Lynn slammed the door and kicked it. Fucking bitch! How dare she? She punched it, then kicked it again. Tears welled in her eyes.
"What's wrong now?" Lucy asked.
"Nothing." Lynn flopped down onto her bed and gazed up at the ceiling. Her heart was racing. The side of her head where Luan hit her kind of hurt.
If you weren't my sister...
She took a deep breath through clenched teeth and blew it out.
Stay away from Lincoln, she'd said.
Lynn wasn't one to beat around the bush; she was not timid, she was direct and to the point. The last couple of days (maybe even longer) however, she had been beating around the bush.
No more.
She was in love with her brother. Putting it that frankly disturbed her, but it was the truth. She loved Lincoln. She loved how considerate he was, how gentle he was.
Luan does too.
Anger surged through her. Why did Luan have to love him too? Why couldn't she have him all to herself? Was that too much to ask?
Apparently. Rhetorical questions would get her nowhere, though. She had to face the situation as it stood, and the way it stood now was this: She and Luan were in love with the same man, and she had no intention of backing off, and if Luan felt anything like she did, she wouldn't back off either.
Well, one of them had to, because Lynn sure as hell wasn't going to share.
What are you going to do, fight her every time you see her?
Lynn didn't know. She loved her sister, even if right now she wanted to slap her across her stupid face. If they kept this up, they'd destroy their relationship, and that scared Lynn. She didn't want that.
But she wanted Lincoln, and Luan was standing in the way of that?
What to do, what to do.
She was still pondering that question at dinner. While the other kids talked and laughed, neither she nor Luan spoke. Lynn didn't even look at her older sister.
"So," dad said to Lori, "anything interesting happen while we were gone?"
Lynn and Luan both looked at her.
"Nope," she said without looking up from her plate. "Just the usual."
Lynn was grateful, and when Lori looked up, mouthed 'thank you.' Lori simply nodded, then nodded in the direction of the stairs, indicating that she wanted to see her after dinner.
When they were excused, Lynn followed Lori to her room. Inside, she shut the door and leaned against it. Lori sat on the edge of her bed and stared at her for a long time, making Lynn uncomfortable.
"What's this all about?" Lori finally asked.
"It's..." Lynn trailed off. She should tell the truth? She imagined telling Lori that she was in love with Lincoln, and her stomach turned. How would Lori react? She'd probably think she was disgusting, and truth be told, a week ago, she would have felt the same way.
Should she tell a version of the truth?
"Luan started it," she said in lieu of anything else.
"Lincoln says you were calling Luan names and that you kept throwing the ball when she wasn't ready. He said it looked like you were trying to hit her."
Damn it, Lincoln, she flashed, but she knew he meant well. He was so kind and thoughtful and generous and...
Lynn sighed. "Me and Luan like the same boy."
Lori blinked. "Really?" she asked, crossing her arms. The 'really-arm-cross' combo was something Lynn had seen from their mother a million times. It meant that she was disappointed. "You guys got into a fistfight over a boy?"
Shamefaced, Lynn nodded.
Lori sighed. She got up and crossed the room. "Move."
Lynn stepped aside, and Lori went into the hall. Lynn stuck her head out and watched as she went to Luan's door and knocked. Great, she thought, hanging her head. Luan better not tell her it was Lincoln. Otherwise Lynn really would pummel her, sister or not.
Luan came to the door, and Lori said, "Come here for a minute."
"Okay," Luan sighed in a tone that said she'd been expecting this.
Lori led her into the room. When she entered and saw Lynn, her eyes narrowed to slits. Lynn's initial reaction was to grit her teeth, but under her rage, she was hurt. Hatred was not something she wanted her sister to look at her with.
"Close the door," Lori said, and resumed her spot on the bed. Luan closed the door and turned to face her eldest sister.
"Lynn says you both like the same boy and that's what this is all about. Is that true?"
Luan glanced at Lynn, her lips pursed.
"Hey, I'm over here," Lori said. "Look at me."
Luan turned to her. "Yes," she admitted.
Lori nodded. "Do you realize that that is, like, the stupidest thing to fight over? You're sisters, for godsake."
"It's not as stupid as fighting over having the same dress," Lynn grumbled, and Lori shot daggers at her.
Instead of addressing Lynn's snark, she said, "You need to get together and figure something out, because no boy is worth ruining your relationship. Boys come and go, but family is forever."
Lynn hung her head, shame welling up within her. Next to her, Luan did the same.
"I love you guys," Lori said, standing, "and I'll help you if I can. Okay? I just don't want this going any further."
"It won't," Lynn said, and meant it.
"Yeah," Luan said.
"Good," Lori smiled. "Now go on."
In the hall, Lynn turned to Luan. Apologzing was not her strong suit. "I'm sorry I called you those names," she said. "And threw the ball at your face. I wasn't really trying to hit you, though. I just...I just wanted you to go away."
"I'm sorry I spit in your face."
They hugged.
"We need to have a serious talk though," Lynn said.
"Yes we do."
"Come on."
In Lynn's room, Lucy was still reading. "Alright, Count Dracula," Lynn said, "take a walk."
Without looking up from her book, Lucy got up and left the room. Lynn closed the door behind her and locked it. "On the bed."
She and Luan sat across from each other. For a long time, Lynn struggled to find words. After a while, all she could say was, "You love Lincoln too."
"I do," Luan replied.
Lynn sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well...I'm not backing off." She forced herself to look her sister in the eyes.
"Neither am I," Luan said pointedly.
"I guess it's a stalemate."
Luan shrugged.
"How about this: We'll let Lincoln decide."
A shadow passed Luan's face. Lynn sensed her hesitancy.
"We'll give it a week, then we'll talk to him."
Luan sighed, relieved. "Alright." She was grateful for the delay. Telling Lincoln was such a big thing. It could blow up in her face and leave her family in rubble; she was not looking forward to it. On the other hand, she had a week to show him that she cared about him more.
Lynn was thinking along similar lines, which is why she suggested they wait. She was prepared to tell Lincoln her feelings right now, damn what may come, but she was worried that he'd pick Luan. This way, she had time to butter him up.
"Whichever one he picks, if he picks one at all," Lynn said, "that's it. No more fighting, no more hard feelings. Deal?"
"Deal."
They shook.
Across the hall, Lori sat on her bed, her being in turmoil. When the fight started earlier, she was in the kitchen getting a drink. She looked out the back door just in time to see Lynn and Luan tumble to the ground. Luna was sitting at the breakfast nook eating a sandwich and gazing out the window. She saw too. "Shit," she said.
They rushed out, Lori arriving first. Just in time to hear Luan say: "No, you stay away from Lincoln."
She didn't stop to think about it until the situation was diffused and her sisters were no longer in danger of killing each other. Stay away from Lincoln? What?
"What happened?" she asked Lincoln after Luna escorted Luan inside.
Poor Lincoln was stricken. "I don't know. We were playing baseball and Lynn kept calling Luan names and throwing the ball when she wasn't ready."
She assumed it started with each of them wanting Lincoln for their own purposes, and escalated from there. Hell, she'd gotten into arguments with Leni when both wanted Lincoln to help them with something at the same time. As she thought about it, though, she realized that both Lynn and Luan had been acting strange for days. A few times at dinner last night, she caught Luan staring at him and grinning. Once she saw Lynn do the same thing. She ignored it because what was she supposed to think?
When Lynn said "Me and Luan like the same boy," her darkest (and faintest) suspicion was confirmed. They both liked Lincoln.
Lori shuddered. How...how can someone feel like that about their brother?
You should have confronted them, she thought.
Yes, she should have, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.
She had to do something though. She couldn't tell mom and dad, because Lynn and Luan would both probably wind up in therapy, and Lori didn't want that. Then again...what if one of them had sex with him? And what if they got pregnant?
Lori shuddered again. Oh, God, that was so gross.
Lincoln's eleven, she reminded herself. If he could even get it up, he probably wasn't packing live ammunition. Still...
Just then, Leni came into the room.
"Leni," Lori said. "Can you get Luna for me? And Lisa too."
"Okay, but why?"
"We need to have a family meeting. But don't tell anyone else. Just Luna and Lisa. Got it?"
"Okay," Leni shrugged, and went back into the hall.
Five minutes later, Luna and Lisa were standing in front of the closed door. Leni was sitting on her bed. Lori was standing in the middle of the room, her hands behind her back. She thought long and hard about what she was going to say.
"What I say does not leave this room. Ever. You are the only three I trust with this, besides Lucy, but I don't want to involve anyone else unless we absolutely need to."
She paused. Thought. "Leni and Lisa, I'm sure you've heard about the fight Lynn and Luan had today."
Leni blinked. "I didn't hear that."
"I did hear that there was an altercation," Lisa said. "What inspired it is frankly of no interest to me."
"Luan and Lynn both have a crush on the same boy," Lori said. "Lincoln."
Luna's jaw dropped. Lisa remained stoic, save for a slight lift of the eyebrows. "I'm listening."
Lori laid out her case. When she was done, she sat heavily on the edge of her bed, feeling tired and drained.
"The circumstantial evidence is quite damning," Lisa said, "but there is no hard proof, and given the...magnitude of what you're proposing, we need actual proof lest we jump at shadows."
"We don't have..." Lori started, but stopped when a knock came at the door. "See who it is," Lori said.
Luna opened it.
Lucy.
"I need to talk to you," Lucy told Lori. "In private."
"About?" Lori asked.
"About Luan and Lynn."
Well," Lori said, "it just so happens that they're the reason we're all here."
"So you know?"
Lori held up her hand. "Come inside, shut the door, and tell us what you have."
"Okay."
Lucy came inside and closed the door. "Luan and Lynn came into mine and Lynn's room and kicked me out. I went into the vents to read, and overheard them talking. They're both in love with Lincoln."
Lori looked at Lisa. "That proof enough for you?"
"Oh, man," Luna muttered, rubbing the side of her head.
Lisa sighed. "Eyewitness testimony is better than hearsay, but not much. I'll take it, though."
"So...they're in love with Lincy?" Leni asked. "Like...love-love?"
"Yes," Lori said.
Leni scratched her head. "That's weird."
"Not so weird," Lisa said. "Attraction among siblings is fairly common, especially during puberty. It's not exactly the norm, but it's not unheard of. Puberty, as I'm sure you, Lori, Leni, and Luna, are aware, is a strange time both physically and mentally. Emotions are heightened, emotions are confused."
"I'm not interested in why they feel the way they do as much as I am in how to handle it," Lori said. "I don't want to go to mom and dad."
"Perhaps we don't need to handle it," Lisa said. "We're talking about two teenage girls, two teenage girls barely out of adolescence, who have a crush on a boy. That that boy is their brother is largely irrelevant. It's likely that they're not actually in love with him, but are confusing familial love with, well, love love. In which case, they'll have to discover that on their own."
"And what if they really are in love with him?" Lori asked. "What are we supposed to do, let them have sex whenever they feel like it?"
"It's highly unlikely that a sexual relationship with develop, at least at the current time, assuming that Lincoln were to feel the same for one or both of them. When you were fourteen, Lori, you had crushes, correct?"
"Yes," Lori said, "but..."
"And how many of those crushes did you mate with?"
"Well, none," Lori said, "but..." she trailed off.
"You engaged in other sexual activities?"
Lori said nothing. When she was in the eighth grade, she jacked a boy off in the bathroom during lunch.
"We can do our best to keep them supervised," Lisa offered. "Of course, we cannot let them know we are watching them, or that we even know. If they believe they aren't being kept track of, they are less likely to be overly cautious. As you know, I had cameras installed in the house for research purposes, but had them deactivated. I will turn them back on and watch for anything suspicious."
"I want the rest of you to keep your eyes and ears open," Lori said. "If it looks like...something's going to happen, stop it. Ask to see one of them, follow them, whatever it takes, just don't let them know you're doing it on purpose. If you can, come to me."
Everyone nodded or muttered their agreement.