In a move that she would never dare pull off, especially under parental supervision, Lori took one hand off the steering wheel of Vanzilla and frantically reached down for her cellphone in the cup holder. Without taking her eyes off the empty lane of Franklin Avenue, she blindly punched in her father's number and shakily held the phone up to her ear.

The ringing she heard didn't end fast enough for Lori to calm down. Her bleary eyes, fogged by unshed tears, strain to retain a healthy focus on her surroundings and the anxiety plucking at her nerves nearly drove her insane, figuratively and almost literally.

Her repeated, rapid-fire mental mantra of "Pick up!" carried on through a torturous silence. Until, at last…

"Hel-"

"Dad?!"

Her hoarse, crackled voice and shuddering limbs belie the indignant fury that she carried in the pit of her stomach just minutes ago and it further cemented to Lori the true magnitude of her fall from grace.

And she felt that she was far from finished with her plummet.

"Lori?"

She sensed a smattering of concern in his voice but her guilt urged her not to relent on her remorse. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as her face was once more streaked by rivulets of tears.

"Dad, look, I'm really, really, really sorry, okay?! I don't *sniff* know what came over me and I just *hic*…I just…"

Her throat ached from her prior sobbing and her current weeping amplified that strain, forcing her to withhold for a second before she began again.

"I'm so sorry! I'm coming to get you guys right now! Just hang on!"

"Lori, calm down. It's okay."

Before another frantic word of apology can dislodge, Lori crumbled under the enigmatic sentences her father just spoke to her and asked, "Wh-what? What'd you…*sniff*…mean it's okay?"

"I've got it covered. One of my co-workers is giving us a ride home. We're on our way now. We should be home in about half an hour."

Within the torrent of her misery, there came a squall of peace that dispelled some, but not all, of her turmoil. The need to race against the clock…it all falls to the wayside as the alleviation of pressure, brought about by her father's assurance, compelled her to bring the rushing Vanzilla to a grinding halt.

No longer in a constant state of motion, Lori let the tension of her short-lived struggle dissipate in the air as she reclined in the driver's seat and breathed a sigh of relief. After everything she'd been through, both as a result of happenstance and as a product of her own decisions, she marveled at the fact that her body wasn't literally in knots right now.

Her season of reprieve proved to be maliciously brief as the stern voice of her father spoke to her.

"Lori?"

Foreboding racked through her muscles. She knew that she was in for it now and she was almost disgusted with herself by how much she feared her punishment with the knowledge that she brought it on herself.

All the same, she timidly replied, "Y-yes?"

"Your mother and I are going to have a serious talk with you when we get home. The stunt you pulled tonight was absolutely inexcusable. On top of that, Lisa told us what you did when you got home earlier and believe me, young lady, that will not go unpunished, either. Do I make myself clear?"

The shrapnel of that bombshell, the fact that he'd already aware of her outburst and worst of all, her actions towards Lincoln, punctured her from all sides and left her awash with tormenting distress, nearly of the same magnitude as the one she felt when she looked on at the immediate aftermath of her fateful shove that left her brother crying on the floor in a bruised, hate-filled heap.

The gallows awaited her; Lori knew this for sure. There would be no trial, no jury…only a sentence that she knew she'd done more than enough to earn.

She weakly nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "Yes, sir."

"Good. We'll see you shortly."

The call ended and the dam burst; the cellphone slipped out of Lori's lax fingers and the sound of it clacking against the gear stick was drowned out by her loud sobbing.

It was a quarter before 11:00 by the time Lori was at the scene of the crime once more as she stood right outside the front door.

Instead of waiting for the arrival of her parents and a quartet of disgruntled sisters in the house with Carol, she opted to drive into a corner of the neighborhood where she knew that her family wouldn't run into her while they made their way back home.

Once she got a text from her mother, letting her know that Carol was gone and her siblings had gone to bed for the evening, she sadly made her way back home, thinking about the stern discussion that her parents had in store for her.

It was cowardly for her to avoid Carol and her sisters like this. She should've tried to make amends right away, even while knowing that she wasn't owed the acceptance of her heartfelt apology, but the possibility of denial…it pressured her into slithering down the path of least resistance out of fear of rejection and the realization that she probably delivered irreparable damage that apologies couldn't have a hope to mend.

No, she couldn't confront them…

At least for now, anyways. She would make it up to them eventually, Lincoln especially, but even though she felt like she hit the lowest level of depravity in her life, her shriveling pride refused to unlatch from the belief that she was allowed at least a little shred of her dignity and peace of mind intact.

She knew her clothes are in a mess, sweat and tear stains splotched all over the fabric. She was also sure that her makeup was a disaster from all the crying and now that she noticed, her hair was a bit out of line.

Oh well. Some bewildered looks would be the least of her problems.

By the time she made it back and entered the house, there they are; militant and unyielding in their determination. Lori had been on the receiving end of such disciplinary confrontations enough times to have an idea about what to expect but that still doesn't keep the festering, crawling sensation of larvae from sprouting in her belly and making her nearly reel from the sting.

"Sit down," Lynn Sr. ordered and Lori obliged without a word, slinking past them while avoiding any further eye contact.

She made sure not to sit on the same cushion that she saw Carol sit on when she walked in on her and Lincoln. As far as she was concerned, she wasn't even worthy of occupying that same spot on the couch as her.

Her head hung, eyes lazily scanning the floor and out of the corner of her gaze is the edge of the coffee table that did her brother in.

She blinked back a fresh spring of tears when she realized that she was the perpetrator and it was a mere accomplice. The table certainly wouldn't be getting a tongue lashing and rightfully so.

"Explain yourself," Rita nearly growled.

"I thought Lisa told you already," Lori said without thinking.

Her flight response kicked in at the last second and coerced her to find a way to squirm her way out of this dress down. Her moral compass reprimanded her for doing so and Lori predicted that her parents will follow suit.

"We heard the story from Lisa but we want to hear it coming from you," Rita fired back, arms folded. "In addition, we want to know why you did what you did tonight."

An explanation, and a darn good one, is all that Lori had to retain goodwill with her loved ones. She knew this…

So why was her throat blocking it from escaping into the air? Lori didn't know but she wanted her cowardice to take a backseat and let her take control.

She lifted he head up slowly and reeled back in dread when the unflinching, steely faces of her parents came into view.

"Lori, you're not getting a wink of sleep until you come clean," Lynn Sr. said. "We're not letting this go. Don't think that you can just sit there and…"

He trailed off when his whimpering daughter held up her hand, silently telling him and his wife to give her a few seconds to compose herself.

She tried to quell her racing heartbeat but upon finding no success, she gave them what they want.

"Sorry," Lori said, sniffling. "I'll tell you everything."

She began with why she felt so much disdain for Carol, everything from the day they met to her Homecoming Queen success.

She next explained how her fear of not being needed by her family mutated into full-blown paranoia of being replaced with someone who she felt had it out for her.

Finally, she recounted, with much sadness and regret, how it all led to her leaving them stranded so she could tell off and beat up an innocent babysitter and that if not for her horrible, violent reflexes hurting Lincoln, she probably would've done it.

"And this is all true?" Rita asked as Lori wrapped up her explanation.

Lori nodded. "All of it."

"I see."

Lori waited quietly for her punishment. Whatever it was, she was ready. Now that she narrated her disgustingly awful actions out in the open, what could be worse than the fact that her parents knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was horrible monster that was undeserving of their love?

Her heart clenched when she sees that her father is ready to make a statement.

"We're going to get this out of the way first, Lori. We are very disappointed in you. You were beyond irrational, irresponsible, and above all else, reckless. What you did tonight was indefensible, by every meaning of the word. Believe us, you will be properly punished for this."

Here it comes. Any minute now, they'd throw the book at her for being such a despicable demon. They'd probably denounce her as their daughter and treat her with contempt for the rest of her existence. She couldn't see how things would turn out any other wa-

"We're not done yet. Listen up because this is the most important thing."

Lori readied herself for the justice that her actions wrought out…

And blinked into an alerted stupor when she saw her father's face melt into one of warming sentimentality. Her mother does the same and Lori was at a loss for words. She looked from side to side at both parents, silently asking for an explanation for their mitigating gazes.

"We want you to realize is that no one in the world will ever replace you. You were this family's true first gift and you are a priceless treasure without equal. The same thing applies to your siblings."

"Your father's right," Rita added. "It should go without saying that while Carol Pingrey is an excellent babysitter, she is nothing compared to you."

Compliments? Declarations of love? Affirmations that she's irreplaceable?

Lori was certain that she's hallucinating but when parents take a seat on either side of her, her father wrapping an arm around her shoulders and bringing her in for a sideways hug, she can only sit in stunned silence as the palpable warmth of his hugs thawed away at the doubt her fortune.

"And we're not just saying that because you're our daughter, either," Lynn Sr. said mirthfully with a smile. "You're an incredible person. Strong-willed, capable, dependable; you're all those things and so much more. You're a reminder that we're blessed and lucky to have such wonderful children in our lives. You make us proud every single day and no matter how many mistakes you make, nothing will ever change that. We may not be pleased with what you did but that doesn't mean that you don't mean the world to us."

"I'm sorry," Lori said, still faltered from the direction the conversation steered in. "I really am. You believe me, right?"

But despite everything, she wanted one thing to be perfectly clear; she truly wass sorry and even after hearing that her parents love her, now more than ever, she wanted clarification on that very important detail.

"We do," Rita said.

She gave her daughter's shoulder a quick, soothing rub before she pecked her on the forehead and gently nudged her out of her seat.

"Go on upstairs and get some rest," Rita told her. "We need some time to think about your punishment and we'll be telling it to you first thing in the morning. In addition, you'll be apologizing to everyone once they've gotten dressed. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lori said.

She wasn't entirely sure if she could come face to face with all her siblings, especially with the fact that she managed to slight every single one of them, but she knew that it'd have to come down to that eventually.

It was the right thing to do, anyways, so it wasn't like they were pulling teeth by making her do something unreasonable.

She took a few steps away from them, ready to just hit the sack and hope that she could have a good night's rest. Before she could go any further, she's called to a halt by her father.

"Lori?"

She looked over her shoulder and waited for him to speak his mind.

"We love you and we always will. Never forget that."

She offered them an expression of gratitude before she turned back around and climbed up the stairs.

She hoped that she could express further gratitude if she could retire to bed without running into her siblings.

Restrictions on her Vanzilla privileges. No phone after eight at night. Extra chores on the weekend. No hanging out with friends on the weekends.

All of this lasting until the end of the school year.

That's what Lori was greeted to after being woken up by her parents on Saturday morning. It honestly wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, considering what she was guilty of.

What she was told next is what worried her. Her siblings were all waiting for her in the living room, told by their parents that she would be coming down shortly to apologize to all of them.

After that, Lori was given a few minutes to look presentable and left to her own devices. A quick face wash, a fresh set of clothes, and a round of rigorous teeth brushing later, Lori was as ready as she'd ever be.

Her joints ache and protest as she gingerly walked down the stairs. It wasn't that bad when she was slowly shuffling about to get dressed, but the sensation that Lynn described as DOMS was kicking into high gear.

By now, she was halfway down and dared to peer over the bannister, wanting to register the faces of her audience now so she could prepare herself for what was to come. She didn't give her parents much thought, though; her siblings were the wilds cards in this scenario and as they sat on the couch, Lori scanned their faces to see what she was dealing with.

Leni, Luan, and Lily offer her expressions of concern and perhaps pity as well.

Lisa, of course, was as stoic and unreadable as ever. Same as Lucy, though her frown looked longer than it ever was before.

Luna's face was slightly hardened as she glares her older sister down but is otherwise, in Lori's opinion, malleable enough to deter from her grudge with an apology.

The twins and Lynn? Especially Lynn? They let her know, right away, that they weren't not happy with her in the slightest. With how Lola and Lana shielded Lincoln from her, it wasn't hard for Lori to see why they'd react to her presence like that.

And of course, Lynn was especially close to Lincoln. Despite her roughhousing with him and her intrusive habits that pestered him to no end, she deeply cared for Lincoln and hated seeing him get hurt.

But speaking of Lincoln…

Lori saw that her brother was nowhere to be found and by the time she made it all the way down, she asked to no one in particular, "Where's Lincoln?"

Immediately, her parents flinched and retained a nervous, reluctant appearance. But finally, her father answered her.

"Well, uh, you see Lori, Lincoln…well…he-"

"Lincoln wants nothing to with you," Lynn spat in contempt. "Can't blame him, either."

That remark earned her a sideways glance from her father that shut her up instantly, though she remained grounded in her disdain.

Lori winced. She should've seen that coming and it was stupid of her to even ask otherwise.

"Though Lynn spoke completely out of turn," Rita said, giving Lynn and quick glare, "she's right. Lincoln's not feeling up to seeing you right now. We respected his wishes and he's in his room as we speak. And we ask that you not to intrude on him. He needs time to get over what happened. Once he's ready to open up to you, then you can go on and make amends. Until then, give him his space."

"I understand," Lori replied mournfully.

If her brother hated her, which she was certain his absence meant, then she would have to deal with the hand that she dealt herself. It wasn't her place to try and change his mind to ease her pain.

"Good. Whenever you're ready."

Lori understood what she meant and walks over to the middle of the living room. She has her eyes locked with Lynn the whole time, knowing that the first part of her apology was going out to the sisters that accompanied her last night and Lynn, out of all of them, needed to hear it the most.

"Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn…I'm really, really sorry about deserting you like that. It wasn't right. I'm supposed to be an example for you guys and I completely blew it by acting out like a maniac. Not only that, I spat all over your efforts when you were trying to cheer me up. They weren't perfect but the thought counted and I completely disregarded them by going crazy. That wasn't fair of me at all."

Lynn didn't look the least bit ready to forgive her but all the same, Lori finished with, "I know it's going to take some time, but I hope you can all forgive me one day."

She felt a longstanding, crushing weight lift from her spirits and with vigor anew, she turned to face the twins, who thankfully weren't as visibly angry as Lynn appeared to be. Like with Lynn, Lori felt it necessary to address the sisters that she felt that she had given the most spite to.

"Lucy, Lola, Lana, Lisa, Lily…I'm sorry to you as well. I must've freaked you all out with all the yelling and screaming I did. I didn't make things any better when I…"

His agony. His sobbing. His insistence that she leave. The memories of Lincoln's pain and the tremors of fear and anger it spread throughout her younger siblings.

They flood back in the worst way and Lori was unable to confess what she knew that everyone in the house was already privy to.

"When…when I-"

"Go on. Say it," Lynn challenged in a mocking tone.

Her father was quick to intervene. "Lynn, that's enough. Let Lori-"

"Say it, Lori!" Lynn taunted further. "Say it so we can all hear it! Don't mumble!"

"Lynn, one more word out of you and-"

"Tell us what you did to Lincoln, you freak!"

Lori couldn't take the shame any longer and before anyone could react, pain in her body and all, she ran away crying and zipped up the stairs.

It took that to make Lynn shrink back in guilt. Before she could give chase, her mother held her down with a hand on her shoulder.

"You're staying right here, Lynn. We'll be dealing with you in a bit," she said sternly and turned to her other children. "The rest of you can go."

With that, everyone, with the exception of Lynn, Lynn Sr. and Rita, disperse and go about their way. Most of them loiter about downstairs but Leni doesn't do so, deciding to comfort Lori in her time of need and headed upstairs.

Noticing Leni's movements and picking up on her intentions, Rita gives her husband a request.

"I'll take care of Lynn. Can you make sure that Lori's okay?"

Without having to think twice, Lynn Sr. said, "Will do."

Lori didn't expect to be sobbing in her pillow when she woke up this morning. Maybe an awkward sibling encounter or two but this? Definitely not.

Leni, try as she might, couldn't soothe her hurt feelings. She rubbed her sister's back while shushing her motherly, doing her best to assure Lori that she shouldn't feel bad.

"Lori, you're not a freak. Lynn's just upset. She didn't mean it," Leni said sweetly over Lori's pillow-muffled wails.

When that doesn't work, Leni frowned a bit and dug down deep for a breakthrough. It takes her some but one finally comes to mind and a smile spreads across her face

"Look, I'll go make you a banana, mango, and kiwi smoothie. That always cheers you up, right?"

Sure enough, Lori's finally ceased her crying but she still wasn't ready to lift her head. If she did, she'd be facing the world, a world where Lincoln had absolute contempt for her. She figured as much but Lincoln's absence, combined with her attempt at recounting her actions, made it all the more apparent.

Lynn was right on the money. She was a freak. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

A knock on the door got Leni to look over at it. She wasn't not very fond of the intrusion, as she wanted to comfort Lori in peace, but she figured that her other sisters might be concerned for her, too, and they had just as much of a right to help as she did.

"I'll get it," Leni said and strode over to the door.

Once she was there, just before she could open it, the voice from the other side compelled her to halt.

"Leni?"

Lori sunk lower into the mattress. She did not need to see her father right now. Or her mother, for that matter. She knew what they would say to her but she didn't feel like she was worthy of her pity. It was bad enough that Leni was inspired to placate her; her parents didn't need to be added to the mix.

"Yeah, Dad?" Leni answered.

"Can I speak with Lori? Alone?"

Though his request was structured like a series of questions, Leni knew that she didn't have much say.

"Okay."

She opened the door and bid Lori adieu.

"Bye, Lori. I'll be back soon with your smoothie."

She shuffled past her father, who wastes no time in entering the room and closing the door behind him. He was quick to get to the point.

"Look, Lori, I-"

"Don't say it."

By now, Lori was lethargically laying down on her side, her face no longer obstructed by the pillow. She could see her father overlooking her from afar, worry etched on his face.

"Don't say that I'm not a freak," she continued. "I am. I hurt Lincoln, and I flipped out big time. How can I be anything but a freak?"

"Because no freak would ever feel sorry for their wrongdoings."

Once again, her father leaves her speechless. Yes, it was true that once the gravity of her actions caught up to her, she felt guilt, more than any time she can remember. However, while she had to admit that having a conscience did reflect a healthy sense of humanity, she couldn't be sure that it meant much of anything.

"They wouldn't care about anyone or anything unless they got a benefit from their existence. Freaks don't have a conscience do and that's why you're so remorseful and ashamed."

Lori decided to sit up and give her father her full attention, having interest in where he was going with this.

"Don't let Lynn get you down, okay? I heard what Leni said to you earlier and she's right. She's just angry. It doesn't excuse what she did but like you, she just let her emotions get the better of her. That doesn't make her a bad person, does it?"

She didn't need to think about a proper reply.

"No. No, it doesn't."

Lori would go as far as to go to bat for Lynn and say that she didn't do anything wrong. She was royally ticked off and rightfully so. While she was mean, it wasn't as if she was acting indignant out of pure spite; there was concern for Lincoln amidst all of that.

Happy with his daughter's response, Lynn Sr. grinned and said, "I'm glad you see it that way."

Thinking that her father was finished, Lori was about to lay back down and wait for Leni to return…

"But Lori," Lynn Sr. said with a distressed voice that coaxed Lori to not retreat to immediate comfort just yet, "your mother and I had a lengthy discussion after you went to bed last night. Needless to say, we're both very concerned for your well-being and after careful consideration, we decided that it'd be for the best for you if you talked to a therapist."

Lori's eyes widened as a sting of panic slapped her across the face. "What?"

Lynn Sr. was quick to put Lori's fears at ease.

"Now, don't get scared. We don't think you're crazy. We just think that you need a safe space to vent about whatever it was that made you high-strung enough to act out last night. That's all."

The blonde teen sighed. That was a close one. For a second, she assumed that her parents thought that she needed some psychiatric evaluation, as if she were some homicidal torrent of unchecked emotions that was ready to…ready to…

Lori gasped. That almost sounded exactly like her. The homicidal part? No, but as far as being a torrent of unchecked emotions? Could she be anything but that after last night? Was there any room for doubt? And if there wasn't, wouldn't it be best to talk to someone who was trained and certified to handle such cases like hers?

And yet…what if she did go to a therapist? What if they told her something that she didn't like? What if she was evaluated and found to be incapable of day-to-day life without constant monitoring or heavy doses of medication? She didn't know what a life like that would be like and she didn't want to find out.

Oblivious to Lori's inner struggle, Lynn Sr. further explained himself without a hitch.

"We also want to make one thing clear; we respect you enough to where we know that we can safely leave that choice in your hands. If you don't want to see a therapist, then fine. But if you choose not to, we don't want to see you lash out like that again or we won't be leaving you with that choice next time."

A choice? After everything she had done, she was given a choice?

"Okay, Dad. I understand," Lori said, slightly relieved.

She didn't know what she wanted to do about a therapist but she was glad that she was given the power go where she wanted. She'd make up her mind on the matter, eventually, but right now, all she wanted to do was wait out the storm and apologize to Lincoln when he gave her the chance to do so.

"Glad that's settled," Lynn Sr. replied and opened the bedroom door. "I'm going to the grocery store in a few minutes. You need anything?"

"Just a cranberry muffin or two."

Lynn Sr. flashed a cheeky grin.

"I'll make it five."

For the first time in what felt like a while, Lori laughed.

"Thank you."

Lori watched as her father looked to depart but as soon as she turned around, something down the hallway seems to capture his attention.

"There's someone who wants to see you," Lynn Sr. said.

"Send her in," Lori replied and threw her comforter over her body.

Since she knew that it couldn't be Lincoln, Lori was sure that the visitor was a girl.

But as she saw said visitor awkward shuffling into her bedroom as she walked past her father, she found the discovery to be almost as shocking as if it were Lincoln himself.

"H-hey, Lynn," Lori greeted, smiling a bit nervously.

Lynn didn't say anything as she closed the door behind her. She remained mute as she trundled over to Lori's bed and stopped herself from going any further when she was about halfway there.

Lori was bewildered by her new attitude; instead of staring her down angrily, Lynn looked almost embarrassed to make eye contact with her. She rubbed at her neck with the other in a nonverbal tick that indicated that she was on the spot.

"I'm sorry I lost my cool back there," Lynn said, looking over at Leni's bed instead of addressing her sister directly.

"I'd be a hypocrite if I told you that I couldn't understand," Lori said, recalling her father's words about Lynn not being a bad person because of a blown gasket. "Besides, at least you had a good reason. I hurt my brother, Lynn."

"It was an accident, though. You didn't mean it."

Lori grabbed her crying pillow and held it to her chest. She frowned and shook her head.

"And what good does that do? The bruise is still there. Accident or not, he's in pain and it's literally all my fault."

Lynn hummed in contemplation and for the first time since their conversation began, she faced Lori and smiled.

"That may be true but I don't think you're giving Lincoln enough credit. Yeah, I'm not gonna lie; he's pretty miffed at you right now. Heck, it might take him a while to forgive you but he always comes around eventually. He'd never hold a grudge against anyone he cares about forever."

Someone...he cared about. Without question, Lori knew that those people included his friends and family.

But what of her? Did she still have a place in his heart after what she did? She didn't know if she can answer that honestly or accurately but she counted on the slight sliver of hope that everything will turn around for the better.

"Well, it might not be the answer I wanted but at least it's something to cling on," Lori said, flashing Lynn with a smile of her own.

It nearly melted away, though, when Lori realized that she's left in the dark about something that Lynn never bothered to divulge her on.

"Not to call you out or anything but why did you come up here to apologize?" Lori asked, praying that Lynn wouldn't get offended.

Thankfully, she didn't appear to be, though her mood took on a more somber edge.

"I snapped out of beast mode after you ran away, crying. Right there and then, I picked up on how much of a jerk I was to you. Too little, too late but hey, better late than never, I suppose. Plus, now that I'm banned from playing any sports outside for the rest of the weekend, I figured that since I'm basically under house arrest, I make things right between us while I'm here."

Moved by the sincerity and affection of Lynn's gesture, Lori stretched out her arms, ignoring the discomfort that racked through her limbs as she cooed out lovingly, "C'mere, you."

At the speed of a bullet train, Lynn leapt towards her sister, who couldn't process the brunette, jersey wearing projectile in time, and crushed her in a vice-grip like bearhug that made Lori squeal out, "DOMS, DOMS, DOMS!"

Lynn let go immediately, her cheeks flushed.

"Oops," she muttered.

Monday morning hit Lori like a ton of bricks as a newfound feeling of responsibility comes to her. She woke up knowing that she had to go to school and apologize to a certain babysitter.

Lori never thought she'd ever say a kind word to Carol Pingrey, of all people, but she knew that she's owed that and so much more after what she had been put through.

Wasting little time in getting dressed to start the day, Lori left the house earlier than usual so she could get to school early and wait by the front entrance for Carol to show up. As she drove along her way, she tried not to think about her little brother but failed because of one problem…

He was still giving her the cold shoulder. Over the course of the entire weekend, whenever she'd enter a room that he was in, he'd leave and walk past her without acknowledging her. He tried to do it nonchalantly enough to not raise suspicion but Lori knew a cold shoulder when she felt one.

All the same, she felt that she deserved it and for more than obvious reasons. She couldn't believe that it had taken her until literally now to understand that there was more to Lincoln's pain than she initially thought. She had been so caught up in what she did to him physically that she had neglected her other transgression and the memory of some of Lincoln's last words harshly remind her of what it was:

"I was hoping that maybe one day, you and Carol could be friends and maybe, we could all have fun together! But now, I see that's not even possible! If you don't want to get along with Carol, fine, but I like hanging out with her and I don't need you ruining everything just because you're jealous!"

She wanted to rip Lincoln away from someone that had meant so much to him. She knew full well that Lincoln and Carol had really hit it off but in her jealous, crazed rage, none of that mattered and in acting in such a way, she had effectively told Lincoln that he didn't matter.

Lori groaned. No wonder Lincoln hated her guts.

Finally, the school came up and once she parked in a vacant student parking spot, Lori made her way to the school's front entrance, sitting down on the top step and not minding the few looks she got from a few passerby early bird students.

With her goal in mind, Lori waited.

And waited.

And waited.

By now, it was getting close to first period and more students were pouring into the building. Not wanting to get in the way, Lori turned to walk inside herself and standby at the doors from the inside. Upon turning around, she spotted a familiar headband, cropped on top of a flowing mane of blonde hair moving past her.

Hurriedly, she pushed her way through the crowd that amassed that set of hairs, earning grunts and mutters from whomever she squeezed past. Finally, she made it through and her heart soared in elation when she realized that in her fortuity, she stumbled across none other than Carol Pingrey herself. She waited until Carol made it to her locker before she crept up behind her and silently tapped her on the shoulder and waited for her to turn around.

Like she always saw from her from afar, Carol was all smiles…

At least for the split second that she didn't see Lori. Once she did, her smile crumbled, leaving behind an uneasy look that dispirited Lori in an instant.

"Oh…uhhhhh…" Carol began nervously, looking up at the ceiling while tugging at her shirt collar. "H-hey, Lori. You, uh, need something?"

Her reaction was worse than what Lori anticipated. Still, she wasn't going to let that stop her from telling Carol what she needed to hear.

But just as she was about to explain herself, surprisingly, Carol had cut in with her own piece.

"Okay, before you say anything, I just want you to know that I'm sorry."

Lori pinched herself on the arm. She knew that it wasn't Opposite Day and unless this was the beginning of a candid camera prank, she had no idea how Carol's words could make any sense.

"Wait…you're sorry?" Lori asked as she pointed at Carol. "For what?"

"For getting on your nerves this whole time. Despite what you've thought of me, I haven't been trying to get under your skin."

Carol realizes her choice of words and chuckles for reasons Lori can't figure out.

"Okay, so that's not totally true. I was trying to be a nuisance at Homecoming but other than that, I just wanted to hang out with you and I took it too far. I should've just left well enough alone."

Lori shook her head. "You're just too much. After everything I said to you, after all the things that I wanted to do to you, you apologize?"

Carol feebly nodded and Lori couldn'tt fathom how this level of tolerance is human. It was almost sickening but only because it served to put her on the spot.

"You're a way better person than I am," Lori said. "But then again, I guess you kinda realized that since…y'know, that incident from a few days ago."

The shift in conversation awakened Carol's curiosity to something that Lori wasn't too comfortable talking about with anyone other than family.

"How's Lincoln, by the way?"

Lori clutched onto her backpack handles tightly.

"He doesn't have that nasty bruise anymore, so that's good," she revealed, hoping to leave it at that and let the subject of Lincoln peter out.

Carol wanted nothing to do with that, however.

"There's something you're not telling me, is there?"

Lori cursed her inability to mask her emotions well enough to veer Carol's eagle eye observation away from her angst and just decides to be honest.

"He hates me. My only brother hates me," Lori said.

She brought up her hand to cover her eyes, wanting to shield herself from Carol witnessing possible waterworks.

"But then again, can you blame him? I'd hate me if I were him. He won't look at me, won't talk to me, won't…" Her hand drooped down, her arms dangling limply at her side. "No. I don't deserve a pity party. Besides, I didn't come here to make you feel sorry for me. In fact, I came here so that I can apologize. I should've never treated you like that the other night, barging in and yelling at you."

Lori blushed and stared at the ground as she mumbled, "And wanting to beat you up totally crossed the line, too."

"That it did," Carol replied in a playfully jovial tone.

Lori snickered at her reaction and braved looked up at Carol again.

"You were doing a great job babysitting my little siblings and instead of thanking you like I should've, I took out all my insecurities on you."

Carol quirked an eyebrow, intrigued. "Insecurities?"

"I'm a senior, Carol. In a couple of months, I'll be graduating and when I do that, I'll be going off to a university. When that happens, I won't be seeing my family so often. Sure, they might come around and visit me from time to time but it won't be the same thing as literally living under the same roof as them.

After that, my little siblings…they'll move on…move on without me. They won't need me to drive them around or watch over them or buy them presents or…"

Lori choked up a bit but carried on once she took a second's length of composure.

"I just want them to rely on me for as much time as possible until I can't be with them every day. They're the best part of my life, hands down, and I don't want to lose them."

A light bulb blinked over Carol's head once Lori's admittance is uttered.

"So that's what you meant," she said in a victorious, eureka-filled exclamation.

Lori just shrugged at her elation, not knowing what to make of Carol's statement. She knew the blanks were filled in when Carol told her, "When you were saying all that stuff about me taking your family...now it all makes sense. I mean, I guess I kinda got it when you thought I was trying to take your friends but I never knew that you thought about your family like that. It makes sense that with that mindset, plus with your opinion about me, you'd think that I was trying to replace you."

Then, Carol steely gives Lori a look befitting of a scolding teacher.

"But just because it makes sense doesn't mean that you were right to treat your family the way you did, especially Lincoln."

Lori shrunk back in shame and can only nod in agreement. Pacified by her response, Carol offered her a smile.

"But still, thanks for apologizing to me the way you did, and I'm also happy to hear that Lincoln's doing well."

Sensing that Carol planned on leaving, Lori reached out to her quickly and said, "Wait. There's something I want to give you."

She procured her wallet from her pocket and pulled out a white card that Carol couldn't recognize. Lori held it out to her for her to take but Carol didn't, wanting an explanation for what it was instead.

"What's this?" Carol asked, straining to look at the lettering against the white background of the card.

"It's a $100 gift card that I won at that raffle a few days ago," Lori explained. "It's good for any purchases at the Royal Woods Mall. I want you to have it."

The idea of being handed one hundred dollars, even at a limited venue, doesn't sit well with Carol, especially as an addition to an apology that she already accepted.

"This is sweet and all but why do you want to give this to me?"

"Well, first of all, I'm doing this as a token of apology. Saying that I'm sorry isn't enough."

"But Lori, I-"

"Please just hear me out, okay?"

Carol inclined her head and waited for Lori to continue.

"The second reason is because I know that Lincoln really misses you. I mean, if he's calling himself your little brother, I know that you mean the world to him. And since you seem to be fond of him, too, I'd like to ask you if you could drop by and hang out with him every now and then. Maybe you could take him out to the mall and use the gift card to buy yourselves whatever you need."

Carol looked back at the card and mulled it over. In a move that disheartened Lori, Carol politely pushed the card back towards her.

"That sounds like a job for a big sister, Lori. I don't fit the bill," Carol said rather sadly.

Lori shakes her head in insistence. She can't believe that Carol seemed to forget what Lincoln had said to her but she remembers:

"It's alright, Carol. I'm your little brother, remember? This is what family does for each other."

"But you are a sister to him, Carol," Lori countered, pleading with Carol to reconsider her stance. "That's what counts, doesn't it? And besides, I'm not allowed to drive the van anywhere but from school to home for the rest of the school year so it's not like I'd be able to do it myself."

She doesn't know if its the pragmatism or the sentiment wins Carol over but either way, Lori is thrilled when Carol accepts the card and puts it away in her skirt pocket.

"Thanks, Lori," Carol said.

Satisfied with herself, Lori went to make her way to her own locker so she could get started with her school day…

Only to be stopped when Carol grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Hey, Lori? If you're not busy tomorrow, do you wanna…I dunno, do something together?"

Lori turned around to face Carol, her face reflecting disbelief.

She pointed to herself and asks, "Me?"

Carol smiles and nodded.

"With you?"

She got another nod.

"As friends?"

This time, she gets an apprehensive grin instead.

"I don't know if it'll be easy to get to that stage but…"

Lori waited on pins and needles as Carol pondered the proposal. She'd laugh at the irony of the situation if she wasn't so nervous. Now, she was the one who seemed to value a friendship between the two the most and why shouldn't she? After forgiving her so easily and getting along with her family so swimmingly, could Carol Pingrey be anything but a good friend?

She released a breath she didn't know she was holding onto when Carol finally responded. "Sure. We could give it a try."

Lori beamed. "Sounds good."

With that, Lori departed, leaving her newly discovered associate behind to tend to her business.

Now fully redeemed with Carol, Lori dwelled on the outcome to all of this; it was all bittersweet, all things considered. While her relationship with Carol had improved, the one she had in Lincoln looked damaged well beyond the point of immediate repair.

Would she able to weather a storm that could last days? Weeks? Months? Possibly years? And entire lifetime, maybe?

Hopefully, it wouldn't have to come to that but if she did, she'd do so while holding out hope for a better tomorrow.

After all, if she and Carol could get along, what meant that it couldn't work out between her and Lincoln one day?

But in the meantime, she came to a decision about what her father had said to her on Saturday and she had decided that she would be looking into some therapy sessions, after all. It would be for the best to nip any deep-rooted problems in the bud while there was still a chance for her life to remain as intact as possible, without more shattered, broken relationship to bring her more guilt and shame.

Lori smiled to herself when she realized what this meant. If she had to leave the house to go while her parents went with her, that could only mean one thing…

They would need a babysitter to watch over her siblings, and she was pretty sure she knew the right person for the job.