how terrified we were. We were just waiting for the police to show up at our door, telling us that you'd been found on the side of the road, killed by some hitchhiker! I don't need to go into it more than that Lindsay, you know exactly how we felt. But I suppose, the one thing we haven't said to you is that we also know that you aren't a failure. And we know how hard you've been trying to show us that. Now, I don't think any young person should be spending every single day at a sporting goods store. You should have time to socialize. So, I suppose your grounding is over."
For a moment, Lindsay was speechless. She had been ready to accept that her final year in high school was probably going to be the worst year of her life, she probably deserved it. She had just figured that this was her life now; school, work and study.
"Dad, I know I made a mistake-"
"That's the thing Lindsay." Harold interrupted, his expression firm yet understanding. "I don't think you did make a mistake. I think you did what was right for you. Don't tell your mother I said that."
All Lindsay could do was blink back tears, unable to register what was happening. This was the first time her father had been able to see her perspective, and it felt better than she could have imagined. She immediately jumped up and wrapped her arms around him, unable to hide the tears any longer. Because he was right. Lindsay had made the right choice, the one that she needed to make for herself. They stood there for a moment, remaining in the embrace for as long as the other needed. It was the first time he had hugged her back in weeks, and Lindsay never wanted to let go.
"Alright, alright." Harold wiped away a tear himself, holding Lindsay at arm's length. "Get out of here before I change my mind."
"Love you, dad. And I really am sorry. For everything."
Harold nodded, letting her go. "I know you are. So long as you know that if you ever try anything like that again, we won't be so lenient."
Making a mental note to spend the rest of her year relatively straight edged, Lindsay gave her father one last smile as she grabbed her jacket and headed out the back door. She decided to take the short cut through the back streets home, seeing as it was a nice enough night. If she was lucky, she might even be allowed to go out later on. It had been so long since the whole gang had hung out together, probably since the start of summer in fact. Apart from the odd study date with Millie, Lindsay really hadn't seen any of her friends. Kim's name wasn't being spoken of in the Weir household, let alone her presence. Ken was so besotted with Amy, the two of them had subconsciously isolated themselves from civilization. And in the two weeks that Lindsay had been back at school, she had only seen Daniel attend three classes. She was worried about him, but never had the chance to ask him if he was ok, let alone how his holidays were. Nick had attempted to come around a couple of times, with Lindsay secretly glad her parents had told him to leave. She had been told by Kim that Nick had broken up with Sara, which kind of changed everything. It meant that Lindsay no longer had to feel guilty about the nights she spent thinking about him that summer.
She was so caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't notice herself wandering down the wrong path home. She stopped in her tracks and realized she was in an alley not far from her house, an eerie feeling creeping over her as she saw a couple of men in the distance. They were walking towards her, and suddenly Lindsay felt stupid for not paying attention to her surroundings. She was about to turn and walk the other direction when the men stopped, and leant against the fence in the alley. One of them lit a cigarette, the other tapping his foot impatiently. Lindsay knew she should leave, but something was keeping her rooted to the spot. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was the fact that she didn't know where she was anyway. But Lindsay knew she had stopped because another man was approaching the duo from the street opposite, a dark hooded jacket covering his face. When he reached the two men, he reached into his pocket, quick as anything, and handed over some kind of bag. They handed him back an envelope, and then they parted ways. That was it, and it happened so fast that Lindsay was certain she must have been seeing things.
Because for a moment, she could have sworn it was Daniel Desario under the hood of the jacket.
Lindsay froze as the hooded figure began to walk away. She didn't know what was scarier; a potentially dangerous criminal cornering her in an alley, or finding out Daniel was involved in something he shouldn't be. Either way, she didn't want to stick around to find out. Praying that she hadn't been seen, Lindsay turned and sprinted out of the alley, not stopping until she had reached a familiar street near her house to catch her breath.
She slept restlessly that night, finally giving in to her insomnia at 3am, when she realized that maybe there was a really bad reason Daniel had not been attending his classes.
