Part Five:

One day after school, Lori was alone in the house. Angela was over at a

neighbor's house. The lady across the street and her little daughter asked

her to come over. "Do you need me to come and watch them?" Lori asked politely,

not really wanting to.

"Oh, no, dear. I've got it. I'll have her home by five." And then they were

gone.

Lori had called Sean up, and was now waiting for him to come over. She had

fixed herself up. She really liked him, but they weren't a "couple" yet. Who

the hell cares? she thought. He's a great kisser, and he's cute and sweet. That's

all I care about.

Sean came over a little while later. "Sorry," he said. "Tracker needed some

help on his bike."

"No problem," Lori said. She checked the hall clock as she let him in: it was

only four. They had at least an hour.

They sat talking at first. Then, one thing sorta led to another...and he was

lying on top of her on the couch. Lori liked it at first...he was being so sexy!

But then horrible memories came flooding back to her, and she pushed him off.

"Lori? What's the matter?"

"I, um..." Should I tell him? she thought. "...think we're going too fast."

"Shit," Sean hissed. "I knew it. I'm sorry, Lori..."

"It's just that...we're not even going out yet," she said. She was biting her

thumbnail, a nervous old habit that she used to do a lot...

"Well..." Sean said. "Yeah, you're right. Too fast." He looked so guilty.

Suddenly, in spite of herself, Lori spilled the whole story. She didn't want

Sean to feel so bad. She found herself crying by the end, and Sean put his

arms around her. He didn't know what to say...as "street tough" as he tried

to be, he'd never come across something like this. He realized what a fake

he was. I thought I had problems, he thought.

Before five, Sean left. He gave Lori a small kiss on the lips, remembering'

everything she'd said.

"Sean? Please don't be freaked out..."

"I'm not," he lied. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lori..."

All evening, Lori wished she'd never told him. Now he's going to be afraid

of me, she thought sadly.

Craig noticed how upset Lori was. What was wrong with her? Is it Sean? he

thought. He could tell by now that something was going on between them. The

question was, how serious was it?

After dinner, he decided to ask.

He knocked on Lori door. Since it wasn't too late yet, she hadn't pushed the

dresser in front of the door. "Come in," she said. Craig poked his head in

to find Lori sitting at her desk, trying to do her math homework. "Trying"

being the operative word: she'd only done two problems in ten minutes.

"Are you okay, Lor?" he asked, coming in and sitting on her bed. She was surprised

by his bluntness.

"Um...yeah. Just fine. Why?"

"Well..." Craig grouped for the right words. Screw it: "Is something going on

between you and Sean?"

Lori cringed, and hoped Craig didn't see it. "Um...no. We're just friends, Craig."

"Oh." Craig continued: "Well, he'd just gotten out of a relationship when you

came along..."

"I know," she said. "We talked about it. Emma."

"Yeah," Craig said. "Well, I was just hoping that he wasn't, you know, using

you to make her jealous or something..." Why the hell did I say that? he thought.

Lori got defensive. "Yeah, it's a good thing we're just friends then."

"Lor, I didn't mean it like that..."

"Craig, just learn how to mind your own fucking business, okay?" Lori knew

she wasn't covering up her feelings for Sean too well, but she couldn't help it.

"Fine," Craig said, getting up. "But if you get hurt, don't come crying to

me."

"Why would I? You're not my brother."

Craig walked out without another word. He'd left the door open. Lori stood

up and slammed it. Then she sat down in front of it, sighing and fuming.

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