A loud knocking on the door distracts Laurie from the book she was reading, so she tosses the novel carelessly on her bed and heads down the stairs to answer the door. But by the time she reaches it, her mother has already beaten her to it.
"Andrea! What are you doing here?" Her mother exclaims when she realizes who's behind the door. It's none other than her younger sister, who Laurie is not the biggest fan of.
"I was over in Clark's County for a conference, so I decided to come down to Haddonfield and pay a visit to my favorite small-town residents," Andrea replies, hugging her sister lightly before heading over to Laurie, "Oh, Laurie, you've grown so much. Come give your favorite aunt a hug!"
For the sake of being polite, Laurie gives her aunt a quick hug before attempting to get back upstairs.
"Where are you off to, missy? I just got here!" the older woman exclaims, before reaching out to grab Laurie's hand, "how about you show me your bedroom? I'd like to see what kind of things you're into these days."
Her mouth starts to push a big fat "no" out, but her mother gives her that look. The look that says "do it or else." So Laurie smiles a tight smile and nods a yes at her aunt.
Once they reach her bedroom, Laurie starts pointing out various things, such as her movie collection and her six-grade science fair award. But her aunt cuts her off mid sentence, "this is such a cute cheerleading jacket! Are you in cheerleading, Laurie?" she asks, picking up an orange & purple jacket off the back off the chair.
"Oh, no, that's Annie's." Laurie replies, going over to touch the jacket lightly, brushing non-existent hair off of the sleeve.
"Oh, I see. Well, I absolutely must know where you got this adorable blouse!" Andrea exclaims, moving onto the blouse that lies crumpled on the floor by Laurie's bed.
"That's Annie's too. She left it here…uh, last night." Laurie says, blushing softly at the memory of how violently she ripped it off her girlfriend last night.
"Hm. I thought it looked a little too small for you." Her aunt mutters, a frown starting to form on her face as she heads over to Laurie's bedside table. She picks up a note that was stuck on the snooze button of her alarm clock and starts to read it, her frown intensifying.
Laur,
Dad called and said he wanted me home early. I didn't want to wake you up, so this note will have to work as a goodbye. I'll call you later; get your beauty sleep, even though you don't need it, hotstuff.
I love you so much,
Annie.
When Laurie sees what her Aunt is looking at, she feels panic swell in her chest. The note paints a very pretty picture of a possible relationship between Annie and her.
"Let's go downstairs now; I think mom'll need help with supper." Laurie says, attempting to distract her aunt from the note in her hand.
Andrea simply nods, setting the note back down where she found it and turning around to follow Laurie out of the bedroom.
They're just about to reach the stairs when Laurie feels a pull on her wrist. She turns around to face her aunt, who does not look the least bit pleased.
"Laurie, I know that you and that Annie girl have something…experimental going on, and I want you to put a stop to it immediately. We don't do that in this family. Don't you dare disgrace your parents by being a…lesbian." Andrea says venomously, practically spitting the word "lesbian" into the young girl's face, causing her to visibly flinch.
The older woman flicks her hair over her shoulder before pushing past Laurie to head downstairs. Laurie stands frozen at the top of the stairs for quite a while before realizing that she isn't some little girl that that bitch can push around. She loves Annie, and she wants to shout it from the rooftops. Not sit here and be dictated about it.
So the blonde girl runs down the stairs so quickly she misses the last step, causing her to stumble and almost fall. But she catches herself and continues on her journey to the location of her aunt.
"Aunt Andrea!" she half-shouts when she enters the kitchen, causing everyone to turn and look at her, "I don't care what you think, okay? I don't care that I disgust you. Or that I'm a disgrace. I love Annie, and you will just have to deal with it!"
Everyone in the room stands in shock, before Mrs. Strode speaks, "Laurie, what are you talking about?"
"Your little girl is a dyke, Cynthia. How you didn't figure out from her room, I don't understand. That little girlfriend of hers has clothes all over the place, and there's a sickening love note on her dresser. It's absolutely disgusting." Andrea says, answering the question intended for her niece.
"Excuse me? Mason and I will accept our daughter no matter what, Andrea. If you have a problem with that, please leave our house now."Cynthia Strode says, taking a step toward her daughter and wrapping her arms protectively around her.
"Obviously you are all different people than I originally thought. I'll be taking your advice and leaving." Andrea replies as she grabs her bag exits the house, leaving a shocked Mason & Cynthia Strode, and a very upset Laurie in her wake.