Fred had many emotions after getting off the phone with Luke. There were many reasons for the father to be happy to get a call from his son. He got to talk with Luke. His son stood up for himself. Then Luke called him at work, instead of waiting until he got home to not inform him of what just occurred. Another reason for the happiness was hearing about Lori's growth as a person. His daughter stood up for and defended her brother. Yes, having your sibling’s back was something which shouldn’t be taken for granted; but, a year ago Lori not being contemptuous towards her brother would have been a Christmas miracle.

The reason behind the call was another story. All those emotions associated with why the call was made were negative. Fred hearing Alice had Lori bring over her friends was frustrating. Luke had planned to be gone all day, but that should not have mattered. Alice should have known better. There should have been no chance that Luke would come home to see some of the kids that bullied him.

Luke and Lori’s father was concerned about how quickly Blake resorted to violence. Blake should know better, messing with someone in their own home was not cool. Then when Luke stood up for himself, Blake made the verbal sparring physical. Fred knew that boys got into scraps, but by high school they should have grown out of it. That was when those fights got serious and were not just jockeying for position in the social hierarchy. How he fell back to trying to use physical force was not a good sign of how he would treat disagreements with Lori.

Fred had everything which needed to be done prior to his vacation beginning and there were only three hours of work left. He called his boss, Ms Angela Micelli, to see if he could leave early for the day. Angela said yes. Even if he was not done, the answer would have been the same. His son was home for the holidays and she knew that family was more important than work.

*************

A light knocking on the bedroom door got Luke’s attention. He looked towards the door getting ready for his mom to come in and start to berate him again. The mother chastising the son would not last long. He was going to stand up for himself. The boy did nothing wrong so he was not going to just hear out his mother because she was an authority figure.

The door did not open. Then a moment later a slightly louder knock came. Luke was a little baffled at why his mom was respecting not getting an invite into his room. For some reason ,his mom was not going to barge. Luke was fine with her leaving him alone, the teenager did not want to see or deal with his mother at the moment anyways.

The door still stayed shut and then an even louder knock came. This time after the lock Luke heard his sister saying “Can I please come in?”

Luke said, “Come in.”

What his sister had to say was something Luke wanted to hear. He had his defenses up from her past actions, but he was going to hear her out. Afterall, Lori did break up with Blake over how that boy treated him and also stood up to her queen for him.

“Luke I am sorry. I know it was not right to have you see Blake. Mom said it was fine for him to come over. We thought you would not be home so it would be fine for him to come over. I never took into consideration that you might come home early. I should have thought of that. Why did you come home early by the way? Is everything fine?”

Lori asking why his plans changed made Luke become more open to her. Her checking up on him was not to try to get herself out of trouble. His sister was showing concern about Luke’s feelings and well being. Lori actually wanting to know about Luke’s feelings made her twin brother open up to her a little more. “At the mall I went over to talk with Matt and Renee and Mandy started with me. She demanded to know what I was doing and for me to call her Amanda. The nerve of her telling me what to call her when she never listened to me about Luka.”

“Amanda never should have done that. She had no right to get between you talking with those two.”

“Why are you calling her Amanda?”

“That is what she goes by now. I think it is because she wanted to change and thinks being called Amanda makes her more mature. She did not show that today. She should have stayed out of it between you and your friends.”

“Matt and Renee are not my friends.”

“Those two are. They just are not able to face you yet.”

Luke had to defend Matt and Renee. He might have believed that those two were not his friends, but deep down he cared for them. “Don’t try to say you are stronger than them.”

“I’m not. I had to face what I did. I was forced to see the damage I have done. Dad made sure I could not ignore it so I had to grow up and become a better person. I still resisted doing so until you extended an olive branch. You did not have to get Boyz +1 to do the VIP treatment for me. I know I hurt you badly yet you look out for me. I know it will take a long time to repair our relationship, but I want to.

Enough about me. This is about your friendship with Matt and Renee. I know they miss you and are sorry. They are still cold towards me. They tolerate me in a big group, but will not talk with me. I try to tell them about you. I know they will be happy. I also know they will be sad for the longer you are out in California the less likely that they can make amends with you.”

“They can tell me that themselves.”

“Just promise that you will be open to them when they are able to face what they did.”

“I will sis.”

Luke taking off the last three letters of sister was a sign he was also taking down more of his defenses around Lori. Luke’s sis was touched by that little showing of affection. Lori returned the favor because she wanted to become even closer to Luke. “I know you will bro.”

******************

Alice was sitting in the family trying to center herself. Maybe the tea she was drinking would calm her down. She was upset about how Luke blatantly disregarded her authority over him. Alice’s son needed to treat her with respect. How he did not listen was a sign that her son needed to come back home.

Being surrounded by the Christmas decorations might bring some holiday cheer to her. Alice was sad that her daughter broke up with her boyfriend today. Lori was going to be heartbroken during Christmas and that should not be. Each Christmas should be better for the family than the last and now that would be impossible.

Alice’s mood was finally leveling off when she heard the front door open and get slammed shut. That had to be her son, how dare that boy not even tell her when he was going or better yet ask if he could go anywhere. The newest act of defiance shot her blood pressure up and made her shoot out the chair. Luke’s mom was going to catch her son before he got too far away.

Before turning the corner. Alice saw a shadow coming from the foyer. Thinking it was Luke she yelled “You listen to me when I tell you to stay in your room. I wanted you to think about what you did wrong before we talked.”

Seeing her husband turn the corner Alice knew she took the wrong action. She should have waited until she knew it was her son before showing her displeasure. Now there was going to be a fight about something that her husband should not even know about. Fred's reply of Luke did nothing wrong, was exactly what she expected.

Thinking that her husband did not know what happened, Alice said “Honey sorry, didn’t know you were coming home early today. Once again Luke caused trouble so I sent him to his room.”

“Don’t you mean the guest room?”

“Oh great, he called and told you what happened. I bet he left out the fact that he punched Lori’s Blake for no good reason.”

“Alice, like I said, our son did nothing wrong. Lori’s friends started to pick on Luke and he stood up for himself. Blake threw the first punch. You shouldn't have had her friends over. We agreed that Luke should not have to deal with them if he didn’t want to.”

“I know, Luke was not supposed to be home so I let them hang out here for Tracy’s mom was called to go into work. Lori’s friends just wanted to say hi to Luke. They haven’t seen their friend in so long.”

“They are not his friends.”

“They should have still been able to say hi without Luke getting so mad that he hit Blake. He needs to learn to deal with them when he comes back home next school year.”

“Blake threw the first punch. Also, if Luke comes back home, he will not be dealing with them. You made Luke feel like this is not his home. How dare you say our son is a guest in his own home? You gotta quit thinking the worst about Luke. You should be one of his biggest defenders instead of his biggest accuser.”

Alice was not going to stay on Luke causing trouble. She knew her husband was not going to have their son go back to his old school district. Alice was going to defend her slip of the tongue. “Just like with Blake, Luke overreacted about what I said. I didn’t mean he was a guest. He knows that. I meant that he is visiting. Luke is just trying to not have you focus on what he did. He had no right to hit our guest.”

“Yes he did, Blake tried to punch Luke. You know that. Drop acting like our daughter or her friends can do no wrong. I am sick of it. Name one time that you said that Luke was the cause of the problem and that was true.”

Alice stood there silent. The reason why was she could not. The flaws of her justification of treating Lori better than Luke always came to light when she talked with her husband. “Still Luke should not have hit Blake.”

“No, this should have never happened. Luke should feel safe in his home. Luke should feel like this is his home. Luke should not be picked on by people in his home. You should have never called our son a guest. This will always be his home.”

“I just meant that he does not live here so he should not cause trouble.”

“Luke did not cause trouble. How many times do I have to say that?”

“Fred, I am just upset. There should not be this much chaos from Luke being here. I do not like violence and there was a fight in my home. Luke asked Blake if he wanted more.

“It should be normal so he can come back home. If Luke turned the other cheek and just ignored Blake this would not have happened.”

“Alice I know you want Luke back here. I do also. Us wanting it does not mean it is for the best.

“We both messed up. Until we move away from here Luke will stay in California. Even if we move, we cannot expect him to come back home if he does not want to. He has a good life out there. He deserves that. We have to do what is best for him.”

“Fred you are right. I will clear it up with Luke what I meant and that I understand why he took it how he did.“

***************

Luke and Lori were watching some youtube on his tablet as there was a louder knock on his door. The twins were sharing laughs. Luke took a quick break from laughing but the joy stayed in his voice when he said come in.

Alice opened the door and loved seeing the sight she saw. Her two kids laying next to each other sharing a screen and a laugh. How her children were having a great time together gave her faith that one day her fractured family would be whole again. Seeing what she wanted, helped Alice in saying what was required of her. “Luke I am sorry I should have never said you are a guest here. This is your home.

“Seeing you and Blake fight made me upset. It was a reminder that you cannot come home yet. I was even more upset about the fact that You could have gotten hurt.”

Lori said, “There was no way that Black Eye Blake could have hurt Luke.”

Luke was touched by his mom taking responsibility for her words. Alice putting the blame where it belonged weakened the hard feelings Luke had towards her. Even so, he still felt the need to stay guarded around her and made the decision to not say what happened at the mall.

The reason was as elusive as a butterfly, just out of reach to him. The apprehension towards being as close as he wanted to with his mom came from never getting a proper apology for the petticoat punishment. Saying sorry was not enough. If Alice would have shown her empathy with Luke about what she did and explain that she would never put him in a dress again that butterfly would have landed on Luke’s hand. Instead, it will keep on flying just beyond the teenage boy’s grasp.

Alice’s son followed all of his feelings when he said “Mom I know. I was just so mad. I did not want to fight Blake. I should not have to defend myself.”

“You are right my son. I know you did nothing wrong.

“I am going to let you two get back to having a good time. How about after dinner tonight we all watch A Christmas Story? That would be fun.”

The idea of sitting together as a family watching that classic movie was exactly the moment Luke wanted. The soft glow of the Christmas light would make the room feel cozy. Sharing in each other’s enjoyment of the movie would bring the family closer together. Luke said “Yes it would mom.”

*******************

After Alice made amends to Luke, Fred came into the open door frame. Luke invited his dad in. Lori mentally gulped. Luke’s sister forgot about how much trouble she was going to be in about having her friends over. The twins' father greeted them. Luke and Lori both said hi, then Lori looked away. She felt shame about having Blake over. She knew inviting her friends over was wrong. Now the guilty girl was going to wait and accept her punishment.

Fred already had one pep talk with Luke so instead of going with his plan of reinforcing what he was going to say, the loving father asked Lori what was wrong. The answer was nothing.

Fred knew better, so his follow-up question was “What is on your mind Lori?”

“Dad I know I messed up by having my friends over. I am just waiting for you to talk to me about it.”

Fred knew this was a huge teaching moment to have his open-minded student. “Lori, you made a bad decision in good faith. I know you asked your mom if it was fine. She said yes. You did not think that Luke was going to come home.

“Then when having Blake went wrong, you worked on correcting the bad decision. You stood up for your brother. You also went to Luke to check on him. You must have patch it up for I heard the laughing from this room all the way downstairs.”

“I still feel bad about it dad.”

“Yes and that was good. Feeling bad is a sign that the lesson was learned. You also need to feel good about what happened. You ended up doing the right thing when you knew you messed up.

Now come here my sweet pickle and give your old man a hug.”

Lori honored her father’s request. When Fred wrapped his arms around his daughter she could feel how proud her dad was of her. The feeling of shame was washed away from her dad’s approval of her actions. The feeling which came from knowing she did the right thing when she saw the mistake made her more confident in who she was.

After the embrace, Fred looked at Luke. The casual smile on his son's face told the father that another pep talk would be unwarranted. Those words were better left unsaid. Those words were to reassure and this was the time for Fred to just be supportive.

*****************

Tracy was going to wait until tomorrow to call Lori. Tonight was not the right time. There were more pressing issues for Lori and her family to deal with than when those two were going to hang out. Tracy would be supportive of one of Lori’s goals by waiting to call. Luke’s sister was working on trying to make her and his bond stronger. Not giving Lori a phone call would be giving her more time to spend with Luke.

Tracy did go online to see who else was online. She wanted to chat with someone. Opening up her Facebook page, the girl saw a friend request from Eck. Most of the time Tracy just denied any request from a name she didn’t recognize. Knowing about bots and scammers made even giving this request from a total stranger a waste of time. However, being just one name did make Tracy want to see who this was.

Going against what was normally better judgment was a good choice. Eck was Luke. The girl agreed faster than her high-speed internet connection to the offer. Seeing that Luke wanted to be at least Facebook Friends made her feel good. The feel-good moment got even better when a chat window opened up on her screen. The message was from Luke.

Then the message itself made Tracy feel higher than the Star on the Rockefeller Center’s Christmas Tree. Luke thanked her for standing up for him and asked her how she was doing. “How she was doing?” was the best she could have imagined Luke saying to her. Luke thanking her for nothing was even better. Telling the truth to help someone was not an act a person should be thanking another for.

Tracy told Luke she was only doing what was right towards him for a change. That she should thank him for defending her. Luke also felt like he should not be thanked. After all, like Tracy pointed out, telling the truth was not an act a person should be thanking another for.

After the exchange of pleasantries, Luke caught Tracy up on his life. The first thing he did was bring up Mary. That girl was always on his mind. Also, talking about his girlfriend would explain to Tracy why he said no. Luke figured out that Tracy was working on her self-esteem. Flirting with Luke she took a big chance. The rejection would not hurt her if she knew the reason was that the boy's heart was already taken.

Then it was Tracy’s turn to catch Luke up on her life. She invited him over for them to hang out. She mentioned that her mom would love to see Luke. Luke took her up on it. He wanted to reconnect with her. Plus seeing Ms Armstrong would be a treat, she was always nice to him. After Tracy caught Luke up on her life and they hammered out plans to hang out, Luke invited her to a group chat called, The Cove Crew. That was Luke’s group of friends. Lori talked about them. Tracy only heard good things about these people and was looking forward to meeting them.

Not counting Luke there were six people in the chat. All six of them made sure that their greeting to Tracy was personal. This made her feel so welcome. The simple reason Tracy felt welcomed was that the Cove Crew accepted her as one of their own. This girl was Eck’s friend, so automatically they were her friends also. They had a saying “a friend of a friend is my friend.”

The Crew also wanted to support their newest friend. Luke told them all about Tracy standing up to a couple of her friends and his mom for him. Her doing the right thing instead of the easy thing meant that she was their kind of person. Now it was time for them to show their support of her. To let Tracy know that there are like-minded people out there. That if she stayed strong she would surround herself with other strong people.

Tracy excused herself from the chat after a couple of hours. Afterward, it was straight to bed. Then she woke up to a surprise. Lil, Shy, and Greg K. all sent her a friend’s request with nice little notes. They might live thousands of miles away but she felt closer to them than she did to any of her friends from school.

****************
The rest of Luke’s trip home went smoothly and that made it the best holiday for him. Alice’s mom and dad, Nanno and Nanna, came down to visit for a couple of days. Nanno and Nanna were taking Luke to go have a pizza and cannoli when Lori told them to have a good time. Her not pouting made the grandparents proud. Their youngest granddaughter was changing. Their pride grew when Luke invited her along. Those two actually played well with each other. Nanno and Nanna found the interaction between the twins even sweeter than the desert at the end of the meals.

Luke and Tracy did hang out a couple of times and mostly talked. Even with them not being friends since the second grade those two became real close, real fast. They connected over Tracy’s fear being Luke’s actual past. Those two were able to help the other heal. Luke was able to help Tracy on the path of being able to stand on her own. Tracy being so open about how scared she was let Luke let go of the past even more.

The person who was the happiest about Luke and Tracy reconnecting was Lori. She still was the cause of the rift between those two, but it felt better to know they were making amends. The damage could never be taken away, at least it was getting fixed. Seeing that made her want Luke to have the same healing with Matt and Renee.

Something small about Luke’s time back home went unnoticed. After Luke confronted Blake, Luke and his mom never spent alone time together. The mother and son were both more than happy to give any small excuse to not be left alone together. They were both happy to believe the other. This detail which was able to stay unseen even out in the open was what kept the Holidays from being as perfect as a Kodak Moment. If someone would have brought it up, the Zahn family would have said they were nitpicking. That it was just a trivial coincidence. There was no issue. There could not be, there was too much laughing and holiday cheer for it to be an underlying issue.

Luke left for Cali on the 30th. They wanted to give him a couple of days to get back on west coast time before going back to school. They also knew he would want to spend some of the holiday season with Mary. Those two needed to spend some of this special time of the year’s end with the person they found the most special.

*******************

Amanda was able to convince her mom and dad, Bill and Pat Travers, into having a coed party on New Year’s Eve. The selling point of them inviting her friend’s parents made it the perfect pitch. The party would be a social gathering for the adults which was not tied in directly with one of the children’s birthdays or achievements.

The timing of the pitch was optimal. The girl brought it up at the official kickoff of the Holiday Season, Thanksgiving. Inviting friends to a New Year’s Eve party after the fourth Thursday in November was not too early to be tacky; yet, at the same time not too soon for any of the guests to have other plans.

Then the closer, the showstopper of the reason came, having the party was them being responsible parents. Bill and Pat along with their friends would know exactly where their kids were on a night kids used as an excuse to party. To most high school kids, to party was code for drinking. The parents would not even have to watch over the kids to make sure they did not indulge in hard drinks or partake in something worse.

The party would have the watchful eye of Amanda’s older brother David, and his girlfriend Evie Leforge. David and Evie would be militant about making sure that those kids do not have any of the bubbly to ring in the New Year or start it with a bang. Those two were straight lace and straight edge.

The only downfall to the hostess of the teenage party was she had no say in the guest list. A couple of the kids in her circle of friends which would not have made the cut on her list would be there. It was worth putting up with Lori, Blake, and Tom to be able to be around the rest of her friends as the Earth was finishing yet another lap around the sun.

The beginning of the night was going better than using both peanut butter and jelly to make a sandwich. Amanda’s guests were all gabbing away. The food was great. Matt’s dad made three different types of curry for them. Vindaloo for the people who wanted their chicken extra spicy, Madras for just a nice kick of spice, and Korma for those who did not like heat. Renee brought her Spanish Spice Cake. Kat made sure that there was enough pop for the kids.

The entertainment was also like a well-made bed, covered. Tracy was in charge of the music. She did a great job of making a sweet kick-ass Spotify playlist across the music genres.. Kat brought some board games. The ones she picked for the night were question and answer ones. They were not about winning but about striking up a conversation.

Amanda was having a nice chat with Kat when Lori arrived. The hostess’s view of the night instantly soured worse than the vinegar in the Vindaloo sauce as she saw the newest arrival come walking down the stairs with a slow cooker and a bag. Just seeing the guest who was not welcomed was not bad enough. Then Lori brought something. Amanda told her that she did not have to do it and Lori did not listen. What really got under Amanda’s skin was how the unwanted guest carried herself. Lori walked like Elvis did into Graceland. How dare Lori think she owned this place? How dare Lori think that she can just claim the party by being her old arrogant self?

At least Lori was walking right towards the hostess. That meant that Amanda did not need to go out of her way to put Lori in her place. The lady who was in charge was going to love wiping that smile off of Lori’s face. Knocking Lori down a couple of pegs was not just for personal pleasure. It would be for the common good for that arrogant girl to have some humility. Lori was not close to being as good as she thought she was.

The confidence Lori had was not a sign that the Brat Princess was back. She was on a mission tonight. To make Matt and Renee open to contacting her brother. She might not be able to force them to be friends. The damage done by the betrayal of friendship might have been too much. Lori could at least have them get on the same page. Those three had something special and they should not look back in pain and with regret about their time as friends.

Lori greeted Amanda and Kat and asked where she should put the pulled pork and hard rolls she brought. Kat was happy to hear what Lori brought. Making a pulled pork sandwich was going to be her after midnight snack. After all, it was not a true New Year’s Eve celebration in western PA without pork. That treat would make sure she and her fellow merry revelers would follow the tradition of eating pork on New Year’s Day.

Amanda wasted no time in starting to show Lori she was in charge “Lori put the pork and the rolls your parents brought upstairs.”

“OK just tell me when to get it.”

“Lori, it is going upstairs for we are not having it. I told you that you did not need to bring anything. Also, it should be with the people who actually bought and made it, your mom and dad.”

Kat gave out a little sigh. It might have been for only a second, but her newfound hope of following that delicious superstition was dashed. Also, tonight was about a new start for the new year and Amanda was not trying. Lori did something nice for once, that act should be met with encouragement.

Lori was going to be a good guest and listen to her host. She also was going to correct Amanda about what she said was wrong. “I will take what I brought upstairs.

“When you said I did not have to bring anything, I took it that I could bring something.

“I did buy the pork with my money and I did make it myself. Making it was easy. All I had to do was season it and then put it in the slow cooker.”

Amanda hated that Lori had to get the last word in. Who actually brought it was not the point. She did not care if the pork was provided and approved by the Dick Clark. The point was to make sure Lori knew that Amanda did not want her at the party. Lori somehow tried to make this about her being a gracious guest.

Before Lori could turn around and follow Amanda’s orders David showed up. He wanted to check what was in the slow cooker and bag. Amanda’s older brother was in charge of making sure there were no shenanigans tonight. When finding out Lori was not in possession of any contraband, and the content of the containers were cleared, David acted as a good host. He thanked Lori and put the food on the buffet line.

Amanda might have not gotten rid of what Lori brought, but she could still get rid of having her in her presence. “Lori, thank you for bringing the pork. Why don’t you go say hi to the other guests.”

The girl who was being treated like lint by being brushed off was not done with Amanda. Lori needed to talk with the host about how she treated her brother Luke. This chat should be private so Lori said. “Kat can you please give me and Amanda a moment before I go mingle? We need to talk about something.”

Kat left. Letting those two chat gave her the chance to do what she wanted anyway. There was some pull pork to investigate. She wanted to find out what kind of seasoning Lori used on it. “No problem Lori. Thank you for bringing the pork.”

After acknowledging Kat’s thanks and making sure Amanda’s best friend was out of earshot, Lori said “Amanda this will not take long and I will leave you alone, but hear me out.

“The next time my brother goes to talk with Matt and Renee do not stop him. Those three need to talk. If they talk I know they will be friends again.

“Also do not correct him if he calls you Mandy. You never listened to him when he told you not to call him Luka.”

Amanda found the lady who came up with Luka admonishing her to be as rich as Elon Musk. “Lori, don't tell me what to do. I was letting your brother know what I went by now.

“Plus you have no right to chastise me about Luka. That was the past and you came up with it.”

“Amanda I know I came up with Luka. I am now trying to make amends for it.

“Anyways that is not my point. You made him reaching out to Matt and Renee about you instead of letting them start to make amends. Luke calling you Mandy was not bad. You know that. You just had to have things your way.”

“I was making sure that Luke was not going to go off on them or us.”

“Why? You would have deserved it.

“Also, you know my brother well enough, he is better than that. He has what we are all trying to have now, class. My bro would not have stooped down to our level. He is not about bringing people down, but lifting them up.

“Thank you for inviting me to the party. I am going to mingle. I know you don’t want to deal with me.”

Amanda found herself a little dumbfounded. She did not even have a vague idea on how to process that interaction. There were all the hallmarks of the old Lori there, except one. She was not being self-centered. Lori claimed to be looking out for others. The weird part was to Amanda it rang true.

**************

Even if Mary was not at his side, tonight would have been the best New Year’s Eve ever for Luke. This was the first year that he was looking forward to the future. He was ready for whatever the changing of the calendar had in store for him instead of hoping for the changing of the year to bring good changes to his life.

There was also the weather. The temperature being seventy degrees does wonders for the soul. There was also no snow on the ground and during the day the sky was blue instead of grey. Having a bright day made it easier for one to look on the bright side of life.

The great weather did warm Luke’s soul, but not as much as Mary did. Her being herself was enough for that to be true, yet there was one fact about their relationship which did so the most. That Luke also warmed her soul. Their relationship was mutually beneficial. The sum was greater than the parts. The parts also became better from each other.

It was 9 PM as Luke was sitting with Mary, Shy, and Greg K. in the backyard when his phone rang. His sister was calling. He answered and she yelled “Happy New Year.”

He laughed at the greeting. For one second he did so for he thought that it was a little early for such a loud salutation. Then it quickly dawned on him that his sister was so far away from him that it was the new year to her. Sadness from not being close to his family stayed at bay. He found joy that she picked him as the person to greet the new year with.

Luke phone was passed around so Lori could wish the rest of the Cove Crew. Then Luke went back to being in the moment. He wanted to savor this night. He knew the chances were good that he would not have that many New Years to celebrate with Mary. They were young and life would do its best to change their best-laid plans.

****************

After phoning and talking with Luke, Lori rejoined the party. Kat was happily eating her pulled pork sandwich when she suggested that they all play “You Think You Know Me.” Matt, Renee, and Lori said yes. They did not want to give anyone a chance to suggest Truth or Dare. Little did they know that game was out of the question tonight. David was not going to let them play a game where there was any coercion of physical contact. No one should ever be forced to be touched or have to touch someone they did not want to.

The game got a little too serious for Lori when everyone was asked “What was Matt’s biggest regret?” Lori knew the answer too well. How could she not, she was the cause of his biggest regret. Renee gave the correct answer of “The Saturday Morning Bike Club never riding together again.” Matt said, “I wish that could happen just one more time.”

The pain in the couple’s voice was too much for Lori. A tear snuck out of her eye. At that moment, Lori took responsibility for the pain in Matt and Renee’s voice. Getting rid of their hurt was a check she wrote when she destroyed their friendship with her brother. There was only one way to pay that bill, to fulfill those two’s shared wish of the Saturday Morning Bike Club riding together once again.”

Having that goal kept the rest of Lori’s tears at bay. Knowing she was going to right that wrong brought her peace. Most people would have found Lori’s goal as a herculean task and have doubt it would happen. She did not. The girl had the well-earned confidence to believe that putting her mind at accomplishing this would it happen. All the damage she has done as the Brat Princess has shown her she could do anything she set her mind to achieve. This time, her will and determination were going to be used for good. In making her goal righting this wrong, the reformed Brat Princess was taking the next step in becoming a grown up woman. Lori might have lost being so self-centered, but she still will always have sass and be a little brash.