A/N: After a long hiatus of completely relaxing and enjoying my summer vacation; I'm back to writing! :-) My sense of plot probably isn't the best either, because I tried to have two going on at once. That's confusing, isn't it? I'm sorry. :P
Like, you know, one with the terrorist attacks and the other with my lame self-insert. Speaking of that, I feel more than relieved that the people that read it don't think my interpretation of myself is a Mary Sue. :D I AIM FOR REALISM. *coughsometimescough*
But yeah, this chapter's a lot like chapter two. *shot for breaking the fourth wall* which is a little bit more of a relationship builder chapter in my eyes. Ah, well.
Well, we're back to the story. I myself would say it's starting to get more interesting and more of a mystery since Naomi's getting involved. But it's outright confusing to tell two stories at once, isn't it? So I'll try telling Lu's story in this chapter, since I told Naomi's in the last one…since they have no relevance whatsoever. The stories may collide soon, I'm not so sure. But of course we'll figure out soon enough.
Gabriel got let out of prison, er…the hospital…today…and of course was left on a leave of absence so he could recover. He stumbled upon Lu on his way out.
"Yo."
"Hey. My house has a mosquito problem."
"Why's that?"
"I let my window open because my A/C wasn't working. Anyways, I got the exterminator, but he said I have to spend the night at a hotel or something tonight. But I don't wanna pay for one, so I wanted to see if you could do me a favor."
"Of course. You have your stuff packed?"
"Yeah, at my loft downtown."
"I'll get ya there and you can stay at my place."
"Thanks, man."
There's something about Lu saying 'man' that doesn't make it look weird. Maybe she gets it from her dad.
"Gabe, I know you're on your way out, but you're getting a call from your office phone."
Chief called, catching up to him.
"Alright, I'm on my way. Sit tight."
Okay, fine. Gabriel found it more than suspicious that someone was calling him from his office phone.
"Gabriel, this is Lisa."
"Hm?"
"I have an important meeting all day. You're gonna have to take Joshua tonight to spend the night at your house."
He may be a bachelor now, but Lisa has made Joshua his responsibility a tad bit more often. With a sigh, he responded:
"Fine, I'll be there as fast as I can."
Then he hung up the phone. There was no use avoiding it, both of them had to spend the night at his house.
"Something wrong?"
Lu asked as Gabriel neared her with a slightly frustrated expression.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You don't mind my son spending the night with us too, right?"
"Not at all."
Okay, fine that was an outright lie. Lu hates kids to a point it sometimes gets a little disturbing. But whatever was happening was none of her business. They hopped in the car and were on their way to Lu's loft, then Joshua.
"So, where is it again?"
"Uh…It's in the middle of downtown, Pearl District, and Willamette River."
"Wow, thanks for your five star instructions. Smart ass."
"Haha, no problem."
Well, they got to Lu's loft no problem. (THANK GOD. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THAT IS.) Then they came over to Joshua. He was more than hesitant about leaving the house, and Lu stay put more as a Jack-In-The-Box surprise for Joshua. As soon as he got comfortable in the car, Lu shouted:
"PEEK-A-BOO!"
"Ahh!"
I don't mean to toot Lu's horn, but she has the most demonic scream I've ever heard. I mean seriously. She's like Bowser except in human form…and a chick.
"Joshua, this is a friend I made at work. Her name's Lu. Don't worry, she won't bite."
"Yeah, I just get a little playful sometimes. Sorry."
Joshua was still a little scared for his life.
"Oh, ah…don't worry. I-It's okay."
He had assumed if his dad could trust Lu, he could too. Joshua tried to muster relaxation, which was relatively easy because Lu was playing such relaxing music. You guys remember Fireflies, right? No, not those silly bugs, the song. Lu has all their songs, she's a big fan. If you haven't heard anything other than Fireflies and consider yourself an Owl City fan, then I banish thee from the forest. They have tons of great songs, like Rainbow Veins, Technicolor Phase, and Strawberry Avalanche. Strawberry Avalanche is a personal favorite of mine. But that dumbass was playing Early Birdie. Not that it's a bad song or anything; it's just not exactly my favorite.
"D-dad, I like your music."
"Nah, this is Lu's."
"Really?"
If you didn't get it by now, Owl City is a really happy and perky band, er...person. The way Lu dresses and acts simply doesn't match that by any means. So I wouldn't blame the kid for being surprised that Lu picked it.
Joshua, I think, is acting like most kids that see Lu. Now, it's not that Lu herself looks ugly; she just has scary fashion sense. If you didn't get it by now, Tripp pants, leather boots and a corset today. Seriously, if there's anything that chick hates, it's kids. Not exactly that they're a pain in the neck to take care of, they're just bratty and they tend to offend Lu a lot by staring at her. They're afraid of her because she's a little dark. Stereotypical bastards.
"Well, I-I like your music, Lu."
"Thanks, you have good taste."
"Th-Thank you!"
Lu simply nodded. Gabriel made several hints to try and make conversation, but that's simply something Lu cannot do…well, at least not well.
"Do you have Apples to Apples?"
She asked. It took Gabriel a while to realize she was talking to him.
"Oh, nope."
"Then let's stop somewhere and get it. We don't want Joshua to be bored, do we?"
Joshua smiled. He had never played the game before, but he thought it seemed fun. Gabriel willingly stopped at a toy store and let Lu out to get it.
"Can I go with her?"
Joshua quietly asked from the back seat.
"Sure, just don't get lost, 'kay?"
Joshua willingly nodded and followed closely behind Lu...no matter how scary her Tripp pants were.
"Almost didn't see you there."
Lu smiled and held Joshua's hand in the store. She thanked a God if there is one that his hand wasn't oily. There's nothing she despised more than a sweaty, oily, overly textured, hand. Even though this made her realize how ridiculously small her hand was. Her hand was about the same size as the tentative boy's…possibly smaller.
"What's Apples to Apples?"
"It's a fun game. You get to know people better."
"How?"
"Well, one person has an adjective, and everyone else has a deck of nouns. The people that have the nouns try to guess what the adjective person would be closest to the adjective they have."
"That's a little confusing."
"You'll catch on. The instructions in the game are much better than mine- Oh, here it is."
Lu snatched a small box off of one of the board game shelves.
"Isn't that a little small for a board?"
"It's not a board game, it's a card game. The store just misplaced it. Fa-"
Lu caught herself. Joshua's only about ten or eleven, you're not supposed to curse in front of little kids! This was gonna be harder on her than she thought.
"Something wrong?"
"Nope."
"Okay…If you don't mind my asking, why is your hand so cold?"
"I practically live in an ice box, to prevent bugs."
Technically speaking the idea seemed genius to any victim of massive bug bites. In my opinion, this makes the reason she's staying at Gabriel's all the more ironic. As Lu purchased the game, Joshua asked another question.
"How can you stand wearing a bunch of clothes in the summer?"
Today, Lu wasn't just wearing Tripp pants; they were oversized Tripp pants, which completely covered her legs. It doesn't exactly help with the fact that she always wore leather boots either. You'd imagine her shirt to make sense. It was a corset, but she added extremely long gloves that went all the way to her shoulders.
"I'm kinda cold today."
Actually, she was feeling relatively feverish outside of her icebox, but she'd survive. Also, it was a sensible excuse. She didn't really want to mention how much she hated showing any skin. The two made their way out of the toy store in one piece and were on their way over to Gabriel's.
"So, you know how to play?"
"Yeah, it's not really that hard. It's usually more fun in a bigger group, but we should still have fun anyways."
As soon as they got to Gabriel's they set the game up and begun to play.
"Everyone always has five red cards…I think." Lu began.
"How long do we play, exactly?" Gabriel asked.
"Until we run out of green cards…I think. It's been awhile since I played, don't question me. Order I guess goes clockwise around the table, so Gabe, you get the first green card."
"But we still don't know how to play."
"You guys will catch on. Now, what's it say?"
"Eh…bright."
"Okay, now, Joshua, pick a card out of what you have that matches it and put it down upside down on the table."
"Okay, but…none of these really match." Joshua hesitantly replied.
"That's okay; the best thing about this game is that not much makes sense. Just get it as close as you can." Lu encouraged.
When the two finally chose, Gabriel picked up the two cards and picked up on the game instructions right away.
"Okay, let me know when you guys know the answer to this: How is lobster or Mickey Mouse in any way bright?" Gabriel asked, stifling a laugh.
"Lobster is shiny." Joshua replied.
"Disney is where dreams come true!" Lu disputed.
"Ahahaha, I think the lobster definitely makes a little bit more sense than Mickey Mouse of all people."
"Bull!" Lu yelled.
She pounded her fist against the table, making the two Cunninghams laugh. Lu always had a knack for overreacting. You'd think it's scary, but actually…it's hilarious to a point I can't describe it.
"Bleh, Joshua gets the 'bright' card. The person with the most green cards wins."
"Oh, I get it."
"Also, you need to get a new red card to replace your old one."
"Okay."
"This time I need something that's fluffy~ Wait, no that says fuzzy. Oh, same difference."
The game went on for hours on end. Somewhere in the middle they even cooked microwave pizzas so they wouldn't get hungry. But it finally ended with Gabriel winning.
"I could've sworn I should've won with a few of those." Lu bickered.
"Good job, dad!" Joshua congratulated.
"Whew. Is anyone tired?" Lu asked.
"No." The two answered bluntly.
"Greeeaaat…" Lu stretched.
"Maybe we could just play again?" Joshua asked.
"You'll wear something out if you overdo it. Once today is good enough." Lu sighed.
"Oh, sorry…"
"Don't worry, it's a good thing you liked the game, isn't it?"
Joshua smiled.
"How about a movie?" Gabriel asked.
"Yeah, that sounds good." Joshua answered happily.
Whee~ Time skipping! They watch Back to the Future, everyone goes to bed, Joshua has the nice guest bedroom and Lu has to sleep on the futon. People would think she wouldn't mind, but Lu was always spoiled. She struggles to adjust when she hears footsteps. She didn't wanna bother Gabriel or Joshua so she pretended like she was fast asleep. Then whoever it was lightly tapped her on the back. People believed her to be a heavy sleeper, so as a little bit of an inside joke she only turned herself.
"Uh, L-Lu…?" Joshua kind of whispered.
No response.
"Lu…" Joshua was speaking now, and Lu 'woke up'.
"I-I'm sorry to wake you…but I couldn't sleep…"
"Don't worry about it. I wasn't having much luck sleeping either. You're dad's house must be really scary…or something."
Joshua chuckled lightly.
"So, you wanna chat or something? How's school?"
"Oh, actually it's great! We went on this field trip where we got to make our own soda!"
"I remember that field trip! Did you mix cherry with orange?"
"Yeah, it's the best!"
"I remember trying to make soda at home with lemon juice, water, and baking soda, but I couldn't remember the right measurements."
"I tried it and it came out great."
"Because you have a sharper memory than I do. Don't tell your dad I'm raiding his food."
Lu sighed and went over to the refrigerator and found some ranch dressing. There were also some potato chips conveniently placed on the counter.
"Can I have some? I'm kinda hungry…"
"Of course, why did you even ask?"
"Well, uh…my mom gets mad whenever I don't ask before I do something."
"If I end up hanging out with you more often, don't forget you're more than free to ask me anything. No matter how stupid the question, I'll try to find a decent answer."
"Okay, well…uh…do you like my dad?"
Lu pressured so much air in her mouth, it look like she stuck a water balloon in there. Joshua was only a little kid, Lu came up with a reasonable answer.
"Of course, I do. Gabe and I are friends after all."
"No, I mean more than friends."
There was an awkward silence…except the sound of Joshua smacking on potato chips nervously.
"Definitely not."
"Oh, I see…"
"If you don't mind my asking, what happened with your mom and dad?"
"They just divorced. I don't see Dad very often because he's busy with his job and my mom wants me around more anyways… How about your parents?"
"…You don't wanna hear about my parents."
"Of course I do! You're such a nice person; I bet your parents were the same."
"Fine, but if you get jealous it's not my fault. My parents divorced too. But they divorced when I was much younger. I was only about three so I don't remember very well. It's not like it's a bad thing, like I don't remember my mom or dad. Actually my parents are still great friends; I get to see both of them a lot. At least…that was before."
"What happened?"
"Kind of the same thing that happened to you. My dad became a nurse, and he spent more time working than with his family. I lived in a really bad time. The housing market was awful, the economy was awful, and people feared for their jobs because of lay-offs. It's not that I was mad at my dad; he only became a nurse so he could support both him and me. But, he was so stressful. It was scary because he was usually so laid back. My mom was starting to get worried too, sometime around the summer. She was much tenser than my dad, so I was used to it. Tons of schools closed in the district she taught in, she was an art teacher. So she had to go back to school too, so she could get a better education degree. I got lonely a lot. My mom was always out doing something and so was my dad. I don't live very close to most of my friends, so I didn't really have anyone to hang out with. Also, my mom doesn't like it when I have friends at home when she's not there. There really wasn't much to do when I was young, and it was a sad time… B-But don't worry about me! I got through it okay."
Lu hates a lot of things, and one of them in particular is talking too much…especially about the past or family. I'm assuming she just found herself so into her story she was talking about the whole thing, and now that she realizes it she's shutting up.
"D-Don't worry. I'm so sorry to hear that."
"Don't be, it's not your fault. Here, I'll find you some salt and vinegar chips."
"Th…Thank you…"
"No problem."
Lu felt a sense of regret letting herself ramble on so much about her life. She hung her head in shame. You see, the reason Lu doesn't want people worrying about her is actually…surprisingly selfless. She finds others' lives much more interesting, therefore important than her own.
You might say that's why she became a dermatologist, I myself am not sure. Personally, I believe it's the fact that she's an artist and believes beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Her creations made with different cosmetic dermatology operations practically give her a walking advertisement. Everyone can see how beautiful her creation is.
But that has nothing to do with the case at hand. Lu really feels bad for Joshua having to hear it, and she had to get space to cry. She didn't want anyone to see her, that'd only show vulnerability.
"Lu…?"
Lu didn't bother to respond. Sympathy only made her cry longer. She's more of an 'I'll get over it' kind of person. Even though responding doesn't help at all. Joshua didn't know what was wrong, whether she was experiencing sudden pain, or if he should call for his dad. He was extremely hesitant, but he hugged Lu's back.
"It's okay."
This didn't really change Lu's mind or anything. It just stirred her emotions more. 'Why does he care? Oh yeah, he's a little kid, that's why.' She didn't want to stop him. He might get mad or sad. She just wore him like he was a jacket around your waist or something. I wonder if that's considered comfortable…
Whenever Lu cried, it was always very quite with a little bit of a consistent chipper of breath sometime during said tears. It was never really noisy or completely not ignorable. But since the house was empty and quiet, the chippers echoed all throughout the house. This, obviously, woke Gabriel up. The chippers were awfully high pitched, but only to a point where it seemed like hiccups. He assumed Joshua was staying up because he was suffering from the hiccups. Gabriel went to the kitchen to trace the sound. When he saw Lu being the source of the sound, and the tears dripping onto the counter, he was utterly dumbfounded. (That has to be the biggest word I've used in this whole thing. Hooray for me~ let's go for !)
"What happened?"
"I don't know. She just started crying."
Gabriel knew more than anyone else in Portland to just let her be. He's never really seen her cry. It was really all speculation. Nonetheless, he still pats her on the back and stuck with her until she got over it.
"What was that all about?"
He asked when all the tears were done shedding.
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's nothing…probably just tired. Sorry about waking you up."
"Don't worry about it, I'm used to it."
"Good night."
For the rest of the night, the house was sound. I did fail to mention that Lu recovered much more quickly when Gabriel arrived, correct? I'd like to know what that means, because people always seem like an awful medicine for Lu. Unless, you know, they try to make her laugh. But that wasn't exactly the case this time. I wonder…what's going on in her head?
A/N: I worked too hard on this. Here's your damned chapter four. Sheesh. I know it might not be the best, but it's better than nothing. THREE DAYS. Or was it two? Pfft, who's counting? Yeah, I went too far past my word limit to even want to write much of a summary. Not to mention I got my hand messed up when I was skateboarding yesterday. Such a pain to finish this chapter, but I'll try to go through with the story 'til the end. Thanks for reading! Critique is much appreciated!
Oh, and tell your friends. My friends in reality think my fanfiction is dying of loneliness. Jerks.
Lastly, yes, this is turning slowly into a romance novel. Don't bug me, my friends are also pushing me to be set up, so my knowledge of romance is starting to bloom. I wanna test it.
