Author's Note: Hey-ho! Well, I must have gotten my act together, because I feel pretty good about this chapter! Also, finals are over and done with, so I'll be free for the next couple weeks or so to spend the holidays with friends and family! Does this mean you readers will be seeing a new chapter within, like, a week or so? We'll see…
I'm Captain Dodge – thank you, and Happy Holidays!
(…)
When morning came to the Loud house the next day, it came early. All the Loud girls were awoken at 7 a.m. by the sound of their mother calling them to breakfast. They came out of their rooms, rubbing the sleepiness out of their eyes and looking somberly at Lincoln's room. It seemed that he was fortunate enough not to have had a nightmare last night – or, if he did have one, then at least he hadn't woken up screaming from it.
Or… maybe he was still asleep – still having a nightmare…
The girls didn't know. And without seeing him, they couldn't find out.
With heavy hearts, the girls left Lincoln alone, filing down the stairs to the dining room. Their parents were waiting for them with breakfast. The girls mumbled "Good morning…" to Mr. and Mrs. Loud, and sat down to eat.
As they started eating, Mr. Loud cleared his throat. "Now, girls, uh… you realize that it's early, right?" he said, trying to ease them into what he was about to tell them.
The girls were all too aware of that, and nodded groggily.
"And do any of you know why your mother and I woke you up so early?"
The girls shook their heads. They didn't know why they should care, either.
Mr. Loud sighed. "It's… Monday. A school day."
The news reached the Loud sisters' sleepy heads slowly, but when it did reach them, it hit them like a truck. Several girls nearly choked on their mouthfuls of food, and all of them looked to their father, horrified. Before they could say anything, however, Mr. Loud held up his hand, calling for silence.
"Girls, girls, hang on… I know what you're going to say, but just hear me out first. Now, your mother and I talked it over last night, and we decided that we're not going to force any of you to go to school if you don't want to – for now, at least." He paused, looking around the table. "So… does anyone want to go to school today?"
Lucy, Lola, and Lana all looked at each other anxiously. None of them were brave enough to face Lincoln's friends and classmates – and they wondered if they ever would be. They all immediately shook their heads.
The table was quiet for a minute after that. Then, Luna raised her hand. "Well… I guess I'll go. Someone has to…"
Seeing this, Luan and Lynn raised their hands.
"I'll go, too," Luan said. "I mean, if I give up, then what hope is there, huh?"
"Me too," said Lynn.
Lori realized that they were following Luna's lead, and said that she would go to school too – but the others didn't seem to care.
Everyone looked at Leni. She didn't know if she wanted to go, herself, but seeing the others willing to go made her feel obligated to do so as well, so she raised her hand and said that she would go.
"Alright, then," Mr. Loud said. The five older Loud sisters lowered their hands. "Honey, could you drive them to school?" he asked his wife.
Mrs. Loud nodded. "All right, dear."
"Okay." Mr. Loud got up. "Well then, girls, you know the drill. Be ready by 7:40. I'm going to see if Lisa wants to go, today." He went to the kitchen to fetch Lincoln and Lisa's breakfasts.
Mrs. Loud turned to her daughters. "Well, come on, girls – start eating, or you won't be ready in time."
The five eldest Loud daughters picked up their utensils and began eating as their father headed upstairs. Lori found her eggs to be a little bland, so she asked, "Hey, could someone pass the salt and pepper?"
Even though Luna was the closest to the salt and pepper shakers, she didn't move a muscle to pass them to Lori. Lori raised an eyebrow at her.
"Excuse me? Luna?"
Luna ignored her, continuing to eat her own breakfast. Finally, Mrs. Loud slammed her fork and knife down onto the table.
"Luna, pass the salt and pepper to Lori," she ordered.
Luna stopped chewing. She glared at Mrs. Loud, then shook her head and grabbed the shakers, slamming them down in front of Lori, without even looking in her direction.
"Luna!" Mrs. Loud said.
"What? I passed them, didn't I?!" Luna snapped.
Mrs. Loud stared at her daughter, taken aback. Luna had never sassed her before in her entire life – none of her children ever had. But before she could give Luna the scolding of a lifetime, Luna realized what she had just said. Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head.
"I… I'm sorry, Mom…" she said.
Mrs. Loud shut her mouth, clenching her jaw. Then, she picked up her fork and knife, and resumed eating, steaming.
Luna exhaled shakily. That had been a close one…
It was at this moment that Mr. Loud came back downstairs. Mrs. Loud looked up at him curtly.
"Lisa?" she asked.
Mr. Loud was put off-balance by the venom in her voice. "Uh… n-no," he answered.
Mrs. Loud looked back down at her meal. "Hmph." She stuffed another mouthful of eggs into her mouth.
The tension in the air remained all throughout the rest of breakfast. After they were finished eating, Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, and Lynn all took their dirty dishes to the kitchen, and grabbed coffee mugs from the cabinet. They didn't really need coffee after Mr. Loud's announcement and the incident with Luna, but it was part of their daily routine.
Leni, Luna, Luan, and Lynn all filled their mugs without fuss, but when Lori stepped up, Luan snatched the mug out of her hands.
"Allow me," she said.
Luan took the coffee pot, and poured the coffee in. As the coffee began to reach the lip of the mug, though, Luan didn't stop pouring. Finally, the mug overflowed, spilling coffee on the floor. Before Lori could shout in protest, Luan shoved the mug back into her hand, splashing coffee on her.
"HEY!" Lori shouted.
"Aw, what's the matter?" Luan asked. "Now you'll be 'full' of energy!" Normally, she would have laughed after a pun like that, but instead she held a glare and a scowl.
Lori gritted her teeth and squeezed her mug so hard, it almost cracked. As Luan picked her mug back up and started to leave, Lori pointed to the mess on the floor that she had made.
"Well, you're cleaning this up!" she said.
"No, I'm not!" Luan replied as she left the kitchen.
Sputtering, Lori turned to her other sisters. Luna and Lynn, unsympathetic, shrugged and sipped their coffee. Leni, feeling rather helpless, could only do the same. Growling furiously, Lori grabbed a paper towel, threw it on the floor, and used her foot to move it back and forth, wiping up the coffee.
After having their coffee, the girls began to get ready for school. They dressed, brushed their teeth, and applied makeup. They cut it close, but ultimately managed to be ready in time. As they gathered at the foot of the stairs, Mr. Loud took Mrs. Loud aside.
"Listen, honey," he said, "are you going to go to work, today?"
"I…" Mrs. Loud clenched the strap of her purse. "I… I don't know…"
"Rita, look… The money from the trial isn't going to last forever – especially now with the girls back in the house. Someone has to go out and win bread for the family… I mean, I'd do it, but I can't leave Lincoln alone with the girls, he couldn't take it…"
Mrs. Loud nodded. "I understand, honey, but… I don't know, how would Dr. Feinstein, or the patients, react to seeing me working in the office?"
"They're all mature adults, honey – they can handle it," Mr. Loud reassured her. "They'll know you… didn't… go as far as the girls did; they'll understand."
Mrs. Loud considered that for a few moments, then shook her head, sighing. "I hope you're right, Lynn…"
Mr. Loud hugged his wife. "It'll be okay, honey. Trust me."
Mrs. Loud hugged him back, kissing him on the cheek. "Okay." The two broke the hug, and Mrs. Loud turned to her daughters. "Alright, girls, let's go."
The girls all followed their mother out into the driveway. Lori came up to the side with the sweet spot and opened the door, but Lynn sprinted up and jumped up on it.
"Hey!" Lori said.
"Sorry, Lori," Lynn said mockingly, "but this seat's taken. You can have that one." She jerked her thumb backwards to the seat behind her.
"But… But that's the soggy seat!" Lori protested.
"Well, it's the only seat left for you!"
Lori looked around "Vanzilla", and saw that Luna was sitting in the passenger seat, while Leni and Luan sat in the same row as Lynn. Lori balled her hands into fists, trembling. She stared straight at Lynn.
"Move."
Lynn just smirked. "No."
Fed up, Lori stomped her foot and shouted, "Do you want to tell me just WHY you are all deciding to be jerks to me this morning?!"
Lynn frowned and shrugged. "Oh, I dunno – ask Lincoln."
"Wha –? I told you, that wasn't my fault!"
"Excuse me, but whose idea was it to have everyone talk to Lincoln in a row, on the same day?!"
As the two's arguing began to heat up, Mrs. Loud honked the car horn. "Alright, that is ENOUGH!" she shouted. All the girls looked at her. Mrs. Loud sighed. "Look, girls… Lori… Lori just made a mistake that day, all right?"
"Mom!" Lori complained.
"Excuse me, young lady, but I am talking!"
Lori piped down, but she was beginning to cry. Mrs. Loud continued, "She made a mistake that day, but it was an honest mistake, okay? She… she thought she was doing the right thing. So, don't hold it against her."
Lynn snickered, and that made Lori's blood boil. Mrs. Loud looked at Lori through the side-view mirror. "Lori, please… we're running late."
Lori looked back at Lynn, who jerked her thumb back towards the soggy seat again. She looked at her other sisters, but none of them were about to give up their seat for her. (Leni would have, but she had the sticky seat, which wasn't much better.) In the end, Lori had no choice but to climb into the back, by herself, sobbing.
Lucy heard the horn honking, and looked out the window to the driveway. She had watched the scene unfold, and as the van pulled out of the driveway, she left the window and walked up the stairs, thinking. She knew Lori couldn't have known Lincoln would snap like that – none of them could have known. With a mind as unstable as his, there was just no telling… But she still couldn't forgive her for making Lincoln cry. Lincoln was already in so much pain as it was, and her little plan just caused him more.
Lucy came to the head of the stairs, and gazed longingly at Lincoln's door. She wished he wasn't so afraid of her; she wished she could see him, comfort him. She imagined herself sitting down on the grass, holding Lincoln's head in her lap, running her fingers through his white hair. She imagined Lincoln looking up at her, tears in his eyes, but smiling; broken, but ready and waiting to be fixed by her –
Lucy froze. She felt a tightening in her chest. She recognized this feeling – and it filled her with dread.
"No…" she whispered. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no…"
She ran into the room that she shared with Lynn. She grabbed the bust of Edwin, her vampire crush, and cradled it.
"Oh, Edwin," Lucy said, "I know what's happening. I just don't know if I can accept it…"
(…)
The car ride to school was quiet. No-one would pay Lori any mind except Leni, and even she only gave one concerned glance, saying nothing. It was clear to Lori what was happening – the others didn't respect her authority anymore; they didn't respect her. She knew that she couldn't rely on seniority anymore; she had to do something to earn that respect back…
But she didn't know what to do.
"Vanzilla" pulled up to Royal Woods High School. Lori, Leni, and Luna grabbed their backpacks, exited the van, and stared up at the entrance to the school. They had had plenty of time to think about, and come to regret, their decision along the way, and now that they were there, they felt like they were standing at the gates of Hell.
"Girls?" Mrs. Loud called.
The three of them turned to look at their mother.
"Girls, listen, it's going to be okay. Okay? Don't listen to what anyone says about you. No matter what, just remember that it's not your fault. Okay?"
The girls looked hesitant.
"Okay?"
Their shoulders still slumped, the girls sighed and nodded. "Okay…"
Mrs. Loud got out of the van, walked over to her three eldest daughters, and hugged them all together. "I love you, girls."
The girls hugged her back, shaking. "L… Love you too, Mom."
Reluctantly, Mrs. Loud let go of her daughters, and returned to the van. She started it up, and after one last look at Lori, Leni, and Luna, drove off to drop off Luan and Lynn.
The girls watched their mother leave sadly. As the first bell rang, they turned to face the school again. People were picking up their belongings, getting ready to get to class. More than a few stopped in their tracks when they saw the three of them.
Luna gulped, turning to Lori and Leni. "Well… here we go…" she said.
Lori and Leni looked back at her. "Uh-huh…"
Each of them took a deep breath, and marched forward. As they came up to the entrance, they started getting closer to other students, who scurried away from them as though they had an infectious disease. The stares and the avoidance continued as the girls entered the school building and went their separate ways. The three of them had never had any classes together in their time at Royal Woods High, and this year was no different. In fact, their classes were so far apart, they never even saw each other until lunchtime.
As Leni and Luna parted ways with Lori, she felt her apprehension rising.
She was alone now.
Fortunately, her first period class wasn't far. She slipped into her Mathematics classroom, only to find more stares on her inside. Lori nervously headed towards her seat next to the window, and when she reached it, the students sitting behind, in front of, and next to her all scooted their desks further away from hers. Lori sat down, dejected, and the teacher launched into his lecture, desperately trying to pretend that it was business as usual.
The period passed without incident, though Lori could feel gazes on her all throughout class. But then the bell rang, and the students had their five-minute interval to get ready for their next class. Lori packed her notebook and pencil, zipping them up in her pack, but she lingered by the door. Lori always took the same route to her second period class – the route that brought her to her friends, who always gathered in the same spot between first and second period. Lori wanted to see them, but… did they want to see her?
"Lori?" her teacher called.
Lori jumped. "H-Huh?!"
"Are you alright?"
Lori looked back at him, and realized that everyone else had left. Feeling embarrassed, she shook her head. "N-N-No, I… I-I mean, yeah! I'm fine!" She grinned widely, and started backing towards the door. "W-Well, uh… I'm fine!"
Lori rushed out the door and slammed it behind her, leaning against it shakily. What was she saying? What was she doing?
She shook her head hard. She had to see her friends.
Lori went to the hallway leading to the Art room. Her friends were gathering at the other end. As soon as Lori stepped into view, the entire hallway went quiet. Once again, Lori felt everyone's eyes on her. It was different, now – everyone was more awake, more alert. Lori could feel the silent judgement emanating from everyone's eyes. She clutched her books close to her chest, took a deep breath, and started walking forwards.
And as she passed the first few people… the whispering started.
Lori knew exactly what everyone was whispering about. She picked up the pace, but tried to stay at a walking speed and look composed. Her friends saw her coming, but pretended not to.
Lori came up to them. "Uh… hey, guys."
Nobody responded. Whitney closed her locker, then started opening it again. Becky scrolled back and forth through her phone. The others continued awkwardly talking to each other, or otherwise tried to act like she didn't exist.
Lori sighed, rubbing her arm nervously. It was unavoidable, so she decided to just come out and talk about it. "Listen… about what happened –"
Whitney opened her locker, then slammed it shut again. "Hey, does anyone else feel like going to class early today?" she asked.
The others readily agreed. The group split up without letting Lori say a word, each going to their own class. Becky shared a second period class with Whitney, so Whitney beckoned to her.
"Let's go, Becky," she said.
Becky hesitated for a moment, then complied. Lori reached out to her.
"Becky, wait…!"
Becky stopped. Whitney turned around to face her, arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently. Sighing, Becky turned to face Lori.
"Becky…" Lori said, "this… What happened, it's…" She recalled what her mother had told her and her sisters when she had dropped them off. "…It's not my fault. You… You know that, right?"
Becky started shaking, her teeth chattering. "I… I-I-I…" she stammered.
Lori looked at her pleadingly. "Becky, please, you have to believe me…"
"I…" Becky looked back at Whitney, who narrowed her eyes at her.
"Come on, Becky…" Whitney said in a low voice, "let's go."
Becky turned back to Lori again, tears starting to form in her eyes. She shook her head.
"I… I just don't know what to believe, anymore…"
She turned her back to Lori, and started walking with Whitney.
"Becky, wait!" Lori called, but it was too late. They were already gone. Lori felt weak at the knees, and kneeled down.
"Wait…"
(…)
Lori barely made it to second period. As usual, Monday was free-drawing day in Art class – according to Mrs. Adams, the teacher, it helped "get the creative juices flowing" for the rest of the week. Lori sat alone at her table, idly playing with her pencil, staring at the blank piece of paper in front of her for the majority of the class period.
She heard Mrs. Adams snap at two students, who apparently had been gossiping in class – about what, Lori could guess. She heard footsteps coming closer, and a shadow covered her. Looking up, Lori saw that it was Mrs. Adams. She was a large, middle-aged African American woman who claimed that she was fat because she was full of spirit – and her students certainly agreed.
"Lori?" Mrs. Adams said gently. "You okay, sweetie-pie?"
Lori dropped her pencil, staring at the paper again. "Mm…"
Mrs. Adams took her hand, surprising Lori. She picked up the pencil, and placed it in Lori's hand. She tapped the piece of paper. "Draw."
Lori shrugged. "Draw… what?"
"Whatever you feel. Come on, Lori, it'll be better for you to just express yourself, instead of keeping it all just bottled inside."
Lori sighed. She knew that Mrs. Adams was right, but she hadn't the faintest idea what she really was feeling at that moment. Mrs. Adams looked at her expectantly. Not wanting to disappoint her, Lori took the pencil, and drew a circle. She looked at Mrs. Adams.
"Keep going," she encouraged.
Lori turned back to the paper, and looked at the circle. It was almost perfect. Without really thinking, she added some ears to it. She drew two eyes, a nose, and a little smile. She drew some hair, with three tufts sticking up, and added two buck teeth to the smile. She put three dots on each cheek for freckles.
Mrs. Adams chuckled. "Cute little face," she said.
Lori blinked. "Huh…?"
She took a more careful look at the face that she had just drawn, and noticed something. Those buck teeth she had drawn… They weren't two teeth. They were one tooth, with a chip in the middle.
It wasn't just any face Lori had drawn.
Tearing up, Lori took the piece of paper, and crumpled it. As she threw it away, Mrs. Adams asked, "What's wrong?"
Lori held her head in her hands. "What's the point…?!"
Just then, the bell rang. Lori sniffled, wiped the tears out of her eyes, and packed up. As the students left the classroom, Mrs. Adams called, "Now, don't forget – bring your charcoal pencils tomorrow!" As Lori was about to leave, she added, "And, Lori, a word…?"
Lori stopped. Gritting her teeth, she turned to face her teacher.
"Listen," Mrs. Adams said, "I know I'm not a counselor, but if you want to just… talk… then I can write you a late pass, and we can talk about whatever you want. Okay, Lori?"
Lori stood there, trembling. That would be nice, she thought – to just talk. But despite how good the offer was, she resisted it. Perhaps she wanted to try and retain some modicum of control, but whatever the reason, Lori found herself shaking her head.
"N… No, Mrs. Adams, really… I'm okay. It's… it's okay." Lori couldn't look her teacher in the eyes as she said those words.
"Are you sure…?"
"Y-Yes, I'm sure."
Mrs. Adams held her gaze on Lori for a few moments longer, then shook her head. If she didn't want help, then she didn't want it. "Okay, then."
As Lori turned to leave, Mrs. Adams added, "Just remember, Lori – you don't have to fight every battle by yourself."
Lori stood in place for a few seconds, still facing away, then walked away.
(…)
Lori went straight to third period from her second class, not stopping for anything. She must have been walking faster than she intended, because she was among the first to get to her History class. The teacher, Mr. Marshall, cleared his throat when he saw Lori enter.
"Ah… ahem… Good morning, Lori."
Lori didn't answer. She just found her seat, and opened her notebook, trying to focus on class.
One by one, the students came in, and class began. The topic of the week was ancient Rome, and as it was the beginning of the week, the topic was naturally on Rome's beginnings. Lori began to studiously take notes, trying to keep up with the teacher, but as the lecture went on, she thought about what she already knew about Rome's founding – and froze.
"But the final straw for Rome and her people came when Sextus, the son of King Tarquinius Superbus… raped a Roman noblewoman named Lucretia, causing her to commit suicide."
The pause was almost imperceptible, but everyone still caught it. All eyes turned to Lori. Lori rested her head on her desk, trying to cover her face with her arms. How could she have been so stupid…? First she had forgotten about Romulus betraying his only brother, and now this?!
If she had known about the class's topic… she never would have come to school that day.
Mr. Marshall cleared his throat again. "Ahem… So, Lucretia committed suicide, and the Roman nobles, led by Lucius Junius Brutus, rose up in rebellion, and drove the Tarquinii out of Rome…"
The lecture continued, but Lori had stopped taking notes. She just stared forward, letting the words bounce off of her ears.
She was snapped out of her stupor by the boy next to her discreetly tapping her on the shoulder. He reached a note out from underneath his desk, and handed it to her. The note read "For Lori". Trembling, Lori unfolded the note – and let out an involuntary gasp as she read the two words written on it:
WHORI LOUD
She looked at the boy who had passed it to her, and he gave a little shrug and a jerk of his head backwards, indicating that he had received it from someone else.
"Excuse me, Lori?" she heard Mr. Marshall say.
Lori jumped. "Ah!"
Mr. Marshall walked up to her. "Is that a note?"
Lori looked down at the note. "I… I…"
"Let me see it."
Lori looked up at her teacher, and felt his stern gaze. With a trembling hand, she handed the note to him. Mr. Marshall scanned the note once, and his face lit up with shock.
"Wha –" Outraged, he turned to the rest of the class, brandishing the note. "Who wrote this?!" he demanded.
No-one moved. Someone stifled a giggle.
"Whoever wrote this, come up and say so NOW, or you'll ALL be punished!" Mr. Marshall shouted.
Some students looked around the room, but no-one raised their hand or stood up.
Mr. Marshall composed himself. "So…" he said in an even voice, "no-one wants to own up to it, hm? Fine. Then I guess I'll just have to stick everyone with detention."
Several students gasped and exclaimed in protest, looking around to try and sleuth out the author of the note. Lori shook all over, tears starting to flow.
Mr. Marshall saw this. "Oh, not you, Lori. You won't have detention – wha? Lori?"
Lori pushed herself out of her seat and past Mr. Marshall. As she ran out of the room, he called out, "Lori!"
Lori couldn't control it anymore – she started sobbing openly as she ran through the halls. She ran past a hall monitor, who recognized her even as he shouted for her to both not run and show her hall pass. Lori ran straight to the bathroom, shutting herself in a stall and crying her eyes out.
Some of her friends were in that class.
Even after the bell rang again, Lori remained in the stall. The tears had run out now, and she was left gasping and hiccuping. She waited anxiously for someone to come in.
She needed to know what people were really saying about her.
Her wish was quickly granted. Lori heard the door open, and footsteps reverberated across the tiled floor. It was three girls.
The girls stopped in front of the mirror, probably applying makeup. "Hey, so, like, did you hear that Lori Loud and her sisters are back?" one of the girls said.
"Um, duh!" another girl said. Lori recognized the voice as Carol Pingrey's. "That's what everyone's talking about. Thank you, Captain Obvious!"
"Oh! U-Um, s-sorry, Carol. You're right. Totally. How silly of me." It was obvious that this girl was a sniveling toady.
"Well, but it is crazy, though. Can you believe she had the nerve to show her face in this school again? After what she did?"
"Yeah, I know, right? Totally! She's so, like, stuck-up, or whatever!" the first girl said.
"Hmph. Little tramp thinks she can just waltz back in here and pretend nothing ever happened? Go back to being Little-Miss-Pretty-And-Popular? Not this time!"
"Hahahaha! Totally! Although, um… I wonder what made her do something like that, though…?" the first girl wondered, having some individual thought for once.
"I heard it was a pheromone in that fountain water," the third girl said. She, at least, had some sense.
"Tch!" Carol scoffed. "I bet that was just a lie, cooked up by their lawyer. That was a good lawyer that they had. First, he has dumb little Leni Loud give a dumb little sob story to get the jury all emotional. Then he splashes a little fizzy water on himself, pretends it's a chemical, Leni pretends to go gaga over him, and the jury buys it – hook, line, and sinker. Stupid Louds…" She finished applying her makeup. "Ah… You know what I think? I think they're all just sluts, plain and simple."
"Come on, Carol… That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" the third girl said.
"Think about it – it went back further than all of this," Carol said. "Listen – you know all about Hugh, that cute British guy from the community college? About how all the Loud girls were crushing on him – including little miss Lori? Now, I don't blame the others for crushing on a hot guy, but Lori didn't even have the decency to break it off with Bobby Santiago before going after him! And then, she has the gall to act like she still owns him – I mean, what? Sounds to me like she just wants all the cute boys for herself…"
"Ahahaha! Totally!" the first girl said.
"Yeah. So, anyways, now this. Lori's little brother, Lincoln. Cute, in that 'little brother' kind of way. White hair's pretty cool, too. The kind of forbidden fruit a girl like her just can't resist taking a bite out of. God, she's insatiable. And not just her – all of her sisters, too, even the little ones!" Carol uttered a low giggle. "Little girls doing big girl things… and in front of a crowd, in broad daylight? If that's not slutty, I just don't know what is…"
The third girl sighed. "Whatever."
"And now she thinks she can just come back and act all high-and-mighty again? I don't think so. We need something to cut her down to size…"
The first girl gasped. "Wait! Wait! O! M! G! I TOTALLY forgot!"
"Huh? What? What is it?" Carol asked.
"Okay, okay, so, like, you know my uncle, over in Huntington Oaks? Okay, he, totally, like, said, this weekend, said, like, he saw Lori Loud and her sisters – not all of her sisters, just, like, the four older ones –"
"Get to the point, already!"
Lori wanted to rush out – to stop that girl from saying what she thought she was about to say. But she knew that wouldn't stop anything. At best, it would only delay the inevitable. At worst, it would only make her look like an eavesdropper.
And besides… her legs felt like jelly.
"My uncle said that he saw Lori Loud and her sisters going into the abortion clinic!"
Carol gasped and squealed. "What?! Oh my God, WHAT?! Oh, oh my, that, that is too…" She broke down laughing for a good minute. "Ah… Ahahahaha… Aha… Oh… Oh… Oh my God, that is TOO PERFECT!"
"Wait – your uncle says a lot of things, though…" the third girl said. "Like, that the Rapture was going to come six years ago?"
Carol snapped her fingers. "Dang it, she's right. Sorry, Stacy, but your uncle being a religious nut does kinda hurt his credibility…"
"No, no, it totally helps!" the first girl, Stacy, said. "See, he goes to the abortion clinic a lot – to, like, try to convince people not to go through with abortions? Y'know, 'protecting the sanctity of life,' and all that? He swears by the Holy Trinity – so you, like, know he's being serious – that it was totally them!"
"Oh, my God, this is perfect! TOO perfect! Nice one, Stace!"
"Oh my gosh, thank you, Carol! Thank you so much! Totally!"
"Girls, come on! We have GOT to tell anyone with two working ears about this!"
"But will they believe you, though?" the third girl wondered.
"Mmh… You're right, Steph," Carol said. "If they hear it from me, they'll think I'm just trying to start a nasty rumor…"
"Right. So, maybe we shouldn't start one in the first place…" the third girl, Stephanie, said.
But Carol Pingrey chuckled slyly. "Oh, Stephanie, you're always the most reasonable; the most reliable; the most trustworthy."
"Uh… thanks…?" Stephanie said.
"That's why you're spilling the secret."
"Wh-What?! Me?!"
Stacy laughed. "Oh my gosh, Carol, genius! Totally! Everyone will believe Stephanie!"
"H-Hey, no! I-I can't do something like that!" Stephanie protested.
"You can, and you will," Carol said. "That is… unless you want everyone to know how you really feel about Teresa Gutierrez…"
"W… What…?"
"Hey, it's okay, Steph! We're your friends, we understand! It's a progressive era – it's okay to be like that! But you know how some people just can't accept that… people from another century… an older generation…"
There was a long pause. Then, Lori heard Stephanie sigh. "You guys are the worst…"
"Oh, you know you love us," Carol said smugly. "All right, come on, girls! Let's let everybody know just how much of a whore Lori Loud really is…"
The three girls left the bathroom as the bell for fourth period rang. Lori came out of her stall after a minute, as soon as she was sure the coast was clear, and looked herself in the mirror. Her mascara had run – was still running. She thought she was out of tears, but no – here were more. That was it. It was over. Soon, everyone would know about her and her sisters aborting their brother's babies, and then…
And then it would all be over.
Lori stumbled out of the bathroom, almost in a daze. She wasn't going to fourth period. Instead, she headed somewhere quiet. Somewhere isolated.
Somewhere like the courtyard.
Lori came out into the open air. The sun was shining through the clouds, and the birds chirped gaily. Lori paid them no mind. She just sat down on a bench, in the empty courtyard, feeling emotionally drained.
And the day wasn't even halfway over, yet.
She pulled out her phone, like she always did when she couldn't think of anything to do. She thought about what Mrs. Adams had said to her.
"You don't HAVE to fight every battle by yourself…"
That was true, but who was left help her fight this battle? Her sisters had turned against her thanks to her plan gone awry yesterday; her friends had all abandoned her, too. Even her parents didn't seem to fully support her, given that lecture her mother had given the lot of them before leaving the driveway.
She scrolled through the texts she had sent Bobby… and got one last idea.
She dialed Bobby's number, and listened to the dial tone.
To her surprise, he picked up almost immediately.
Lori quickly recognized the dial tone cutting off. "Bobby?!"
There was no answer on the other end.
"H… Hello…?"
There was still no answer. Lori could hear faint breathing, though.
"Bobby, I know you're there. Please…"
There was still no answer initially, but Bobby finally responded. "…Hello, Lori."
"Bobby, I… I-I-I… I-It's been so long…" Lori immediately felt stupid for saying that.
"Uh… yeah… Y-You know, I was just about to call you, actually…"
That surprised Lori. "Y-You were?"
"Yeah. Y-You see, my mom said that I needed to provide closure…"
"'Closure'?" Lori realized just what he meant. "Wait… No… No, no, no, no, no, Bobby… Bobby, please, no…"
"I'm sorry, Lori, but I… I… I just can't, okay? I… I just can't…"
"Bobby, Bobby, please, not you, too! First my sisters, then my friends, even my parents, and now you? Please, Bobby… Please… You're all I have left…"
"Lori, I'm sorry, all right? But, but after everything that's happened –"
"It's not my fault! Please, Bobby! It's not my fault!" Lori sobbed.
Bobby was quiet for a moment before responding. "Look, Lori, I know you. Okay? I could accept that you didn't want to be in a long-distance relationship, but after hearing about what happened at the park, I… I know that you would never be capable of doing something like that yourself."
Those words gave Lori a ray of hope, before Bobby's next words snatched it away.
"But… I just can't forgive what you did to Lincoln."
Lori gasped. "I-I…"
"I saw him, Lori. I saw how he was after… that. Lincoln is my bro, Lori. And you… You broke him, Lori. You… broke him."
Now that was one thing that Lori couldn't refute. "But…" She turned to her only remaining defense. "It's… It's not my fault…"
"That doesn't change what you did, Lori. I'm sorry."
Lori knew that Bobby was just about to hang up. Desperately, she lashed out at him. "H-How can you do this to me, Bobby?! How can you say that to me, after… after what Ronnie Anne did?!"
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. Finally, Bobby's voice came back through. "W-What…? What did Ronnie Anne do?"
Lori started. "You… You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Ah…" Lori wondered if Bobby could handle the truth. "Uh… nothing. Never mind."
But Bobby wasn't so easily dissuaded. "Lori…" he said threateningly, "…tell me."
Lori gulped. There was no way out of this now – she had just crossed the Rubicon. "O… Okay… Um… D-Do you remember… two weeks ago…?"
"Wha –? Wait, two weeks ago?!" Bobby said, now even more invested. "Lori! You know where she went?!"
"Huh…?" Lori said, confused. "Uh, Bobby? Why don't… Why don't you start by telling me what you know about Ronnie Anne's side of the story – you know, to help me understand?"
Bobby cleared his throat. "Well, uh, she… she came with me to visit Lincoln, but your dad wouldn't let her see him. He said something about it being too dangerous for her to be around him so soon… I didn't understand what he meant by that, but Ronnie Anne still wasn't happy about it. We headed back home, and three weeks ago, she… well, she just vanished. Disappeared. We didn't know what happened, but we called the police, searched all over the city, but we just didn't find her… Then one week later, she turns up back home – wouldn't tell us where she had gone, or why, or anything. She just shut herself in her room, and hasn't talked to anyone since. She broods in there a lot. We're all really worried about her…"
Lori processed all of this information. "I… I see…"
"Please, Lori, if you know what happened to her, tell me."
Lori took a deep breath. "Bobby…" She sighed. This was not going to be pleasant. "She… she came to our house, here in Royal Woods. That pheromone that they said made us do what we did? It's real. And… And she got affected by it, and she… ah... She… She did the same thing to Lincoln that we did…"
There was complete and utter silence on the other end. Lori couldn't do anything except pant emotionally and await his response. After a while, the tension became unbearable.
"B… Bobby?" Lori said tentatively.
Bobby's voice was weak, barely audible. "I… I-I… have to go…"
"Bobby, wait –"
Too late; Bobby hung up. Lori heard the tone, and her arm felt weak, and the phone felt heavy. She carelessly let it slip out of her grasp and drop to the ground. It was over; she had no-one left to lean on. No-one left to help her. Not her sisters, not her friends, not her parents, not Bobby…
No-one.
Lori felt so empty. She had failed; of course she had, that seemed to be all that she was capable of doing these days. She had failed to convince Lincoln to come out of his room; she had failed to convince anyone that she was blameless for this catastrophe; and she had failed to convince Bobby to come back to her.
She was useless.
Worthless.
Lori needed some place even more alone than the courtyard to suit her mood. Not far away, there was a dirty alleyway behind the auditorium. That seemed to be as good a place as any. She got up and walked towards it…
And saw a blonde girl in a green dress sitting there, crying.
Lori walked up to her sister, sitting on the filthy ground. "…Leni…?" she said emotionlessly.
Leni sniffled, looking up at her older sister. "L-Lori?"
"What… are you doing…?"
Leni sniffled again. "My… My friends told me… They told me that they couldn't be seen with me anymore…!" She started crying again.
Lori chuckled mirthlessly. "At least they told you so…" she whispered under her breath.
Leni wiped her eyes. "…I thought they were my friends…"
Lori shook her head. "We don't have friends, Leni. Not anymore…"
The lunch bell rang. Students began to pile out of their classrooms, eager for some lunch.
"It's lunchtime…" Leni said.
Lori nodded slightly. "Yeah…"
Leni got up, brushed herself off, and took her listless sister by the arm. "Come on, Lori… we've got to find Luna. She'll know what to do…"
(…)
Luna sat alone at her table, quietly eating her lunch. The cafeteria was bustling, as usual, but today, she was now acutely aware of the noises around her. People at the tables around her were muttering, and every time someone passed her by, she heard something like "whore", or "bitch", or "rapist"…
Luna ate her lunch, and suffered in silence.
A blonde punk girl with brightly colored clothing and a colored streak in her hair sat down at Luna's table.
"Um… hey, Luna," the girl said.
Luna looked up. "Sam…?"
"You looked like you needed some company."
Luna looked around, finding Sam's rocker friends. "Shouldn't you be sitting with your friends…?" she asked.
Sam shook her head. "I'd rather sit with you."
Luna sighed. "Sam… no. Please… just… leave me alone."
"I'm not going to do that, Luna. Don't try to act tough. You need me."
"No, Sam, you don't understand…" Luna looked around the cafeteria. People were starting to take notice of Sam's presence. "I… I can't let you get dragged into… this…"
Sam looked around as well, then got a stubborn look on her face. "I don't care what they say about me."
"I do. Sam, this is my trouble, and none of yours. Please… just spare yourself…"
"Luna, I want to help…"
"You can't."
"Don't say that!"
"Sam –"
"Luna, like it or not, I'm here for you. And I'm not leaving."
Luna knew that she was completely serious. That left only one option – and she would soon hate herself for it.
Luna started to cry as she grasped her milk carton. "Sam," she said, "please don't make me do this…"
Sam folded her arms, holding firm.
Luna turned her gaze downwards, away from Sam, as she got up out of her seat. "Can't you take a hint…?" she growled. "Get lost."
"Luna," Sam said, "for the last time, I am not – AH!"
To her surprise, Luna splashed Sam with the contents of her milk carton.
"I SAID GET OUT OF HERE, YOU DYKE!" Luna screamed.
Sam gaped at Luna, completely and utterly shocked. She got up out of her seat, dripping milk. She gasped in and out rapidly, fighting back tears…
…then turned and ran out of the cafeteria, heartbroken.
The entire cafeteria had gone quiet when they heard Luna shout. Everyone stared at Luna, dumbfounded.
Then, the anger started to swell.
"Luna, what the hell?"
"She was just trying to help!"
"Luna, you suck…"
"Bitch!"
"Kill yourself!"
All of the students exploded at Luna – just as she had planned. She picked up her backpack, and turned around, heading towards the other exit.
The students hurled foodstuffs and obscenities at her the entire way.
It was at this moment that Leni and Lori arrived at the scene. Sam ran past them, sobbing, and as Leni wondered what that was all about, she saw Luna at the far end of the cafeteria, leaving.
"Luna, wait!" Leni called.
The other students turned to the two of them. "Oh, it's them…!" someone said.
The students redirected their anger onto Leni and Lori, yelling abusive, profane language and making obscene gestures at them. Leni took it all, dragging Lori through the sea of hatred…
They managed to come out the other end, seeing Luna sitting on a bench in the hallway picking food out of her hair and off of her clothes.
"Luna!"
Luna didn't even acknowledge their presence.
Leni brought Lori over and sat her down, while then sat between her and Luna.
"Luna," Leni said, "what happened back there?"
Luna told her.
"What?! Luna, how could you do that?!"
Luna shook her head sadly. "I can't let Sam become a part of this, Leni. I can't… let her become like us…"
"That was her choice, Luna. You had no right to make it for her!"
Luna shrugged, slumping even further. "Well… it's been made, now…"
Leni slammed her fists into her lap. "Guys, this is too much! We can't keep driving away everyone who wants to help us!"
"We already have driven everyone away, Leni!" Luna snapped.
"Th… Then…" Leni took Lori's and Luna's hands into her own. "Then we've gotta stick together! Stop fighting!"
Luna turned her head away. "Hmph."
"You guys…" Leni looked pleadingly at the sisters on each side of her. "Everyone hates us now. All we have left is each other…"
Lori stopped staring into space, and looked at Leni's hand intertwined with her own. So Leni was on her side, it seemed.
Lori resumed staring at nothing. It wasn't enough.
It just… wasn't enough…