A/N
Well friends, I have some cool news and not so cool news. The cool news is - I'm writing a book! Like a legit "I hope to get it published" book. It's a supernatural young adult fiction that I'm super stoked about. That means, naturally, that this story will have to take a back seat. I do plan to finish this one still, but I have abbreviated the plot quite substantially. Instead of, say 10 more chapters, I plan to do another 5 or so and tidy things up sooner with a few less twists. That said, at the very end I will give you give a summary of what the original plot was supposed to look like so you get double the satisfaction! I hope you all will understand.
Thanks for reading and sticking with me this far! Enjoy!
-bhve

Bob sat on the couch in his spot, with one arm propped up on the armrest, the other limp on the cushion next to him. Nine year old Louise walked into the living room and took a seat on the other side of the couch.
"Whatcha up to, my father?"
"Oh hey, Louise. I was just sitting here…not really, doing anything. But now that you ask, I have uh, a question for you."
"Well, I have about 7 minutes to spare before my next appointment, so shoot."
"Appointment? What kind of - , you know what…nevermind. So I've been thinking more about the restaurant, and I think, that maybe you should have it, whenever you know, I can't run it anymore," he stuttered.
Before Louise could respond, Gene walked into the room wearing a giant, pink shrimp costume.

"He-llO! I'm a shrimp!" he declared and following him was another person dressed as a shrimp.
"Gene…what are you wearing? Why do you have a giant shrimp costume?" asked Bob.
"Why would I NOT have a giant shrimp costume, hmm Daaad?"
"Yeah, Dad! Why wouldn't Gene be dressed as a delicious, pink crustacean? Why are you always so critical?"
"I'm not being critical, Louise. It's a valid question. But who's the other shrimp?"
"AH! I thought you'd never ask. This shrimp is for Louise. Here you go," and Gene pushed the shrimp person toward Louise.
"Ho ho, Gene, you ol' ….you. Gosh, you shouldn't have," she said in a playful manner. "Let's see who's dumb enough to dress up in this…" and standing up on the couch, she reached over to pull the shrimp head off of the figure. With a tug, she loosened the top off and saw a flash of blonde locks -

"AAAHHH!" Louise screamed sitting upright in her bed. She panted for a moment until her breathing slowed, and she realized it was just a dream.
"Wh—what are, are you okay?" mumbled Georgia who was startled awake by the yell.
"Yeah, just a bad dream….shrimp…and stuff. Back to sleep Georgie Pie," Louise reassured. Georgia muttered something else as she put her head back down to her pillow and quickly fell asleep.

"What a nightmare," Louise thought. Talking about the restaurant was bad enough, but she knew who that other shrimp was without seeing his face. "Why does he have to be in there," she grumbled quietly. In the stillness of that moment, however, Louise thought honestly and for the briefest of seconds, that it might have been nice if she hadn't woken up yet, and had instead seen his face or found out why he was wearing a shrimp costume with Gene. It was a very brief second though, because then she remembered the time that Logan had actually chased her and her brother when they'd donned costumes just like that in order to hide from him. He saw her cry that day. She no longer wished to see the rest of that dream. No. In fact, she would have glued that shrimp head on there so tight, he'd never get it off. She'd toss him out into the wharf and make him live the rest of his life as a bottom feeder. "Now that, would have been a good dream," she thought.
Eventually sleep overtook her again and the next time she woke up was to the obnoxious sound of her alarm telling her to start the day. Her eyes couldn't quite will themselves to open, so she opted to fumble around to turn off the alarm. Rubbing sleep dirt out from the corner of her eye, she sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed, stretching out a long, stinky yawn. The cooler air trickling over her now exposed legs sobered her up and she glanced around the room. She sighed. "Today will be a normal day."
Georgia had already left so Louise took her time in the bathroom and let the hot water from the shower seep down into her skin. From her closet she picked out her favorite pair of black jeans and a loose fitting, dark blue and green striped sweater that stopped just at her thigh and had an oversized hood. Since her hair was still damp, she tied it into a sloppy mess of a bun and tucked it into the hood which she pulled up over her face. Out the window, the air looked frigid so Louise grabbed her coat, scarf, and gloves. Her black combat boots went on followed by her backpack and then she was off to start her Logan-free day. As she walked toward the stairs she felt a determination push her faster. "I'm Louise Belcher. I don't lose. I always win. I win. I'm winning! Not. Logan!" she told herself. Then she felt a bzzt in her pocket. Pulling her phone out, she pressed a side button to show that there was a new message. Her breath hitched. While carefully stepping down the stairs she took one glove off and opened the text.

"Hey, I gotta head out today. Do I get a goodbye kiss before I go? :* ;) "

Louise felt her skin flush around her neck and on her cheeks, so she took a moment to breathe before descending another stair. Mmm, I don't think so, Logan. Your misery starts…"now" she whispered. Her phone slid back into her pocket smoothly and her glove recovered her fingers. Jogging down the last few stairs, Louise's body was a mix of conflicting signals. Her stomach told her it was unhappy and grieved, while her shoulders and back felt light and relieved. Her feet and legs carried her quickly across campus to her class, but her mind was absent from the walk there. Students interweaved into a mass of pedestrian traffic, all bundled up in similar fashion, many probably also functioning on auto-pilot. One student passed in front of her with a cup of coffee in their hand – the steam escaping through the little pop open drinking spout, visible against the crisp air. The smell was strong enough that it tickled at Louise's senses. Smell, being very closely tied to memory, might now be a disadvantage to her, she thought, because the delicious scent of the beverage reminded her of the few times Logan had bought her coffee. Logan free day! she chided herself. Continuing on through the sea of early-morning students, Louise eventually made it to her classroom and opted to keep her outerwear on, minus the scarf and gloves.

Her classes went by easy enough, minus English. Louise had forgotten entirely that she'd been seen, no, not just seen, but had had an entire interaction with the class bimbo wannabe, Margot Millerlee. Louise often called her MnM. She walked into class to find a small cluster of girls standing around a desk with Margot sitting in the seat. She groaned loudly at the sight and picked a desk far away from the group, but felt all of their eyes on her as she made her way there. Of course Margot couldn't mind her own business and Louise heard the "pat pat pat" of steps making their way to her. Louise looked up to find her offender standing with arms crossed over her chest.

"Hey, Louise," Margot started with a sly smile. "How was your shopping trip?" She bent down to whisper to Louise. "I'm genuinely surprised. I mean, you of all people, dating someone that seemingly successful and that good looking? You do know he's too good for you, right? I can't imagine someone like that would be dating…you. Honestly. I'm kind of baffled actually. Care to uh, shed some light on the subject?"

Louise looked straight up at Margot with a deadpan expression. "Oh I'm not actually dating him. I bought him for the weekend on a male escort site." She wanted to laugh at Margot's surprised expression that turned into a sour snarl of disdain, but she kept her stone face. She did slightly raise her eyebrows and bob her head up as if to dismiss the imbecile in front of her back to the filthy garbage pit she crawled out of. Margot stormed off with an "f- you". Louise's expression stayed tight, but her chest fell slightly. She needed this class to end so she could have some Tina time at lunch.

Inevitably her wish was granted, Mrs. E released the students, and Louise was quick to the doorway.

"Louise. One moment."

Ah come on… Louise thought. "What's up, Mrs. E?" Louise replied. She met a scrutinizing gaze.

"Mm. Well. I don't often meddle. But. You are…a different kind of student," she said with a roll of her eyes which made Louise huff. "Just know, that if there was, mm, ever a problem…you don't have to deal with it alone." Mrs. Elbright chose her words carefully. She didn't offer this type of concern to many of her students, but unfortunately Louise had clawed her way into a tiny little soft spot. Not to her surprise, however, she found Louise looking at her with incredulity and mirth. "Oh just, nevermind! Get out of here." She rolled her eyes again and waved Louise away from her. The teacher chastised herself mentally for saying something ridiculous, but Louise left that classroom with a smile on her face. The first one of the day.

Out into the cold she went with lighter steps. She'd meet her sister like regular, brush off any conversation about Logan, and manage to finish the day in style.

In one of the dorm's cafeterias, Louise and Tina sat down to an empty table. There was a general hum of noise throughout the big room, a few clangs and clinks here and there from the metal utensils and the ceramic plates and bowls.

"Louise. Are you going home for Thanksgiving break? I'm deciding if I want to or not. Part of me wants to express myself as an independent woman, but the other part of me thinks there's a chance I might see Jimmy Jr."

"Tina. Honestly I'm kind of surprised you still like him. Haven't you surveyed all of the strapping young specimens of testically clad humans here? Isn't there anyone else you'd be interested in?"

"Of course, but I have to play the court, Louise. It's a vicious world out here, and I always have my game face on." Louise shook her head, but grinned at her sister. In terms of romance, she was an Aunt Gale in the making. "But what about you?" Her sister continued. "What happened with Logan?"

"Ah. Ha. Not much really. He goes back to whatever craphole he came from today, so that's kind of that. And what a relief, honestly. He just wouldn't leave me alone and I'm a very busy woman, Tina. I don't have time to deal with some middle-aged man who likes to hang out with college students. What a creep..."

Tina stared at Louise. "What?" The younger Belcher questioned.

Tina let out a long sigh. "Louise, I have a few more years of life experience than you do and it has taught me something very important. People will often do whatever they have to in order to only protect themselves. I've known you a long time now, and you don't like people to ever get the better of you. I think you like Logan and that you're afraid he's going to hurt you like Rudy did so you're cutting him off now before that can happen. But sometimes getting hurt makes you grow. And sometimes risking getting hurt lets someone in that is supposed to have a place in your heart."

"WOAH WOAH woah! Tina! You are sooo seriously wrong, that it's…well, it's hilarious! I don't like Logan! Are you kidding me? That blonde bird brain has been the bane of my existence for waaay too long. I just hung out with him for a bit to get a few laughs! Pfffft. Me? Like Logan? Come on, T! He's gone today and then I don't have to worry about him again. Ever."

"Oh. That makes a lot more sense. So are we going home for Thanksgiving?"

"Heck yes we are!" Louise announced, still animated by her self-convincing denial.

-
"Alright, sir, thank you again and I hope you enjoyed your stay!" The hotel desk worker gave Logan a warm, customer service smile while accepting the card key for the hotel room. Logan thanked him and said goodbye then turned toward the door.

He hadn't heard a single thing from Louise since the previous night. Not a threat. A plea. A deal offer. A Nondisclosure Agreement form. Nothing. He just assumed that this was Louise being Louise and that she'd contact him in her own time because her selfishness didn't allow her to think of other people's feelings. He grumbled a few insults at her while putting his small luggage into the trunk of his car. He slammed it shut with extra oomph. Then he stood for a moment. He checked his phone again. No response, but the message had been read. His shoulders slumped in disappointment, but he straightened up with a sigh and ran his fingers through the front part of his hair. Guess that's it then. Back home, I go. Getting into his car, he decided to grab some lunch and coffee before leaving town. He'd slept in til right before check out time and his stomach was starting to gnaw at itself. Driving to the main road in town, he opted for a cheap fast food place that was conveniently right next to a coffee shop.

After ordering and sitting down with his food, he took out his phone again. He justified that he was watching the time to see about when he'd get back home. Would he make it for supper? If he left right after eating he'd have plenty of time. Should he stop at the mall first instead? Was there anything he needed to buy? Should he check out that book store again?

Eating all of his food took far longer than it needed to, so after stalling under the guise of "relaxing for a moment", he side-eyed his silent phone. Picking it up, he opened the text messages. She's not going to reply. He admitted to himself. Then a thought struck him. Did she just play me? No way…would she do all that…just to get back at me? It wasn't the craziest thing he suspected she'd do, but it did make him mad. The question now though, was whether to call her on it and start a fight or ignore it and look like a fool. Oh ho ho. Fight it is!

He got into his car to warm up then thought of how to confront Louise. There was a chance of course, that she hadn't played him and something else was going on. But the more he thought about this possible motive, the more it fit with Louise's personality. Anger started to flick around the memories from the past few days. You little s***.
"I can't believe I fell for this…," he muttered to himself. He was astonished. Angry. Impressed. Disappointed. Relieved. Embarrassed.
What do I even say to something like this? Oh she must be on top of the frickin' world right now! His body had become quite energized as the emotions whirled around inside of him. He slammed his palm on the steering wheel in frustration and huffed and haw'ed at the whole situation. He wrote out a few messages, but inevitably deleted them. After a while, he finally leaned back into the driver's seat. If I message her can call her out, but I'm wrong about this, and she was being honest these past few days…then that's it. She'll be too mad and if there was a chance of her liking me, it'll be over. And If I message her and I'm right…it'll make me look like a big ol' dummy who fell right into her stupid little trap. But if I don't message her, and she actually likes me, then I lose out on whatever chance I had. But if I don't message her and she WAS doing this all on purpose…. "…then she doesn't get any satisfaction. And I don't get hurt, and I win."

That's how Logan decided not to contact Louise again. He reluctantly shifted his car into reverse, pulled out of his parking spot, and started his drive back home.

-
To say that Louise was frustrated over the next few weeks would be an understatement; but it would also only be evident to Georgia. For the first couple of days after, she saw her prankster friend livid at there being no response from Logan. Shortly though, Logan's named stopped being uttered in their room. She would see Louise fluster over her phone periodically. She faintly heard a CD playing through Louise's headphones that she didn't recognize as her normal playlist from time to time. Their days drifted back to a kind a new slightly altered normalcy. Georgia, herself, was disappointed in how everything had played out and was left feeling every kind of guilt for multiple reasons. A few weeks passed in this manner until it was time for them to head their separate ways for Thanksgiving break.