Chapter Twenty-Two: Girl Talk

"So, Lorraine," Liz drawled as she folded a pair of pants and tucked them into her large suitcase, "you never told me what you were going to say last night. Something in relation to wanting to try something different?"

Lorraine sighed a little as she folded a shirt and pants outfit and placed the two folded items together in her suitcase. "I wanted to try to be less… trendy. I guess I never really thought about how it makes others feel when I obsess so much over clothes and makeup. It's pretty selfish, actually. Anyway, I've decided to try to be more real. More like everybody else and not attempt to be some fashion goddess." She smiled as she walked to the closet and pulled out a few more items to fold. "You know what, Lizzie?" she asked with an open grin now.

"What?" Liz replied, her eyes on the skirt she was folding neatly.

"It worked. The first thing I noticed last night when I wore that outfit was how easy and natural it felt. It made me feel like… like I wasn't trying to be someone else. But that I was being myself." She shrugged. "I guess that was my problem. I was so obsessed with being a fashion guru that I ended coming out as carefully planned and composed as my outfits did. It wasn't the real me. I could tell because the real me actually fits in with this crazy family." She laughed as Liz rolled her eyes in amusement.

"So what did Daniel think?" Liz asked, eyeing her sister with open curiosity and a little teasing.

Lorraine blushed. "He said that he thought I looked beautiful." She fell silent, as though pondering over something confusing. "When I told him that I was going to work for Allure, he said something funny."

"What?" Liz asked.

"He said that I should be careful not to let them crush the real me. He said he thought it was cool that I'm going to work for a popular fashion magazine, but he said that they often mold their employees like they mold their models on the computer to perfect copies of what they want. He-he told me that he admired me for my smile and my attitude and to remember that I come from a crazy family and that I have to live up to that when I'm not with them. That way I remember who I really am." She stopped and looked up at Liz. "I-I think I'm going to follow his advice." Liz raised her eyebrows in surprise. Lorraine ignored it. "I used to be so excited to get to New York and get away from my insane family life and be like all the other models and popular people, but now… This vacation to Lake Winnetka has made me realize that I really do love my family, even if they drive me nuts sometimes." She smiled as Liz grinned and nodded in agreement. She sobered and looked at Liz seriously. "Someday, I want to be like Mom and have a big family. I don't want to forget what this kind of life is like, because, even though dad can be majorly embarrassing and Sarah's a pain in the butt, and the boys all belong in the zoo sometimes, I know that we have it pretty nice, don't we?"

Liz looked up in surprise. She'd never really thought about it before, but their family did have a lot of advantages because of its size. For one thing, it was impossible to feel totally forgotten – except for maybe that one instance with Mark, but that was because Mom was out of town – and for another, they all were more patient and laid back than your average person because they had so much chaos all the time. Come right down to it, and Liz realized that that was what she wanted for her own family, too. she pulled herself out of her thoughts, realizing that she still hadn't answered Lorraine's question. "Yeah, Lori, we have it pretty nice."

Author's Note: Sorry this is such a short chapter... I really did mean to make it longer, but there wasn't much else to cover that can go with this chapter. One more chapter left, guys! Please review!