Chapter Three

Kaitlyn Marie Lyman slowly opened her eyes after what seemed to be a good night's sleep. In her mind, however, she replayed the incident that occurred last night when her father put her to bed. He was probably pretty spooked, she thought to herself. He probably thought she was a freak. She sighed loudly and shut her eyes again. She couldn't have gotten any more than six good hours of sleep last night, so why was she feeling so refreshed? Then she noticed that it was light in her bedroom. Spring was on its way, but still it shouldn't be this light out at 6:00 a.m. She looked at her alarm clock – it read 9:30. 9:30! Shit, she'd slept in! She quickly got out of bed and rushed into the next room to wake her sister Audrey.

"Audrey! We slept in!" she called as she reached her twin sister's door. All she found was a disastrous-looking room with no Audrey sleeping in the un-made bed. She turned around, confused, and then saw her mother standing in the hallway.

"I see you're awake." She started. She was holding a cup of coffee in her hand. "I was about to come wake you up. Sorry if you were startled. Here, take this." Donna handed her daughter a fresh cup of coffee that she'd just made.

"It's Tuesday, isn't it?" Katie asked, confused that she wasn't at school.

"Your father thought it would be best if you took the day off school after what happened last night. From what I heard, I think he was right." She put her arm around Katie and started walking her back to her bedroom.

"Oh, uh, I…" She stammered.

"It's okay, Katie. You don't have to explain. Not right now anyway. But when you feel like talking, we're both here for you." Josh had woken Donna up late last night to tell her about what had happened with Katie. She'd never seen him so worried or beat up about anything since she'd known him (well, maybe a few republicans). He was so upset that Katie wouldn't let him help her. Josh had held Donna tightly all through the night, clinging to her like a frightened child.

"I know, mom." They entered her room and Katie sat back down on her bed. "Don't you have to work?"

"Yes. I canceled all my morning appointments, but I really have to get in. I wanted to make sure you were okay before I left." Donna put her hand on her daughter's forehead and felt that her temperature was normal.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine." She tried to reassure her mother, grabbing the hand that was still on her head.

"Listen, Katie. Whatever it is you're going through, you'll get through it. And dad and I are here to help you. Now, promise me that you'll ask us if you need help."

Katie closed her eyes. "I promise." She lied.

Donna put her hand on Katie's left cheek. "Okay. Now I want you in bed or on the couch all day. No doing homework. You just relax."

"Okay, mom." She lied again.

"All right, I've got to get going. America needs me. Do not hesitate to call your father or me. He'll probably call anyway around lunchtime to check up on you."

"Go ahead. I'll see you later." She bid her mother.

"Bye, sweetheart." Donna got up and kissed her daughter on the head. She went for the door and turned around and winked at her. Katie heard her mother's high heels on the hardwood floor for about a minute or so as she gathered up her things. Finally, she heard the door to the garage close. Silence.

Katie had no intention of staying in bed all day. If she was going to have to miss school (which she hated because make-up work was a pain in the ass) she was going to work through the day. She quickly got up and threw on some black lounge pants and a gray hooded sweater and put her brown curly hair up with a clip.

Then she went for her secret weapon. Her head and her whole body ached from withdrawal. She was sick of being so tired and really needed to get her work done, so she reluctantly opened her jewelry box. Katie reached down to the very bottom and pulled out a plastic bag full of little white pills…Ritalin. Her best friend Ally had given them to her after she'd complained she couldn't stay up late enough to get all her studying done, paying her the $20 her mom gave her for lunch money each week. They'd worked like a charm. Katie had had so much energy that her schoolwork had been improving as well as her athletic performance (she was actually outrunning her sister in cross country). The added pressure of midterms had a lot to do with her decision also. Lately, she'd started to feel a little guilty. She knew it was wrong to take Ritalin without a prescription. Everything she'd learned at school and that her parents had taught her all told her it was wrong, but it felt so right to her body. Still, the guilt overwhelmed her and she'd had many sleepless nights because of both her conscience and the Ritalin. So she quit. Well, she tried to quit and it wasn't going too well. The pain that was going through her body was almost unbearable. She felt nervous all the time and was extra jittery and irritable. Her friends and family had even started to notice. She couldn't let them know she'd stooped so low as to take drugs to study. She'd have to start using them again to get them off her back. Katie would try to quit later, but not now. She needed to keep going.

She reluctantly popped a pill into her mouth and washed it down with the coffee her mother had brought her. Now she could get down to business. Katie laid down for a little while longer until her headache started to go away and then cracked the books. First english, then government, then precalculus…

Katie had worked through the most of the morning when her dad called at about noon.

"Hello?" She answered, knowing it was probably him.

"Hi Katie-bell!" His voice sang over the phone. "You're sounding better. Are you feeling okay now?"

She smiled, part of her act, forgetting that he couldn't see her over the phone. "Yeah, dad. I'm feeling much better. I got a good night's sleep."

"I hope you're not too mad that I made you stay home from school. I know you hate to miss and everything."

"I'll try to forgive you."

"Would Taco Bell help you get into a more forgiving mood?" He asked her hopefully. Taco Bell was like catnip to Katie.

"It might." She smiled.

"Well good. I'll pick you up some on my way home. I'll try to get back a little earlier than usual, around 4 or so. So make sure you have all the boys gone by then." He teased.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Okay, dad. See ya then."

"Okay, bye pumpkin." He hung up the phone, feeling better having talked to her. She'd scared the crap out of him the previous night and it was great to hear the pep back in her voice.

Katie breathed out, her conscience stabbing at her. Her dad had so much faith in her. What would he think if he found out his daughter was an addict? It would break his heart. Pushing her thoughts aside, she returned to her precalculus work. Yippee.

One of the great things about going to a private school was the fact that they were pretty up-to-date on technology. Katie logged onto the Internet and checked all her new assignments for the next day her teachers had posted, which was a school requirement. Katie was a sharp girl, so she could teach herself most of the new math, and her parents could help her out with her government homework if she needed it. She was feeling pretty good about getting a jump start on things.

Josh arrived home at about 4:15 with a chalupa and two fajitas (or "fajeetas" as he pronounced them jokingly).

"Hey, baby doll!" He said cheerily as he brought the food into her room. Katie had been prepared and had packed up all her schoolwork and hopped back into bed at about 4:00 so it would look like she'd been resting all day. "How's my ray of sunshine?" He sat down on her bed and kissed her on the cheek.

"Just fine."

"I brought you a little somethin' somethin'" he said with a funny voice as he pulled the food out of the bag. "One chalupa and two fajitas fresh from Me-hi-co."

Katie forced a grin at her father's failed attempt at humor. "Thanks, dad. I'm starving!" She took the food from him and quickly unwrapped the chalupa and began devouring it right there in bed.

"Well, you sure have your appetite back." Josh commented. Katie was known by her friends and family for being a pig. He paused for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem fine now, but you were pretty out of it last night." He recalled the episode in his mind and quickly pushed it back.

"Yeah, it was just something stupid. Don't worry about it." She tried to dismiss the incident.

"Okay." He said, not totally believing her "But if you need to talk…."

Katie was tired of hearing that. It made her feel even guiltier. "I know dad." She cut him off. "You and mom are here."

"Couldn't have said it better." He patted her knee.

Just then, Katie let out a huge belch.

"Kaitlyn Marie Lyman!" Josh said, shocked.

"My compliments to the chef."

"That is no way for a young lady to act."

Katie gave him a toothy grin and shrugged innocently, tilting her head to the side.

"You're gross. I'm gonna go start dinner for the well-mannered members of this family." He smiled and laughed softly to himself.

"What a treat for them."

"Damn right." Josh agreed and he left the room.

Katie had a few more minutes of peace and secretly did a chemistry assignment on her lap, not knowing if anyone would walk in on her. It was kind of weird, hiding the fact she was doing her homework. She'd never done that before.

Soon, she was interrupted by Audrey returning home after cross-country practice, looking pretty tired. She poked her head into Katie's room.

"Hey, beezotch." She greeted her sister.

"'Sup, ho-bag." Katie said back.

"Not much. English was a sleeper." She leaned against the wall and examined her fingernails.

"I'll bet."

"Well, except for Galen Morris. He's so hot. Sometimes I just feel like jumping on him right in the middle of class."

"Please refrain from doing that." Katie was one of the few girls who didn't find Galen Morris attractive.

"I must show self-restraint, mustn't I?" She admitted. "Did you get all your assignments from the Internet?"

"Yeah. I was working on them earlier, but don't tell mom and dad. They told me to sleep."

"I won't if you tell me what's bugging you." She tried to blackmail her sister.

Katie threw her head back in annoyance. "Oh please! I don't need you on my case too."

"I'm just kidding, jeez."

"It's nothing. You guys are blowing this all way out of proportion."

"Fine, whatever." She shifted her stance, seeing she wasn't getting anywhere. "You know where my door is." Despite all their quarrels and competitiveness, Katie and Audrey still held a special bond as twins and looked out for one another. Audrey knew it wasn't 'nothing' but let it go again, leaving the room.

Audrey was decidedly in a good mood that day. Well, she hadn't bitten anyone's head off or mouthed off to her parents yet. That was good enough for them. Audrey, after all, was just full of surprises. Last year when she'd been angry with her parents, she joined the Young Republicans for a week just to spite them. That pissed them off. Audrey was actually hanging out in the living room watching a little TV, rarity in the busy household. She settled on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

Josh was watching with her and let out an annoyed sigh when she flipped the channel.

"Do we have to watch this?"

"Why, does it make you uncomfortable, dad?"

"No. It's just so…"

"What?"
"Queer." He couldn't think of anything better to say.

"That's not a valid excuse, Senator."

Josh muttered something under his breath that Audrey couldn't hear. He always got overruled on television in a household of three females. Whenever he did get to watch something he liked, such as sports, it was ruined because they'd always make comments about the player's butts, the size of their muscles, or the color scheme of their uniforms and how well it worked with their skin tones.

Just then, the phone rang. Audrey jolted upright from the couch, but Josh was sitting right next to the phone.

"I've got it." He told her. "Hello, Lyman residence."

"Uh…hello?" A male voice said on the other end.

"Yes…"

"Uh, is Audrey there?" He asked, nervously.

"Who's asking?" Josh said protectively. Why would a male be wanting to speak with his daughter?

"Galen Morris."

"Galen?" Josh looked over at his daughter, who was drumming her fingers together in excitement. Josh gestured at the phone with a confused look on his face, asking, and 'You know this idiot?' Audrey signaled with her hands to turn the phone over.

"Daaaad!" She whined. "Don't embarrass me. This is a very important boy."

Josh raised his eyebrows and made a disgusted face as he passed the phone to his giddy daughter.

"Hi Galen!" She greeted cheerily. "Sorry about my dad. He's a bit of a freak. I mean, you've seen him."

Josh opened his mouth in shock. What the hell did she mean by that?

Audrey giggled into the phone at something Galen had said that was apparently funny, but Josh doubted it was.

"No, really? Get out! GET OUT! Are you serious? Omigod." Josh rolled his eyes at his daughter's apparent instant lack of an IQ while on the phone with a boy. "No, I'm not busy tomorrow. That would be great."

There was a pause as the boy spoke.

"Okay, well why don't you come around at about 7:00 tomorrow? Okay, great. See you tomorrow at school. Kay. Bye." She hung up the phone and clapped her hands together excitedly.

"What was that?" He asked Audrey.

"What was what?"

"That horrible display you just put on."

Audrey smiled. "What?"

"You know a boy?" This was inconceivable to Josh. Audrey rolled her eyes. He knew this day would come. The day a boy called the house asking for one of his daughters. But it didn't make it any easier.

"Yes, dad. I do go to a co-ed school."

"You're getting transferred. Tomorrow."

"Oh, dad. Stop it."

"Why was he calling this late on a school night?"

"Dad, it's 8:30."

"It sounded as if you were making plans, and as I recall, you're still grounded." He reminded her.

"He's coming over to help me rewrite my Hamlet essay."

"He can't come over."

"Why not? It's for school. Schoolwork is not included in being grounded. You said so yourself."

Josh mentally kicked himself. "I did say that, didn't I?"

Audrey merely nodded with a slight grin on her face, knowing she had won.

"I only meant you could study with other girls."

Audrey theatrically smiled again as she went to sit by her troubled father.

"It's okay, dad, he's just a boy." She gave him a hug.

"Just a boy?" He began "I was a boy once and I know how they think."

"They're not all as bad as you." Audrey had heard of her father's famous romancing as a young man, switching from girlfriend to girlfriend. He realized now later in life what a father's nightmare he must have been.

"He thinks I'm se-e-e-e-xy. He wants to da-a-a-a-te me." She said in her best Miss Congeniality impression.

"Please stop." He asked her.

"Okay." She stopped "I'll be in my room dreaming about Galen."

"Don't hurt yourself. Why don't you clean up a little while you're in there." Audrey ruffled his hair, a rare sign of affection she gave and danced back to her room humming a little tune.

Donna arrived home a little later that night having missed a few hours in the morning. Both Josh and Donna watched Katie closely the whole evening. They were a little puzzled at her sudden change in mood. She had been so upset the day before. How could all that just go away? It just didn't seem to add up. They tried to hide their skepticism and enjoy their daughter in her bubbly, energetic mood, but in the back of their minds they wondered about her.

"Katie seems much better." Donna commented as the couple climbed into bed that night.

"Yeah, she seems to have her energy back." Josh agreed. They laid down in the bed with Josh on his back and Donna on her stomach, one arm wrapped around her husband. "I don't know. I just seems so weird she could go from so low to so high."

"That's what I was thinking."

"Has she been talking to any boys?"

"Not that I know of. Why?"

"I don't know. You should've seen Audrey earlier. Some kid named Pint or Quart called for her."

"You mean Galen Morris?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Galen Morris. She was so excited. It freaked me out."

"Oh, Josh, you're so over-protective."

"Damn right. If he hurts her I'll hunt him down, rip his arm off and shove it down his throat."

"You don't have to be so graphic."

"That's what I'll do." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Okay, sweetheart." Donna dismissed his comments and patted his stomach. "Good night."

"You in the mood?" Josh asked hopefully. She'd patted him on the stomach. That could mean something.

"No."

"Damn."

"Goodnight."

Josh sighed, disappointed, and they both drifted off to sleep.

Wednesday evening came, but not soon enough for Audrey. She'd been giddy all day at the thought of Galen Morris coming to her house, even if it was for school. If she was lucky, her dad would stay away and she could maybe coax a kiss or two out of that fine piece of work. She dreamed about the thought of his lips on hers all day long and tried her best to hide it during government class sixth period.

Audrey unfortunately had cross-country practice again after school on Wednesday, so she'd had to rush home to take a shower and get ready for her study date. Luckily, her mother was the one to get home earlier that day so she didn't have to listen to her dad go on about why she was getting spruced up for a study date. She could hear him.

"Why the hell are you putting on perfume when you're studying Hamlet? You can bet your ass I'll be checking on you regularly." And other assorted phrases.

Her mother was much more helpful to her because she understood what was going on. Galen Morris was coming to see her. Donna helped her daughter straighten and then curl her hair, picked out an outfit, and did her makeup.

"You won't let dad ruin my date, will you?" Audrey asked, worried, as her mother put some eye makeup on her. She sat on the lid of the toilet and her mother sat on a stool in front of her in the girls' vanity center.

"No, of course not. I'll make him stay away." She reassured her daughter. She knew how over-protective Josh was and already had a plan. Donna would let Josh watch whatever he wanted on the TV in the living room with absolutely no commentary from her as long as he promised to stay away from his daughter and her date. If that didn't work, coaxing him with sex was always an alternative.

"But the rules are that you have to keep your bedroom door open at all times. I don't want any hanky-panky going on, you understand? Your father would have a fit and he wouldn't let you date until you're 30." She finished applying the eyeshadow and blew lightly on Audrey's eyelids.

"Okay." She moaned, opening her eyes. The way her room was angled, she was pretty sure she could still sneak in a few kisses with her dream boy.

Just then, Josh arrived home. It was about 6:30, only half an hour until Audrey's "study session". He heard his wife and daughter in the vanity center with music playing in the background and poked his head in.

"Hey, gorgeous. Hey pumpkin." He greeted them. Josh took a look around the vanity center. It amazed him how much crap his girls had accumulated over a mere sixteen years. Dozens and dozens of lotions, curlers, perfumes, make up, nail polish and hair accessories were sprawled around the center or stuffed into drawers. It reeked of several different kinds of lotions.

"Josh." Donna greeted.

"Dad."

"Getting ready for your study session?"

"Yep." Audrey didn't want to get into too much detail. She knew her father thought this was a little over-the-top for a study date, but he didn't understand what was going on and she didn't expect him to.

"Honey, we already ate dinner because we didn't know how late you'd be. There's leftovers in the fridge."

"What was it?"

"Tuna casserole."

Josh made a disgusted face and Donna caught him in the mirror.

"Joshua Lyman, don't you dare make that face at me! At least I made something besides pizza or spaghetti."

"I didn't say anything, dear." Josh contended.

"And I suggest you don't."

Audrey smiled a little at her mother's reprimand of her father. Josh saw that too.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing. You never seize to amaze me with your way with the ladies, dad." She joked.

"I can't help it. I'm a natural." Audrey stood up and turned around to look at herself in the mirror and Josh got a good look at the outfit she was wearing: low-cut jeans and a dark red sparkly sleeveless shirt that showed a bit too much cleavage.

"Where the hell did you get those jeans and that shirt?" He complained. "Donna?" he looked at his wife questioningly.

"Josh, don't." Donna warned him.

"No. You're not wearing that out of this house. Do you see how low those jeans are, Donna?"

"I'm not wearing them out of this house, dad." Audrey replied coolly. "I'll be here the whole time."

"That's not what I meant."

"Josh, it's fine. Just leave it." Donna walked over to him and put a finger over his lips. "Go." She said, pushing him out the door and closing it behind her. She had to smile to herself at the look on Josh's face. Yes, Josh, your daughter is growing up. Deal with it.

"He'll be fine." Donna reassured her daughter, who was looking a little worried. "I have a plan."

"Good. Please make sure he stays away." She began to apply mascara to her eyes.

"I will, honey, don't worry. I'll go talk to him now. Just stay in here."

Josh was visibly upset when Donna joined him in the kitchen. He'd been pacing. When he saw Donna, he started in on her.

"Did you see what she's wearing? She can't wear that! Make her change!" He gestured angrily.

"Josh. She is fine." She walked over to where he was standing by the kitchen counter and leaned against it with one hand on her hip. "Don't ruin this for her."

"I'm not gonna ruin it for her, Donna. I just don't want her to get hurt."

Donna remembered again why she married him. He was so sensitive and caring. She loved watching his relationship with his daughter develop over the years. As children, he was a hands-on dad, participating in each and every part of the child-rearing. Josh was perhaps the most attached, over-protective father she'd ever seen. It was so adorable. As the girls grew older, his relationship had somewhat dwindled with Audrey, but she still had a special place for him. If anything, he'd grown closer to Katie over the years. He'd do anything for either of them. The last thing he'd want for either of them was to get hurt and he was determined not to let it happen. But he couldn't shield them forever.

Donna took a step forward and took her husband's face in her hands and looked at him straight in the eyes.

"Joshua Lyman. You are the most wonderful father in the world to those girls. We have taught them well and they will handle themselves accordingly. We can trust Audrey. You just need to relax."

Josh stared back into his wife's eyes. He knew she was right, but it was still so hard. He nodded slightly, agreeing. Donna could see she had gotten her point across and then leaned in to kiss him. He kissed her back deeply, needing to feel wanted. Donna broke off the kiss after what must have been a couple of minutes (she often lost track of time when she kissed him) and looked at her husband seriously again.

"If you're good, I just may be in the mood tonight." She coaxed him.

"Really." He raised his eyebrows and ran his hands up and down her arms. Donna nodded, knowing she'd taken care of the problem.

"Sweet." He chimed. Donna laughed and hit Josh playfully on the shoulder.

At 7:00 sharp, Galen Morris promptly arrived at the Lymans' front door. Josh agreed to let Audrey open the door so he wouldn't scare the hell out of her date. Galen was dressed in a pair of khaki pants and an over-sized plaid shirt, which was untucked. Yeah, he looked like trouble.

"Thanks so much for coming!" Josh and Donna heard their daughter greet Galen from the front door. "You look nice."

Josh rolled his eyes and Donna poked him in the rib with her elbow.

"So do you."

The two teens then walked into the living room where Josh and Donna were waiting, standing off to one corner, waiting to be introduced. This was another part of the agreement. Audrey walked over to them, beaming.

"Galen, this is my father, Josh Lyman, and my mother, Donna."

Galen reached out his right hand and shook hands with both parents, smiling pleasantly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. You have a wonderful daughter."

Kiss-ass, Josh thought to himself. Damn right, she's wonderful. And she's just fine without you. He did have a rather firm handshake, though.

"Thankyou." Donna said politely. She'd told Josh not to say anything in fear that he might say something really stupid and embarrass Audrey. "So, Audrey tells us you're a junior also?"

"Yes, ma'am. I have a couple classes with Audrey and I was also on the yearbook committee with her. We miss her a lot, so that's why I'm here. To get that English grade back up." He was saying all the right things, and it was killing Josh. He was just waiting for a reason to hate this guy.

"Oh, that's very nice of you to offer. I know Audrey appreciates it very much."

"Anything I can do to help." He said, looking at Audrey. She smiled back and him and then they both turned their attention back to her parents. "So, Mr. Lyman, I've been following that environmental bill that's coming through the Senate."

That caught Josh off-guard. "Oh, really?" He'd just love to talk politics with this prick and show him up. He better be a democrat.

"Yeah. I have to say, I'm really loving what I see on C-SPAN. You've got some really good points. Those republicans better pass it if they know what's good for them. Are Lewis and Stevens backing down at all?"

Damn. He really knows his stuff. And he's a democrat. He was starting to kind of like the kid. Well, let's not go that far.

"Yeah, well, we're still working on them. We've gotta get a few more votes by next Wednesday."

"Well, good luck with that, sir."

Wow. He even called him sir. He called Donna ma'am. Awesome.

"Thanks."

Audrey was feeling uncomfortable and wanted to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. At least her father seemed moderately impressed by her date. But they needed to leave before Josh said anything to mortify her.

Galen looked to his right and saw Josh's recliner, "The Chair".

"Oh, man, this is nice." He walked over to it. Audrey cringed as he sat down in it and reclined. She glanced over at her father, who looked horrified.

"Uh, Galen…"

"I could get used to this." He said, closing his eyes.

Yeah, and you'll have to get used to me pounding you in the face, you prick, Josh thought to himself. Get the hell out of my chair! Donna could see Josh was getting territorial. No one sat in "The Chair".

"Galen, let's go to my room and get started." Audrey suggested, "On my paper." She quickly added, leaving no room for misinterpretation on her father's part.

"Okay." He said, getting up from the recliner. He smiled again at Josh and Donna. "Nice to meet you again, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman."

"And you." Donna said politely. Josh simply nodded. They watched the two walk back to Audrey's room and they left the door open, like they'd agreed on.

When they were out of ear's reach, Josh let out a huge, annoyed sigh and put his hands on his knees, as if exhausted.

"He sat in my chair!" Josh complained.

"Oh, he's fine." Donna told him. "Who are you, one of the three bears?"

"I'll turn in to one and rip his head off if he ever does that again." Josh went on.

"Whatever, Josh." Donna dismissed. "Now sit on the couch and watch basketball like a good boy." She told her husband, pointing to "The Chair". Josh obeyed, enjoying this rare event when he had total control over the television with a gag rule.

"Where's Katie?" He asked, as he plopped himself down, grabbing the remote and turning on to ESPN.

"She's doing her homework."

"Why does she have her door closed?"

"Well, maybe she doesn't want to look at Audrey and Galen. Or maybe she's sick of you."

"That's unlikely."

Actually, Katie was in her room counting the number of Ritalin pills she had left. She'd have to buy some more from her friend Ally again soon. She carefully placed her stash in the bottom of her jewelry box once again and sighed. She could hear her sister giggling in the next room with Galen Morris. Bleh! Katie didn't understand what all the girls saw in him. He was just a spoiled, over-confident ass clown. She preferred not to see it, so her door remained closed. Of course, she got a detailed recap of the event from her sister later that night.

"Oh, Katie, it was awesome!" She whispered excitedly, making sure their parents didn't hear the conversation. "We made out for five whole minutes without them noticing. He is such a great kisser, too. He had one hand on my face and the other on my thigh. He has a tongue like a God!"

"Okay, okay. Too much information! You can stop now!" Katie silenced her, disgusted as she watched Audrey pace back and forth while she sat on her bed.

"Oh, just because you've never kissed a boy, it doesn't mean you have to spoil it for me."

"I just don't want to know all the grimy details, that's all." Katie explained. "So, did you actually get your paper rewritten?" She better have, because that was their primary objective, not exploring each other's tonsils.

"Ye-e-e-e-s." She said, like she was speaking to her mother. "I just need to go type the changes and then I'll turn it back in tomorrow. Hopefully Hilman will grade it fast and I can be ungrounded in time for the weekend.

"Yeah."

"Hey, do you want to be in the dance with us?" Audrey offered.

"No, I think I'll pass." Katie said with a slightly disgusted look on her face. The girls had a few of the same friends, but the three she was doing the dance with weren't exactly Katie's best friends.

"Awe, why not?" Audrey whined.

"Dancing around like a ho dressed in skimpy slut clothes doesn't exactly appeal to me."

"We're not gonna look like ho's." She defended herself. "We'll be in jeans and a tank top."

"What's the song?"

"We haven't decided yet. I was hoping we could have a sleepover Friday and work on it all night."

"Mom and dad will love that." Katie commented.

"Yeah, they will." Audrey paused a moment. "So are you really feeling better?"

"Yes." She replied, a little irritated by all the questions.

Audrey gave her a look. "You don't have to bite my head off, I'm just asking."

Katie closed her eyes, regretting her tone. "I know. I'm sorry. Yes, I'm feeling much better. I think it was just a little stomach sickness."

"Okay." She still thought her sister wasn't telling her something. But she was her twin sister and she'd find out somehow. "Well, I better get to my paper. Are you going to bed?"

"Yeah. Good night."

"'Night, slut."

"'Night, whore." They said playfully.

Josh and Donna had said goodnight to their daughters and finally retired to their own room.

"He was a nice boy." Donna commented again.

"I wouldn't go that far." Josh said, pulling back the covers to climb in. It was getting warm, so he wore just a pair of boxer shorts to bed. Donna was dressed in a sleeveless nightie, looking pretty hot, he thought to himself.

"No boy is good enough in your mind." Donna pointed out as she climbed in the other side. Josh propped his head up in his left hand and faced Donna's side of the bed.

"Nope."

"But as far as boys go, he was pretty good. Audrey said he's ranked second in their class."

Josh sighed and reluctantly admitted, "He was a perfect gentleman. Except for the recliner incident." Galen had turned out to be a pretty decent kid from what he'd seen. But he also knew they probably kissed a little when they weren't looking. Oh, that little…

Donna reached out and started rubbing Josh's left bicep.

"There, was that so hard?"

Josh made a dismissive but agreeable expression, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm proud of you. You didn't embarrass Audrey."

"Was I good enough?" He put his hand on her hip and rubbed it, looking at his wife hopefully.

"Maybe." She smiled. Donna moved her hand from his bicep to his chest. Josh looked down at her fingers then back up at her face. He'd take that as a yes.

The next day was Thursday. The Lymans had almost gotten through another week. Thursday was one of Audrey's easier days. They didn't have cross-country practice that day, so she actually got to go home at 3:30, when school ended. Her sister wasn't so lucky, having her once-a-week ballet class after school. Ballet was one of the few things Katie sucked at, but she loved it. She cut back to once a week lessons once she got to high school so she could concentrate on cross-country and soccer in the fall.

Audrey was determined to find out what was going on with her sister. She didn't like snooping, but Katie had forced her to take drastic measures. She was her sister, so Audrey had to look out for her. She knew Katie would do the same for her in the same situation. Home by herself, Audrey slowly opened the door to her twin sister's room. There were a few clothes, books and other items scattered around the room, a contrast to how her own room normally looked. She first kneeled down on the floor next to her bed. She peeked out the door, afraid that Katie would walk in and go ballistic on her. Seeing that no one was coming, she slowly lifted the comforter up and looked under the bed. A small collection of dust bunnies and a few old board games. Nothing suspicious. Then she moved to her bedside table. She looked in the little drawers, but still nothing out of the ordinary. Audrey snooped around a little more, still not finding anything. She didn't quite know what she was looking for, but her quest continued.

Finally, she came across her sister's jewelry box. She opened it up and some ballet music twinkled. Her eyes fell upon a few bracelets, rings (one of which was hers and had never been returned – she snatched it back up), and necklaces. Audrey carefully moved the items to the side. Then something caught her eye. She saw a plastic bag tucked neatly away at the bottom. When she slowly took it out, her heart dropped. White pills. Ritalin. She'd heard of this at school from different people. But her sister? Using Ritalin? Supposedly, they were supposed to make it easier to stay up to study and give you more energy. Audrey knew the kind of pressure she was under, having the same parents. Being a child of a politician has never been easy, and their parents had very high expectations. But Katie had even higher expectations of herself. She was harder on herself than their parents could ever be. Suddenly, everything clicked in her mind. Katie must have tried to quit last week. She'd been so tired and irritable and nervous. All the warning signs were there. How could she have missed this? She was her twin sister. She was supposed to notice these things. Tears started to form in her eyes as she took the plastic bag in her fist. Audrey knew she'd after to confront her mom and dad about this. She had no idea what to do. They'd be so heartbroken. But Audrey knew they'd stand behind her 100 and do everything they could to help her. Audrey closed the jewelry box gently and with a heavy heart, left the room, closing the door behind her.

Her mother got home at about 5:00. She cheerily greeted her daughter, but the smile quickly disappeared from her face when she saw Audrey.

"Audrey, honey, what's wrong?" She walked over to her daughter, who had tears welling in her eyes and put her right hand on Audrey's cheek.

"Momma…"

Audrey only called her that when she was very upset.

"Yes, honey?"

"Momma, I think Katie's in trouble."

"What?" Audrey pulled a small plastic bag from the back pocket of her jeans with about five white pills filling the space inside.

Donna didn't know pills very well and took the bag in her hand. She held the bag up, trying to examine them.

"What are they?" She asked Audrey.

"It's Ritalin." She replied. Donna's heart dropped.