'How long has it been? I know it's been a while, but how many days exactly?'
Lynn wants to pull out her phone and check, but she is supposed to be paying attention to her sisters as they are making preparations for her thirtieth birthday. Ever since the hype from Lily's graduation wore off, everything turned straight to her. Dad kept calling her at random hours wanting to discuss party food, Mom would call about party plans, Lily called about decorations, Lisa about music, and Lucy about the ding-dang guest list. She knows the answers to all of them, she's just been stubborn when she told them that they should just treat it like her other birthdays, but they insisted on 'making it special' because 'it should be a big celebration'; and all she wanted was her dang breakfast.
Lucy calls out to Lynn, "Are you listening?"
Lynn absentmindedly says, "Yeah, I'm listening."
"Sigh…so are there any other guests that you–"
"Seventh eldest sibling, I suggest you save your breath. The soon-to-be birthday girl is too busy fantasizing about waffles and bacon to answer any of our questions with proper responses."
At the moment, the lists for Lynn's birthday are abysmally bare despite the festivities taking place in less than two weeks. The siblings are ready to reunite again, so at least that part of the guest list is complete, but Lynn isn't giving anyone much to work with. Her mind is distracted by more important worries.
The waitress brings the sisters their breakfast and Lynn takes her plate before drizzling the waffles with maple syrup. Her sisters wait until she took her first bite before bombarding her with questions about the party.
"I haven't heard any songs that you wish to include in your playlist, do you just expect me to make it happen without taking into account what you would want to hear?!" Lisa loudly exclaims.
"And what about decorations?! Is there a theme or do I just go to the store and grab whatever catches my eye? It's your party, not mine!"
"What about guests? So far all I have is just family. What about Margo, or Paula, or your other friends, do you plan on inviting any of them?"
Lynn continues to eat; ignoring her younger sisters. 'Let's see there's thirty days in April, thirty-one in May…C'mon Lynnsanity! You used to be the state Math Bowl champion! You know you can do easy math like addition! Then again, everyone keeps talking!'
Lily attempts to steal Lynn's bacon off of her plate, when Lynn moves her plate from her youngest sister's theft attempt.
"At least we know she's paying attention, although it is rude to ignore us Lynn," Lily says; annoyed at her older sister.
'Lisa could probably tell me. If I ask, I can finally get it out of my head and focus on everyone else.'
"Hey Lisa, how many days have passed since March 28th?"
The sisters look at her; confused by the strange question that came from Lynn.
"Seventy-five days. Upon today's completion it will be seventy-six days, why?"
Lynn shakes her head, "No reason," she says before she took a sip of her coffee.
The sisters eye Lynn suspiciously; wondering why she would ask such a thing out of nowhere and why that date in particular.
Lynn quickly finishes and got up, "Sorry I can't stick around longer, but I have to go. I'll text you guys some party details later. Bye."
"Hold it right there," Lisa says grabbing onto Lynn's arm, "You aren't leaving until we get something out of you. We've been patient, nay, beyond patient, the least you could do is give us something to work with," she complains.
"Fine, I want blood-pumping music that people can dance to, nothing too teenager-y, but with some slower songs to relax the mind or slow dance to," Lynn turned to Lily, "There's no theme, just go with some reds, and remember, if it looks like Lola and Leni would like, I probably won't," she turned to Lucy, "As for my guest list, it's just family. Margo can't come, but we were going to celebrate another day, and my other friends and I were going to do something different, I don't know! Maybe go to the lake! Now let go of my arm, Lisa!"
Lisa lets go, and Lynn walks out in a huff, "Well she seems rather irritable, don't you think?"
Lily and Lucy glance over at each other, before returning their attention to their breakfast.
Today was the day – the last day. For the past three weeks, she had been counting down the days, and it was finally here. No more worrying about tests or professors or reading boring textbooks until the fall; all she had to worry about was waiting for her family to arrive so that she could go home and begin her care-free summer.
Lynn's roommate, Megan, yawned as she saw the athlete stretch for her morning run, "Aren't you going to start packing soon? Your family is going to be here in a few hours."
"Eventually, I'm just gonna go for a run real quick and then I'll get started."
Megan went back to bed, "Just don't put it off until the last minute again."
"I won't, I can handle it," Lynn said before running out of the room.
Megan didn't believe her roommate, especially with Lynn's history of putting boring things off for the last minute, but she knew that nagging her roommate would do no good, so she let her go.
"Just a short run, and I'll be back to pack up," Lynn told herself.
That's what she told herself last time, and she ended up having her family help her pack, but she's been getting better at not putting things to the last minute. She was looking forward to going home, so she could hang out with her siblings and maybe even see her friends again.
Her thoughts turned to her friends. Due to classes and practice, Lynn didn't have much of an opportunity to talk with everyone while not conflicting with someone's schedule. Luckily, she has her college friends, but Bryton, Megan, and Cesar aren't into sports and thus they always had to do something else.
"I wonder if anyone is coming back home?" Lynn asked herself.
Unlike her, most of her friends were scouted to play in other states, so she isn't sure if they are going to go through the hassle of packing, just to go back in a few months, but she hoped at least somebody came home.
As she began her run, she passed his dorm before stopping and briefly looking at his window. Soon, he was going to walk across the stage, and then move on with his life. It was hard for her to believe that months ago he looked at her like she was meathead jock with sports on the brain to eventually looking at her like a girlfriend.
That felt weird.
Even after so many months, she couldn't believe that she was someone's girlfriend. Someone who looked at her and liked her, someone who told her that he saw more than just a dumb jock, someone who cared enough to help her succeed.
Now he's gone.
She continued to run, but her mind kept going back to that window in that dorm. Months – gone! Just like that, all because he decided to go to school in another state.
It's uncharted territory for her. She's seen her friends date, but she never got around to actually doing it herself and now she's stuck trying to make sense of her feelings.
She could feel her eyes burning as she thought about what happened a few nights ago. It kept playing over and over again in her mind, and it didn't make things better. Lynn knew that she could have reacted better, but in the end, it isn't going to make a difference; he's leaving and there's nothing she can do about it.
Lynn pulled out her phone to check on the battery, and quickly saw the time, "Crap!" she yelled, before running back to her dorm.
Lynn pulled into the parking lot. She spent all day driving around trying to think of something to clear her head, and nothing worked. Usually a round at the gym was her go to place for clearing her head of everything that was on her mind, but it hasn't worked too well for a long time. When she was younger, it was easy; punch, run, throw or hit and she was able to make herself feel better. Now, as she gets older, Lynn couldn't find the same peace, so she began to resort to other more 'relaxing' methods.
'Not gonna bug anyone today. How else will I know that I have a grip than if I don't try it all by myself?'
The sun was starting to set, and there weren't a lot of people at the lake. She left her phone in the glove compartment, walked up to the water, took off her shoes and dove in. The sound of the waves slowly crashing almost put her in a trance.
'It's been a long ass time since I've come here alone.'
She jumped into the water and floated on the surface looking up at the orange sky.
'Dang birthday…why do I have to get older? Wish Lisa could've just stopped the clock around twenty-one…well…not really…maybe eighteen…long before I turned nineteen…'
Almost thirty years, and all of it passed in the blink of an eye. One minute she's born, then she learns to pick up a ball, the next day she starts school, and then she goes off to college, and now she's floating on a lake contemplating her life.
'Ugh…I am too young for some mid-life crisis!'
Lynn shook her head, "Nope. You are not gonna feel sorry for yourself LJ! You're gonna get up and finish the seventy-sixth day of this year! I don't care how, but you're gonna do it!"
She took a deep breath and dove down into the water, and went as deep as she could, before coming back up. Lynn took a huge gasp of air when she resurfaced. As the drops of water trickled down and she could feel some of her frustrations leave her body.
The air hit her body and as she shivered, she took it as a sign that she needed to get out of the water. As Lynn headed for her car, she opened her trunk, only to be greeted by an assortment of items stared back at her, "I really should clean this out one day." She moved some of the items, as she looked for some spare clothes. "Why the heck do I still have so much stuff in here?"
It was a habit she acquired years ago, and she couldn't seem to break it. The trunk has been filled over the years with a hammock, spare shoes, a jacket, an empty water jug, a gas can, a pillow, a blanket, a towel, and other assorted items. She pulled out the duffle bag and smelled the contents, "Nope, I'm better off with a towel."
She walked to the driver's seat and set down the towel, "Sorry, Dutch, but it's getting late, and I want to get home," she told the vehicle before stepping in.
Lynn looked at her phone and noticed a bunch of messages from Lucy.
Lynn, we found a great place
She opened the attachment from her sister.
It has plenty of space
Lucy sent a picture of some of the rooms.
It's nice and secluded
Lynn pictured her sister smiling after that message, especially after seeing the picture of the view around the house.
By the way would you be willing to help us move in on the 25th?
"Yeah, why not," she said out loud before texting it to her sister.
Lucy walked into the room, and saw Lynn focus her attention on her Vampires of Melancholia poster. In all the years that she's shared the room with her older sister, she's never given more than a few glances at her posters, although Lucy couldn't tell if Lynn was just randomly staring into space and the poster was just in her way.
"Are you okay?"
Lynn didn't answer.
"Lynn!" she said louder.
The older sister snapped her attention to the door where Lucy was, "How long have you been there?"
"Just a little bit. Lynn, are you okay? You seem a little different since you've come back from school."
"That kind of happens when I've been gone for so many months," Lynn joked.
Lucy nodded in agreement. In the months that her older sister was gone, she was bound to change, especially when she hasn't been next to her every single day.
She took a seat on her bed and watched as her sister continued to stare at the poster. Lucy couldn't tell why the poster seemed to have such a trance on her older sister and it felt strange. She always assumed that such things would never work on Lynn, but the younger sister looked over at her older sister as she waited to see how long her staring was going to continue.
Lynn felt Lucy's eyes on her and she blinked, before looking away. Lucy's presence began to annoy Lynn, especially with Lucy looking in her direction. She loudly groaned and laid down by her pillow; staring at the basketball hoop.
"Can you hand me my basketball?"
Lucy complied and watched her sister shoot hoops. The sound of the ball passing through the hoop filled the room, but it didn't take the tension from Lynn, who would occasionally glance over at her younger sister as she took out a book to read.
"Do you have to do that here!? Can't you do that anywhere else?" she snapped at Lucy.
The younger sister was taken aback, she knows that Lynn can be a hothead, but she never just snapped at her for reading a book in the same room as her.
Lynn took a deep breath and grumbled under breath before biting down on her bottom lip in frustration. Lucy wasn't doing anything wrong, but despite her younger sister's quiet nature, the older jock just wanted to be alone.
Lucy got up, and as she walked out the door, Lynn stopped her, "Wait…I-I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
"It's fine. I get it."
It wasn't that out of the ordinary for her and Lynn to butt heads every once in a while, especially considering their different personalities; Lucy just learned a long time ago that it was a part of life.
"Yeah," Lynn started. "I think I'm just stressed out about college."
"What has you stressed out?"
Lynn opened her mouth, when Lincoln knocked on their door, "Hey, Lori's calling us downstairs, she said that she has something to tell us."
For the first eighteen years of her life, Lynn loved celebrating her birthday. She loved the balloons, the decorations, the music, the tooth-rotting sweets, and the attention from all of her loved ones. However, as she sat down in her seat, watching her family enjoy themselves she didn't know where she belonged at the moment. She eyes her sisters as they dance with their loved ones, and a sting of jealousy arose, as she wished that she could have had Francisco at the party with her.
A two liter bottle of orange pop was loudly set down in front of her, as Luna took a seat in front of her, "Would you like a drink?"
Lynn shook her head, "Not right now."
The two sisters sat quietly as fast-paced music blared from the speakers. After the last family get-together, the two sisters haven't spoken to each other, and neither one has bothered with an apology after their verbal scuffle. Both stared at the family members dancing in front of them; ignoring each other.
Julius, Luan's husband, passes by with one of his daughters on his feet, and hands Lynn an envelope, "Happy Birthday, Lynn."
"Thank you," she says as she takes the envelope from him. He always gave checks for birthdays, not that Lynn minded, after all, who doesn't mind getting money as a present.
Julius takes a seat with the sisters, but her daughter pulls on his arm, "But daddy, I still want to keep dancing."
"Give me a minute, sweetie," he said as he tried to catch his breath. At nearly forty, Julius had a tough time keeping up with his younger daughters, especially after dealing with people for a living as a television producer. As Luan would say, 'There's something hilarious about seeing a grown man losing an argument against two two-year olds.'
Miriam continued tugging at her father's sleeve, "Daddy," she whined, "I wanna dance."
Julius sighed, "Fine, but is there anything that you want say to your aunt Lynn?"
The little girl turned to her aunt, "Aunt Lynn when do we get cake?"
Lynn and Luna laughed.
Julius sighed and picked up his daughter, "I'm going to go see if your mother can go wear you out a bit." He looked down at his daughter and turned her towards Lynn, "Now try again."
"Happy birthday Aunt Lynn," she said with a bright smile.
Lynn smiled back at the girl, "Thank you, Miriam."
"I'm Melinda!" she whined.
"No you're not," Julius said as he took her in search of Luan.
Lynn turned to Luna, "I can't tell if she was lying, can you?"
Luna shook her head, "You got me. She and her sister are a heck of a lot better at the whole twin swap thing than Lana and Lola ever were."
Slow music began to play on the speakers. Some of the siblings got on the dance floor, and Lynn glanced at the couples dancing. They have love in their eyes as they moved to the music; it made almost made her regret requesting such music.
Lincoln clumsily walked by the sisters, and handed them two champagne glasses, "We gotta celebrate! Wooo!"
"Is he?" Lynn asked as she turned to Luna.
"I think so," she nodded.
Ronnie Anne came from behind, and quietly whispered something in his ear. "Luna, can you help me out with him?"
Luna nodded. As a bartender, she knew a drunk when she saw them, and Lincoln definitely hit the alcohol harder than he normally does. "C'mon little bro, let's get you something to ease up tomorrow's hangover," she said as she lead Lincoln away from the dance floor.
"But I wanna celebrate all the…all the…all the good news tonight," Lincoln slurred.
Ronnie Anne hushed him, "Not tonight, Linc. Now go with Luna, and get something to make yourself more bearable tomorrow."
The two watched as Luna led Lincoln away to get water. Ronnie Anne took the seat that Luna was using and sighed, "Sorry about that," she apologized to the birthday girl, "So what are you doing sitting down, instead of being on the dance floor?"
Lynn shrugged her shoulders, "Just kinda tired. I mean I know it's not late, but still."
Ronnie Anne nodded, understanding her sister-in-law.
"So what exactly is Stinkoln celebrating? He never gets like this for any of our birthday parties, and I doubt he's that happy that I'm turning thirty."
She looked around, before leaning closer to Lynn, "Can you keep a secret?"
Lynn nodded.
"We didn't want to bring it up right now, but…we're having a baby."
Lynn looked at her sister-in-law, surprised by the news, "Hey, congratulations. When'd you find out?"
"This morning. I went to the doctor before we came, so you're the first person we told."
That explained Lincoln's excitement, although Lynn was surprised by her brother's choice of celebration.
'Wow…a little niece or nephew…about time, Stinkoln.'
"We'll probably tell everyone tomorrow at breakfast or something," commented Ronnie Anne; she clearly felt more at ease telling someone after holding her tongue all morning.
"We can tell them now. What's the harm?"
Ronnie Anne looked at Lynn, surprised that she would make such a suggestion, "It's your birthday. We can wait until tomorrow to tell everyone."
"Are you sure? I don't mind."
Lily came up to Lynn with a microphone in hand, "C'mon Lynn, time to make your speech."
The speech. Lynn was not looking forward to this. For every milestone birthday, the lucky birthday boy or girl in the family would give a speech. It had never been anything moving, but it was just a fun little tradition that dad started for his fiftieth birthday, and since then everyone did it for their eighteenth, twenty-first, and each decade birthdays.
Lily grabbed Lynn's arm and led her towards Lisa and the turntables. With each step, Lynn's heart began to beat faster and faster in her ribcage. She's had nine years to think up some speech, and she kept blowing it off, even after hearing so many sisters before her.
Lisa turned off the music, "Ladies and gentlemen, may I direct your gazes to the birthday girl on the dance floor."
Everyone clapped before taking their seats. The lights shined on Lynn, and despite being blinded, she could still feel twenty-four pairs of eyes on her.
She swallowed, "Um…wow…thirty dang years. You see four older sisters go through it, but for some reason I didn't see it coming. Maybe I didn't want to…It's been, what, nine years since my last speech, and I still procrastinated."
Some of the siblings chuckled.
"The only thing that's changed is just that instead of school, I've got work, and now I've got extra pairs of eyes looking at me. I've seen some of my sisters and brother get married, and I've stayed the same…I never got to compete professionally on a world stage, heck, I never even got a chance to actually play. Instead…" Lynn felt a lump in her throat. "Instead, here I am…looking at my siblings do these awesome things, like getting these fancy graduate degrees, doing what they love, getting married and having families of their own."
"Dang it, Lynn! I wanted to tell them about the baby!" Lincoln said from the crowd.
Everyone gasped at Lincoln's news, while Ronnie Anne smacked her forehead, as her drunken husband spilled the beans. Murmurs were heard from the crowd, Lynn couldn't tell what they were saying or doing, but somewhere in her mind, they shifted their focus from her to their brother.
Lynn shrugged her shoulders, she turned off the microphone and walked out of the spotlight, "Well, guess the attention's on Stinkoln and Ronnie Anne."
She put the microphone back on stand and walked towards her seat. Lynn was met with her mother, who pulled her into a hug, congratulating her before noticing the look in her daughter's eyes.
"Are you okay, Lynn?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I'm just tired. I'm probably going to head out now."
Lynn and Lucy walked down the stairs where all of the family members were gathered. Lori and Bobby were standing in front of the tv and whispered with smiles on their faces.
Lynn whispered to Lucy, "What do you think? Baby or some silly anniversary?"
Lucy snickered a bit; Lori and Bobby were no strangers to celebrating something silly like first mini golf course date anniversary or lovey-dovey nickname anniversary, but after being together for years, they've tapered down on the number of anniversaries that they celebrated each year. Last time the Louds kept track, the couple was down to eight.
The older sister pulled out a five dollar bill, "Wanna bet?"
Lucy looked at the bill and was tempted, despite Lynn's history when it came to games of chance, "They're buying a place for themselves."
"They're getting married," Lynn responded, before spitting on her hand.
The younger sister shook her head, before taking a seat on the couch.
"The bet's still on," Lynn whispered as she took a seat.
Lori waited for everyone in the family to take their seat before handing Lily a tablet to hold. Staring back at the youngest Loud was the Casagrande family, who patiently wait to hear the news.
Lori excitedly turned to Bobby, "Who should start?"
"You should," Bobby assured her.
"But it's your news too."
"But only because of you."
"Can someone start?" Lana asked.
Lori scowled before starting, "As you know, Bobby and I have been together for a few years, and we thought that it was best that we tell everyone at once," she stopped to take a deep breath. "Bobby proposed!" Lori happily exclaimed, as she revealed the diamond engagement ring on her hand.
After so many years of dating, Bobby finally popped the question and to no one's surprise, Lori said yes. For years, Lori put off idea of marriage solely due to wanting to finish pursuing her degree and now with a fancy MBA degree, she finally accepted his proposal.
Lynn Sr.'s eyes began to tear up as he pulled Lori in for a big hug, "I can't believe that my baby is getting married."
Lynn looked as everyone congratulated Lori and Bobby on their engagement. She could hear Leni and Lola making plans to get together with Lori to discuss details about the ceremony, and soon the other siblings began to jump in their ideas.
Lynn looked up towards the stairs and contemplated just going upstairs while everyone was distracted. She turned towards the couple and saw the happiness in both of their eyes, and stayed put in her seat.
There was no need for her to bring her problems up today.
As the energy in the room began to die down, Lucy turned to Lynn and whispered, "So what were you going to say earlier?"
Lynn looked back at Lori and shook her head before giving her younger sister a smile, "Nothing important."
Francisco tapped his fingers on the couch as he watched the screen. The news was starting, and as the anchor began to speak, "Good evening, Royal Woods. My name is Eric Heller. We begin…"
His mind wandered. 'It is her birthday. I should do something nice, especially when she went through the hassle of getting me something for my birthday.' Francisco turned his head towards his wristwatch. 'But the night is almost over, and what do you get someone at 10:02pm?'
He shouldn't have waited this long, but his mind has been preoccupied with what to tell Lynn. Since March, he's racked his brain wondering what to do about their relationship; yes, he wants something more than just hanging out, but every time he gets together with her, he behaves the same way he did when he was young and had a crush on her.
The television screen flashed an announcement for the Independence Day fireworks show in about two weeks. He turned off the tv and slowly got up, "Hopefully Romano's is still open."
It wasn't much; seriously, who gets someone a sandwich for their birthday, but it's at least better than showing up empty-handed. He's had plenty of time to think about how he can make her birthday even better, but his time has been occupied with more pressing matters.
'This is what I get for waiting until the last minute.'
Francisco pulled into the parking lot of Romano's and saw the lights off. He quickly got out of his car and hoped that maybe just one person would be kind enough to open the door. He looked inside, but no one was there. Francisco knocked on the door, hoping that maybe the family would hear him upstairs, and have mercy on the dumb man.
'C'mon…Martino, Raffaelina, Stefano, Teresa, Laura, someone…'
A window opened from upstairs, "Allontanati dalla porta, bastardo. Non vedi che siamo chiusi, ora vaffanculo!" yelled a man from upstairs. Stefano pointed a flashlight towards Francisco, and was surprised by the late-night visitor, "Francesco?"
"Sorry to bother you at this hour, but is there any chance I can get a sandwich?"
The younger man turned back inside, spoke to his family. Martino looked out the window, ignoring Francisco as he looked around them.
The two men came down, and let him in the door. Stefano stayed by the door and Martino grumbled about the late hour.
"I'm so sorry. I'll gladly pay you extra," said Francisco.
"You'll pay double! You scared my mamma and sorelle, and almost gave babbo a heart attack!" Stefano loudly said from the door.
Martino looked at him, "Cosa vorresti?"
Francisco looked at him, confused; the man never spoke to him in Italian.
"He wants to know what you want," Stefano translated.
"Oh, um…spicy sub with extra cheese and hot sauce," he ordered; just like Lynn ordered the last time they came.
"Pensi che sia pazzo? Perché altrimenti sarebbe arrivato così tardi," Stefano asked outloud to his father.
Francisco didn't understand everything, but he did manage to pick up some words, "I know it's late, but the sandwich is for someone's birthday."
Both men looked at him confused, "Compleanno?" asked Martino.
"Sí, cumpleaños! Yes, I know it's weird, now can I get my dang sandwich already!"
The two men looked him, shocked by the sudden outburst. Normally, Francisco was so calm, especially compared to Lynn, but to hear him yell a demand like that, rubbed them the wrong way.
Both men scowled at him, Stefano spoke up, "You know for someone begging to come inside, you could at least be more patient."
"I'm sorry. I've just been going through some things," he said as his felt some slight tension in his leg, "I know that it's not your fault and that I shouldn't take it out on you both, especially after you've–"
Stefano gestured to stop, "Forget about it. But a sandwich? That's a heck of a weird gift to give on someone's birthday."
Francisco shrugged, "I know. But I have other plans; it's not just the sandwich."
"You better. Cause I don't know anyone who would just be happy with a sandwich as a present, except maybe someone dying of hunger."
Francisco thanked the father and son and ran to his truck.
Raffaelina stepped out of the back room, and looked at the driver of the truck that is just pulling out of the parking space, "Francesco? It is so late. Why did he come?"
Stefano shrugged his shoulders, "He said something about a sandwich and a birthday."
Martino muttered to himself as he cleaned a sauce stain off of the counter, "Non se perché non potesse aspettare fino al mattino."
The woman looked at the calendar hanging on the wall; she noticed the date and whispered, "Buon compleanno, Linda."
Lynn headed towards the dining room, which was filled with stacks of bridal magazines, notebooks, a calculator, and craft supplies. Lori just announced that she was engaged less than few days ago but it seemed as if the engagement occurred over a year ago. Excitement is still in the air, but Lynn thought that it seemed ridiculous at how quickly the house turned into a bridal shop.
"LJ!" called her father from the kitchen, "Do you want to help me with these cake samples?"
She walked into the kitchen, which was also a mess, as her dad had mixing bowls filled with random cake batters and frostings. Lynn dipped a spoon into the frosting and relished the sweet taste.
Lynn Sr. saw his fifth eldest daughter sample the frosting, "What do you think?"
"It's fine, dad. Why do you need my help? You're always super creative in the kitchen, I doubt I can help in any way."
He shook his head, "I am just frazzled trying to think of what the perfect cake would be for Lori's wedding and I'm trying so many different combinations that I think that my mouth is becoming numb to sugar. I was hoping that you would help me out, at least to taste things."
That didn't sound real to Lynn, but being a taste tester wouldn't be such a bad way to spend her day.
"What do you think that your sister would like?"
Lynn shrugged her shoulders; Lori is now the type of woman who likes to believe that she has a sophisticated palate, which isn't something that Lynn is too familiar with.
She grabbed a bite of chocolate cake and frosted it with some strawberry frosting, then a vanilla sponge with mint, carrot with coffee, white chocolate with chocolate, lemon with caramel, confetti with chocolate chips; each combination getting a little stranger than the last, but it didn't stop her.
Lynn Sr. looked over at his daughter, who seemed to have been lost in her thoughts as she randomly dipped her spoon in a frosting. Between the wedding news and the preparations over the last couple of days, he hasn't stopped to ask about how classes and softball have been this semester.
Lynn walked to the pantry. She grabbed some cayenne pepper and poured the powder over the cream cheese frosting, "What are you doing?"
Lynn sampled her combination before responding, "I'm getting sick of the sweetness! I need something to cut down on it!" She walked back towards the pantry and the spice rack, "Do you have any chili oil or cinnamon?"
"You think Lori would like that?"
She didn't answer as she continued her search. A bag of popped popcorn, marshmallows, and hot sauce caught her attention and she took the items back to the counter to sample together with the cakes and frostings.
"Lynn Jr. Focus! We're trying to find the right combination of cake and frosting for the wedding cake, we can have some snacks later," he said as he tried to get her attention back on track.
It has always been a hassle, especially when things began to get repetitive; she gets sidetracked and no longer wants to concentrate on the task at hand. The light bulb went off in his head and he knew how to get her to concentrate again.
He pulled out some paper and stood next to her, "Wanna see who can taste the most combinations?"
He grabbed some cake and frosting and wrote down his combination, "One," he took another, "Two! Hurry up, I'm getting ahead!"
Lynn crossed her arms and snapped, "Can I just go?! I am so sick of the house going on and on about the wedding. I mean seriously, we don't even know when it is!"
He looked over at her; surprised by the outburst. Her typical outbursts are usually more physical than verbal, but he hasn't seen her snap like that without reason in years.
"Are you okay?" he asked, hoping to see what could be bothering her.
"I'm fine. I'm just gonna go and hit the punching bag for a bit. I'll be back…" she said before heading towards the garage.
Lynn opened the door to her apartment. She closed the door and kicked off her shoes, "Well that was fucking embarrassing…" she said to herself.
She sat by the door, and thought about what just happened – the sappy speech, avoiding her guests all night, and just leaving as people were enjoying themselves. She should have stayed; why should she bother being at home plagued with her thoughts, she knew where that lead her, but she could have at least put up a damn smile, so that everyone can celebrate like they wanted to.
'Because that only makes things worse,' her conscience told her, before she quietly vented her frustrations.
She tried to recall how many times she did that in her life, but it doesn't solve her current problem, especially if she began to dwell for too long.
"I didn't even want the stupid party…what do I have to celebrate? Being lonely? Having a job that I barely like? Falling behind yet another sibling? Oh yeah, that's all worth celebrating!"
When she was behind her older sisters she didn't mind; after all, she was right behind them. Then Lincoln got married, Lucy's getting a house, Lana has her dream job, Lola is breezing through college, Lisa always had things figured out, and Lily is just about to start her journey through adulthood.
'I wonder how long until she beats me?'
Lynn pulled out her phone, and looked through her contacts. She stopped at Francisco's name. She wanted him at her party, heck, she didn't even care about that party that much; she missed seeing him. Ever since their 'breakup', they don't see each other as much. In the past year, Lynn grew accustomed to seeing him at least three times a week; now she is going cold turkey and she hated it; the trembling, the restlessness, the insomnia, and her random bouts of irritability were beginning to get to her.
She really needs to apologize to her family; they went through so much hassle to make this day special and she didn't show her appreciation. She knew that was being uncooperative with her family for weeks, not to mention that she just walked away almost as soon as the party started.
'Next time I see them,' she thought as she pulled out her phone to jot down the note.
Lynn took a deep breath; she's been thinking for a while about what to do about her and Francisco's relationship. She pressed on his name on her phone and waited for him to pick up.
His voicemail picked up. Lynn started, "Hey, um…sorry to bug you like this, but, um…I was hoping we could talk, you know, face to face…so, uh…let me know when you're free…bye…"
She hung up and groaned; she definitely sounded nervous, and he was going to know, but enough was enough, and she was ready to face him.
Lynn took a deep breath and got up to get ready for bed.
Lynn stomped to the garage and pulled out her boxing gloves; whenever she was frustrated she would exercise to deal with whatever would be bothering her. With each punch she would typically feel the weight on her shoulders lift off, but her mind kept racing with everything that has been going on at school. First the tutoring, then the classes, tests, dating, softball; her mind couldn't shut it off.
She stopped punching the bag and lightly punched her head, "What the heck is wrong with you?"
She took a deep breath, and assured herself, "It's just the first few days back…in a couple of weeks, it'll be like nothing even happened. I should probably also apologize to dad…"
It's worked before and she assured herself that she can power through her issues just fine.
The sound of Vanzilla pulling into the driveway grabbed her attention, and she looked through the garage window and saw her sisters and mother exiting the vehicle with bags in hand.
"How much wedding stuff do you need? You just found out a little while ago."
Every conversation lately has seemed to be about the wedding, and it was getting annoying. Morning, noon, and night, if she heard a sister talking, chances are that the wedding was what they were talking about.
The sound of her sisters and mom died down and Lynn began to punch again, "Just a little more. Push it, Lynnsanity! You can do it!"
The door opened and Luna walked through with her guitar in hand, "You don't mind if I'm in here, do you?
Lynn shook her head and went back to punching. As Luna strummed her guitar, Lynn stopped hitting the punching bag and began to grind her teeth. She turned her eyes toward her older sister and could feel her heart rate rising as she saw the guitar pick strumming each string.
"Do you have to do that?" Lynn snapped.
Luna scowled, "I asked if you didn't mind me being here and you said no."
"Well I changed my mind!"
"Well I'm not leaving," Luna declared as she stood her ground.
"Neither am I."
The two sisters stared at each other before going back to their individual activities; refusing to leave. Lynn began to punch and her mind began to wander to back to school. She punched harder, but the thoughts came at her with the same force.
"Why isn't this working!"
Lynn looked over at Luna, who has since plugged a pair of headphones to her speaker. The musician paid no mind to Lynn as her fingers worked their magic on the stringed instrument, and it sort of comforted Lynn to know that Luna wasn't asking any questions.
"Just a few more days, Lynnsanity…just a few more days…"
Francisco drove to her apartment. His heart was pounding. The moment he knocks on that door, they're going to have to talk, whether he was ready or not. He didn't know why he was nervous, he knows what he wants to tell her; he's known for a while, but every time he gets ready to dial, his mind wanders. Instead of dating again, they would probably go back to being friends, or worse, not even friends; things would go back to before he met her again in that parking lot, and he was afraid of that.
He sat in his truck longer than he cared admit, the sandwich was getting cold and clock flashed 11:42pm. Francisco shifted in the driver's seat, his back was aching, and the truck cab was feeling smaller as he stayed put. Francisco quickly pulled out a pill to relieve his back and stepped out of the truck.
He walked towards her front door, sandwich in hand, and knocked on the door.
'There's no going back. Time to man up and have a serious conversation about this.'
Lynn stared at the glowing red lights of her alarm clock. She's been trying to sleep for hours, it wasn't new, but the constant tossing and turning was annoying her, '450 days down, and way more to go…' It was almost midnight, and as soon as she saw 12:00, it will officially be 451 days, but she didn't want to see it at the moment.
She heard the knocking on the door, but decided to ignore it; she didn't feel like dealing with anyone at the moment. The person at the door knocked again. Lynn stared again at her alarm, "Who the heck is at the door at this hour?" she whispered to herself.
She looked at the baseball bat that she has in the corner, 'I guess if someone is trying to break in, I could probably bash their skull in. Boom! Problem solved.'
The knocking persisted.
"Seriously?! It's nearly midnight, what the hell kind of moron knocks on someone's door at this hour?" she gets up from her bed and walks to her front door, bat in hand.
As she approaches her door, she mutters to herself, "Can't even sleep. Just want to be left alone. Pissed off at–Francisco?" she says as she looks at the peephole.
Lynn quickly opens the door, and he holds out the sandwich, "Happy Birthday Lynn."
She looks at him, stunned at both the gesture and his presence.
"Look, I know that we haven't spoken in weeks, and I don't know…maybe you don't even want to see me, but I just need to get this out there." He took a deep breath, "I miss you, and hell I've missed you for more than just these three months that we've been apart. I miss those few days together. Heck, I even miss you punching me in the arm, as unbelievable as that is. The point is I–"
She grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss. She wasn't sure if it was the stupid gesture or his dumb speech or even if it was because how much she missed him herself, maybe it was all three, but all she knew was that she wanted his company.
Their lips briefly separated and they stared into each other's eyes before he cupped her cheek with his hand, and she pulled him into her apartment.
