I dedicate this as a gift to two Carol-loving friends of mine; JamesSunderlandsPillow and Sesquipedalian Numeral.
It was a crisp and cool day in Royal Woods. On the ground, an array of multi-colored leaves were scattered about, ranging from golden brown to an autumnal shade of orange. The breeze had yet to become the cutting sharp cold of winter, but rather an enjoyable mild wind that tickled the skin. The sun was shining just warmly enough to make up for any discomforting cold the wind could've brought.
It was practically the perfect November day outside, which ten of the Loud siblings took as an opportunity to enjoy themselves outside.
Ten of them.
"That was literally one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had," Lori said in her room. She had been video calling her long distance boyfriend Bobby for the past few minutes, beaming brightly at the sight of her dim yet kind-hearted boyfriend.
"I know. I had so much fun. Even if our families were fighting at first for our attention…"
"That just means they love us… although, we could try something like that again. Make your grandfather give you a promotion at the bodega."
"LORI!" Bobby complained, but even he couldn't hold back the amused grin that contagiously made its way to her face as well.
"I'm serious," she laughed. "We do need the most money we can get if we want to support a family."
Bobby opened his mouth, though what he was going to say would forever be a mystery, for at that moment, Lori heard a youthful cry from behind the young man. "Surprise ninja attack!" she heard faintly, and watched as Bobby spun around in his chair before something collided with him and broke the signal.
Lori felt like she should've been angry or upset, but she couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Oh, CJ," she murmured, amused by the younger boy's joyful antics.
And by the fact that Bobby finally knew what it was like when Lynn or Lincoln interrupted her side of the call with a stray Frisbee or spinning football toss.
The young woman got up from her chair, and stretched slightly before looking outside. All of her younger siblings were downstairs, and she could see Luan chasing Leni around with a prop spider on a stick. Her eyes followed them until they landed on Lisa and Lily, with the toddler digging worms out of the ground and handing them to Lily, who dropped them into a bucket she was holding with a little squeal of joy. Lori smirked. "They do look like they're having fun… I'll literally join them in a sec-"
She paused as she heard a faint vibrating sound in her room. She looked down at her desk and saw her phone was shaking. "I must've left it on silent," Lori said to herself as she reached down to pick up her cell. "Hey Carol-"
"Hey Lori," the former rival turned friend quickly answered on the other side. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important…"
Lori checked her computer monitor one last time, before giving a little smirk. "No, you literally have nothing to worry about."
"Great," Carol responded, though her tone was a little less than enthusiastic. "I was thinking that… um… if you don't have anything going on today… would you like to go to the mall with me?"
Lori's eyes widened. "What's the occasion?"
"No occasion. Just two friends spending time together. Believe it or not, Lori, we can't all make 'seven day anniversary for the first time we ate caramel apples together…'"
"Alright, alright," Lori rolled her eyes with a mix of huffiness and amusement. But deep down, she felt something was wrong. For one… Carol was almost never that snippy. That was literally her job. Lori scowled slightly; something was afoot…
But then her scowl was replaced with a sunny grin.
She was going to the mall!
"Yes!" she pumped her fist in celebration.
"I still can't believe you called me here," Lori said as she and Carol walked through the clear glass doors into the Royal Woods Mall. "Usually, it's me calling you."
"I decided to return the favor for once," Carol gave a little shrug, before putting on a teasing grin. "Anything for my… best… friend… after… all…"
With each pause, Carol took the opportunity to poke her friend, and Lori even giggled as she waved the other girl's hand away. "Cut it out, Pingrey!" If there was one thing Lori could appreciate, it was that her relationship with Carol had become far more relaxed and casual. Gone were the stiff upper lips and green eyed glares. Now, the two young woman had come together and if there was anything thing Lori could appreciate… it was their similarities in taste.
"So… would you like to get a smoothie first, or should we go shoe-shopping?" Lori asked her, barely containing her excitement.
"I'd love some smoothies, but I'm trying to watch my figure," Carol said, running her palms down her elegant figure. Lori scoffed. The only weight you're gaining is on your chest, and that's not a bad thing.
"Carol, darling… the whole point of a smoothie is that it's healthy," Lori casually explained with a smirk. "It's not like you're buying an Oreo milkshake with sprinkles and mint chocolate chip on top. Or a…" Lori's face went green before she completed her sentence, "… a liquidized meatball grinder with buffalo sauce."
"Oh God. That's even worse than " Carol clutched her stomach, a queasy look emerging on her face.
"I don't know how Lynn is still alive. I blame Lisa. She must've done something to her 'grub box.'"
"You blame Lisa?" Carol repeated, fluttering her eyelids with faux innocence. Lori simply grinned and gave her a wink, and the two teens laughed. "Alright, I'll have one smoothie. Should I get the beet/spinach or the strawberry/banana?"
"I don't know… they both sound equally good…"
As the two walked over to the counter, they observed the sights that the Royal Woods Mall had to offer. Lori turned her head to the right, and watched as a fountain of clear, sparkling water erupted like a geyser, a temporary rainbow forming as the drops glittered in the sunlight. Carol watched a small display of clothing, where long and silky gowns and dresses were traded and passed around, from one hand to another like the bazaars of the Near East. Both stared up towards the rafters, and smiled with shock and awe as they watched large birds fly across the ceiling.
"Do you think they have nests up there?" Lori wondered out loud.
"I think they do. The two of them, building a nest together… it's almost too perfect," Carol said wistfully, almost as if she was talking to herself.
The two blondes made their way to the small snack stand. Unlike Flip's stand, which sat directly across from them, it was a lot cleaner and a lot cheaper. Lori also appreciated the fact that the young man that worked behind the counter, Geoff, actually referred to her by her name and not 'Lincoln's sister.'
"Hi, Lori. Hi, Carol," Geoff greeted with a wave. "You know, I still sometimes forget that you two are friends now. You always hated her for so long, Lori…"
Lori chuckled nervously as Carol gave her an unamused glare. "Well, we literally buried that hatchet now, so there's no need to remind ourse-"
"Like, I remember this one time, when Carol took a selfie with her corgi, you said the dog was the more attractive one."
Beads of sweat dripped from Lori's brow as she turned back to Carol with a stretched grin. "That's… that's not true…"
To her surprise, though, Carol didn't seem that upset. She simply covered her mouth and giggled softly. "That's funny, actually."
"O-Oh…"
"That's one of the reasons I'm friends with you, Lori," she said as she gave Lori a very light, playful punch on the shoulder. "You can always make me laugh."
Then she turned back to Geoff with a swish of her long, golden hair and pointed at the menu behind his head. "Can I have one smoothie blend of strawberry and banana? And I believe Lori said…"
"I'll have the kale and turnip," Lori ordered, but when she saw Geoff's face go green, she rolled her eyes and said "Fine. Put some blueberries on top of that. For sweetness."
"Alrighty then," he said with a courteous nod as he reached over to grab the fruits and vegetables to make their drinks. He finished in record speed, and for a bit of theatrics, poured their drinks by tossing the paper cups in the air and pouring them in on their way down. Lori and Carol lightly clapped as Geoff did a mock bow and graciously accepted their payments (plus tip).
The girls sat down in the small plastic chairs, facing each other. Lori took a small sip of her drink, allowing the bittersweet flavor to wash over her tongue, and watched Carol with a careful eye. For the moment, the other girl seemed to be enjoying her drink (I bet it's literally better than mine. Typical Carol) but Lori could sense something about her friend that was a little… off.
What should I do? Should I be direct? Should I ignore it? Maybe it's nothing and I'm just imaganing things… I wish I paid more attention during psychology class.
"I think I forgot my manners. How are you, Carol?" Lori decided to ask.
"I'm doing fine, thank you," Carol's response was polite, but seemed insincere to Lori. "How have things been with you? Chaotic as always, I imagine."
Lori smirked. "Where do I begin? The midterms are a bit of a headache, but they don't even come close to my younger siblings. Would it kill them to sit still for just a moment?"
"I don't know, I think it's nice to always have someone to look at for," Carol offered, which was met with a sharp barking laugh by Lori. "It would be if they ever appreciated it. Take what happened between me and Luna the other day…"
"Leni, where's my charger? My phone's literally out of juice."
"You got your phone out of a glass of juice?" Leni slapped her cheeks in panic. "I'll go get some rice. Your phone will be okay…"
"No, Leni, I didn't drop my phone in juice. My battery's at zero percent and I can't find my charger," Lori clarified.
"Oh… well, I don't know where it is, but you can, like, have mine," Leni offered with a bright smile.
"Great! Where is it?"
Leni put a finger to her chin as she tried to remember. "I think… I think I gave it to Luna yesterday. Go check in her room."
Lori nodded and headed over to her younger sister's room to check. The door was slightly ajar, and Lori decided to peak through before she entered. She found Luna on her bunk bed, pencil inside her clenched mouth, as she stared intensely at a notepad in her hands. She ripped off a page and cried out with exasperation. "This isn't working…"
"Uh… hey, Luna," Luna quickly tossed her pages underneath her blanket as she heard Lori's voice, and the older girl gave her a questioning look. "I was, um, looking for Leni's charger."
"Charger? Oh right, the charger," Luna hopped from the bed and plugged out a phone charger from the wall, handing it to Lori. "Here you go, dudeage."
"Thanks. But I noticed that you were a little stressed out just now. Is everything alright?"
"YES! YES, EVERYTHING'S FINE!" Luna shouted, her body stiffing up and a deep red blush sprouting on her face, her freckled cheeks burning. "No need to talk about it, sis…"
And that's what made Lori press further. Luna had the well-deserved reputation of being the Loudest Loud, and her closing off discussion, coupled with burning cheeks could only mean one thing…
"Is this something about Sam?"
The rocker slumped down, her head hanging to the ground. "Yeah. I've been trying to come up with a song for us to practice together, but… I can't come up with anything that works."
"Don't you have songs that you've never tried out together?"
Luna's face went a shade redder, and she bit her lip before answering in a subdued voice; "I… I wanted to write something that… had a bit more heart to it… something more r-r-ro… romantic…"
"Oh Luna," Lori said in her sisterly voice, placing a calming hand on her sister's shoulder. "It's great that you want to write something romantic for Sam, but I don't think she'll realize you're confessing to her through song lyrics. If you want my suggestion… you should tell her directly."
What Lori hoped would happen is that Luna would brighten up and say something like 'Thanks sis. This is why you're my favorite sister, dude.'
What happened instead was Luna retracting her arm swiftly with a scowl on her face. "What do you know?" she grumbled darkly, before handing her older sister the wire and shooing her towards the door…
"I was just trying to help her," Lori sighed, clutching her cup with a tight grip. She looked back at Carol, who seemed to have a dazed look on her face. "Carol?"
"What? Sorry. I was just thinking about Luna. I like that girl."
:wink:
"I'm sure it wasn't that bad, Lori," Carol insisted. "Think about what happened afterwards. Maybe Luna took some of your advice to heart."
Lori rubbed her chin as she thought back to what happened later that night…
"WOOHOO! Luna Loud is in the house!"
"Yes, and as such, I ask that you remember to use your inside voice," Lisa scolded. The rocker flashed an apologetic grin at the toddler, but with a bright beaming face, informed the rest of her family about her time with Sam.
"It went great with Sam, dudes. We spent all day rocking out on our axes, and when we finished, I… I asked her if she wanted to hang out over the weekends. And she said 'Sure.'"
"That's awesome, Luna," Lincoln congratulated, as did the rest of the Loud siblings. Even Lori gave an approving nod with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"It's so romantic," she said as she clutched her blushing cheeks.
"Oh yeah, Lori… I, uh, I'm sorry about snapping earlier. And, uh, thanks for the advice," Luna thanked sheepishly.
Lori smiled. "Anytime, Lunes…"
"Huh. I guess… I guess she was pretty grateful in the end," Lori said in realization.
Carol nodded her head. "I think your younger siblings take what you say to heart. You're smart, Lori, and you give a lot of good life advice. I'm sure… everyone benefits from talking to you…" Carol's voice went quieter as her sentence rolled along.
"I like to think so as well," Lori said, hoping to push Carol to open up a little. But the other seventeen year old simply gave a smile and asked "If you don't mind, can I hear another story about your family? With ten younger siblings, I can imagine you have a lot of fun stories to tell."
"They're fun to look back on, but not while they're happening," Lori chuckled, a little annoyed with how Carol seemed to be dodging her question. "I guess there's this one story with Lisa I've been dying to tell someone about…"
"… and the giant fell from the beanstalk, thanks to Jack's quick thinking. And Jack lived a long and rich life, happily ever after. The End," Lori smiled softly as she realized Lily had fallen asleep in the middle of her story. The infant's chest heaved as she snored, and Lori made care to not disturb her as she reached over and grabbed the blanket at the baby's feet, and tucked her in to rest.
"I don't see how that story ends happily, first born sibling," Lisa interjected from her bed. "Jack, in this story, committed theft and home invasion, and is by all accounts a villain protagonist awarded for his bad behavior…"
"Well, Lisa…"
"And that's of course ignoring the scientific impossibilities presented in the story. Even if we excuse the existence of a beanstalk that stretches vertically to that extent, finding structures of any kind, especially structures as hefty as castles, is simply-"
"Lisa, it's literally just a story," Lori rolled her eyes at the young scientist. "Don't think too hard about it."
"Oh, I have no problem with such a ludicrous tale being presented to someone of my intelligence bracket. I suppose I simply worry that it would hinder Lily's development."
"We've all had fairy tales told to us, Lisa, and that didn't…"
"Lori, the life goal of one of our sisters is to be wed to a fictional vampire."
"Well, Lisa, you're welcome to write your own story for me to read to Lily. Until then, I'm happy with Jack and his magic walnuts or whatever," Lori shot the girl a patronizing smirk, before standing from the small stool she set besides Lily's crib and made her way to the door. "Good night, Lisa," she said before she closed the door behind her.
"Good night to you as well, elder sibling unit," Lisa said, rolling over and closing her eyes to sleep. For a few moments, there was calm serenity as Lisa was finally left alone to her pre-slumber thoughts…
Lisa's eyes widened as an idea struck her, and her mouth quickly curved into a grin. She tore off the blanket and jumped out of bed, grabbing a small computer and heading to the bathroom to be alone. She sealed both the seat and the lid of the toilet ("How many times do we have to tell you to put the seat back down, Lincoln?") before hopping on it and opening her computer, hoping the faint hum wouldn't awaken anyone.
"Computer, analyze every children's story you can find. Structure, language, content… all of it," she whispered, before adding, with a satisfied smirk, "I'll show Lori the kind of tales a future scientist like Lily should be reading…"
And when the next morning came, she did show Lori.
"Lisa, did you even sleep last night?" was Lori's immediate response to being handed a nearly fifty page document by a bug-eyed four year old with frazzled hair.
"No need. I sustained my wakefulness with chocolate and a cup or two of Coca Cola."
"Lisa, you should know using caffeine is bad for you," Lori said, taking a sip of her coffee to ward off morning tiredness. "But whatever, I'll read it."
Lisa beamed with excitement as Lori began leafing through the pages of her manuscript, but her face became more and more crestfallen as Lori's facial expressions went from mild curiosity to absolute confusion. She looked back to the scientist and handed her the pages. "Uh, Lisa… did you look at this before you gave it to me?"
"No. Why is there a prob- yeesh…"
The first five or so pages was an eloquently written story beginning with descriptive words powerful enough to provide a strong image in the reader's head, but with simple enough words for a young child to understand.
The remaining forty five or so were a bizarre mix of badly formatted words, complete gibberish and even the odd phrase in Spanish or German.
Lisa chuckled nervously. "I forgot that one should never present their first rough draft in the writing process."
"It seems like you just told the computer to write something for you."
"How dare you? The computer simply co-wrote it," Lisa insisted with a huff.
In spite of herself, Lori laughed to herself as she placed her coffee mug on the counter, then got down on her knees to talk to Lisa, eye to eye. She gave the younger girl a sisterly smile. "You know… if you want to try again, I'd like to help you with it."
"You would?" Lisa asked with suspicion.
"Sure. It's for a good cause, after all. I'm sure Lily would love to be read something written by her older sisters. Especially if it's actual words and not 'bhuSK9;wq1?'
Lisa blushed sheepishly, but gave her eldest sister a nod. "In light of your reasoning, I would be honored if you accompanied me on this task."
"Only if you get some sleep first…"
The genius obliged, and for the next few weeks the two worked together on brainstorming ideas, creating outlines and finally writing the actual story. When the two felt it was ready, they handed it to their mother to proofread, and she gave them the nod of approval. Finally, the day came, and as Lily was in her crib, hugging her teddy bear while staring at Lisa with wide eyes, Lori watched with pride as the genius read to her the work they had come up with.
"And that's how the mystery of the missing laboratory goggles was solved. Thanks to the adherence to laboratory safety rules," Lisa concluded. The baby squealed with laughter, and began bouncing up and down in her crib.
"Again, sha sha. Again."
"You… you want me to read it again?" Lisa asked, and the baby nodded her head. Lisa beamed and seemed to almost tear up at the request for an encore. "Oh Lily…"
Lori smiled as Lisa began reading again, Lily playing along whenever she could. She wasn't sure if it was the heat of the room or the adorable scene before her but… it was a warm scene all in all.
"That's adorable," Carol exclaimed, clutching her heart from the display of affection.
"I know. It was literally one of the cutest things I've ever seen Lisa do... and that girl barely does anything that could be called 'cute.'"
The girls sighed loudly again, before switching the topic to tests. Carol was achieving well in school, as always, while Lori's performance wasn't bad either ("If you add two percent, it would've been an A"). The discussion changed as the two young woman finished their smoothies and threw the disposable cups away and made their way through the mall. They tried on clothes, adored puppies in the window of the pet store, greeted Ernie the security guard and took a brief moment to simply stand and watch the people pass by. All the while, topics like future careers, their favorite songs, and mean spirited teenage gossip popped up in their conversations. However, even as Lori was laughing about rumors of their classmate Kim was secretly dying her hair, she couldn't help but notice one important topic seemed to not pop up.
Should I even mention it? Lori thought to herself as she watched Carol, seemingly having a good time.
You should. What's the harm? In fact, it's probably more weird that you haven't brought it up yet.
I know, but... I feel like she's been avoiding this, for some reason...
Lori... she has been avoiding talking about it. And you can feel something as else as well. She seems off today. More than usual. It wouldn't hurt to-
"Today's been a fun day, Lori," Carol suddenly said, snapping Lori out of her thoughts. "Wh- what do you..." Lori stammered in confusion for a second, before realizing that they had just reached the door. The sun was already down, and without checking her phone, Lori knew she had to be getting home soon.
"Well... I just wanted to say that I had a good time. Thank you, Lori. For... doing this with me..."
Carol started walking away from her, turning a little and giving a nice wave and pleasant smile to her friend. Lori almost returned it, but she knew she shouldn't. She couldn't let Carol walk away like that.
Remember what you said to Luna... 'you should tell her directly.'
Lori nodded, with a serious look on her face. "Hey Carol!" she called. "One last thing before you go."
The girl in purple turned back to her, and Lori swallowed before she said; "You know, I haven't asked about how things are going with Chris. I know; it's weird I haven't asked about your boyfriend..."
"I-It's fine. It really doesn't matter," Carol said with a nervous giggle, staring at the ground with lost eyes. "Um... how's Bobby?"
"Bobby is doing great. But I really do want to know how things are with you and your boyfriend..."
The corners of Carol's twisted, and for a moment Lori worried she might've hit something too deep. But Carol, usually nothing but calm and composed, simply slouched slightly and hung her head. "Not very good, to be honest. He, uh... he broke up with me earlier..."
"Oh no," Lori breathed, and quickly rushed over to her friend, wrapping a supportive arm around the young woman. "Are you alright?"
"I am. I-I think I am. I just... don't be angry with me, Lori, but... that's why I asked you to the mall today. I didn't want to be alone right now." She drew Lori's arm closer, allowing her to squeeze Carol into a closer hug. "I'm not angry Carol. Why would I be? I... I got to spend time with my friend today. That's all anyone wants, right?"
"Right. That's why I wanted to be with you," Carol whispered, her throat choking her.
"I just... I wish you had told me."
"I didn't want to talk about it. Right now, it's taking everything in me not to... not to..."
A loud sniffle resounded through the parking lot, thankful empty as Lori watched streams of tears roll down Carol's face. She tried to stop it at first, to retain her usual elegance and almost regal air, but she quickly found herself unwinding in Lori's arms. She began to sob louder, and Lori hugged her tightly and whispered "It's okay, Carol. There's nothing wrong with letting it out."
"I just *sniffle* I just want to know, Lori... will anyone ever love me again? I just feel so... unlovable..."
"Carol, that's silly talk."
"How *choke* do you know?"
Lori gave a kind smile to the teary eyed woman, and quickly pressed her lips against Carol's burning cheek. The edge of her glossed lips touched the curves of Carol's mouth, which only brought more red to the young woman's face. After a few seconds, which could've been a few minutes, Lori lifted her face away. "Because I love you, Carol. That's how you know you're loved."
The shaking of her body stopped, and Carol brought her hand to her eye, wiping away the remaining tears. "Th-thank you, Lori."
"Anytime," she replied with a kind nod, and allowed Carol to squeeze her for support.
Anything for a friend.
Anything for her.