Author's Note: Last night's episode was intriguing. Some details from my story will differ in ways from the show. Like the annoying buzzing sound the fence makes and the lights on it. Huge plot hole my story points out- Why can't TV abbies climb trees? There were a lot of birch trees very close to the fence in that first shot of the last scene (no spoilers). What the hell? Alright I'm done ranting. Again, I had time for little editing. Sorry. Thank you for reading and/or reviewing. Hope you enjoy!
Lisa's days there had always been a repetitive blur. Dress appropriately for every occasion. Arrive to school on time. Give the right answer. Look happy. Keep the secret. Do it all again. The routine had been manageable until the last months of her senior year.
The entire first class had been corralled into the auditorium on a day in February she remembered Valentines day used to be celebrated on. Mrs. Fisher had revisited the biology lecture they'd been given years prior with a new twist added at the end. They were to choose their procreation partners by graduation day and no later. The ceremony would double as a mass wedding. By prom night they were expected to begin creating the second generation. They were to tell their parents nothing. It would eventually be accepted, as most unusual things were, as the normal way weddings were conducted in Wayward Pines.
The manipulative woman might as well have fired a starting gun along with her final words. Pre-established couples had calmly found each other afterwards. Happy to receive the joyous news that they would soon be allowed to wed and start families. Single males however, scrambled frantically to find their other half. She'd found it funny that these students seemed to fall into two categories.
Over-entitled specimens who'd enjoyed freely playing the field until that point. Their chiseled features cracking into confident grins as they aggressively approached their choices. And the demure intellectual types who approached their respective counterparts shyly. Pushing their glasses up the bridge of their noses while their cheeks erupted in mortified fiery patches.
She'd received both types of suitors. Stragglers from the first group thanks to her being relatively physically attractive. Braver inquirers from the second group thanks to her tendency to be a loner who didn't let anyone closer than a casual acquaintances for appearances sake. And many in between.
That day, she'd taken pity on one who'd broken into an asthma attack while trying to talk to her. Threading her arm through his to lead him away toward a restroom and appease the blonde woman watching the students. The next morning when others approached and questioned the lad, word got out among the remaining men that a less homely girl was unpaired. She hadn't had a tolerable school day in the months since.
Every morning now it started with her next door neighbor walking her to school. She'd allow him to engage her in meaningless conversation until they reached the end of their street. Where they'd be joined by another who insisted on carrying her backpack. And then another who'd argue with the second over whom should be allowed to do it.
This carried on until she arrived at Wayward Pines academy with a gaggle of young-adult men flocking behind her. Either arguing with one another or trying to break her steely silence with their cheerful chatter. She hadn't carried her own books from class to class in weeks. The lunch table she chose each day threatened to spill over with the amount of trays that tried to squeeze onto the limited space. Her name and unwelcome complements were called out in every hallway if the senders weren't able to shadow her to her next classroom.
By early April she'd taken measures to thin the herd. Going as far as introducing some of the quieter respectful ones to lonely ladies who'd cried into their pillows at night over not being approached. They took the hint. The only words she'd ever spoken to them being ones that introduced them to other women. Others had not been so easily deterred. Late April brought a fist fight between two of her more muscled followers. Their agitation had spilled over into the first physical altercation in the school's history. After that incident she'd felt the counselor's eyes on her more heavily each day.
May entailed the stress of final exams and the pressure of the approaching romantic deadline, not only for her. Her burden had dwindled to eight including her friendly neighbor. A few of the dimmer physically oriented ones had finally figured out that there were six females left including herself. A revelation that upped their intensity when it dawned on them that their remaining prospects were either her, one of 'the leftovers', or no one.
The increasing panic made one overstep his boundaries the day after she'd been forced to give up her rooftop haven. She'd begun pointedly sitting with the girls the students had given the cruel nickname to. Lisa was pleased to see conversations eventually being started around her. Once the young women had stopped glaring at her. Expressions of gratitude flashed her way instead after they caught onto what she was trying to do. She hadn't returned the early scathing looks because she understood. She had many she didn't want while they had none.
She wordlessly ate and refused to respond to any that tried. Sipping her water she watched from the corner of her eye as a soccer player brushed back the red hair of a chess club member. His charming smile melted her like ice cream while he cleaned her glasses and complemented the freckles adorning her nose. The girl's breathless giggles made her head turn for a better look. A rare un-choreographed smile spread across her face while she watched him propose dramatically. Secretly he'd been one of the few she'd favored in her mind. His sense of humor was endearing and he'd been a patient gentlemen where others hadn't.
The girl mouthed the words "thank you" at her during the couple's celebratory hug. Lisa flashed her a quick thumb up to tell her she was welcome and began clapping. A curious thought crossed her mind about whether or not the abby she'd met could interpret non-verbal persuasions better than her human shadows. Her applause became purposeful as she looked around at the remaining males. Attempting to make her approval of one leaving their ranks as clear as a bell without saying so. Unfortunately they deciphered it as her desire for them to join in. The entire dining hall ended up following suit. The timid girl's cheeks matched her hair as her charismatic new fiancé held their entwined hands high in victory.
A domino effect happened before her eyes as another and then another asked and the girls consented. Two more pairs of hands were thrust into the air and more applause came from the general population. A cult-like chant rose in favor of the first generation. Each pair of students, row upon row, holding their chosen one's hand up proudly and rocking it along with the words. She did not join in and suddenly it felt like all their eyes were on her. Many usually were as of late. The pitch rose higher into a roar that hurt her ears and made her feel like the entire cafeteria was chanting at her alone. Chanting for her to choose.
Unwelcome physical contact made her jump. Her hand was captured and hoisted into the air. A cheer interrupted the chant and spread down the lines of tables. Her mouth dropped open and her brows furrowed with outrage as she turned to look at the offender. He was the most brutish of the lot. A tyrant that'd pushed her neighborly friend out of the way for a seat directly next to her. She shook her head and tried to pull her hand away. The angry expression on her face deepened as his fingers tightened around hers. His thick brow rose in challenge for her to say otherwise.
"No!" She bellowed at him through the noise. It was hardly the first time she'd given him that answer.
She desperately tried to get free with downward tugging. When his football-hardened muscles refused she stood up, leaning over quickly. Her blunt teeth sunk into the back of his hand until her fingers felt freedom. She left her belongings where they sat and fled the cafeteria. Too upset to care as the din died down into furtive whispers. She could hear her remaining suitors calling after her. Their footsteps made her stride increase to close the hallway length between herself and the shelter of the girls room.
Panicked breathing sounded through the empty bathroom. She paced the strip of floor between the sinks and stalls. Her hands came up to bury in her hair as she realized what she'd done. Violent acts were forbidden. She did not think she would be reckoned for the bite but she feared another form of punishment.
"Lisa Muller, report to Mrs. Fisher's office for counseling." came an emotionless voice over the building-wide PA system.
She froze in place during the short announcement. A terrified sob left her and she glanced up at the camera in the corner. As her head lifted she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Blood marred her lips and chin, dribbling down onto her pristine uniform. The salty tang on her taste buds registered in her distraught mind and she rushed to a sink. Water splashed across her face before she bent over, tilting her head to let fresh wetness rush in and erase the metallic taste from her mouth. The order rang out from its speakers again and she rushed to dry her skin with a thick lump of dread settling into her throat.
Each step was used to calculate how she could fix what she'd done. Her refusal to make a choice had disrupted the blissful anonymity she'd worked to achieve. She'd maintained it so well previously talk had broken out among her peers when she hadn't chosen someone during the first month. As everyone had passed the same questions mouth to mouth they'd realized no one knew her. Not one of them could recall what music she liked, what kind of food she preferred, what her favorite color was. Anyone who'd managed to get her to speak in the past or present found themselves dissecting her short nondescript answers. Nothing. She was the only secret kept from the first generation, as far as their young minds knew.
James Johnson knew one thing he'd kept to himself. The mystery of Wayward Pines liked to sit on her roof. The angle of her house in relation to his made it impossible to see exactly what she was doing up there. Unless he stood in the farthest corner of his backyard where he could see a small fraction of her hiding place. He'd seen her reading books up there he couldn't make out the titles of. That was the only bit of information he'd let loose when classmates had hounded him. Being the original guy to walk to school with her had made him a go-to for questions. People had eventually left him alone when he repeatedly said he only knew that she liked to read. He'd learned his lesson after books had started appearing in piles. On her doorstep. In front of her locker. The desks she sat in every period. Guilt weighed on his conscience as a result. James could tell she didn't like the attention but that observation would have fallen on def ears. With the absence of reality tv shows and movie stars she was just about the most entertaining thing for the hormone-ridden population to gawk at and gossip about.
It didn't surprise him that her three other pursuers weren't the only ones rushing to the guidance office. The growing crowd struggled amongst themselves to peer between the blinds. A collective groan rose in the hallway when Mrs. Fisher briskly turned them closed.
"Lisa I don't believe I've had the pleasure of seeing you in my office before." The blonde woman cheerfully noted. She placed a friendly hand on her shoulder as she passed on the way back to her desk.
"I haven't needed any guidance."
"Until now." she corrected, folding her hands on the desktop with a knowing look.
Lisa nodded her head in agreement and did her best to look ashamed. She was prepared to give the teacher the answers she wanted and play her part. She'd been ready for this. She'd known since she'd unwillingly became the first celebrity of Wayward Pines this meeting had been inevitable.
"Why have you not selected a partner for the final ceremony?" Mrs. Fish inquired with a concerned tilt of her head.
The blue eyes weighing on her were calculating. Observing every movement of her body for information.
"I haven't found anyone I like." She replied with a shrug she hoped made her appear at ease about the topic they were discussing.
"Do you find yourself attracted to the opposite sex, Lisa? Are women more appealing to you?"
The question threw the young lady off guard. She quickly took the opportunity to demonstrate her false devotion.
"Why would you ask me that? Are you implying David Pilcher, our brilliant savior, made an error and selected a homosexual for one of his chosen?" She demanded with a defensive tone that was meant to show how absurd she thought it was to question the doctor's almighty plan.
"No, of course not dear. But I am curious, why do you think selecting a homosexual would be an error?"
"Because homosexuals can not reproduce with their own gender. Creating the next generation is the most important objective." she automatically replied as she saw where their conversation was headed.
"Then is liking the boy you select to procreate with not, insignificant, in the grand scheme of mankind's survival?"
Lisa's mouth opened to deliver a retort of how demeaning the counselor's advice was. It closed without a sound and she looked away. Refusing to give the answer Mrs. Fisher wanted, or any at all.
The older woman leaned back in her chair, pleased with the flash of repulsion that showed on the girl's face. She'd been a hard book to read. Guarded, yet placating the entirety of her school years. The model of a good student from the day of her orientation onward. But too reserved. Cut off from the rest of the population. And now she was showing an aptitude for spitting out scripted replies meant to please her.
"What do you do in your spare time Lisa?" She questioned with the intention of changing subjects. Hoping to get an authentic unprepared response. "You aren't involved in any of the extracurricular activities here. And you don't appear to leave your home other than to attend school. How do you expect to find someone you like if you don't socialize?"
The last unsettling bit of information made the girl's eyes flicker to her. A hostile gleam in them told her she wasn't as at ease with the way of life in Wayward Pines as she tried to appear. Any student who genuinely was, wouldn't show displeasure at being monitored for the good of the community. Again she tried to elicit a verbal response by changing direction.
"Do you have an idea as to what profession you'd like to undertake after you graduate and become a productive member of society?"
Mrs. Fisher watched Lisa's downcast eyes move to the discreet camera located in a clock on the wall. The way her teeth clasped her bottom lip told her the girl was struggling with indecision.
Lisa had been a ship floating adrift at sea. Directionless and uninspired about what she wanted to do with her life. Until the events of last evening had consumed her thoughts the hours following. She was unsure how to word her answer and broach the unorthodox subject safely.
"Are there any positions, in the town or behind the scenes, that deal with.. the aberrations?" She carefully asked with hesitation. Lisa watched expressions of surprise and confusion sweep across the woman's face.
Mrs. Fisher was visibly taken aback by the girl's question. She adjusted her shawl and composed herself with a sweet smile.
"Of course not." She chuckled as though it were a silly notion. But the way one of her brows rose a fraction of an inch hinted to the possibility of a different opinion. "I don't know why anyone would want to deal with those horrid things. Why on earth would you?"
"I just…" She began, pausing to decide if she should guard herself with a lie or open herself up with the truth. "I enjoy the sciences. They're my favorite subjects and I've been thinking…"
"Go on dear, you can tell me." Mrs. Fisher coaxed. "We all have dreams."
The flippant way her former teacher had reacted to her first question made her reluctant. She realized if she never voiced what she wanted for her future she was guaranteed not to get it.
"What if..the aberrations were to re-evolve?"
Unbridled laughter sounded through the office. There were no misleading pretenses in it. She thought her ridiculous.
"That would never happen. At least not for thousands of years." Mrs. Fisher arrogantly assured her.
"How do we know if no one is studying them?" She quickly insisted. Lisa was unable to keep up the appearance of mild interest. She was sitting at the edge of her chair and ready to argue her point.
"Doctor Pilcher would know if that were possible. Don't you think a man as brilliant as he would have already thought of something along those lines?" Megan asserted, looking down her nose at the girl in a way that belittled her intelligence. As though Lisa should have already known her statement as a fact of life.
"I wouldn't dare say a word against Doctor Pilcher. We owe him everything." She clarified. Appeasing the counselor before truly speaking her mind. "But if research and experiments made it possible for humans to co-exist safely with the aberrations in a way that wasn't discovered before.."
The hard set line of Mrs. Fisher's mouth discouraged her. The way she'd glanced at the clock as Lisa went on made her shut down out of fear.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect toward our savior. I only want to contribute to the survival of Wayward Pines through-"
"And you shall my dear." She agreed while cutting her student off. Mrs. Fisher continued, steering her in the right direction. "In the form of a mother to the next generation and a cog in the machine that makes the normalcy of Wayward Pines continue."
"But you just asked me what I wanted for my future." Lisa stammered, her eyes growing large with desperation. "Why ask me if you don't care about what I want or how I feel?"
"I do care. I care about all my students because they are our future. But how you feel about what must be done doesn't matter. The continuation of our race and the keeping of order does." Mrs. Fisher reminded her, reiterating the core belief in their way of life.
Lisa sat back and let Mrs. Fisher's predictable words deflate her hope. She should have known there were no real alternative options for her future. The conversation had been a bait and switch trap to get her to open up. Something she would not allow to happen again. She wordlessly hung her head and kept her glassy eyes on her lap as the blonde continued.
"Your failure to select a partner has disrupted the order of this learning environment. It has caused more than one altercation of unsanctioned violence now. The ice you skate upon with your indecision is thinning rapidly Miss Muller. If another disruption occurs on your behalf we will be forced to implement assigned life partners next year for the second class."
She'd thought herself numb after being told she only had one pre-chosen place in life. But a wave of guilt consumed her at the knowledge that her actions could cost the younger students what small scrap of free will they had left. Her head snapped up and a truly shocked look of disbelief lowered her mouth. She quickly tried to compose herself, her mouth wordlessly moving a time or two while she struggled to speak.
"I haven't done anything Mrs. Fisher. I can't control what the other students do. I've already told them I'm not interested in them but they won't listen. I think it'd be best if you educate your male students on the concept of consent and the meaning of the word 'no'. Instead of punishing others for a few individuals lack of self control." She tried to reason with the woman, unable to believe someone who put out such a peaceful persona would be completely comfortable with such unethical treatment.
Mrs. Fisher bobbed her head in agreement and the girl felt a short-lived relief.
"There will be consequences for the actions those young men chose to take. But we are discussing your lack of action at the moment. And its consequence, should more chaos result from it in the future." She corrected Lisa, holding one finger up to illustrate her individual responsibility in the conversation with a smile that held no pity. She continued when the girl gave no further argument. "You have two choices about the direction your future takes. Either choose someone the sooner the better. No later than graduation day. Or become the reckoning example of those who fail to contribute to populating the next generation."
Lisa's heart sank at the cheerfully delivered death threat. A thick lump of fear, hopelessness, and defeat was swallowed on her part. She forced a small pleasant smile onto her face and nodded her head.
"Yes ma'am, I understand. I apologize to David Pilcher and Wayward Pines for the trouble I have caused. I will correct my mistakes at the earliest possible opportunity and I am thankful for the generous opportunity to do so." She vowed contritely. Her defenses were back up and her perfect Pines persona was back in place to stay. No matter how much it crushed her spirit to do so.
The moment she was allowed to leave the office she was swarmed. People asking questions and closing in on her made her suck in a panicked breath. She stood on her tiptoes trying to see over shoulders and heads as her insufficient height boxed her in further. A familiar mop of brown hair flashed between two heads toward the back of the crowd. She started squeezing through them without excusing herself and the mass parted on its own accord. Lisa stopped in front of a lanky boy who's uniform tie was askew and imperfect.
"James Johnson, would you do me the honor of becoming my husband and the future father of my children on June sixth?" She proposed with the same hand she'd drawn blood over, extended for him to accept.
He didn't hesitate to take it. The crowd applauded with a few disappointed boys half-heartedly clapping their congratulations. As the couple walked back to the cafeteria hand in hand a male name was beckoned over the announcement system. All was as it should have been for the next generation once more. How Doctor Pilcher had ordained it to be.
The sweaty hand wrapped around hers made her sigh despondently. The positive side of being figuratively shackled to the boy next to her meant their walks home were now peaceful and un-bothered. Public interest in her had waned by the end of the school day in general. Less people seemed to care about her mysteriousness once she'd been paired. It was a small blessing in exchange for her stance to remain alone and in control of her love life. She tried to let go of the tight ball of misery expanding inside her chest and moved her head toward the forest visible between each house they passed. The unhappy noise his fiancé had let out made James' head turn discreetly to look down at her.
"Why do you always stare at the trees?" He blurted out. James felt her relaxed hand stiffen in his at the question and her head snapped toward him.
"What do you mean always?" Lisa demanded coolly. Her green orbs scrutinized his face as he struggled and failed to think of a way to smooth over his slipup.
"I…ah.. Sometimes I see you sitting on your house staring at the trees for a long time.." He admitted with a cringe. Quickly going on to apologize when her pouty mouth pulled down into a frown. "I'm sorry I asked, I just wondered, you don't have to-"
"It's the leaves, not the trees." She interrupted. Lisa was panicking on the inside just as much as he was on the outside. Though for a different reason. "When they blow in the wind it makes me de-stress. It's relaxing for me."
They arrived in front of his house shortly and she stepped in front of him, taking his other hand in her empty one. Lisa looked up into his eyes with a serious expression.
"I'll be your wife in a few weeks. I promise after graduation I will do my best to fulfill my obligations to you when the time comes. But until then, I want to be left alone after school hours." She emphasized the last sentence with a squeeze of his hands and she took a step closer to him. Her voice dropped and her tone became less friendly. "I don't want to spend time with you. Or get to know you better. I don't want you coming over unannounced to introduce yourself to my parents. I don't want you on my property at all. I don't want you looking at my house. Do you understand? I don't want you to even go out in your backyard, am I clear? Please respect the privacy I am asking for. If you give me these last few weeks of freedom I will remember it through out the years of our marriage."
His brows rose in surprised confusion but he nodded and opened his palms to let her go. He already knew she was odd but the way she spoke when she wasn't being prompted to answer questions or returning mundane replies to his attempts at conversation unnerved him. Which was why she managed to turn and walk away a few steps before he could gather his wits and ask her a question.
"If you don't wanna know me or hang out why'd you pick me?" he called out after her.
She stopped walking and he watched her small shoulders rise and fall with a heaving sigh. When she turned toward him the tight smile she always sported inside Wayward Pines academy was on her face. Her stride was quick but her touch was gentle as she grabbed his arm and guided him toward the middle of his concrete driveway. She stepped in close and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck as though they were dancing. She hissed for him to put his arms around her because of speakers and he complied awkwardly.
"I chose you because Fisher threatened to reckon me if I didn't choose someone. And you're the farthest thing from Jason Higgins I've seen in our generation yet. I've never heard you speak a word of Pilcher propaganda." She whispered while gazing up at him. The same manufactured smile stretched her lips through all her words to come. Lisa decided she owed him simplified honesty in this subject.
"The things we have in town…" She began, uncertain exactly which words to allot him. "Cosmetics. Toothpaste. Clothing. Soda. They come from somewhere. Someone somewhere watches us all day and night. There is much more here than the town. There's an unseen network of people who make this place work. I want to be a part of it in a different way."
Lisa paused to take a breath and discreetly locate the cameras in his yard with only her eyes. His head began to turn in the direction of a lens she spotted nearby. Her hand rose to cup his cheek lovingly and stop him. She growled a one word warning of "cameras" from between her clenched smiling teeth and continued.
"They, the same they that control Wayward Pines and are watching us right now to see if I'm faking. They want a baby and a marriage from me. If I have any chance of getting the profession I want, I have to give them what they want first. Even then I still might not get it. But I will at least get to continue living if I keep playing along."
James' mouth dropped open and a look of outrage flashed across his face. She quickly reminded him to look happy and he listened, to her surprise. One of his hands brushed back and fourth across her back and he bowed his head to speak more discreetly.
"You didn't break any rules. They wouldn't reckon you for no reason…but the whole reason we're here is to…like make more people and take back the planet…" He reasoned, realizing just how weird she really was. "What kind of job wouldn't let you have a family at the same time? Can't you just..be a housewife or a teacher or something that'll make Wayward Pines better?"
Her eyes narrowed at his disappointing words. It appeared to her that she'd overestimated his individuality. As far as she knew there were no rebels within the first generation because they all knew the secret. She'd foolishly hoped James would have at least been a freer thinker behind the casual conversations they'd held. Lisa blamed herself for not fleshing out his beliefs before proposing to him. The girl voiced her displeasure and dropped another piece of the mask she'd been hiding behind.
"I want to be a zookeeper. Not one of the animals." She snapped lowly as she tilted her head in the direction of the camera and then shook it at him in miniscule movements. "The position I aim for would make Wayward Pines and the world outside it a better place. More than any mother or teacher ever could."
Lisa planted a quick forceful kiss on his lips though she really wanted to strangle him for making her assume he was different. She pulled away and left him standing in his driveway with more questions than answers. Skipping like a little schoolgirl crossed her mind so she could reach her front door faster. She ended up continuing her measured pace across the field, deciding the gay action would look too staged.
The smile stayed intact for the cameras as she shrugged off her backpack and started climbing the stairs to her home's second floor. She trudged past the door she truly wanted to be walking through and entered her bedroom. The things around her weren't really hers. Every girl in town had the same hair brush. The same pillows and bead spread. The colors and styles varied slightly but they all had the same generic base. Manufactured to add to the illusion. She stood there looking at her hoax of a bedroom and the smile started to crack.
It started with the drooping of its right corner as she sat on the edge of her bed and tried to tell herself everything would be alright. A spasm of her cheek tried to fight it, lifting and then dropping again when she couldn't keep it up. She shot up and ran for the attic door as the burning in her eyes became overwhelming. Her desperation to not let them see her cry outweighed the decision she'd made the night before.
The attic's lone camera was easily dodged and she ran for the window. Her fingers fumbled with the latch as the first tears started falling. She burst through the opening and sucked in large gasps of fresh air. As though the surveillance devices had oppressed her lungs as well as her actions. The breaths kept coming faster like she couldn't get enough as the sadness and anger started pouring out. She closed the window behind her and sat down, leaning her head back against it to keep it closed. One last desperate inhale filled her lungs before she let out a scream of fury that lasted until they were empty.
Tears slowly leaked from her unblinking eyes as she stared blankly at the empty trees across from her. She wished for blissful numbness to replace the aching hopelessness that stabbed her chest. A sniffle sounded out while she sucked snot back into her nose and her gaze moved to the deep claw marks in a maple's trunk. The pain of having her newfound dreams crushed made the first despondent wail slip from her lips. She curled in on herself as more losses crossed her mind, bowing her head to her knees. The mournful sobs she let out grew louder the less she held everything in. She cried so hard the pulls of air she took in sounded just as sorrow-filled as the ones she wept out.
Her head felt like it was on the verge of exploding by the time her howls of torment died down in volume. A soft grunting reached her ears between her sorrowful whimpers. Her head wrenched up hard enough to make her aching skull smack against the glass behind it. The puffiness of her eyes made her blink a few times to get her watery pupils to focus. Through the receding blurriness she made out a grey outline. He came into full clarity as he raised his arm up high and waved it from side to side at her. A huge grin bloomed on her tear-streaming face and she waved back at him.
"You just made my day buddy." She told him with a half-hearted laugh.
Hysterical cackling bubbled from her mouth as he roared back and waved again, repeating the greeting he'd learned from her.
Author's Note: If season 2's first episode taught me anything it was to save the abbies for the end. The next chapter will be abby heavy and posted sometime before or after next week's episode.