Chapter 78

Lindsay had cried for around seven minutes straight following the completion of her tale. She eventually managed to regain control of herself, breathing heavily as she sat on Lee's bed while staring at the far wall.

Lee had provided Lindsay a couple of tissues from a box on her vanity to clear her nose, as well as the eyeliner that had smeared down her cheeks. The usually boisterous blonde girl had remained completely silent as she wiped her face while sniffling every few seconds, her hands trembling as Lee observed with sadness.

"I couldn't sleep," said Lindsay, "The burns stung all night, and just the weight of my sleeves on by wrists made me want to cry. Not only did I have to deal with the pain, both physically and mentally, but I also had to lie to my dad about why I looked so sad, and figure out a way to tell you that we weren't friends anymore."

Lindsay turned towards Lee.

"I had no choice," said Lindsay, "You don't know how much it hurt me to have to tear our picture up, and look you in the eyes and tell you we couldn't play together anymore. Not only couldn't I be friends with you, but I was forced to become this stupid puppet, competing against you, with the potential price of my dads life at stake."

Lindsay paused.

"It was at that point that I made a decision," said Lindsay, "If I couldn't have you as a friend, I'd turn you into my rival to appease Edyta. At least under that pretense I'd be able to keep you in my life."

Lee's eyes widened as Lindsay reached into her handbag.

"I have two things I'd like to show you," said Lindsay, "A little late and not worth much anymore, but I think these belong to you."

At that point, Lindsay removed a small pair of black rimmed glasses from her bag. The glasses appeared to have been made for a small child, and were in less than pristine condition. The nosepiece was repaired with a thick wrapping of masking tape, due to them being cracked in half at some point in time. The left lens was cracked in a pattern similar to that of a spiders web, while the right lens was completely missing.

Lee adopted a surprised expression as Lindsay held the spectacles up for her to see. The redheaded girl slowly lifted her hand up towards her mouth as she replied in a gentle, motherly voice.

"Are those...my old glasses?" asked Lee.

"Yep," said Lindsay, "After I left you that morning, I crawled underneath the jungle gym, collapsed on the ground, and cried until school started. When the teacher called us to come into the classroom, I saw them on the ground all smashed up and decided to take them home to see if my Dad could fix them, with the idea being to sneak them into your cubby the next day. I told him I found them and wanted to use them to play scientist at playtime the next day. Obviously, there was no way they could be fixed, but God knows I tried."

Lee took the glasses out of Lindsay's hands, and examined them with a saddened expression. Lindsay turned towards the redhead with a smile, attempting to brighten the mood with a joke,

"You're as blind as a bat without them after all," said Lindsay, "I remember that one time I asked you if I could try them on and instantly regretted it. I felt like I was gonna hurl from how distorted the world was, and I couldn't believe that's what you saw when you weren't wearing them. How in the world did you go without new ones for all of those years?"

Lee continued to examine the glasses as she replied in a melancholy expression.

"It's easy when you just don't care," said Lee.

Lindsay's smile returned to a frown as Lee continued.

"I was so upset after you tore up our picture up that I couldn't think straight," said Lee, "I sat in the middle of the playground, crying for what seemed like forever until the teacher called us into the classroom. As I stood up, my glasses fell off of my face and onto the ground. All's I can remember is hearing the words 'geek girl' and 'I'll never be friends with a four-eyed wierdo like you' over and over again, to the point where I became disgusted by them. It was then that I decided I wasn't ever going to wear them again, so I stomped them with my foot as I walked into the building."

The two girls remained in silence for a few moments, at which point Lee rose from her seated position. She approached her vanity, and used her key to open the leftmost drawer as she continued the conversation.

"Well since we're taking a trip down memory lane," said Lee, "I got a couple things I wanna show you too."

Lee reached into the drawer and removed the slightly tattered blue bow that once adorned Lindsay's head on a daily basis. She held it out for Lindsay to see.

"Recognize this?" asked Lee.

"My bow!" said Lindsay with a smile as she took the bow in her hands.

"Yep," said Lee, "I always thought that bow looked cute on ya, so when I saw it sitting in the trash that afternoon I figured I'd save it in the event you'd come back to your senses."

The girls observed the tattered bow, covered in ten year old stains with blank stares. Realizing the irony of Lee's statement, the girls turned towards each other and emitted a slight giggle.

"It's the thought that counts!" said Lindsay, after which she adopted a serious expression prior to continuing, "I knew how much you liked the bow. You used to mess with me everyday telling me it was crooked, and watch me run to the mirror to adjust it, playing into what you would call my 'inner looney fashionista'. It was those memories attached to this thing that made me decide I didn't want to wear it anymore. Every time I saw it, it reminded me of you so I decided to get rid of it even though it was my favorite thing to wear."

As Lindsay completed her explanation, Lee reached into the drawer once again.

"For what it's worth," said Lee in a gentle tone, "I also saved this."

Lee removed a small piece of paper, keeping its contents hidden as she slowly made her way back over towards Lindsay. As she sat down on the bed, she reached her hand out while simultaneously bringing the torn piece of paper up to Lindsay's eye level.

The blonde divas eyes widened as a familiar children's drawing came into view. While Lindsay knew Lee had possession of her half of their beloved drawing from conversations with Eddy, seeing it firsthand seemed to touch the girl emotionally. Lee appeared quite teary-eyed as well, her hand shaking somewhat due to the intense emotions running through her mind.

"I was able to get my half before the wind blew it away," said Lee, "I tried to get yours too, but I wasn't fast enough, the wind took it around the corner before I could grab it."

Lee continued to stare forwards as if she were in a trance, only to be interrupted by the soft sound of her old friends voice.

"LeeLee," said Lindsay, prompting Lee to turn her attention towards her.

Lee watched as Lindsay reached into her handbag, and slowly removed her own torn piece of construction paper. She slowly lifted the page, her eyes appearing wide and glassy, revealing her half of the drawing.

At that point, a small tear emanated from Lee's right eye, and began falling down her cheek. The redheaded girl slowly raised her hand up to her mouth, placing her palm over it as her eyes appeared ever more glassy.

"You...you have yours?" said Lee in a gentle voice, "And you kept it?"

Lindsay said nothing, merely nodding as she attempted to hold in tears of her own. After a few moments, Lee held her drawing out in front of her, with the ripped portion facing Lindsay. The tall blonde girl responded by positioning her drawing in the same manner, slowly moving the torn portion toward that of Lee's.

Eventually the two halves were within millimeters of each other. The two girls hands trembled as they observed the drawing they had worked on so many years ago, the two halves reunited after a ten year separation.

With one final motion, both girls moved their hands inward simultaneously, aligning the tears of the drawing and completing the words that had been written on the top:

LeeLee and Lizzy Best Friends Forever

The girls slowly turned towards each other, locking eyes with expressions of sadness. Around five seconds elapsed, at which point Lindsay's bottom lip began to tremble, as small tears began to trickle down her face.

In an instant, the proverbial flood gates seemed to open; Lindsay's eyes began to emit tears at an alarming rate, as she began sobbing uncontrollably. After a slight delay, Lee began crying heavily as well, as she continued to hold her palm over her mouth.

Suddenly, Lindsay opened up her arms while leaning toward her ginger friend; Lee followed suit, returning the gesture as both girls moved toward each other. Eventually, both girls wrapped their arms around each other's torso, placing their cheeks on the others shoulder as they squeezed in a loving embrace; a gesture that had not been displayed in years.

"I never wanted to lose you LeeLee," said Lindsay in an upset tone, catching her breath in between sentences as she sobbed, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry for everything! For calling you geek girl, for picking on you with all my fake friends, for tearing our picture up...for making fun of your little sisters, and for being so mean all of those years...I never wanted any of it, I was forced to do it or she was going to hurt me...she was going to hurt me or kill my dad!...I hated doing it!...You were the best friend a girl could have, and I treated you so horribly...I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry."

As Lindsay continued to sob, Lee began patting her back as she too emitted profuse tears. As she comforted her friend, she decided to reply.

"It's alright Lizz," said Lee, "It wasn't your fault...it wasn't you...everything's gonna be alright...everything's gonna be alright Liz."

For the next few minutes, two best friends, turned against each other in a horrible twist of fate, sat consoling each other with a loving embrace, and embrace that neither had imagined would ever be able to happen. For the first time in forever, Lindsay felt free to express her intense bottled up emotions, built up from years of living under Edyta's rule and her involuntary servitude to the diabolical woman's wrath. The same was true for Lee, who had spent years watching her best friend live a lie against her will, powerless to help the poor girl; in her mind, this embrace and emotional outpour was long overdue.

Eventually, both girls calmed down and returned to their positions seated on the edge of the bed. As they regained their composure, Lindsay turned her head towards her signature fur coat, still resting next to her on Lee's bed.

"That coat was once my mother's," said Lindsay, "My Dad bought it for my mom as a Christmas present when they were in eleventh grade. He gave it to me a couple of years ago, along with all of my moms old trophies and pictures, and I've worn it every winter since. It's still a little too long for me, but I did a temporary mod to the sleeves so it will fit me for the time being. I won't need it for long though, because the doctors said I'd even out to a lovely 6'5" by the end of tenth grade."

"Wait a minute," said Lee, "I thought that coat was the same one you wore since you were a kid and you just got it altered as you grew."

"Nope," said Lindsay, "That coat that I wore as a little girl was similar but slightly different. It was a darker shade of maroon and had cheaper trim, not the imitation rabbits fur on my moms coat."

Lindsay paused.

"Edyta brought that coat home for me after a couple of weeks of living with us," said Lindsay, "It's weird, it's like she bought one in an attempt to imitate my moms coat. Not only that, but as I got older, I would catch Edyta trying to break into my dads drawers and safes, where he kept all of my moms old trophies and pictures."

Lindsay turned towards Lee.

"I haven't figured it out yet, but I know in the bottom of my heart she's got some kind of ulterior motive for suddenly coming into our life," said Lindsay, "She's so obsessed with getting her hands on all of my mother's things, but the only thing I know is that they went to high school together, and Edyta was a mean spirited bully."

After a slight sniffle, Lindsay decided to continue.

"I knew my moms legacy was in danger, so I decided to take action," said Lindsay, "I lied to my dad, again, and asked him if I could take down the big portrait of my mom and dad on their wedding day hanging over the fireplace. I told him that even though I never met my mom, the picture of her made me sad, and said I'd keep it in my room until I was ready to face it again. I bought a secure lockbox, and a lockable wardrobe, and hid all of my moms belongings inside. All of my moms basketball trophies, her pictures, high school yearbook, wedding dress, home movies, and the only video I have of her during one of her television interviews for my dads business, are locked away in my room under double layer security...the lockboxes, and the door to my room."

Lindsay reached into her cost pocket and removed her keychain, holding the silver rings up for Lee to see.

"And these stay with me at all times," said Lindsay, "I'll be damned if that bitch ever touches anything of my moms."

Lindsay turned back towards the coat.

"As for my coat, I wear it to honor my mother, as well as to provide the ultimate security against theft," said Lindsay, "How fitting that I use it to cover up my injuries..."

"So let me ask ya this," said Lee, "How'd you wind up at camp with me, and find yourself in Peach Creek?"

Lindsay sighed.

"I couldn't take it anymore," said Lindsay, "When you moved away, I felt more lost than ever. And even though my relationship with you seemed to be Edyta's fixation, the abuse and torture still didn't end. Whether it was losing a fashion contract, or spilling a can of beet juice, it was the same thing. I needed to do something to make it stop, and I needed you..."

Lindsay paused for a moment to catch her breath.

"I went into the school counselor the next day and showed her my arms," said Lindsay, "I lied again, like the coward I am. I told her that I was hurting myself, and that I was depressed over my grades and the fact that I felt like I caused my mother's death. Naturally, I was sent to therapy, and was prescribed two weeks at the troubled youth camp. I told them that I was having a lot of trouble with the kids in the city. That coupled with the fact that my Dad was planning on moving allowed me to persuade my family to come to Peach Creek, where I knew you'd be. In the bottom of my heart, I knew that eventually we would be able to one day be like we used to be, but the only way it would be able to happen is if we were still together."

The two girls sat in silence for a few seconds, after which Lindsay decided to continue.

"With the way things are going tonight, I'd say in hindsight it was a good idea," said Lindsay.

"Yeah," said Lee, "It all makes sense now."

"I never expected to see you at the camp though," said Lindsay, "Even though our relationship was toxic, and it wasn't exactly the best place to be given the circumstances that warrant being sent there, it was a welcome surprise."

The two girls giggled slightly, after which Lee sighed and turned towards Lindsay with a melancholy expression.

"Well," said Lee, "I guess I should tell you why I was at the camp."

"You don't have to," said Lindsay, "I know..."

"Wait," said Lee, "There's no way you could..."

"Your moms apartment was two blocks behind my house," said Lindsay, "Sometimes, when I couldn't sleep at night, I would get my binoculars and use them to look at the stars. Because my room was on the top floor, I also had a birds eye view of the window into your apartment, and sometimes I'd take a glance over to see if you were alright."

Lindsay turned away from Lee, staring at the far wall as she continued.

"One night," said Lindsay, "I realized it had been a long time since I checked up on you, and decided to aim the binoculars at your room...I turned away before anything really bad happened, but I knew what that sick bastard had in mind."

Lee listened to Lindsay's story in a state of shock, her eyes watering slightly as she recalled some of her life's worst memories.

"I didn't sleep for the remainder of the night," said Lindsay, "Nobody was hurting you if I had anything to do about it. I spent the night writing an anonymous letter, and sneakily dropped it into your dads mailbox the next morning, telling him what I saw, and that he might want to check up on you the next night..."

At that point, tears began trickling down Lee's face once again, at which point she touched her hand to Lindsay's shoulder.

"Liz..." said Lee in a gentle manner, "You saved me...?"

Lindsay glanced towards the wall, closed her eyes, and slowly nodded up and down as tears trickled from Lee's eyes. In an instant, Lee once again reached out towards her friend, squeezing her tightly in a loving embrace as she released gratuitous tears. Lindsay returned the embrace, rubbing Lee's back as she looked toward the ceiling while holding back tears of her own.

Suddenly, Lee regained control of her emotions pulled away from Lindsay.

"Well guess what?" asked Lee, "It's time for me to return the favor, there's no way I'm going to leave my best friend hanging, especially after all she's done for me."

"But LeeLee," said Lindsay, "Edyta's going to be..."

"But nothing," said Lee as she suddenly rose to her feet, and repositioned herself in front of Lindsay while placing her hands on her hips, "I don't give a shit what Edyta does, as long as it involve anything to do with your life."

Lee leaned her face towards Lindsay's.

"Here's the deal," said Lee, "You and me are gonna come up with a nice little plan to put Edyta Babik in her place, get her out of your life, and pay you back double for all those years she hurt you and dishonored your family. Then once that's over and done with, you and your Dad are gonna come to our house on Christmas Eve and participate in the festivities."

Lindsay looked up into Lee's eyes with a melancholy expression.

"Come to your party?" asked Lindsay, "But everyone hates me..."

Lee ran her fingers through her relatively tangled hair, after which she began speaking in a rather sincere manner.

"Liz," said Lee, "They hate Edyta Babik, not Tiffany Lindsay Statorowski. Everyone with the exception of myself has only met the former, and it's time they met the latter."

Lindsay cracked a slight smile as Lee adopted a grin of her own.

"Everything will be fine," said Lindsay, "I promise."

At that point, Lee lifted her right hand in the air, making a fist while extending her pinky finger out towards Lindsay. As tears of joy formed in the blonde divas eyes, she smiled, and reached her hand up to return the gesture. The girls locked pinky's, echoing the moment they had first met many years ago in the school playground, smiling from ear to ear as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Best friends forever?" asked Lee.

"Forever and Ever," said Lindsay, "Let's never let that happen again."

Lindsay rose to her feet, released pinky from Lee's, and shared another loving embrace with her friend. With that small gesture, the friendship between Kanker and Statorowski, split by the actions of Edyta Babik had finally been reignited; and both girls could not be any happier.

"Okay, I trust you LeeLee," said Lindsay as she pulled away, keeping her hands on Lee's shoulders as she reinitiated eye contact, "Let's do it, I have so much ammo on that bitch it's not even funny, and the best part is she doesn't even realize it!"

"Interesting," said Lee, "I like your style, care to elaborate?"

"Edyta thinks she's so slick," said Lindsay, "She is fully fluent in Polish, and constantly has conversations on the phone with her acquaintances in front of me and my Dad using it. Totally ignorant for anybody to do by the way, but I know for a fact she's using it to hide some secrets of her own."

Lindsay cracked a sly grin.

"When I was little, she got my dad to buy a television package that contained channels in her native polish language," said Lindsay, "What she doesn't know is that due to my distrust in her, I tuned into those channels every night from the time I was three to five, watching anything from soccer to cartoons, absorbing the language like a sponge. It's funny how the mind of a child can pick up language so easily. I'm fully fluent, and she doesn't even realize it!"

"Get the hell outta here," said Lee playfully.

"Jest dla mine więcej niz na oko, Annalee, (There's more to me than meets the eye Annalee)" said Lindsay in perfectly accented Polish voice, surprising her best friend.

"Damn," said Lee, "Go ahead Lindsay!"

"Just being amazing as always!," said Lindsay in a playful manner as she flicked her hair behind her head, "So here's a proposition for you. I did find out through eavesdropping that Edyta is going to be away from the house until tomorrow afternoon, and given the circumstance it looks like we have some planning to do...how's about we pick up where we left off, and finally have that sleepover we tried to set up all those years ago? We can do it at my house tonight. I'll introduce you to my dad, eat some snacks, figure out how we're gonna handle our situation..."

Lindsay pointed downward towards the floor.

"And most importantly, work on those poor feet of yours," said Lindsay.

At that moment Lee glanced down towards her bare feet, currently protruding out from underneath her pajama bottoms. Her toes were quite misshapen and calloused, due to years of training to stand on the tips as part of her ballet routine. Their grotesque appearance was further augmented by severally chipped red nail polish.

Lee punched Lindsay playfully as the blonde girl giggled.

"You bitch," said Lee, "My feet are too busy doing their job to be pretty, unlike yours which probably look as good as those hands of yours!"

"Nope," said Lindsay, "No open-toed shoes for me..."

"Seriously," said Lee, "I thought a dainty little debutante like you would get the whole package."

"Hello," said Lindsay in a long drawn out manner, "Marfan syndrome, Hammer Toes, duh! I'd show you, but I don't feel like taking off my boots! I'm not going to be able to wear heels for too much longer because I'm too tall, and I can't wear open toed shoes to show off my pedicure, what's a girl to do!?"

The two girls paused for a few moment, after which they shared a brief laugh. Conversations such as these were common back in their days of friendship, and it was quite welcome to both girls to be taking part in them once again.

"I'll tell you what you can do," said Lee, "You can count me in for that sleepover, but first I got some unfinished business to take care of. I gotta make a little stop at the Waterfall Room so I can official make up with my Little Man. I ain't planning on staying for too long, those fancy fancy balls aren't my scene. I gave the dress I was planning to wear away to charity anyway."

"Are you sure?," asked Lindsay, "I have a spare dress and shoes if you want to borrow them for a bit?"

"Nah," said Lee, "I'm going as myself. Not some little prissy princess wind up doll."

Lindsay smiled as she delivered a nod to her friend, after which she adopted a serious expression.

"Alright," said Lindsay as she made her way towards Lee's vanity, and proceeded to examine her hair products, "Let's see what you're working with."

"What's going on?" asked Lee.

"You're going to go meet your boyfriend right?" asked Lindsay, "I can't let my bestie go meet her man with all that frizz flying everywhere, let alone go out in public."

"Don't worry your head loose," said Lee, "This ain't the worst he's ever seen me. Check this out."

Lee reached into her vanity drawer and retrieved two photographs; one depicting her and her sisters standing in front of her trailer the summer they moved to Peach Creek, and the other being the photograph taken at picture day back in middle school, depicting Lee holding up a peace sign as she sat spread eagle on the stool with a grin. Common between both photographs was the depiction of Lee during the time she had ceased caring about her body entirely, cutting her hair short and allowing it to fly free and hang over her eyes in wild curls.

"O-M-G," said Lindsay, "That was YOU!?"

"Yep," said Lee, "The night before we moved, I went into the bathroom with a pair of scissors and cut away. It wasn't until earlier this year I let it grow back again. I just stopped caring about myself, cause there was no reason to at that time of my life."

"Well there's a reason to now," said Lindsay, "Go wet your hair in the shower, towel dry it, and come back in here when your done. I've been envious of those smooth curls all of my life, and I'm finally gonna stand here and watch you style them. After that, get dressed; we'll hop on my scooter and head to the dance."

"Just as persuasive as always aren't we?" said Lee as she began making her way towards the door.

"Just trying to help a girl in need," said Lindsay.

Lee proceeded to open the door, making her way out toward the bathroom with a smile.