Lorraine walked out of the Blue Pointe Diner after her last shift. She undid her hair from its clip, and shook it loose. The glow of the dim moon gave her hair a bluish tint.

"I hate walking home alone by myself," she mumbled, kicking a rock. She was humming a random tune when she heard a motor rev behind her. Her shoulders tensed, and she kept walking straight ahead.

The car slowed down when it reached her.

"Hey pretty," a male voice cooed, "You getting in the car?"

Lorraine didn't acknowledge the car.

"Maybe she didn't hear me," the voice said, "Are you getting...in the car?" he said louder.

Lorraine still said nothing.

"I think she's got a hearing problem boys," the voice said.

"I think she's ignoring you, Ace!" a second voiced chimed in.

"Oh, she can't be ignoring me, Eyeball, that wouldn't be nice," Ace said. "And we know our little Lorraine is nice."

A few of the guys in the car laughed.

"Please Ace," Lorraine looked at him weakly.

"See, talking to me wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"Please go Ace," Lorraine mumbled.

"What was that Lorraine?" Eyeball asked, "Speak so the whole car can hear you!"

"Leave me alone," Lorraine cried, and started walking faster. The car sped up.

"Oh, but I can't leave you alone Rainey," Ace grinned. "You're just too good. I find that so appealing."

'I find you so disgusting,' Lorraine thought, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. She felt hot tears stinging her eyelids, but she blinked them back. "I'm going home Ace," she said, as firmly as she could.

"Come on Lorraine," Ace swung open the car door. "We'll take you home."

Lorraine stared at the car door and Ace's grinning face. It was all so familiar, so inviting. But she couldn't trust the Cobras...not anymore. Her hand gravitated to her left upper arm. She gently closed the door.

"Sorry guys...not anymore," she turned and walked in the other direction.

"Yo, Ace, she just stiffed you," Eyeball said, both in awe, and restraining laughter.

"Shut the fuck up Eyeball," Ace said calmly. "Vince," Ace hit Vince in the back of the head, "Drive."

Lorraine waited until the car had drive off before she headed back in the direction of her house.

******************************

The next morning, Randi was hanging upside down from a tree in her backyard. She watched Gordie walk in her yard and right under her.

"Hiya Gordie!" she called and flopped down from the branch.

"You're chipper," he commented as she hugged him.

"I know, I'm in a really good mood," she grinned.

"That's cool. Your lawn is really shiny," Gordie shielded his eyes from the sun.

"We should tell people."

"Yeah I know, how do you keep it so shiny?"

Randi rolled her eyes, "No Gordie," she grabbed his hand, "About us."

Gordie turned to look at Randi, and received an honestly sincere look. "Oh, you're serious."

"Yeah, I am. I don't want people to think we're hiding anything," Randi insisted.

"Do you propose we go around ringing doorbells?"

"No, I propose we go about seeking Chris, seeing as he's your best friend," Randi pointed out.

"Ah, very true. Let's go find Chris."

Randi and Gordie checked the tree house, but Chris wasn't there.

"Where is that boy?" Randi asked.

"At home, most likely," Gordie said.

"So, uh...we go there...?" Randi asked unsure. She had heard stories of Chris' dad, and wasn't all ready to go over there. Gordie however, being there many times, walked up and rang the doorbell. Chris' younger sister, Jenny, answered the door. She opened it a crack and peeped out, but when she saw Gordie, she smiled and opened it all the way.

"Hey Jenny," Gordie said. "Chris around?"

She shook her head, and her blonde little pigtails swung back and forth. "He's at the Blue Pointe with Teddy and Vern. Jane's here though," she said sweetly.

"Aw, that's cool, we don't wanna bother Jane," Gordie kneeled down to Jenny's height, "Your dad's not here, is he?"

"Nope," Jenny said.

"Okay, see you later," he patted her on the head, and Gordie and Randi walked off.

"Who's Jane?" Randi asked.

"Chris' sister," Gordie said. "You didn't meet Jane?" Randi shook her head. "She's pretty cool. She's in the year above us, but she's real smart. Well," Gordie reconsidered, "She's real book smart, her common sense is lacking a bit. See, she always mouths off to her dad, so she gets the brunt of his rage. Well, Chris always sticks up for her, so he gets it pretty bad too. Jenny doesn't get it nearly as bad, prolly cause she's so litt-"

"You mean he hits her too?" Randi asked incredulously.

Gordie nodded gravely.

"Oh, God..." Randi said slowly, "I mean, you told me he hit Chris, and that's sad and all.... but a little girl. How old is she?"

"I think she's turning seven soon. That whole family goes through shit they don't have to."

"Dear God," Randi said quietly.