CHAPTER 5

            You Shouldn't Judge People

            Ren never received a letter from Larry before. Never in her life did she imagine that she would. Sighing, Ren opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. It read:

            Ren,

                        I had no idea. No idea that you cared so much about me. It's kind of funny. See, I also feel the same way. It's too bad that you had to know after you moved. But, maybe it's destiny? Fate? All I can say is that I feel the same way and we should hang out.

                                                Larry

            Ren stared down at the letter completely confused. She had no idea what Larry was talking about. Yet, it was address to her. Confused, Ren glanced up and noticed Louis reading over her shoulder. He was smiling. She turned around in her seat to face him. "Why are you smiling?"

            Louis shrugged. "I dunno. You know I had nothing to do with this." He chuckled.

            Ren raised a brow. "What?"

            Louis started laughing.

            Ren hit him on the arm. "Stop laughing!" Then it hit her. Louis has got to do something with this. She then made an angry face and looked at her brother.

            Louis stopped laughing and looked at her.

            Silence.

            Louis fumbled with his words. "Ren…yeah…do you think…you can…say something?"            

            Ren just glared at him.

            "I guess not,"

            Ren then stood up and grabbed Louis by his shirt. "What did you do?" she asked through deep breaths.

            "I didn't do anything!"

            Ren pushed him up against a wall.

            Louis started to make his sad face. "Okay, I'll confess! Remember how I took your makeup and lipstick?"

            Ren nodded. Her grip on Louis was still tight.

            "Well, I kind of wrote a love letter to Larry saying it was from you."

            Eileen then walked into the kitchen. When she turned her head she jumped. She didn't expect to see Ren holding Louis up against a wall. "Ren," she said, "put your brother down!"

            Ren let go of Louis and watched him fall onto the ground. She then spun around to her mother. "Mom, Louis wrote a love letter to Larry!"

            "Louis is gay?" Donnie asked walking in from the living room.

            Ren hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. "No, he wrote the letter saying it was from me!"

            "Awww, Louis was just trying to help you out honey." Eileen said walking over to Louis who was smiling.

            "Mom! Larry wrote back and said he has the same feelings, which I don't, and now I have to tell him that Louis wrote it."

            Eileen sighed and looked at her daughter. She wanted to help her. "Didn't you once had a little teeny tiny bit feeling for him?"

            Ren crossed her arms over her chest. "No."

            "Well, when I get some time I'll take you down to his home and you guys can hang out! But, right now I have to do some work so I'll talk to you guys later!" She waved and walked off.

            Ren glared at Louis. "Louis, if I could, I would kill you."

            Louis gulped and ran off.

*                                                                      *                                              *

            Tawny sat on her bed looking out the window. She hadn't heard from Louis yet. Maybe he went off with another girl. Or, maybe he didn't like her anymore. No. He likes her! Tawny sighed. Why does she have the little things get to her all the time? But, it would be okay if she just hung out with other people right? Louis wouldn't know.

*                                                                      *                                              *

            Louis sat at an empty table in the school cafeteria. He still hasn't made any friends and he was counting on anyone wanting to be his friends.

            "Hey Louis," Hailey sat down in the empty seat next to him. He freaked out a bit. He wasn't excepting anyone to just plopped themselves down in a chair next to him. "Need company?"

            "I'm fine." Louis said biting into his turkey sandwich.

            Hailey raised a brow and glanced at the empty table. "I see. You like hanging out with your invisible friends?"

            Louis shot her a glare.

            Hailey laughed. "I'm just kidding." She then put her brown paper bag lunch on the table. Louis looked at her.

            "What are you doing?" he asked.

            "Eating," she responded.

            They sat there in minutes not saying word, just eating. Suddenly, Louis broke the silence. "You want to hang?"

            Hailey raised her brow at him. "Hang? Sorry, I don't speak trash."

            Louis sighed. "Jeez, sorry. You want to come over after school today?"

            Hailey smiled. "Sure, why not. I've got nothing else to do."

            "Really? I'd think that you have some party to go to."

            Hailey's eyes narrowed. "Why do you say that?"

            Louis shrugged. "You just seem like the type of person who would go to parties after school, or hang out with friends. Lots of them."

            Hailey looked back at her bottle of water. "You know Louis, you shouldn't judge people."

            Louis looked at her, taken back. "What?"

            "You shouldn't judge people. Trust me, I wish I had everything you said." She bit her lip as Louis stopped eating. "Louis, I don't have any friends."

            "Not one?" he asked.

            She shook her head. "None. It happened a long time ago that everyone stopped being my friend. It was two years ago. I was over at Greg's house partying with a bunch of my friends. Well, basically the whole school was there. Anyway, I was having a good time until I started to feel dizzy so I went outside to catch some fresh air. Soon, I noticed bunches of people were fighting. Of course, they were drunk, so I started to get scared when one said he was going to get the gun from his dad's house. I started to panic and with out thinking I ran to the phone and called the police. The police came and arrested those who were drunk and told everyone at the party that they were going to contact their parents. From that day no one has said a word to me. They all hate me."
            Louis didn't know what to say.

            A tear escaped Hailey's eye. "I'm so sorry Louis. I didn't mean to tell you this." She wiped away her tear and took off, leaving her lunch on the table. Louis just sat there. He had no idea.