Lucy turned the page and started reading the next line. The novel's vampire hero was locked in battled with the werewolf antagonist. It was high stakes fight to the undeath, and...
"Can you knock it off?" Lynn asked.
She was lying on her side, facing the wall. Her phone was in her hands.
"Knock what off?" Lucy asked.
"The panting. You sound like a dog in heat."
"I'm not panting, I'm breathing."
"Well it's getting on my nerves."
Lucy and her sister hadn't spoken since Lucy returned from the meeting in Lori's room. Lucy didn't think Lynn suspected anything; she and Luan were still in their own little meeting when she came out.
Lucy could barely look at her older sister.
Returning to her book, Lucy read on, making a conscious effort to breathe quietly.
"You're still doing it!" Lynn cried, rolling over and facing her.
"I am not," Lucy said.
"Yes you are. You getting a sick thrill out of that little book? What, is someone dying and is it turning you on?"
"Put a gym sock in it."
"That's it!"
Lynn leapt out of bed. "I can't take this right now, Lucy." She grabbed her pillow and started out the door. "I'm going to bunk with Lincoln tonight."
It was at that moment Lucy realized she'd been had. Lynn intentionally provoked the fight so she'd have an excuse to go sleep with Lincoln.
"Wait! I'm..."
But Lynn was already gone.
"...an idiot." Sighing, Lucy got up and went to the door just as Lincoln opened his.
"Hey, bro," Lynn said happily, "me and Lucy are going at it again. Can I crash here?"
"Uhhh," Lincoln said, "I don't know. There's really no room."
Lynn sagged her shoulders. "Okay," she said. "I guess I'll just go sleep in the cold, hard, wet bath tub."
Lincoln bowed his head. "Alright," he mumbled, "come on in."
You're too nice, Lincoln, Lucy thought. Lincoln was thoughtful and sweet. She could certainly see why a girl would fall for him (and any girl he liked was luckier than she could ever dream), but he was her brother. Forbidden love was fine, but this...this was too much.
After Lynn disappeared into Lincoln's room and shut the door, Lucy went to Lori's room and opened the door without knocking. Lori was sitting on her bed painting her toenails. She looked up, her brow furrowing.
"Uh, hello? Can you knock?"
"Lynn's sleeping in Lincoln's room tonight."
Lori jolted. "What?"
Lucy told her what had happened, and Lori sighed. "Great. Come on."
In Lisa's room, they stood in front of a bank of cameras. On a screen before them, Lynn was manhandling Lincoln on the floor. "One, two, three, you're out!" she cried, rapidly tapping the carpet.
"I'm no authority on sports," Lisa said, "but I believe that was what is termed a 'fast count' in professional wrestling."
"Focus, Lisa," Lori said. "She's in there practically raping him."
"No she isn't," Lisa said. "They are both fully clothed and are engaging in a pastime they have shared many times in the past."
"Yeah, but this time it isn't innocent."
Lisa shrugged. "True."
"What do you suggest we do?" Lori asked.
"Have someone monitor the camera throughout the night," Lisa said. "I will voluntarily take the first shift, but I do require some sleep, so I will need to be relieved eventually."
"I was thinking of going in there and dragging her out," Lori said. "Make it look like Lucy came to me about the argument."
Lisa considered that for a moment. "Direct confrontation is unwise at this juncture. Given the obvious intensity of Lynn's feelings, she is probably not thinking rationally, which could possibly lead to an unnecessary screaming match, or worse."
She was right. "Fine. What time do you want me to take over?"
Lisa checked the time on the computer. "It's 11:30 now, I should be good until 2."
"I should take the next shift," Lucy said. "It's my fault."
"No, it isn't. She would have left no matter what you did."
On the screen, Lynn sat on the bed and swung her legs. Lincoln plugged in his video game and handed Lynn a controller. Lynn was not a fan of video games, but right now, she looked as though there was nothing she liked more.
In the room, she rocked back and forth as, on the screen, she and Lincoln raced, him on the top half, her on the bottom.
"I'm gonna get'cha!" she cried.
"No you aren't!" He pushed a button, and his car turbo-boosted far ahead.
"Oh, no you don't."
Lynn's car rocketed forward too, but she slammed into a wall, flipped over, and exploded.
"Aw, man!"
Lincoln laughed and crossed the finish line. "Gotta try harder next time, sis."
"Oh, yeah?" she asked, cocking her head. "Let's go."
Lynn lost the next race, but only because she threw it. He laughed at her, and she came back in round three to blow him away. Literally, she bumped into his car and sent him spinning over the wall and into a river of bubbling lava.
"Did you have to kill me?"
"You left me no choice, bro."
Though Lincoln was hesitant when Lynn turned up at his door, he was actually having a lot of fun. It was strange that Lynn offered to play video games with him since they didn't like them, but he wasn't complaining.
At some point, Lynn scooted closer to Lincoln, and her knee rested against his side. Usually that would have bothered him, but right now he didn't mind. They started a new race, and Lynn got so into it, squirming back and forth, that she toppled over on top of him, knocking him back. He laughed. She laughed. They stared into each other's eyes. Lincoln felt funny, much the same way he had when Luan rested her head on his shoulder the other day.
Just then, someone screamed in the hall: "Fire!"
Lynn's eyes went wide. She jumped up and got tangled in the wire connecting the controller to the console.
"Come on!" she yelled, getting up.
Heart pounding, Lincoln followed her into the hall, where everyone was coming out of their rooms and looking sleepy, confused, and afraid.
"Fire?" Lori asked.
"Everyone downstairs!" dad screamed, and a mass of humanity flooded down the stairs and out the back door.
"Wait," mom said, "where's Luan?"
"Luan!" dad screamed, and darted back inside.
He found her sitting Indian style on her bed, her laptop open in front of her. "This comedy routine is fire."
Dad sighed. "Luan, you scared us half to death. We thought the house was burning down."
"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied innocently. "I didn't mean to scare you. I was just burning to tell the world how great this is."
Dad mumbled and went back downstairs.
"Sorry to flame you, Lynn," Luan said as she looked back down at the live feed of Lincoln's room. "But I can't just let my chances with Lincoln go up in smoke."
She giggled.
Outside, Lisa told Lori what she had seen on the camera right before Luan cried fire ("I assume she was watching as well, since she's always filming for comedy gold,"), and Lori took their mother aside. Lynn and Lucy are arguing. Lynn's staying in Lincoln's room again. They're making too much noise and, really, Lucy and Lynn are old enough to resolve their problems without storming out and sleeping wherever they fell, right?
Inside, Lynn started for Lincoln's room, but her mom stopped her. "In your room, young lady."
"But mom!"
"I don't want to hear it. You and Lucy are old enough that you should be able to work through your problems."
Dejected, Lynn turned to Lincoln. "See you tomorrow, bro."
Her spirits lifted a little when she saw that he was disappointed too.
In her room, she shut the door. She started to say something to Lucy, but thought better of it. Instead, she got into bed and buried her face in her pillow.
It was Luan. She's the one who told mom about our fight. She was probably watching me and Lincoln too. Freaking psycho.
It took a long time for Lynn to fall asleep.
