Royal Woods Community College was situated on a wide and well maintained park like patch of greenery between Railroad Street and Lawn Drive. It was bordered by broad, tree lined sidewalks and thick shrubbery that blocked out the view in places. A network of concrete walkways crisscrossed the grounds, serving the campus like arteries in a body, and benches provided shady places for students to sit.

Because the grounds were so nice, the people of Royal Woods often strolled its length and used the benches more than the students. In the center of the compound was a statue of the school's founder, J.M.B. Marcel, a French immigrant who died in a plane crash in the late 1950s. He had a big, Wyatt Erp style mustache and rumpled clothes that looked Victorian even though he lived well after the Victorian period. There was a coy pond nearby named after James Preston, who had made major financial contributions to the school in the sixties and seventies, and leading away from it was a brick road where every single stone bore a tiny bronze plaque with a name. Most of them were the names of donors, but there were also the names of popular and beloved professors, administrators, and students who had gone on to do notable things in life: A politician, a sports writer, a professional wrestler who was semi-famous in the NWA during the seventies and eighties, and a NASA engineer.

Royal Woods, to the best of Lori's knowledge, had never produced a super famous son or daughter. No Snoop Doggs, George Bushes, Brad Pitts, or Hank Williams's, no one that a small town could build its entire life and identity around. For a brief period in time, Lori wanted to be the most famous person to ever come from Royal Woods. She didn't know how she would achieve that goal and she really didn't care, she just wanted the glory. She wanted the WELCOME TO ROYAL WOODS sign on Highway 10 to have a little placard reading HOMETOWN OF LORI LOUD. Towns do that if you get famous enough. They might even open a museum and gift shop dedicated to her. They could sell Lori Loud bobbleheads and Lori Loud mugs.

Every young person, Lori thought, wanted to be famous one day. At least every young person that she knew did. If they didn't want to be famous, they wanted to so something fun and exciting. No kid ever longed for a life of mediocrity, slaving away the days unseen and unrecognized in a cubicle or mopping floors after hours. They wanted to be singers or movie stars, firemen or astronauts, princesses or police officers. Lori was no exception. She did not, however, have a passion or talent for something that would bring her fame. She had keen business sense and wanted to own her own company one day. A restaurant, maybe, or a little shop that sold this and that. She could maybe gain fame or acclaim from that type of venture, but it was unlikely, and she was okay with that. Being famous would suck anyway. You can't even walk out your door without being mobbed by people. That sounded annoying.

Being rich - or at least financially stable - was a far better goal, in her opinion. As long as she could live a good life, who cared if she was well-known and beloved? Certainly not her. That, however, did not mean that she wanted a life of obscurity. Like anybody, she wanted to be seen and liked, even if it was only by people in a single industry or company. Then again, that sort of thing was only the icing on the cake. The real cake - the meat of the matter - was being financially secure, and that was becoming a taller order by the day. The housing market was crap, rent was sky high, everything cost more, and you needed to make far more than humanly possible just to scrape by in most places. Was it like this for her parents? Her grandparents? She didn't know. She always heard from people on the internet that prior to 2000, everything was so much easier, but she doubted it. They made it sound like you could leave kindergarten and work as a truck stop waitress making enough to support a family of fifteen. If it was so great, how were there poor people?

No, she didn't think it was quite that easy for baby boomers, but we do live in a different world, and it might be more difficult in certain respects. That wouldn't deter or stop Lori Loud, though. A lot of people complained and played victim, but she wouldn't fall into that trap. You could still succeed in this country if you worked hard. That hadn't changed. Even if you have to work harder than previous generations, you do what you have to do to get ahead and build a life for yourself. It was also kind of unfair to compare yourself to baby boomers. I mean, we have so many fringe benefits that they didn't have. In 1968, if you broke down on the side of the road, you were fucked. Today, you can call for help on your cell. We have GPS, cellphones, computers, and a thousand other little perks that make life easier. It's kind of a trade off, she figured. It would be great if we could strike a perfect balance but sadly, we can't. Human beings can never seem to figure that out. Oh well. Lori grew up fairly poor but she had it a lot better than some, and that was enough to keep her from complaining about her life.

Though it would be a lie to say that she didn't worry about the state of things. For some reason, it did seem to be getting worse in ways. What would things look like when she was finally done with school and ready to start her life?

Eh, that was a concern best left for another day. Right now she had to focus on her first day of college.

Ten minutes after leaving home, she pulled into a side parking lot facing the campus and slid into a spot beside a black and white campus security car with blue lights on its roof. Lori had toured the campus a week before and noted that there were blue lights scattered across the grounds. If you were in trouble, you could go to one and push a button that would alert campus security, who would then rush to your aid. Lori thought that was a good idea, though how long would it take them to get there in the event of an emergency? Okay, you stubbed your toe, you can afford to wait, but what if some madman was chasing you with a chainsaw? What were you going to do, press the button and wait around? That was a good way to get sawed in half. And did the campus cops even carry guns? She hadn't seen any holsters on their hips, just keyrings and cans of mace. Mace might stop some drunken frat bro from groping you, but if someone came to kill, it wouldn't do much. Like paper beats rock, gun beats mace every time.

Killing the engine, Lori unbuckled her seatbelt and checked her phone. She had been running late when she left the house but somewhere along the way, she had picked up an extra five minutes. Huh. Setting the phone in her lap, she stayed seated behind the wheel and people watched while she waited. Students and professors crisscrossed the commons on their way to class, and a few old men sat on a bench facing the coy pond and chatted. The campus was comprised of the main building - the one that had been a hospital and was supposedly haunted - and several smaller buildings. The main hall was brick with big, vaulted windows and concrete molding. The others were smaller and more modern. Lori had always loved the architecture and had always wondered if the inside was as old-fashioned as the outside. She pictured scuffed wooden floors, bare pipes, and original fittings dating back at least to when the building was converted from a hospital to a school. During her open house last week, she found out: The interior of the main hall was disappointingly modern. The guide proudly declared that the place had been given a complete overhaul in the nineteen eighties. She was hoping for a time capsule of the old days and got one - the days of neon and leg warmers, not of Warren G. Harding and silent movies.

Lori checked her phone again.

It was time.

She threw the door open, got out, and grabbed her purse. She slung it over her shoulder, locked the car up tight, and started making her way across the commons. As agreed, she went first to the big tree in the center of the grounds. Carol, her best friend, was waiting for her. "Hey," Carol said happily, "you're late."

Lori furrowed her brows in confusion. She took out her phone and checked the time. "No I'm not," she said, "I'm right on time."

"Nope," Carol said, "early is on time, on time is late, and late is -"

"Unacceptable," Lori finished, "I know."

"Then why are you late?"

Because I was busy French kissing my brother and lost track of time, Lori thought sardonically. There was a strange little part of her that wanted to say that out loud, just to see how Carol would react. Would she take it as a joke? Would she laugh and accuse Lori of making excuses? Would she be mortified that Lori would kid around about something so gross? Or would she be like "Oh, okay. I totally understand and support your incestuous relationship with your brother"? Lori would absolutely love to hear that last one but knew that she wouldn't. No one would understand or support hers and Lincoln's relationship. In fact, they would do the complete opposite of supporting and understanding. Could Lori really blame them, though? She realized that incest was…a little odd…and that people just weren't equipped to handle it. Like anybody who has ever loved anybody else, she wanted to be free and open with her relationship, but she couldn't. She had to hide it from everyone around her, friends and family alike.

Having to conceal such a vital part of yourself is hard and depressing. It's not that she wanted to flaunt her relationship with Lincoln in front of everyone, but she also didn't want to have to hide it in the shadows like some dirty little secret.

It was either that or come out to the world, and that option was a little risky, she had to admit. Not for the first time - even that day - she wondered how Mom and Dad would react. Their reaction was far more important than Carol's. She didn't know if they would disown her and never speak to her again…or if they would call the cops…she doubted they would do anything so extreme, but she could totally see them kicking her out of the house. She was an adult, after all, so it wasn't like they'd be kicking out a child who couldn't defend or support itself.

Carol was looking at her funny and she realized she had zoned out. "What?" she asked.

"I said - the early bird gets the worm. The late bird gets nothing.'"

Like Lori, Carol was interested in business, and both were enrolled in business management classes. She was also taking massage therapy classes; one day she hoped to open her own massage place. Lori thought of it as a "massage place" because to her, at least, the term "massage parlor" meant a place where men went to get jacked off by Asian women. Lori believed that you could never really "know" someone, their heart and mind, what's inside, but she highly doubted that Carol was studying to run a rub and tug joint, so she couldn;t bring herself to call it a massage parlor even if that was the correct term.

Being business minded, Carol firmly believed in getting up early, going to work no matter what (even if you have cancer of the COVID), and in being early. Especially being early. She had always been kind of uptight, but as high school drew to a close and the certainty of joining adult life loomed ever closer, she became worse. She would make a fine business owner one day…she would also be one of those bosses young people rant about on TikTok. My boss made me come into work even though I told her I need a mental health day. This is unacceptable, I hope she dies, God!

If she wasn't careful, those rants would be 100 percent justified. There's a very thin line between being driven and being a demanding tyrant. Would Carol cross that line? Only time would tell. Would Lori herself one day cross that line? She didn't know. If the situation demanded it. It's all good and well to give your employees perks, fat paychecks, and bonuses, but when it's kill or be killed, Lori would sneak up behind you with a knife and cut your throat commando style. Sorry!

"Well, I guess I get nothing," Lori said, "I better just go home and try again tomorrow." She turned around and started to walk away, but Carol grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.

"Uh-uh." Carol said, "not on my watch, Ms. Loud. Come on."

Giggling like lunatics, they hurried across the commons and up the stairs into the main building - the haunted one, for those of you keeping track at home. "You think we'll see a ghost?" Lori asked.

"I think they hang out on the third floor," Carol said, sounding serious and unsure. "And that's mainly used for storage."

"Maybe we'll hear one," Lori suggested.

Carol seemed to soberly consider that for a moment. "Maybe, Anything's possible."

At a T-shaped junction, they parted ways, Carol going left and Lori going right. They wished each other good luck and godspeed, and that was that. Lori was on her own. Suddenly, her chest was pounding and her stomach was a ball of nerves. She felt like a steely band was slowly closing around her lungs and she had to control her breathing to keep from hyperventilating. Such a small action - walking down the hall - but it meant so much. This was it, college, the most important classes of her life. This wasn't some high school pickup game for fun, this time, she was playing for keeps.

The door to her first class was closed, the window frosted, her view beyond obscured. She had no idea what to expect. Anything could lie beyond that door, but for certain, one thing did.

Her future.

Taking a deep breath, she went inside.

At breakfast, Lynn Loud sat across from Lincoln and suspiciously watched him as she ate her cereal, her brows heavily knitted in an expression of either consternation…or constipation. Looking at her, you might be forgiven for thinking she had to go to the bathroom. Instead, she was deep in thought. It had been half an hour since she spotted him and Lori out her bedroom window and she had been turning the encounter over and over in her mind ever since, examining it from every possible angle to determine if she should bring it up to the others.

She woke that morning because she smelled bacon. Lynn was athletic and ate right to keep in shape, so she didn't eat bacon. In fact, it kind of gross her out. For one thing, it was too crispy, at least the way her parents made it, and for another, it was, like, fifty percent grease. The few times she allowed herself to indulge in it, the grease was so thick it coated the inside of her mouth and made her gag. Ew, people actually eat this shit? The smell was better than the taste, but still kind of turned her stomach, which is why it woke her up. She crept down the stairs to see what was going on, since Mom and Dad both should have been at work; on weekdays, no one made a big breakfast. It was always cereal or oatmeal. Just as she hit the exact middle step, Lincoln and Lori came into the living room, and she hurried back up. She heard them talking but couldn't make out many of the words they exchanged.

But she was pretty sure they said "I love you."

Now, it's not exactly unheard of for a brother and sister (or sister and sister or brother and brother) to say that to one another. Lynn loved her siblings just like she loved her parents, and every once in a while, she let it be known. "Love you, Luce, even if you're spooky and always watching weird Italian horror movies." "Love you, Leni, ya big retard." There was something in the way they said it, however, that struck her as not quite right. An inflection in their voices, maybe, or their tone. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but it tripped some alarm bells in her head for sure. She went to the window and watched them until Lori was gone, her eyes narrowed in suspicion and her teeth worrying the inside of her bottom lip. After Lori drove off, Lynn went back to her bed and sat down, nervous energy coursing through her. She went back to that night not-so-long-ago when Lori got drunk and hit on Lincoln. She and her sisters intervened and gave Lori a stern talking to the following morning when she was sober.

As far as Lynn was concerned, that was the end of it. She, Luna, Luan, and Leni kept a close eye on Lori for a week or so afterward, but everything went back to normal and it seemed that Lori's actions were just a drunken fluke. Lynn had never been drunk herself and never planned to be - she liked to be in firm control of herself, thank you very much - but she had heard that drunk people do really stupid shit and make supremely awful decisions all the time. When you're drunk, she reckoned, you're not really you - you're whatever poison you put in your body. She did not seriously consider that Lori had latent feelings for Lincoln or that the alcohol had unlocked them by removing her inhibitions. No, nothing as deep or complex as that - Lynn wasn't stupid, but she wasn't a freaking psychologist either. She assumed that Lori had no control over herself that night. She assumed that alcohol was basically mind control juice that could make anyone do anything. Hell, if she drank it, she might go for Lincoln. She might even renounce sports and take up ballet.

Shiver.

No wonder they called it "demon rum" and shit. Because that's what it was: Flippin' demonic.

The issue of Lori and Lincoln hadn't crossed her mind in months and she had, for all intents and purposes, forgotten all about it. This morning, however, it all came rushing back. Now, as she stole furtive looks at Lincoln, she wondered if maybe she hadn't been wrong, if maybe there was something more to Lori and Lincoln's relationship than met the eye. When you get right down to it, she hadn't caught them doing anything wrong. They said "I love you." Okay, big deal. Then again, why were they both alone downstairs together? Huh? That set up seemed kind of fishy to her.

When breakfast was over, Lincoln popped up, patted his stomach, and said, "i freaking love Cheerios." He carried his bowl into the kitchen and disappeared, and Lynn shot a quick look at Luan, who was playing on her phone. Should she say something? She didn't want to be the girl who cried wolf or anything, but she also didn't want to keep this to herself, just in case.

Before she could say anything, however, Lincoln came strolling back in with another bowl of Cheerios filled to the brim. He sat it down on the table, dropped into his seat, and dug in. Lynn raised her brow. "Didn't you have breakfast with Lori this morning?"

She made it sound like she was surprised at his appetite but she was really sounding him out to see how he reacted. If he got nervous or tried to lie, she would know something was up. That would confirm her suspicions and she would thus have more reason to talk to the others.

"Yep," Lincoln replied without missing a beat, "but I always have room for Cheerios."

Hm.

Okay.

You win this round, Lincoln.

Everyone got up and drifted off. Lynn slung her Nike bag over her shoulder and waited for Lincoln. Her plan was to follow him to school to see if he did anything weird. She finally gave up on her mission when she realized that there was really no point in it. What was she expecting, him to dash off into a bush to meet Lori? She wouldn't catch him doing anything except Naruto running like the little nerd he was.

She caught up with Luna, Luan, and Leni, who were all walking to school together. The middle school and high school were housed in the same building. The elementary school was six blocks in the other direction. Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, and Lisa walked together, and Lynn and the others walked with one another. They used to walk with Lori, but Lori was in college now, so there was that. It was the first day of school in Royal County. Lori was mistaken when she said that school was still out, it just started later this year, 9 instead of 7. Something about the school board thinking kids needed more sleep.

As they walked, Lynn debated with herself whether or not she should bring up what she had seen and heard that morning. The more she dwelled on it, the more she decided against it. She really hadn't seen or heard anything when you got right down to it. At this point, she was just jumping at shadows.

Still, her gut was telling her that there was something fishy going on here. She would keep her eye on Lincoln and Lori, she decided, and if she saw anything else that sent up red flags, she'd clue the others in.

At school, she went to her first class and sat in a seat at the back of the room with her friends Margo and Polly Pain. She did her best to forget the whole LincolnxLori affair, but she couldn't shake it from her mind.

There was something wrong.

She could feel it in her bones.

And sooner or later, she was going to find out what it was.

At the end of the day, Lincoln left the elementary school and walked five blocks to the town park. A shaded space set back from the street across from town hall, it was so densely wooded in places that you felt like you were a million miles from civilization even though there were streets and houses ten feet away at all times. He checked his phone, reread the text from Lori, and went to the gazebo overlooking Miller Pond. To get there, he had to walk through a parking lot: Lori's Toyota was parked next to a split rail fence. Lincoln passed it, followed a dirt path through a stand of forest, and came to the gazebo. Lori was sitting there, messing around on her phone, and didn't hear him until he was coming up the steps. She looked up, smiled, and put her phone away, "Hey, sexy," she said.

"Hey, beautiful," Lincoln replied. He sat beside her and they kissed. "How was your first day of college?"

Lori glowed as she told him about her day. She loved all of her professors and found their classes to be both insightful and enjoyable. Lincoln listened intently as she chattered about the school, the food, how much she liked the building itself ("Even though it's really modern inside"), and about all the new people she had met. Instead of a cafeteria, there was a literal restaurant for the students with a limited menu. "There's not much on it, but it's sooo good. And I think it changes every so often, so I'm pretty excited to see what shows up on it next."

"That sounds pretty good," Lincoln said.

"You know, you can bring a guest," she said, "we should go together one day."

"I'm down for that," Lincoln said. "The place is supposed to be haunted though, right? I don't wanna go there after sundown."

That made Lori laugh. "They say it's haunted but it's never been proven. You'd think if ghosts were real they'd have proven it by now."

Lincoln shrugged. "I don't know. That doesn't really mean much. There are lots of things out there that we don't really understand. Some of those things we don't even know that we don't understand."

"But ghosts?" Lori asked, sounding skeptical. "C'mon, Linc. You don't really believe in that stuff, do you?"

A smile touched Lincoln's lips. He was partly joking when he brought up the subject of ghosts, but he was being serious when he said that there were things we don't understand. It was true, there are things that human beings don't fully comprehend, things that science can't put neatly in a box and explain, like a kid at Friday show and tell. Did he believe in ghosts? Not really. Lori was right in that if they existed, there would be a little more "proof" than we have now. Maybe not a full explanation, but something. There would be more scientists who were at least open to the possibility of their existence.

He did believe that there were other things - like psychic phenomena - that were or could be real. He did not, however, mean to get into a deep philosophical discussion about spirits and the hereafter. "Not really," he finally said, "but if someone proved to the world that ghosts are real, I wouldn't be shocked. Surprised, maybe, but not shocked."

Lori thought about what he was saying for a moment.

"They basically proved that UFOs are real."

She rolled her eyes. "They only -"

Lincoln cut her off. "I didn't say aliens are real, just UFOs - unidentified flying objects. The government released a whole bunch of data and admitted that there were things flying around up there that they can't explain." He nodded to the roof of the gazebo - and the endless sky beyond. "Are they aliens? Are they supersonic spy planes from other countries? From our own? No one knows but the point is, there's something up there. And when it came out, almost no one cared. They just shrugged their shoulders and went on with their lives." He scratched his nose. "Anyway, I don't know anything about that stuff. I do know that I missed you today."

Lori smiled and ducked her head to hide the girlish blush that spread across her face. "I missed you too," she said. "It's hard adjusting to being away from you after having you all summer."

"Yeah," Lincoln agreed, "it is."

For two glorious months, they were able to spend every possible second together. They had to play it cool so that the family didn't suspect something was up, but it was comforting just knowing that the other was in the next room, close by and easily accessible. Now they didn't have that. They were forced to spend their days apart from one another, in school, waiting for the moment they could be together again.

Lincoln already missed the free access they had to each other over the summer, and it was clear to him that Lori did as well. "We're just going to have to find a way to make up for lost time," Lincoln said.

"I agree," Lori said. "How about we take a walk?"

Lincoln smiled.

They got up, left the gazebo, and strolled along the pond. A dirt path lead around the water's edge, and tall grass swayed in the warm late summer breeze. A family of ducks glided across the pond's still, glassy surface, and Lincoln and Lori stopped to watch, pointing and giggling at the cute baby ducks like a couple of kids. The urge to take Lori in his arms and kiss her swept over Lincoln, but he stayed himself. This was a perfect moment and he wanted only to enjoy it with her.

When the ducks sailed away in their white and yellow convoy, Lincoln and Lori went on, talking about nothing much as they rounded the northern edge of the pond. There was a playground ahead, and kids climbed over the equipment like little monkeys. Lori thought, for the millionth time, of her and Lincoln's future in regards to children. They couldn't risk having their own lest they be born with some kind of syndrome or deficiency, but she did want children. They would adopt when the time came, she was sure. She hadn't really asked Lincoln how he felt about having children but she assumed that he would want to one day. Most people did, no matter what all the kid hating weirdos online said. They were miserable human beings anyway and if you listened to them, you'd never start your own family, and family, Lori believed, was one of the greatest and most beautiful things in life.

She circled her arm around Lincoln's shoulders, and he did likewise, holding her by the waist. They turned away from the playground and walked on arm in arm. Behind them, a bush rustled violently as though some small animal were inside, and a moment later, Lynn's dirt streaked face popped out. There was a cut on her cheek from catching an errant thorn and twigs stuck in her messy brown hair like some sort of pagan crown. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and watched as Lincoln and Lori went on their merry little way, completely oblivious to her presence. She was hoping they'd kiss or make out or do something else to remove all doubt of their intentions with one another, but they didn't have to.

It was all clear to her now.

Something was going on.

"That's it," she muttered to herself, "I'm telling the others."