Luan read the letter with trembling hands. In her chest, her heart throbbed like an abscessed tooth. Her stomach was sick, and her eyes leaked.
YOU HAVE UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY.
The words blurred as tears flooded her eyes. She sat on the edge of her bed and gave into her pain. Luna came into the room from the hall, still wearing the shorts and T-shirt she slept in; when she saw her sister sobbing, she stopped. "Whoa, you okay?"
She came over and sat next to her, putting her arm around her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Luan tried to speak, but only wept harder.
Luna hugged her shaking sister close to her. "It's okay, let it all out."
"You...you know about...me and...Lincoln?" Luan asked through her tears.
Luna stiffened. "Yeah," she finally said, "I know, but it's okay. If you guys are happy, whatever."
"No...it's..."
Luan forced out the story, and Luna's eyes widened.
"Who would do that?" she asked distastefully.
"I don't know," Luan moaned, "but I have to break up with him."
"Slow down," Luna said. "Maybe we can find out who did this."
Five minutes later, Lisa turned in her chair. "I don't know who wrote it," she admitted. "They took great pains to disguise their handwriting. As far as I can see, it's either me, Lucy, Luna, Leni, Lori, or Lynn, as we're the only ones who know. Other than that, I'm stumped."
"I wouldn't do something like this," Luna said, "I mean, this is pretty messed up."
"I have to break up with him," Luan said, and started crying again. Luna hugged her and Lisa looked on uncomfortably.
"I turned my cameras off long ago," Lisa said. "I will turn them back on and see if I can't observe anything. In the meantime...you probably should break up with him."
Luan cried harder, Luna shot Lisa a dirty look.
"I'm only advising that because if our parents are informed, they will most likely separate them and may even put them in therapy. Or worse. And I for one do not want to see my siblings ripped apart and possibly sent to the proverbial "somewhere" for their actions."
"She's right," Luan sobbed against Luna's chest.
"If it's any consolation, you have until the end of the day," Lisa offered, hoping that made her feel better; she didn't like seeing her this way. "Enjoy his company while you can."
Luna walked with Luan back to their room. Luan had stopped crying, but her face was red and her voice was hollow. "Thanks. I have to get ready."
A half an hour later, she met Lincoln two blocks down. It was chilly, a brisk wind blowing from the west, pushing leaves along like embers from a fire. When Luan saw him waiting for her, her stomach turned, and her pace slackened.
You have until the end the day, she told herself. Enjoy his company while you can.
When she reached him, he started to speak, a look of concern crossing his face, but she silenced him with a kiss, sinking into his arms like putty. He was so warm, it felt so natural. Why couldn't people understand? She didn't choose to fall in love with him, it just happened, just like men falling in love with other men happened and women falling in love with women happened. No one wakes up and says, "Gee, I think I'm going to fall in love with someone I shouldn't today." She didn't, and she knew Lincoln didn't. It happened naturally. Neither could control it.
And someone didn't like it. Someone wanted to tear them apart and make them both miserable.
When the kiss broke, she leaned her forehead against his. "I love you," she said lowly.
"I love you too," he replied. "Is everything okay?"
She nodded. "Just hormonal, I guess."
"Nothing's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Not when you hold me like this."
Lincoln held her tighter. Neither cared who saw.
"Come on," Luan said, taking his hand. "We're going to be late."
They walked hand-in-hand to school, pausing at the front entrance. "I'll see you later," she said, then let go and went in, leaving Lincoln alone in the cold, his stomach starting to twist. She said everything was okay, but he could feel that it wasn't. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were red. She sounded different, too. '
Lincoln walked around to the side door, worry gnawing at his stomach. He was so consumed with it that he didn't feel the disapproving gaze of his teacher, who stood by the window.
Where's Luan? Ms. Johnson silently asked the boy as he trudged across the schoolyard. The parents probably separated them. Mr. Loud seemed to be in denial, but she'd planted a seed of doubt in his head. Last night, she imagined, he barged into the room and found them naked and sweaty in bed. Lincoln's wonderful teacher was right!
She watched the boy that day. He was quieter than usual, preoccupied. There was something like sadness in his eyes, and Agnes Johnson felt a twinge of something she was not used to: Guilt.
Agnes Johnson was not a warm woman. She was aware of that fact. However, seeing Lincoln this way bothered her.
While the kids went to lunch, she sat alone in her classroom, eating a frozen dinner and deciding whether or not she should call the Loud parents and see if she could walk back what she had said the previous day.
Or you could stop meddling.
True, that was always an option. If she had minded her own business this wouldn't have happened in the first place.
At the end of the day, she drove home and sat in her armchair in front of the TV, lost in thought. It was for the best, she decided. Children make mistakes. Teen pregnancy was rampant, sexual activity even more so. It was bad enough when children accidentally wound up having children themselves, but imagine the trauma, and the lasting effects, of siblings winding up pregnant!
Across town, Lincoln and Luan walked home, taking the long way again. "Are you sure everything's okay, Luan?"
"Yes," she said hollowly.
"You seem...upset."
"I'm not," she said, and turned to him, forcing a smile. "See?"
Lincoln held her close but didn't speak. Soon, they parted, and Luan went ahead. He was getting tired of hiding from everyone. He wanted the world to know how much he loved Luan. So what if she was his sister. If people had a problem with that, it was on them.
Why can't people just let us be happy? Luan thought as she sat her backpack by the foot of her bed. Why are people such assholes?
What hurt her even more was this: That asshole was one of her sisters...
The simple betrayal twisted in her heart like a knife. She drew a heavy sigh and began to prepare herself for what was to come.
I'm doing this for you, she thought at dinner. She stared down at her plate and picked at her food. She looked at each of her sisters, wondering which one was the Judas. It wasn't Lynn, and it most likely wasn't Lori. Neither Lana nor Lola even knew. That left Leni, Luna, Lucy, and Lisa. She didn't think it was Lisa, and Leni was too good-natured to do something so cruel (was she?). It had to be either Lucy or Luna.
After dinner, she went to her room and silently waited for bed. She was supposed to sleep with Lincoln tonight, but she wouldn't; she would sleep alone.
At midnight, she slipped out of her bed and went into Lincoln's room. He was sitting on his bed reading a comic book. He looked up and smiled when she entered. "Hey," he said, "I was wondering when you were going to come in."
"Hey, Linc," she said heavily. "We need to talk."
Lincoln blinked. "What about?" He sat the comic book down and sat up straight.
She'd spent the last two hours rehearsing what she was going to say. She hoped that by doing so the words would come more easily, but they didn't; they wedged in her throat like spikes.
"I-I think we should stop."
She quickly looked down at her feet, loathe to see his face when he realized what was happening.
"Stop what?" he asked.
"I can't be your girlfriend anymore."
The words hung heavy in the air. She closed her eyes against a sudden flood of tears.
Lincoln didn't reply for a minute. When he did, he sounded panicky. "W-Why? What's the matter?"
"I just...can't. I'm sorry, Lincoln. I love you but...we need to break up."
"Luan," he said, getting out of bed, his voice shaky, "why? Tell me. Please."
"I can't."
With that, she turned and fled back to her room, where she buried her face in her pillow and wept.
In his room, Lincoln stood shell-shocked. He turned dazedly away from the door, and the pain struck him all at once. He cried out and fell to his knees. Much like his sister down the hall, he buried his face into his bed and sobbed.
In the vents, his other sister watched him, her heart aching.
I know it hurts, she thought sadly, but it'll pass, and I'll make you happier than she ever could have. I promise.
