"Don't forget your change, Vito," Bobby Santiago said, reminding the nice, old Italian man.

"Ah, thank you, Roberto," replied the man with sparkling teeth. He turns towards his old friend, Hector, who's standing next to Bobby, behind the counter, and gestures to the teenage boy, "At least someone in your family ain't a chooch," he teases.

"You're right, Vito," he replies, then turns to his grandson, "Bobby, next time Vito forgets his change, don't remind him."

Vito looks on at them as they chuckle, "Fanabola! It won't matter even if I do. I'll just win it back from you in poker, like always, Hector." He starts walking towards the exit, "Just like how I'm gunna empty your pockets tonight."

Hector yells, "In your dreams!" as Vito leaves. "Heh, that guy is in for a surprise tonight. I'm gunna wipe the..." he starts rambling on about his poker games.

Bobby sighs heavily and leans forward. He sets his cell phone down, and rests his elbows on the spotless counter, dropping his head down and closing his eyes. The sound of his grandpa talking drowns out from his mind, as he loses focus.

The first week of his three week suspension was almost over, as tomorrow is Tuesday. The purple and blue bruises on his face have all completely healed by now. He knows his family wasn't angry with him over any of that. If anything, they were proud of him for defending the girlfriend he loves, or... used to love. He was so incredibly angry that day, he still doesn't know what came over him. He fought a guy he used to be friends with, and broke up with the only girl he ever truly loved. He doesn't care that he was suspended, but now that he has so much time to think in his full days of working in the bodega, he's not so sure what he feels. He's had a week to mull over everything, the fight, the breakup, the hypocrisy, and Lincoln...

Last Thursday, Ronnie Anne came home from school in a state of shock. She looked like she was on the verge of tears, and was fairly shaken up. Bobby rushed up to her the moment he saw her that way, knowing how uncommon it was for his little sister to get seriously bothered by anything. He asked her what was wrong, and she told him what happened to the Louds, and what Lincoln did to himself. She told him how Clyde called her after school, when she was hanging out with Sameer. Clyde had told her everything, having heard the rumors going around Royal Woods Elementary school. Being a worried best friend, Clyde went to the Loud residence to get answers. He had a rather depressing talk with Mrs. Loud, as Lincoln hadn't come home from the hospital yet. He thought Ronnie Anne deserved to know, unaware of the tension going on between the two families at the moment.

Every member of the Casagrande/Santiago family was bothered in one way or another by the harsh news. Ronnie Anne stayed in her room the same way Bobby had been before he broke up with Lori. Bobby actually found himself thinking about Lori more and more as the days went on. He wonders how she's doing. How their break up must have made things even worse for her, in what is probably one of the worst times of her life. He reflected about how the fight only started over normal high school rumors he heard from Carol, and he started feeling guilty. Guilty that he didn't think clearly or talk things through with Lori or even Brett before accusing them of anything. Guilty that, months ago, when the Loud siblings accused him of cheating on Lori, he immediately thought it was ridiculous, and Lori even backed him up. He finds himself looking at his phone more and more too, questioning if he should try to reach out to Lori, that is, if she would be willing to talk to him again. He looks up, and stares at his phone, sitting in front of him.

Hector stops cleaning the bodega window, noticing Bobby isn't paying attention. He wonders what's bothering his grandson. "Something on your mind, Bobby?"

Bobby purses his lips and shrugs in response.

Hector walks up to Bobby and places a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, nieto. You can talk to me. Would this have anything to do with your girlfriend or her brother?"

Bobby hesitates before he responds. "*sigh* Yeah, kind of both. I mean, I just.. I feel so bad about, well... everything I did. I think I really messed up, grandpa. I hurt her so badly in the time she needed me the most. I acted like such an idiot... and I never gave her a fair shot to even explain herself. I- I just-"

"Bobby... It's not your fault what that poor boy did to himself. It's just not. You can't beat yourself up over something you didn't know was going happen."

"But grandpa, I broke up with Lori only a couple of hours before it happened. And I broke up with her because... *sigh* not because she cheated on me, but because she might have cheated on me. You know how hypocritical that was of me? Two months ago, Lincoln thought I was cheating on Lori, and I brushed it off like it was no problem.. Lori believed me immediately and defended me. Why couldn't I do the same? I- I don't even know for sure if she did anything with Brett, and I don't know if I ever will. To be completely honest with you, grandpa, I- I'm scared to talk to her again..."

Hector thinks about what his grandson just explained to him.

"You know, before I got with your abuela, for a long time, I was too chicken to ask her out."

Bobby pries his eyes away from his phone, turning to see his grandpa.

"She was a waitress in my favorite restaurant back home. Dios mio, she was absolutely beautiful. I would go in there all the time, just hoping that eventually I would build up the courage to talk to her, but I couldn't do it. I thought I was never going to be able to, and she would marry some rich business man and live the easy life she deserved. And I was scared she would say no to me. Then, one day, I went in there and her shift just ended. I saw her sitting alone at the bar. To this day, I don't really know why, but seeing her sitting there, it made me feel something inside I'll never forget."

"..What was it?"

"I felt like God made it clear to me that He was giving me an opportunity. I knew right then He had faith in me, telling me that I had the ability to at least try. So, that's what I did. I sat down next to her and bought her a drink. I told her my name, she told me hers, and we just talked. We talked for what felt like hours, heh, until the place closed for the night. When we walked out, I asked her on a real date, and she said yes. Not long after, we fell in love."

Bobby starts trying to understand the message of the story. He thinks about it carefully.

"I think I get it. You're telling me to talk to her, right? Because God's telling me it might end out well?"

"Pretty much, nieto. Maybe God's giving you this opportunity because He knows you can do something great with it, just like He did for me. All I know for sure is, even if it does go badly, when it's all said and done, you'd rather have tried and failed, than never know what could have been."

Hector pats his grandson on his back once more, and leaves him to his thoughts.

Bobby, looks ahead at his phone again. His grandpas words really did straighten up his jumbled worrying. Now he knows he has a certain decision to make. 'Maybe he's right. Maybe God is giving me an opportunity. What harm could a simple text do?'

He reaches out and quickly snatches the phone. He looks at the time and knows Royal Woods High school is on their lunch break right now. He takes a deep breath, and opens a new message directed to Lori. "Hey Lori... I know I'm probably the last guy you want to hear from right now... but I want to talk about what happened between us... I'm so sorry. I'm sorry about...everything... I just wasn't thinking clearly and I was being stupid...I heard about Lincoln, too... I'm so sorry. I'd really like a chance to actually talk things over. Just the two of us. But honestly I can understand if you don't want to... Please let me know what you think. I'm really sorry..." Bobby figured it would better to send a formalized text, instead of their usually short, abbreviated messages, to signify importance and sincerity.

Only 2 minutes later. (But the longest 2 minutes of Bobby's life).

Bobby's phone vibrates in his hand. He looks at it immediately, being so nervous. Lori responded.

"Hey... I honestly think we should talk too... We have a lot we should discuss... Maybe we can meet somewhere? We can meet halfway in between Royal Woods and the city...? Any ideas on a good place?"

Bobby is honestly stunned at the text he just read. He wasn't expecting to get an answer at all, let alone a positive one within a few minutes. He quickly breaks from his thoughts and searches online for places at the half way point between the two cities, and suggests an area that seems to be well liked. "Yeah Lori there's a park we can go to. Seashell Park... I have to work until 5 o'clock, so we can meet around 6:30... How's that?"

"That's fine Bobby... I'll see you there."

Bobby drops his phone from his hand as a customer enters the store. He feels a mixed wave of relief and worry run over him. He's definitely glad Lori is willing to give him a chance to explain things, but he's obviously still worried about how she'll react. As he helps the customer, his mind starts planning the foundations of a script for what he's going to say to his ex-girlfriend. 'I've got to show her how sorry I am about everything I did, and I shouldn't talk about Lincoln too much. Just let her know what I know, and let her only say what she's comfortable saying. Yeah that's a good start.'

...

The Loud sisters all trudge into the front door of their house, getting home from a long day. They weren't particularly enthusiastic about going to school today at all, but their parents know best. Right?

Luna, Lucy and Lisa stay back, as they watch the rest of their sisters mosey up the stairs, and into their rooms, secluding themselves from the depressing atmosphere. Each one of them having cast a saddened glance towards the silence emitting from their brothers, cracked open bedroom door, before splitting up.

The three girls wait until they hear each of the bedroom doors shut. They drop their backpacks in front of the red door, and move to the couch in the living room. They speak in hushed tones.

"So Lees, did it work? Is everything set for tomorrow, for both schools?" Luna asked.

"Affirmative. Principal Huggins was reluctant, at first, to comply with our terms, but he quickly altered his opinion, once I threatened to report the numerous instances of wasteful spending the school participates in, to the superintendent of the school board. Imbecile... He immediately called the principal of Royal Woods high school, who was equally as eager to comply with the terms I requested, due to his own frequent embezzling. When questioned as to why I requested such terms, I simply stated it will be both educationally and socially beneficial to the student bodies of both schools, which it actually will be, that is, after tomorrow, of course."

"Sounds like it went well," Lucy said.

"What about the fuzz, dude? They won't be as easy to get on board."

"Yes, this is where things are left up to chance... To review: the easy part is preemptively alerting the authorities of the crimes in which we plan to entrap Carol. The difficulty will predominantly be in timing their entrance, immediately before anything harmful occurs. Curse my current inability to strategize. *sigh* I fear I may have failed you, dear sisters. This plan is overtly elaborate and quite frankly, asinine. There is ample room for potentially disastrous error. We will purposefully be endangering the-"

"We know, dude. *sigh* We don't like it either, and we're just as worried as you are, but you've said it yourself, even with you on our team, we couldn't come up with anything better with everything that's been going on. *sigh* This is too much pressure... for all of us."

"Maybe we should have asked Luan for help. She's scarily good at coming up with plans, when she wants to be."

Lisa was about to deny Lucy's suggestion, as they can't waste any more time, but someone else cut in first.

"Ask me for help with what? And uhh, thanks, Lucy."

The three girls turn and gasp. They didn't hear Luan walk down the stairs.

"Uuhhhh, for help with, uhhhh.."

"...an experiment of mine! It's about... the.. synchronization of the menstrual cycle of females living within close parameters... We were going to ask for your help, but we've got it covered... Now, if you don't mind, we'll be in my room working on it.."

"But.. you and Lucy aren't even old enough to-"

The three girls run past Luan, up the stairs and into Lisa' and Lily's room, slamming the door before Luan could finish her sentence.

Luan gives a confused look, then shrugs. She sighs, still feeling incredibly upset, and heads into the kitchen.

Lori walks down the stairs, and out the front door, focused on something.

...

The sun was just finishing its descentover the horizon, even though you could hardly see it through the thick overcast. It's getting dark outside. The street lights should be turning on any minute now. Bobby is a half an hour late, and that makes him even more anxious. The last thing he needs is for Lori to be angry about his punctuality too.

He sees a sign that reads 'Seashell Park' so he quickly pulls his car into the empty parking lot. He doesn't see Vanzilla, so he gets his phone out and texts Lori, asking her where she is. He waits a few minutes but doesn't get an answer. Getting ancy, he gets out of his car, closes the door, and looks at the large, dark park. 'Hmmm.. Maybe she parked on the other side,' Bobby thinks. He starts walking into the park, on the damp grass, looking at all the trees, and the glistening stream that runs through the middle. He crosses the stone bridge, decorated with rocks carved into the shape of seashells, and walks to the other side. Eventually he sees a person sitting alone on the right side of a bench, facing away from him. "Lori?" He starts to walk faster, and recognizes the back of her head and blue clothes. "Whew, it is her."

He walks up to the bench from behind, and can tell that Lori already noticed he's here. Her head is pointed down, and she doesn't look at him. "Lori... *sigh*." He slowly walks around the left side of the bench, but the girl turns her head away from him again. He sighs again, and sits down, separated by a space in between them. It's starting to get cold, and he notices Lori has her jacket covering her entire lower half, like a blanket. He wishes he had thought to bring one too.

The two sit in silence for a few minutes, except for an occasional sniffle from the girl, which Bobby assumes is because she was crying. After another minute, his nerves get the better of him and he breaks the silence. "Lori, listen... I just, I want to apologize for.. uh, how stupid I was last week. I- I know it wasn't fair to you that I didn't hear you out, so I'm sorry. I really am.."

Lori doesn't answer. She just slightly shakes her head. Waiting for a response he can tell he's not going to get, he slides a little bit closer to her, and he speaks up again. "You know, I- Ronnie Anne told me about the uh... she told me about Lincoln." Bobby sees Lori turn towards him the slightest amount, but not much. He keeps going, "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, and I just wanted to say how sorry I am, and if... if you ever need someone to talk to, well, I'll be there to listen. I just wanted you to know that, Lori.."

He looks at his ex, trying to see if she's having any type of reaction to his words. She doesn't move for a moment, but then starts nodding. She sighs. "I had a feeling you would say that."

Bobby immediately notices how different Lori's voice sounded, then the girl turns to look at him fully. His eyes go wide, "What the- Carol? What the hell? What are you doing here?" He stands up, and looks at the girl. She remains completely calm while looking back.

"You know, I was actually worried this might happen," she delivers in a monotone manner.

Bobby takes a step towards her, confused, "What the hell are you talking about, Carol? Where's Lori? I need to see her!"

"Oh, I know you think so," Carol quickly stands up, letting her coat drop to the ground. She raises the five-iron golf club she was hiding, high in the air, "but I can't let you." She swings and connects with the side of Bobby's head, before he could even react. He drops to the ground hard, unmoving.

An eerie silence falls over the park. All that can be heard are the leaves of the trees brushing against one another in the wind and the water of the small river running over the rocks. Carol relaxes her arms. She sets her club down, picks up her coat, and puts it on, feeling the breeze start to pick up. She crouches down next to Bobby and looks at him. The side of his head is bleeding, but his chest is still moving. She reaches down, taking his phone and wallet, putting them into her coat pockets. She looks around, and sees no one, so she grabs him by the ankles, and starts dragging him the short distance to her car. Eventually, she makes it, and opens the trunk. She struggles, but manages to lift and push him into it, making her lose her breath. She folds his body to fit, and slams the door down, locking him in. She walks back to get her club, and throws it in the back seat of her car. She sits in the drivers seat, and starts the engine. She turns on the radio, pulls out of the parking lot, and heads back towards Royal Woods.

A few hours later.

"Ughh.. m- my head." Bobby says, waking up. He doesn't hear anything, and it's dark. Suddenly, a bright light flashes in his eyes, making him flinch. He tries to move but his hands and feet are restrained, zip tied to the wooden chair he's sitting on. He tries to free himself, but sees its no use. "What the- what the hell?" He looks forward, and sees Carol sitting on the bed in front of him, facing him, but focused on her phone. Bobby looks at her incredulously, then looks around. He sees it's a motel room, and not a very nice one, at that. Bobby recalls walking up to the bench, seeing who he thought was Lori, and trying to get her to talk to him. Then.. that's it. He doesn't remember anything after.

They sit in silence for a moment. Subtlety, in the distance, a train can be heard giving off a roar. Carol starts to move. She precariously places her phone down, very close to him, making sure the camera is pointed directly at him. He sees himself on the screen and can tell that Carol hit the record button, and he's the main focus.

Carol gets up and stands in front of him, making sure not to block the cameras view. She looks down to his eyes. He looks back with less confidence. Carol grabs his head, and angles it to the side like an angry barber, looking at the red gash she made. Bobby groans, feeling nauseous, as the movements accentuate his terrible migraine. Dried blood stains the young mans neck. Carol sighs.

"Carol.. what's going on? Wh- why are you doing all this?" Bobby was pretty scared, and still thoroughly confused.

Carol sits back on the bed, and grabs a medium sized, black sports bag. She sets it down next to her. "I wasn't planning on doing it this way, Bobby, but you forced my hand."

"What do you mean?" Bobby was getting more scared. He looked at the bag.

Carol unzipped the top of the bag, and reached inside. She pulls out a pair of pliers. "I thought you were gone. If only you had stayed away from Lori, after I planted the seed that got you two fucking idiots to break up, last week, this wouldn't be happening. You'd be at home, safe and sound, but I have to get rid of you, again, and do it correctly this time. You should never have texted her at lunch today."

Bobby's eyes are glued to the pliers in her hands. "Did you just- did you just say you're the one who-" Suddenly it all made sense to him through his severe head pain. He remembers Carol was the one that originally told him Lori was cheating on him at all. He closes his eyes, and drops his head back. "Oh my God... It was you. Damnit! I'm such an idiot..."

"You really are." She laughs.

"W- wait a second.. How did you even know I texted her today?"

"Jesus Christ, Bobby, it's not that complicated. Lori isn't thinking straight right now. She's exhausted and depressed. Is it really that hard to think she might have just left her phone on the table when she went to the bathroom? Although, I suppose it was lucky for me that she forgot it. But, then again, she never would have forgotten it, if I hadn't made her feel so terribly in the first place. So I guess it was because of me."

Bobby looks down. He shakes his head out of fear, disbelief, and rage.

"Angry you were so easy to manipulate? Yeah, I figured as much. It was so obvious too. Just typical teenage bullshit... You're both so unbelievably stupid." She stands up, "Well, at least you'll die knowing one thing... You and Lori are perfect for each other." She steps up to him, and grabs a handful of his hair. Bobby starts panting, craning his neck, trying to get away. Carol ignores his feeble pleads to release and spare him. She holds the pliers up to his face, aiming dangerously close to his left eye. He's terrified and tries to muscle her grip away, but fails. He panics, trying to buy himself time, "W- WAIT! Aren't you gunna.. uh, t-tell me why you did it, at least?" That was his desperate attempt to survive. The best he could come up with under the pressure.

"Hmmm..." Carol holds the pliers up to her own face, and taps them on her chin, giving a look as if she's considering the thought. Bobby feels a hint of hope rush over him, but despair crashes back down, as Carol smiles and says, "...No."

She digs the pliers into his eye socket, causing blood to gush down his agonized face. Bobby screams at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH..."