Ah, the mall. Such a beautiful haven for the adolescents and juveniles carrying around some serious dough. And tonight, the mall belonged to two particular cousins with a clear age gap and of different personalities. Different personalities, but fell into the same "fucked up by parent" category.
The place was packed, crowded with many teens mostly. People around them, and many walking on the top floors. Strangers to Loan. Trash to Lupa.
"Why can't they just go to their own homes and fuck each other?" Lupa was not a fan of crowds, or even remotely groups. Maybe it came from Lucy, who loved the silence and peace. "I was hoping it wouldn't be this lively."
Loan rubbed her body closely. "I-it's a little chilly in here," she whimpered.
Lupa turned and tugged on Loan's sweater. "What, this ain't warm enough for you?"
"I mean, it's just... Brrr..."
Lupa spotted a water fountain right in the center of the mall and scampered towards it. "Ha!"
"Lupa? What are you doing?"
All the white-haired daughter of Lucy Loud had in mind was to have a good time. And maybe have fun with Loan. She leaned onto the edge of the fountain and cupped her hands down, taking some water. "Hey, Loan!"
The lanky blonde walked with ease behind Lupa. "Wh-what is it? S-something in the water?"
"More like, something is the water!" And Lupa let Loan have it, throwing the water right at her.
"Lupa!" Loan shielded herself from the incoming rain. It got onto her hair and sweater regardless. "C-cold!"
"It's nice and moist! Don't tell me you aren't in the least bit dry!" Lupa ran up to Loan and leaped right onto her. "I do this out of love. Now, where is this movie theater located?"
They both scattered their eyes around the wide mall. Clothing shops, a bookstore, and tech retail shops were visible within the radius.
"Oh, great, maybe we have to go around looking for it," Lupa assumed. "Let's go up!"
Before Loan could say anything, Lupa was already taking charge and leading Loan by the hands to the nearest escalators. Having no free will in the matter, Loan just let it happen and did as Lupa commanded. "D-don't rip my sweater..."
"If there's money left over, we can buy you one. One like mines, that is." Lupa seemed more cheerful and lively this time, even with her distasteful comments she'd often throw around. Maybe it really was what they sorely needed after all. No, it very much was. Is. Very much is. All the worries and problems of their own worlds, placed on pause.
Lupa was the first to succumb to the joy of being here. Granted, it started out with giving Loan a what-for, purely for the giggles. But there was no reason to keep riding that particular train. After all, Loan was not fit for the roughhousing of any kind. "B-black? It's not r-really my color."
"And neither is anti-socialism. You've gotta find your true colors Loan, and I'm not talking about clothes."
"Y-you mean taking my own leaps, right?" It sounded like a previous talk she had with Lyra. Well, Lupa might not have been the violinist, but it didn't make her wrong to point it out.
"Just saying, you need the push to it, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's your mom's freaking job."
They stepped off the escalators, and Loan was still being guided away by Lupa. "B-but-"
So maybe Lupa said it wrong. "I mean, it is. It is, I'm sorry, but... Liby and Lacy, they're the only ones who are really around for me. I don't know, I guess I annoy them by taking their phones just to be...-" She flatlined after suddenly self-exploiting something she deemed was a simple, repeated action. "Attention..." She whispered. "It's what...-"
"I didn't catch that," Loan interrupted, now taking slower steps. "Lupa?"
The wee girl hit one of her own nerves. "Good Lord."
"Huh?" Lupa turned into a statue for a few seconds, letting it sink in. Loan waved a hand right in front of her face. "Um..."
"Ugh... Nothing, sorry." This wasn't therapy hours at all. Lupa was not going to go down there, so she returned to what she was doing and sprinted to her max with Loan. "Come on, I wanna see that damn movie!"
"Wait, you never t-told me what it was we were watching!" Loan had been left in the dark, and it was somewhat intentional by Lupa. Now that they were here, there was no turning back now.
"Oh right, sorry," Lupa grinned innocently. "How silly of me. So uh, it's a horror comedy-"
"H-horror?!" Loan began biting on her nails. "Uhh..." She looked behind, eager to make a clean exit. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..."
"No, Loan, come on! Don't be a baby! It's just fiction, nothing more! And..." So maybe there was going to be some actual graphic content aboard, but Loan barely made the cut to see it. But then again, this was Loan, the weak link of the family tree. The one likely to gave a heart attack in the auditorium. "I'll... Okay, I'll hold your hand and-" Lupa turned red in between. "-I'll make it look like I'm the one scared, is that fine?"
Loan felt the young girl really wanted this. Who was she to deny the wish of a broken relative? "Darn it... I just know I'm gonna regret this."
Young Lupa cheered happily, and then hugged Loan's legs. "Yay! Thank you!" She was doing mushy. "Uh-?"
Loan gently gave her a head pat. "So, what's it about anyways? Is-is it a slasher? I don't like to see that stuff..."
Lupa had only seen what the previews for the movie were, nothing more. "It's a supernatural movie about this blonde chick encountering a demon."
"A duh-duh-duh-demon?" Loan went full Porky the Pig like that. "Oh d-dear."
"Yes, a demon. They become friends or something, I don't know, the trailers make it seem like they have a love-hate thing going on. And there are witches involved. I don't know about how violent or bloody it is, but it's definitely an R-rated movie for the reason."
"Oh. Uh... Witches... Demon..." If only Lyra were here now, she'd be hitting Lupa across the face, not doubt. "Sounds..."
"Not that bad! It'll be fun! And there will be other people watching with us, so if it really does scare you, you don't have to hide it out of embarassment! I'm hoping to actually get scared, too! Isn't that the point of those types of movies?"
Loan was unsure of what to say, but she came her without a plan. Unlike Lupa, who had the only sensible idea to come here just to see it in the first place. If not for that, they would have been nowhere, talking about what to do and where to go, moreover just wasting time. "I'll have no butter on my popcorn, then."
They were off, and ended up right in front of a row of five ticket booths just at the right end of the mall, just outside the theater. Lupa glazed at the rectangular black screen where the showtimes weere being projected. She knew what she was looking for;
Demon - 8:25 - 9:15 - 10:40 - 11:00
"The soonest showing is the eight twenty-five one!"
"Its called Demon?"
"Oh Yeah! Ugh, and we made it in time, too!" The ecstatic fangirling Lupa gave Loan the money for their tickets. "Don't be 'fraid to flirt with cashier if he denies you them tickies!"
"F-flirt?" She stood in line, being the fourth behind some younger kids. Lupa was patiently awaiting her right at the entrance, keeping her enthusiastic smile intact.
It was soon Loan's turn to make the purchase. "Hello, two tickets to-" She recognized the cashier on the other end of the counter. And vice versa.
"Loan? Loan Loud?" It was BJ Sierra, one of Loan's classmates from English class. "What are you doing here?"
What did it fucking look like?
"H-hi, BJ. I didn't know you work here. I'm just h-here to catch a movie."
BJ nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah, I'll bet. Sorry, which one did you say it was?"
"Uh, Demon. Two for Demon."
They had only associated with each other a few times, assigned in class projects by their English teacher Mr. Trill. If they didn't know any better, they'd believe him to be secretly shipping the two. BJ was the socially awkward brat you'd make it out to be. It didn't help that he hat a face full of zits, and was a real scrawny mess. But not today, no. No, he didn't look like a mess. He was perfectly synced into the atmosphere, serving the clientele.
"Demon?" He asked again. "You're kidding me right?"
Loan shook her head to deny a joke. "No, why?"
"You don't strike me as the type of girl who would want to watch that."
Loan laughed. "Well, you're right, I don't. I'm here with my cousin who wants to see it. I have to tag a long."
BJ pulled back his head, mouth agape. "Ahhh, parental supervision. Alright." The teen Mexican pushed around some buttons on the computer in front of him. "I'm guessing the closest showing, right?"
"Please," Loan nodded.
"Alright, well, you're in luck. There are only two seats left, and they are now yours! Talk about being lucky!"
Loan slid the cash through the hole. "Here you go, BJ. I think this should cover it."
"A fifty dollar bill, eh? Do you work, too?"
"Well, no, not yet at least," she opened up.
"Ah, I see. Well, anyways," BJ returned the fair Loan's change, followed by the tickets. "Enjoy the show!"
"Thanks, BJ! S-see you in school!"
He smiled and nodded. It was only after she disappeared that he silently whispered, "Man, she's so freaking cute."
"Oh, joy, you got them without crying," Lupa teased.
"I can do stuff w-without crying!" Loan defended.
"Oh, I know! Come on, let's get some concessions!"
Auditorium 11
Lupa and Loan had to share the large popcorn, but had two separate drinks altogether. They were synchronized with the rest of the audience as the large auditorium's lights went dim and dark just as the movie had begun. The rolling previews were very high and actually make the area shake. Loan's heart raised a little to the extremity. It had been her first time in one of these, so it was all new to her. She nibbled on the popcorn rather fast than that of Lupa's rate, but was comfortable enough when remembering Lupa was here. She moved her hand to reach for Lupa's. "You wimp."
"My ears..." Loan muttered.
After the ten minutes of movie trailers were over, the real show had begun. Loan pressed back on her seat, expecting the grotesque and foul.
Indeed, the whole hour and a half of the horror movie was just like Lupa said. The jumpscares revved up her heart, and less as the movie progressed. Then, there was a scene that made it feel like an action movie, involving a bank heist. The protagonist of the film was actually suggesting the titular creature to torment those who were bullying her, and from there, it escalated to more tag-team activities that made it feel more like a buddy film. Loan was a confused audience member, but found humor that even she found funny, from a lotta idiotic dialogue to the dumb pranks being pulled in between. There was also a lesbian scene Loan felt the need to look away, and it was only the first scene to do this with. As for Lupa, she just bit her lip and moaned at it, clearly enjoying the love making.
Loan was peeking in and out of her arms once it became clear the real climax was beginning. The protagonist and the demon entity were up against witches. That's where the heavy bloodshed began, and ended with the hard twist of the dying protagonist having defeated all of the witches by herself, at the cost of her life.
Loan had grown fond of the female character, a teenager shaped from her parents' recent divorce, from beginning to end. She turned to Lupa, who was definitely crying into the empty popcorn container at the scene. "She risked her life to protect that thing! It's so beautiful!"
Loan smiled secretly at Lupa, and then focused her attention back on the screen. "B-but it was a demon-"
The final scene was the bizarre ending Loan didn't understand, and one quite disgusting. What happened was the entity had shoved a hand down the dead girl's mouth before the screen faded to black. And that's when everyone was suddenly hollering and clapping for some reason they didn't understand. "I don't... G-get it. Like, what did he do to her body?"
Lupa flipped her own tears of sadness into joyful ones, rooting along with the crowd. "YES, YES, AND FUCK YES!" She got up and threw the empty popcorn tub into the air in her cheery mode.
"G-geez, that was... Very scary... And b-bloody!" Loan shivered. Surprisingly, she had no urge to throw up at any part of the movie, despite having tiny gagging fits.
The lights lit up brightly again, and the moviegoers around them began to disperse out of their seats. "It was just as I imagined it would be! Although, the jokes made them look a little childish, but I'm not one to complain. The brutal violence makes up for it."
Loan could agree it was a spectacle unlike the past supernatural movies she would often, and reluctantly, watch with Lemy and Leia. "It was w-weird, too."
"But in a good way!" Lupa thought. "So, what's the time?"
"It must be around ten or so," Loan figured. "Oh n-no, I hit th-the curfew."
"You mean we hit the curfew," the youngling corrected. "Oh no, they must have been on a city-wide search all this time! Ha, that'll show my mom!"
"B-but if your mom is looking for you, doesn't that mean she cares? I-I know that she hit you-"
"Loan, don't. Ugh..." She stood up from her seat, ready to go. "It's been fun, Loan. Like, really."
The lanky blonde followed her lead, smiling a trademark curly smile at Lupa. "At least one of us enjoyed it!"
"Nonsense, I know you did! In the sense that we went on our... Heh, second date!" Lupa giggled to herself.
"Date?"
Lupa was truly a different person who wore her skin. The clear happiness she emitted, a rare happiness and joy that would have everyone drop dead from the shock. "Well, yes and no. Just don't eat up all the popcorn next time! You were hogging most of it."
Loan hadn't actually noticed it. "O-oh, s-sorry..."
"Hey, you're feeling alright, aren't you?" Lupa poked at Loan's face, narrowing her eyes.
"No, I feel fine. J-just a bit queasy about the ending but, I'm not that fuh-freaked out."
They joined with the existing crowd. Tiny Lupa was being shoved a bit by the tall folk around. Amongst them did she hear some comments about her. "Hey, what's a child doing here seeing this movie?"
Lupa listened closely and shifted her head around.
"Pffft, talk about bad parenting! I would never-"
"Look at her white hair! Did the movie scare the color out of her?"
Loan was oblivious to it, only hearing a bunch of chatter from the surrounding moviegoers. She didn't see Lupa clench her fists, about to make a move.
"It ain't right, bringing the underage to this," one behind them said. Lupa did a full 180 and confronted that person. "Oh, shit."
It was a chubby middle aged man, accompanied by a skinny woman around his age, maybe was his wife. "I think she heard you, dear," the woman said to her husband.
"Mind your damn business, fatty," Lupa barked at the man.
"Talk about an undisciplined little rodent!" The man continued. "If you're gonna be an unsupervised little bitch, why were you born in the first place? You have no reason to exist."
Loan, along with some others, stopped to take notice. "H-hey, that's not very nice! And she's not unsupervised! Sh-she's with me!"
"But are you this little bitch's mommy? No? I suggest you butt out!"
"Come on, man, they are just girls! No need to go there," a random, younger man defended.
"Honey, you're making a scene again..." The wife notioned, lightly placing her hands on his to appeal to him.
Lupa didn't take it well exactly. One would figure she'd kick him in the balls, or maybe throw back anoyher insult, like why he was bald at this age? But the way it continued was with Lupa staring at the blunt man until her eyes blurred out of place. She turned back around and placed her hood on, suddenly going and plowing right through the onlookers, even Loan.
"Hey! L-Lupa!" Loan followed after her, listening to the rude man's final remark.
"Really? That's literally the worst name to give a child!" And then some disgusted cries of the others defending the hurt Lupa came about.
"Lupa! Wait!" It was a turn of events that really killed Lupa's happy mood, almost like it was her curse to smile about something. How could someone say such a thing? And more importantly, why to a little girl you didn't even know? Where was the justice?
Loan ran out of the theater, spotting the tiny dot that was Lupa way far from her. "Why do you haave such quick legs?!" She hurried after her, sticking close to the lined-up stores, having a fear of heights, and more so, looking down was just as scary. The sweet Loan hit a snag in the form of a gentleman emerging from one of the clothes shops. She didn't see him coming, so ramming right unto him was inevitably destined.
She hit her elbow as she fell with the man. "Ow! Ow! Oh, d-dear, I am very sorry!" She peeped with utmost of guilt. She stood up to help the man."
Lincoln Loud brushed himself off and chuckled a little. "Oh, no! It's not issue, miss! I'm sure you didn't mean it." He looked up at her, and noticed the uncanny resemblance she had to Lori, a sister not seen in forever. But, maybe it was a pure coincidence. This girl looked a lot like Lori, but she seemed like the opposite of her at the same time. Untidy hair, different sense of fashion from Lori's own, and the clear stuttering he was just picking up from her.
"N-no, I d-didn't see you," Loan apologized. She then looked the other way and remembered Lupa. "I, uhhh..." She thought she needed an excuse, which only made it less, but still awkward nonetheless.
Lincoln just scratched his head, staring at Loan as she left out of view. Is that Lori's daughter? Hmmm, I guess I'll have to reach out to her sometime, he thought.
Lupa stood out in the parking lot, helplessly crying to the words she was forced to take on without warning. "Stupid old fuck! How dare he..." She went and kicked at the bike rack at the side of the mall. "Ow! Stupid bike rack!" She almost kicked it again, but stopped. "See? I learned!"
Loan finally reached the end of the race. "Lu... Lupa! Hey, are you okay?" She bent over and took some breaths. "One m-moment..."
Lupa smeared away her water leaks from both eyeballs and turned to Loan. "I'm fine. Let's just go home..." But she wasn't fine. Lupa returned to her usual self, the deadened girl with no father and the curse of a mother Loan knew as aunt Lucy. The deadened girl who had a grudge for everything in general. At least, that's what Loan made it out to be. "I'll take you home, I guess. They are definitely worried sick, I'm sure."
"Lupa..." Loan rubbed at her arm, visibly saddened that Lupa had been stripped away of a great night, and in the most hurtful way possible. "It's not true, what that man said. None of it is-"
"Th-then what is?!" Lupa graduated to an emotionally unstable state, falling to her knees. "I get treated like the bad girl everyone makes me out to be! I have no friends in school! My mother just hates me for even existing, and none of our own aunts will try to pick me up! Those fuckers Liby and Lacy, why is it them with better lives?! Why not me?! I'm just an eight year old girl with an alcoholic mother who shows me love through abuse! I don't want this, Loan!"
Loan just looked on, unable to say anything to comfort Lupa. She just merely stared at her with pity in her eyes. That's all she could do, and not actually console her this time.
"Well?! Say something!" Lupa pounced on Loan, beginning to deliver a barrage of tiny fists right into the tall teenager's hips. "Say something! Anything! Scream at me! Tell me I'm being a baby! Tell me I'm weak!"
Loan stood quiet, reluctant to say anything. She was no expert in defusing any sort of breakdown, so there was no telling how it would go if she tried. But Lupa's fists were not harmless.
Then, she had a great solution that seemed to work in all past situations were it was Loan who was troubled and hurt. She knew what to do, and it was thanks to Lyra she got it right.
Lupa was pulled into a hug by Loan, and with a soft, compassionate stroke of her hair, Lupa finalized her emotional rant and weeped it out right onto Loan. She cried hard, taking it fully in and returning the hug Loan had offered. "Sh-sh-she can't even tell me that! I just want to know what it f-feels like," Lupa muffled about.
"I g-get that. I really do." Loan could not debate which was better: being ignored and not having the only parent being there for you, or having her notice your existence, but merely despising and berating you for being alive? She wanted to say they were both the same... But in truth, it began to differ from Loan's perspective now. Why wasn't her own mom doing that if it was assumed she hated Loan, or something about Loan?
Aunt Lucy made her position pretty clear, but Lori- What was her thinking? What were her own reasons for the lack of presence in Loan's life? This... This, Loan had to know even more than the era of yesterday.
"My mom can't say anything... You know I never see her around..." Loan gave a silent sigh, keeping her hands on fragile little Lupa.
"Loan, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Lupa referred to their missing relationship.
"Hey, I'm sorry, too," Loan returned. "But it's going to be okay-"
"I can't... I can't take much more of her. I- I wanna sleep over at your place..."
Like Loan said before, it wasn't her call. "Y-you'd have to ask our aunts, and I'll v-vouch for you if you decide to, okay?" Loan was all for it, if it meant sparing the helpless cousin from aunt Lucy's harsh judgement.
Lupa ceased her leaking a second time. "God, what is with me tonight?" She laughed it off. "Loan?"
"Y-yes, Lupa?"
She coughed up, "Thank you..." But only silently. Loan heard it clearly and smiled down at her. This time, her smile happened to be straighter than the last few times, catching Lupa off-guard.
"Oh," she noticed. "This is one crazy night!"
The two ventured off back to Loan's home, while Lupa was still sniffing it back in. "You know-"
They had just crossed across the street when the bizarre physical feeling inside of Loan kicked in. She stopped right after reaching the end of their first block back. "I- I don't feel so good..."
"You're probably just tired from the running I made you do," Lupa suggested. "Sorry about that."
Up ahead, Lupa noticed two tall silhouettes nearing from just further up the sidewalk.
"N-no, it's-" Those were Loan's last words for the night. Whatever happened to her got her pretty damn good and damn strong too. She basically just fell dead, according to Lupa's point of view. "L-Loan? Hey..."
Lupa moved down to Loan, shaking her lightly. "Th-this isn't funny!" She slapped her, to no avail.
"Loan! Lupa!" The two figures in the distance were now close enough to be revealed as aunts Luna and Lana. "What's going on?!"
"Loan, quit it! Joke's over, you can stop scaring me!" She shook her more dramatically harder now, whimpering out. "LOAN!"
Lana pulled the little girl away from Loan. "Easy! We're here, Lupa! We'll take it from here!"
Luna rushed to Loan's aid, bending down to lift her up. "What happened, Lupa?"
"I- I don't know! L-Loan, is she dead?" Lupa took her own words heavily. "Oh, no! Oh, please no!"
Lana gripped her niece firmly in her arms. "Hey, we don't know that! There is no need to throw that around!"
"L-L-Loan is...-" Lupa reverted back to her crying state, now using Lana as her Kleenex sheets. "Dead!"
AN: Now that the next chapter of this is done, it marks another one closer to the end, and from here to then is still under construction to make it good; in other words, delays are a given. Maybe three or four more chapters left until the end.
Now it's become clear that something is going on with Loan. But... What, are the questions to ask now? The progression with the odd differences between the two parents has Loan opening up to wondering why she isn't getting the Lupa treatment. It's coming down to that.
That, and the incoming appearance of Lincoln that will go both ways. I hope I did good here with the furthering of the Loan and Lupa dynamics. See you next time!
