A/N: Some readers may find this chapter disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. Read & Review.
It took a while before Lilo went back to school. David decided to stay with Lilo a bit more and he had called Nani out of college to come comfort her younger sister. David took Lilo to hula class. Normally this would be the highlight of the day next to feeding Pudge peanut butter sandwiches. Would the girl ever be happy again? What was she and Nani going to do after the loss of their parents? Millions of questions would be unanswered to Lilo as she would never see her warm, nurturing mother again or the calm, support and teasing humor of her father.
"Have a good day, okay, kiddo?" David told the girl gently. "Your sister should be picking you up today... Chin up, okay?"
Lilo looked up at him and sharply sighed. She looked at her school and lugged her bag that seemed a lot heavier than usual today. She trudged inside the school and changed into her skirt and such while the other girls were doing the same. Lilo walked out of the room and looked over to see her friends chattering among each other.
"H-Hey, guys!" Lilo called. She was hoping her friends would get her mind off the trauma she had endured lately.
Mertle, Yuki, Teresa, and Elena looked over to see her.
Lilo used her best mouth strength to keep a perfectly framed smile and hide her sadness. "What's up?"
"Umm... Hey, Lilo..." Teresa greeted weakly.
"How are you feeling?" Yuki asked, showing general concern.
"Yeah, Kumu told us what happened." Elena said, going with her and the others.
Mertle looked to see the girls crowding Lilo. "Hey, guys! Don't you wanna hear about the time I stood on top of the Statue of Liberty!?" she suddenly craved attention.
The girls weren't paying attention to her. They were instead focused on Lilo who had tragically lost her parents.
"Hey, you guys!" Mertle grew angry.
"That must be really sad, Lilo..." Teresa said softly.
"I don't know what I'd do if I lost my mom... She makes the best coconut cake." Yuki added.
"HEY!" Mertle hissed. "Pay attention to me!"
Elena looked a little angry with Mertle, giving her the stink eye. "Mertle, how about a little sympathy? Lilo just lost her mom and dad! Don't you know what that's like?" she then turned her head back to the center of attention.
Mertle growled. She wasn't the center of attention. This was worse than when she was told to memorize the Hawaiian proverb at the end of the song the girls were going to perform with the older girls. What was she going to do? She was the new student who transferred from the city where everyone spoke 'real English' and she was spoiled and treasured by both her parents, especially her aunt who was a Hollywood agent. If it wasn't for a mistake Mertle made during her old school production, she would probably be a star by now and then who wouldn't want to be a friend of Mertle Edmonds?. School was kind of about Lilo today which made the red-headed girl very angry.
Lilo met her sister out the hula school as this was a very slow and painful hula class. Lilo liked to see her friends again, but all she could think of were her parents. Nani was in shock herself. She had to drop out of college just to come back home and take care of her little sister. Nani was a lot older than Lilo, so they were never really bonding much as sisters. By the time Nani graduated from high school, Lilo was just starting school herself.
Mertle went home with her mother and she slammed the door open as the girls went their separate ways for the afternoon and evening. "It's not fair! How come she gets all the attention!? I'm the new girl in Hawaii, not her!" the red-haired girl went into her room and climbed up on her bed. "She stole all my new friends! How could she do that to me? She's just weird and did that stupid dance about zombies or whatever! What makes her so special?"
"Mertle, is everything okay in there?" Mrs. Edmonds called from the other side of the house.
"I'm fine, Mom, just plotting!" Mertle called back, folding her arms.
"Okay, could you keep it down though? I'm making muffins with dinner tonight!"
"Whatever, Mom!"
Mrs. Edmonds sighed. She just hoped this being rude and uncaring to her was just a phase her daughter was going through. She knew it would take time for her daughter to get over the separation, but hopefully it would be pleasant and Mertle would be her kind and cheerful self again. Little did she know, Mertle was getting worse before she could even get better. She was thinking of ways to get back at Lilo for hogging all the attention all because her parents died.
"I'm so sorry this had to happen, Lilo..." Nani told her younger sister sadly. "Listen, while you're in school tomorrow, I'll need to meet social services."
"Are they going to take me away?" Lilo asked, in an emotionless tone due to her depression.
"What? No, Lilo..."
"It's okay, I know that Mom and Dad are gone and we can't do anything to have them back..."
"Lilo..." Nani tried to soothe her sister. "Please... Yes, Mom and Dad are gone, but don't think like that. They still love us."
"But they're gone!" Lilo's voice became more vocal. "We can't have them back! It's not like those movies where the parents are gone and everything turns out fine in the end!" she stormed off to her room and slammed the door.
Nani winced at the slamming door and sighed. "This is going to be harder than I thought... I just hope they don't take her away..."
