Louise's Junior Year

Go have some fun.

At lunch, Louise sat with her usual group: Gene, Andy, Ollie, and Regular-Sized Rudy. Her brother flung a piece of broccoli at her face, "You okay, Louise?"

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" She flung her own piece back.

"Well you've been staring at the empty seat next to you with a whole plate full of mac n' cheese in front of you. A whole plate of delicious mystery cheese on it. Just sitting there."

Louise poked at her food for a moment, then pushed it over to Gene. "Here. I'm just going to eat the pudding." From the corner of her eye, Louise saw the kid from the morning sitting alone. "Yo! Ethan!"

Rudy followed her eyes to see who she was yelling at. "I think his names Elliot. He's in my math class."

"Oh." Louise cupped her hands around her mouth before trying again, "Elliot!" The boy turned and Louise waved him over. He hurried with his tray. "Take a seat kid. Meet the gang. That's my brother Gene, these two are Andy and Ollie, and that's Regular-Sized Rudy."

"'Regular-sized?'"

Rudy nodded, "Yeah...there's another Rudy everyone calls Pocket-Sized Rudy. Although, that started back in elementary school and now he's six four."

"Wow." Elliot looked over the seemingly short boy in front of him.

Louise leaned over, "It's not just because he's sitting. He is kinda short. Only about five six or seven."

"I'm pretty sure it's seven." Rudy mumbled.

"That's not so bad. I'm only a couple inches taller." Rudy smiled, leaving Elliot feeling a lot more confident about making friends.

In between bites of macaroni, Gene asked, "So, where you from?"

"A town outside of Boston."

"Play any instruments, Boston Man?"

Shaking his head, Elliot let out a little chuckle, "No not really. I tried learning the drums in middle school, but it, uh. It was really bad."

"So you'll just have to rely on your sick dance moves."

"My what?" He looked around at the other kids, no one else seemed to care about what Gene was saying. "Okay...so, um, what do you guys usually do after school?"

The twins were quick to answer, "I hang out with Andy."

"I hang out with Ollie."

Gene was next, "I work at our parents restaurant until it's time to start on a show. Then I'm mainly at the auditorium."

Rudy watched Louise play with her now empty cup of pudding. "I've just working a lot."

Elliot was just about to open his mouth when Rudy spoke up, "Hey, maybe I'll swing by today. Would that be alright?"

One corner of Louise's lips curled up as she looked over to her friend, "Always, Ru."

After school, Louise paused by the concrete steps she had spent so many days after school sitting at with her friends. Her mind went to Logan. She then hurried home. The second Louise walked in the door, Linda throw her arms around her neck. "Oh! There's my baby Louise! Where's your brother?"

 Louise shrugged, "Beats me."

"Oh well. So! Tell me about school. How does it feel being a junior?" Louise shrugged again, then pulled away from her mom to put her back pack away and get her apron on to start work. "Nothing exciting today? No new friends? No fun stories?"

"Mom. It's the first day. I just showed up, sat in some chairs, ate some food, sat in some more chairs, then came home."

Linda looked disappointed, "Okay..." She made her way back behind the counter, leaning over on one elbow and placing her cheek on her hand. Watching her daughter hurry around, she worried a bit. During the summer, after saying goodbye to Logan, something changed in her daughter. It was like a little light went out and Linda didn't like it. She had her suspicions about her daughter's relationship with her blonde friend, whichwere then confirmed after catching the boy climbing in and out of her bedroomwindow several times. Linda thought back to when she'd see him in the alley trying to straighten himself out before walking into the restaurant and acting like he had just showed up to walk Louise to school.

"Lin? Linda?" Bob stood at the kitchen window with Teddy's order sitting on the ledge. He could see his friend becoming anxious as he looked back and forth between Bob and Linda. Letting out a breath, Bob made his way out and around to the counter to hand over the burger to a now cheerful Teddy. "Linda? What's up with you?"

Without talking her eyes off their daughter, Linda stood up straight and leaned against her husband, "Look at her, Bobby. Have you ever seen Louise work like that?"

"Well, I mean, yeah. It's a little weird. She does seem really focused, but that's a good thing, right?" They watched as Louise took a plate from a costumer who had just taken his last bite then wipe his mouth off for him. She then shook his drink to see how much with left then stuck the straw in his mouth, ordering him to finish. Bob's mouth dropped, "Louise!" The customer obeyed, then quickly set down his money before hurrying out the door. "Sorry about that! She's not usually like this!" Bob tried to run after him, but stopped as the door closed in his face. He turned back to his daughter, who was now taking dishes back to the sink.

Bob followed her, By the time he reached the swing door, she was coming back out. Her father placed a hand on her shoulders and gently guided Louise back into the kitchen. "What are you doing?"

"Louise. You've got to take it easy."

"Take it easy? Take it easy?" Louise began to raise her voice, "Who can take it easy around here?"

Watching his daughter's eye began to twitch, Bob took a deep breath before turning her around, untying her apron, and pulling it off her head. "Go."

"What?"

"Go! Meet up with some friends! Spend some time at the beach! Just go do any non-illegal thing that's fun for you." Louise stared at her Dad. "Come on, Louise. You're just a kid. Go have some fun."