Basking in victory made Lori being sent to her room easy to take. Even with how angry her dad was and being told she was punished, Lori was enjoying being in what her dad thought was a prison cell. To her, this was just a holding pen and her mom would grant her a partial pardon. She would be able to do anything when the warden, her dad, was not home.

Lori did not know or care how long until her mom came up to see her. Being in this solitary confinement was worth getting what she wanted, Luke being put in his place by everyone who was important. If the time started to drag and Lori got sick of thinking about finally winning the War of the Twins she would look at her walls. They were covered with posters of her favorite boy bands. She could daydream about the lead singer serenading her with a ballad.

Once the cell’s door opened, Lori was happier with the outcome than she thought she could be. This had to be her mom coming in to tell her the good news. Only 15 minutes have passed so the punishment could not be that bad. There would have been a huge fight if not. Alice would not easily agree to anything bad happening to her Brat Princess. Maybe her dad came to his senses and listened to who really ruled this kingdom, the Nostalgia Queen.

The sight of her mom and dad walking into her room instantly took Lori’s happiness away. The order of entrance was a bad sign, her dad was in the lead. His head being high and her mom’s being low was more of an omen of what was to come. This was not how finding out punishment normally worked. It was done by only her dad then her mom would comfort her and start to ease the harsh sentence.

Fred started to give out the ruling, “Lori, you are grounded for the rest of the summer. You will not be seeing your friends, you will not be leaving this house without adult supervision. You will be handing over your cell phone, and your Gameboy to me. You will be doing more chores. You will have a strict bedtime. You will not be getting any preferential treatment. You will write me a paper on why bullying is bad.”

“You will not call your brother Luka or bring up him being in a dress ever again. You will apologize to him when you are ready. I know you will not mean the words now. How sincere your apology is will determine how long you are punished.”

The punishment was as fair as a pair of loaded dice in a game of craps. There was a better chance of the lazy dog catching the quick brown fox, than Lori not speaking up in protest. She jumped out of her bed to stand up and put her hand down by saying “No, that is not fair. I am not grounded. I did nothing wrong.”

Alice wanted the situation to be more like silk and tried to smooth out the disagreement. “Lori, honey. It is not that bad.”

Fred was not going to take such insubordination from Lori. “Alice quit trying to comfort Lori.” Then Fred turned to look right at his daughter. He wanted to make sure he came off as ice, clear and cold. “Young lady you do not talk to me in that manner! I am your father!”

Lori started to cry. This was one of the few times her tears were real. She knew the price she paid for breaking up the bond between Luke and his friends was too high. There were no winners in the War of the Twins.

Alice wanted to show her daughter someone was on her side. “Fred calm down, Lori is upset.”

Fred wanted to make sure his wife knew there would be no leniency coming to Lori. “Alice, Lori should be upset. She is in big trouble and needs to know it. How she has been treating Luke has been wrong. That is why she never did it around me. Our daughter needs to learn her lesson. She would have if you did not go behind my back and let her treat her brother so badly. You covered for her and if I could I would also ground you. I am so pissed at you right now Alice. You disappointed me.”

“Mom!”

Alice utter a solitary word, “Sorry”. That one word said so much. That one word told Lori that there was a new warden in town and her punishment was not going to get commuted or pardoned. That the Brat Princess was going to be doing hard time until she could fool her dad into believing she was rehabilitated.

*********

Five years ago, almost the same scene had played out in the Walha’s kitchen. Renee was once again making a spice cake to give to Luke. The gift was to express being sorry to his friend. She did not wonder if those two were friends. Renee saw the situation as one little mistake of how she got her boyfriend, Tom Downey. Luke should be happy that his friend got together with the boy she liked. Luke and Renee’s shared past was two strong for one little mistake to end their connection. There were too many laughs, hugs, and smiles to be overpowered by one little mistake. Renee was a strong girl and her strength was going to make her able to stand up and admit the mistake.

On the other hand, Al and Meg were not as confident. The friendship being over was an extremely plausible outcome. The one little mistake was actually a series of bad decisions. Their daughter lied to Luke about having a party and lied to them about why Luke was not there. Then she went against her word and did not invite him to any party she had. Renee let Lori stay. Then their daughter laughed and went along with putting Luke down behind his back.

If all of these bad decisions did not end the friendship, then, how Luke found out should. Lori, his sister, his nemesis got to gloat about everything which Renee had done to exclude him. This put a different spin on the situation. The parents knew what Renee did was wrong, but Lori was going to make sure Luke felt those acts were done in malice. Hopefully Renee will learn from these bad decisions that, the facts that result of events and not the intent were how people judge them.

After the spice cake was iced, Renee went on her journey of atonement. On her travels to Luke Renee stop to pick up another pilgrim, Matt. Her friend said he was not going. Matt was not in the right place to face his friend. He felt that he was beyond forgiveness and did not want to stir up any more bad feelings for Luke.

Renee found the walk up the steps to Luke’s home to be steeper than normal. Each step was a little harder to take than the last. She persevered and made it to the door and rang the bell. Lori answered the door.

“Lori can I talk with Luke.”

“He is not here.”

“Do you know when he will be back?”

“I don’t know. I can give him a message.”

“No.”

“Come on Renee, please let me do that. I am in so much trouble and if I am nice to my brother then it might help me get out of it. You can trust me. Right now, I am grounded for at least the rest of the summer. Please help me. I promise I will treat Luke how he should be treated. I know I have to.”

“Give him this cake and tell him I’m sorry and I know I messed up. Also tell him to stop down my house when he is ready to talk.”

“Got it.”

“Thank you Lori.”

“No, thank you Renee. I need to start to get along with my brother. You and Tom are now a couple and want everyone to feel comfortable hanging out together.”

Leaving Renee thought that the issue of the one little mistake was just about resolved. Walking down those steps from Luke’s home did not seem as steep as the ascent. The truth was she made yet another bad decision. She trusted Lori. The Brat Princess already had a plan to make this peace offering another wedge between Renee and Luke.

*********

Luke was feeling better about his losing his friends after coming home from the Lincoln Way Bike Park. One boost to Luke’s feelings came from his time at the bike park. Luke had fun, a real good time. Luke had fun. The young boy knew that going solo was going to be the new norm and that did not matter after today. Today showed having a good time was not dependent on others. Luke was learning the difference between being alone and lonely.

Another boost to Luke came from his dad talking about friendship on the way home. How most people came and went in one’s life. That most people only share a little part of the journey through life with each other people they change. True friendship was rare. A person was lucky if they had more friends than they can count on one hand. Friendship was rare and unique and most people got having someone as an acquaintance confused with having a friend.

Luke understood what his dad was saying. This talk would have gone over the head of most 13 year olds, but not Luke’s. Having to deal with the onslaught led by his sister gave him wisdom and emotional intelligence well beyond his years. Luke also trusting his dad made it easy to believe those words. The trust came from Luke never having a reason to doubt his dad. His dad kept his word. Being true to one’s words was so important when raising a child. Promises are big when one was small. Promises being kept shown them they can depend on you. Luke could depend on his dad.

The visit to the bike park made Lori more miserable than before. Her brother having more fun than her, got under her skin. Then she did not even get the reprieve from her punishment. No calling her friends, no quick outside excursions and no help doing her chores. The punishment still being in effect was not normal. Her mom always looked the other way when her dad’s punishment was out of line. Today Alice did not. This should be a sign that the punishment was just. Not to Lori, this was a sign that her dad went way too far by having her mom side with him. The punishment was only upheld so it would not become more severe.

The torture was over when Lori heard the front door. Her plan to set things right could now be enacted. Luke’s younger sister could now knock him below her. She could also widen the distance between Luke and Renee.

As Fred and Luke were greeted by Alice, Lori asked her mom if she could have a piece of the cake Renee made for her. Instead of looking at her Mom Lori’s eyes went straight to Luke. The answer to the question was insignificant. Her brother’s reaction was what was paramount. Lori just wanted to get under Luke’s skin. Him being annoyed was fair.

Nothing. There was no change to Luke’s demeanor. There was also no answer from her mom. This was not going right for the Brat Princess. Lori was not going to be denied Luke feeling like she did. Alice’s daughter was not going to be denied the reassurance her mom was on her side. The question was pressed when Lori offered Luke a piece by saying “Oh Luke you can also have a slice of the cake which Renee made for me.”

Offering Luke a slice of the cake was the opening which Alice was looking for. She so wanted her daughter to get what she wanted, but knew better than to say yes. Now that both of her kids are getting a slice she could say yes. Her princess was going to get what she wanted. “I will get both of you a plate.”

Luke did not want that cake. The gesture of sharing was not genuine. The offer was a reminder of lost friendship. How Alice was more than happy to get the cake was about to make Luke feel even more distance to his mom. His mom wanted to please his sister, the girl who made his life horrible “No thank you Mother.”

Alice thought that Lori should still get the cake. Her daughter should not be denied something just because Luke did not want it. “That is fine. I will just get Lori a slice.”

Fred said “No.”

Alice said “Fred, you are being too strict. Lori is getting nothing special. Luke can have cake also and he does not want any.”

Lori “Dad, I offered Luke some of the cake that Renee made for me. I am not trying to have the cake that Renee made for me all to myself. I am trying to share that special spice cake with Luke. It would be rude of me if I do not eat any of that cake Renee gave me.”

Fred knew he was going to have to be pedantic. “Lori you will not be getting any of that cake. You only asked for some now to mention that Renee got it to you in front of Luke.”

“No, I didn’t. I’m trying to share the cake Renee made for me. I’m trying to be nice to Luke.“

“Don’t lie to me. You kept on mentioning that Renee made the cake. You know that Luke and her had a falling out. You did that to try to upset him. Go up to your room now.”

Alice still did not see what her daughter did. Lori could call wolf everyday and all day and Alice would never question it. The doting Mother did see why Fred saw it that way so agreed with his decision. “Lori, I will come upstairs with you to talk about why you will not be getting any of the cake.”

Hearing this made Lori give up her resistance. The sympathy her mom was showing could be worked to Lori’s advantage. She could not help but get in one last dig on Luke on her way up. “Luke, I am sorry that you are upset about the cake Renee made. We are just close friends now.”

Luke said nothing. He was going to stand his ground. The apology was as real and sincere a gigolo’s love for his sugar momma. Those words also added to his resolve about the ending of his friendship with Matt and Renee. He just grew apart from them and would make new friends. Luke would make his own path.

Alice was disappointed in her son, but kept that to herself. The Mom read the room before she got on Luke about not accepting the apology. Any comment would have gone over as good as Subway’s sandwiches at a black-tie event. She could tell by the look on her husband’s face he approved of Luke’s reaction. Alice made the mistake of thinking just saying sorry was enough. Lori's apology was not sincere or heartfelt. There was no acknowledgment of her wrong doings. Lori also showed no remorse and empathy. Lastly, she did not make any offer on how to offer restitution about trying to irk her brother.

Up in the room Lori worked her charms on her mom. “Mom this is not fair. I can’t help it if Luke is a crybaby and his friends finally got sick of it.”

“Don’t call Luke a crybaby dear. We talked about that.”

“I am not. I am just stating why Renee and Matt do not like him anymore. Don’t tell them I told you. They will get in trouble and will start to not like me either.”

“Honey, sorry. I should not have thought you were calling Luke a crybaby. It is just you are in trouble for how you were treating your brother. I know you were trying to be nice. Your dad will not see you that way for a while. You need to just be careful around him.”

“Daddy never liked me.”

“He does Lori. He just does not see how special you are. You are the best daughter anyone can ever have and never forget that. Now why don’t you read that book about your favorite band I got you until I get you to come down.”

Alice gave her daughter the biggest hug she could. Lori needed all the support her mom could give her. The little talk and the hug was all Lori really needed to feel better. The talk helped by Lori finding a loophole in calling Luke names in front of her mom, just say that people called Luke that. Lori was feeling better knowing sooner or later her biggest support, the Nostalgia Queen, will be back in her corner. Then Lori can go back to making sure Luke knew his place in her family, her life and her world.

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

Three weeks have passed since Renee has talked to Luke. 21 days for a teenager could be seen as multiple lifetimes. There have been relationships which started, broken up from one of them kissing someone else and reconciliation which did not take that long. Renee wanted to talk with Luke. It has been too long and Luke should have been over the snub.

Renee was a strong young woman and was going to take the initiative of having her and Luke talking to each other once again. There was no way a member of the Saturday Morning Bike Club would not talk to another member on Saturday morning at the bike park. Today was going to be the day. Today was Saturday and so special to their friendship. This was the day that their club was named after. The place was going to be the bike park. This was the place where their club was formed. Today was going to be the day that Renee and Luke’s friendship was repaired.

As soon as she got to the bike park Renee saw Luke. The time to talk with him was right now. Renee hoped on her BMX racing bike and rode as fast as she could. Taking the initiative made Renee be upfront right away. “Hi, Luke, how did you like that cake? “

Luke was also upfront. Before this interaction Renee was at best an acquaintance of his. The question firmly placed her in that camp. Being cute about cake was just mocking him. He had no time for this childish game of Renee showing how close she was to Lori. “I didn’t have any?”

Renee was hurt hearing the answer “Why not?”

“You made it for Lori. She really loved trying to rub that fact in my face. I do not care that you are friends with her instead of me.”

Renee was too upset to clear this up right away. The pain of her friend thinking she would try to hurt him was too much. “I would never do that.”

Luke pointed out why he doubted what Renee said. “Just like you would never call me Luka, or laugh at that. Just like you would never have a party without inviting me. Wasn’t Lori invited to that party?”

“She wasn’t.”

“Then why was she there?”

“Tracy brought her. I would have never let her in.”

“You did.”

“Luke, I meant if she showed up on her own. We were having a good time. I did not want to ruin it. “

“Yeah, you did not want Tom to leave.”

“Tom is nice. He only picks on you because you will not race him. He just wants a chance to race you again. “

“Renee that does not make it right. I don’t like him so why should I race him? I don’t like being picked on and he does that. Why would Tom picking on me make me want to race him?”

“To make him stop.”

“I shouldn’t have to race him for him to stop. Anyway, he will not. He did not stop after I beat him.”

“Luke stop this. I am trying to say I am sorry.”

“Renee, you are only sorry that I found out. You would have never told me about it. You had the kids who picked on me over and joined in making fun of me. You are not my friend and that is fine. I don’t need people to like me.”

“I am your friend.”

Hearing those words made Luke have enough. Luke was ready to stand on his own. The boy was becoming a man. Standing tall when his mom punished Luke gave him the resolve to call out Renee. He was not going to let someone who put him down proclaim they were his friend “If you are my friend then you are a friend that I do not want. You are only worried about people liking you. You do not really care about other people, you just want their acceptance. You will hurt a friend to make more people like you. Just stay away from me.”

Renee knew the situation was worse. She could not figure out why. The reason was the conversation was filled with miscommunication and made the rift between friends grow. The failure in getting their point across came from them not being in the same place. Neither of them seeing the situation from the other’s point of view. Renee was not dealing with the party and Luke still was. She wanted to move on from her mistake without taking responsibility for it.

Renee seeing her friend leave her behind made the strong teenage girl feel weak and powerless. To her, there was nothing she could do to make right what was wrong. The last place she wanted to be was where Luke was. She rode her bike back to her dad to go home.

Al Walha went from laughing to being concerned when he saw his daughter riding up to him. She was his little girl and loved him, but Renee was at the age where she did not hang out with her dad in public. She wanted to be independent and Al understood. When he found out why his daughter came back he went straight to Fred to clear this up.

The rift might have been fixed right then and there if Al did not go to talk to Fred like a concerned parent. He was too concerned about the symptom instead of the disease. All that was on his mind was to make Renee feel better. Al should have been worried about getting things better between Luke and his daughter.

Al walked right up to Fred and interrupted the conversation Luke’s dad was in “Fred. You need to talk to your son. He is still mad at Renee.”

Fred could have helped broker peace between his son and Al’s daughter at this moment, but got defensive. Instead of being a cooler head Fred helped escalate the situation “Al, don’t talk to me like that.”

If this was a poker game Al response would have been a re-raise. “Don’t tell me what to do. Your son upset my daughter. He needs to grow up. He can at least talk to her.”

Saying Luke needed to grow up and not even mentioning how Renee hurt Luke made Fred go all in. “You want to talk about needing to grow up. Your daughter had a party without inviting Luke and at that party made fun of him behind his back. She became so petty about Luke being mad she is now friends with Lori.”

Instead of hearing Fred, Al called and went all in by getting even more defensive. “He needs to grow up. They can’t do everything together.”

Fred fired back. “I am not saying they should do everything together, but friends do invite their friends to parties they are having. Friends do not go behind their friends back to exclude them for group events like that. Friends do not pick on friends.”

“Your son is overreacting.”

Fred had enough. “Al they are kids. Your daughter made a decision to not be as close to Luke. She put him down to make other people like her. They are not friends anymore. Luke is fine with it. He has moved on, maybe your daughter should do the same.”

Al was not going to let Fred have the last word. There was no way he was going to not defend Renee. Worrying more about his daughter’s feelings than her actions made Al join in putting down Luke. “You are right. Renee can do a lot better with her friends than your son.”

Fred was done talking with Al and just said bye. He was going to fire back, but knew saying anything was as pointless as a circle to do so. Luke’s dad just saying bye made Al know the conversation was like Renee and Luke’s friendship, over.

*********

As the rift grew between Luke and Renee along with the tension between Fred and Al, Matt was hanging out with Mike Patton. Since the pool party those two had become closer. They have a shared love for science and Mike mentioned that he had a chemistry set at the party. This set was no ordinary one but The C5000. This was the most advanced set for teenagers. There were over 500 experiments which could be done with this member of the C series. The C5000 came with all the standard equipment, beakers, flasks, vials, scales, and safety goggles which was with all other C series sets. There was one piece of kit which was included, a Bunsen burner.

The set being dangerous made the recommended age to be 16 years or older. Mike’s parents let their underage son get one on the condition he always had adult supervision when the Bunsen burner was used. They trusted Mike because of how serious and careful he was when doing an experiment.

Gina Patton was their adult supervision for the day. Mike’s mom was smiling as she stood alongside her son and new friends were enjoying setting up a ph scale test. She was so happy that Mike was hanging out with someone new. Gina felt that his other friends were immature and holding her son’s emotional growth back. Those kids were too juvenile to trust with the glass beakers let alone the Bunsen burner or the chemicals even with adult supervision.

After having fun with chemistry, Matt mentioned that they should go to the bike park. Gina and Mike both quickly said yes. The mom thought spending more time away from his gang would do her son good. Mike wanted to make sure that the budding friendship kept on growing. He was also curious about the bike park. How Matt’s eyes lit up talking about that place made it sound fun.

Mike’s new friend missed going to the bike park. He also wanted to make new great memories so thinking of where he used to spend his Saturday mornings was bittersweet. Matt was not trying to replace Luke with Matt, deep down he knew his old friend will always have a unique place in his heart. Matt just needed to expand his heart and have a new special place for a new close friend.

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

Tom Downey felt as dark as the screen on his cell phone after hanging up from talking with his girlfriend, Renee. How she was crying when she told him about her day made him hate Luke more. That boy should have been nice to Renee. Luke needed to understand that some people get picked on in life and he just happens to be one of those people.

Tom needed to do something right now about how Luke treated his girlfriend. The boy wanted to do the right thing. He needed to be at the bike park as soon as possible. There was no way a good boyfriend would wait to defend his girl. There was no way a good boyfriend would not be there to comfort his girl.

Tom asked his dad, Richie, to take him to the park. Richie said yes. Coming to this answer was easy. It was a beautiful day. His son should be outside instead of sitting in front of a TV playing video games. Richie should also be outside, soaking in the sun would do him some good.

*********

Al was still fretting about his daughter. Renee was such a strong girl and did not like seeing how weak and vulnerable she was. It was not right that his daughter was trying to avoid Luke like she did something wrong. He wanted her to stand up for herself at this moment. Al could not see that Renee was being strong. She knew she did Luke wrong and had no right to try to force the conversation anymore. She also wanted to be away from the person who reminded her about what she did

**********

Renee finally got her dad to agree it was time to go home. Al saw that keeping his daughter here was not helping her regain her strength. She was not strong enough yet to stand up on her own. Before they were finished packing up her bike, Matt and Mike arrived, Renee’s back up showed up so her backbone did also.

The energy coming back to his daughter made Al suggest that they could stay if Renee wanted to. He wanted her to not be chased away because someone did not like her. Renee said yes. She had not seen Matt for two weeks and she liked hanging out with Mike. He was more mature than anyone else in Lori’s court.

Seeing that blue Ford pickup truck pull in next, made Renee happy that she stayed. That truck belonged to her boyfriend’s dad. Seeing her boyfriend, Tom Downey, would cheer her up. Being around what she gained, would make her forget what she lost to get it.

As soon as Tom got his bike, he began to do what he came to the bike park to do, put that no good Luka in his place. The boy on a mission rode right past his friends. Confronting Luke was more important than seeing Renee. Tom had to prove to himself and others that he was better than Luke.

Tom started to talk at Luke. This was not talking with Luke because Tom only wanted to convey information and not listen to anything Luke said. “Hey Luka. Chill out and be nice to Renee. She has just outgrown being friends with someone like you. Talk with her when I am not around and there will be no issues between me and you, understand?”

Luke’s stare started to bore holes into Tom’s soul. Luke’s nemesis was not ready for how uncomfortable that look made him. The look was as intense and serious as the look his father gave Tom when he was in trouble. The boy had not dealt with the man Luke was becoming face to face, until this moment. The look broke Tom so his voice began to crack when he tried to continue standing up to Luke by repeating “Understand?”

Luke stayed cool as Renee, Matt and Mike joined Tom. He did not say a word before he rode off. Saying anything would have been a waste of time. Tom then said something which got under Luke’s skin “Be a man and race me. If you win we will leave you alone. When I win you have to admit you are wrong and say sorry to Renee.”

Luke said yes. That lie made Luke respond. Getting what was promised was not the reason for Luke accepting the challenge. That promise was as good as a love poem written by a 12 year old. Luke wanted to prove to Renee that Tom did not keep his word.

Renee said no. Tom’s girlfriend hated the idea of the race. No good would come of it. There was no chance of her boyfriend winning so she would have to accept not talking with Luke. Even if Tom won, Luke forced apology would hurt any chance of reconciliation. Her friend having to admit to wrongdoing when he was right would only make the space between them further.

Luke took the rejection of the deal as Renee not getting enough. Luke added a stipulation. “Fine you want more Renee. You can call me Luka also.”

Renee objected again. Luke responded “Renee don’t act like you want this. You called me Luka behind my back. So, if you win you will just be able to do it to my face with your boyfriend. You don’t have to act nice to me anymore.”

As each time before Luke won the race. The victor’s path through the course was smooth. Luke did not waste any time by taking wide turns and landed each of the jumps smoothly to keep his momentum. At least Tom practicing for this day made the race close. If only Tom had not slow down for Dime Curve he would have won. Dime Curve was the name of the last turn on the serpentine track. The name came from it being a sharp turn with the low bream. To keep their speed the racer had to be able to turn on a dime. Unless the BMX rider was in the lead they had to slow down for Dime Curve or risk wrecking into the bikes in front of them.

Tom showed he was true at not keeping his word. He objected to the results by saying that Luke did a false start. Everyone watching the race knew that was not true. Even with Luke winning fairly Renee and Matt agreed with Tom. A redo of the race was the only way they could force Luke to talk with them. Those two had faith that Tom could win. The former members of the Saturday Morning Bike Club desperately wanted to keep the hope of reforming the club alive. If Tom won then they would be able to talk with Luke. Having communication opened with Luke was the only way they could right the wrong.

Luke was going to stand up for himself again. He knew that he could beat Tom all day. He barked back “Fine Matt and Renee, do over. You two must really like calling me Luka. You can do it even if I win.”

How Luke agreed made Renee and Matt know they just did more damage to their friendship with Luke. Their friend seeing bad intentions in them wanting another race only confirmed on how bad they messed up. That now the only one who could fix the rift between them was Luke when he was ready. If he was ever ready. They knew the future would be one without him at their side. They knew the reason was that they went against all for one and one for all.

Luke won the second race, but not by getting across the finish line. He won by Tom getting disqualified by wrecking into Luke. The wreck was at Dime Curve. Tom was behind Luke and instead of slowing down, kept going full speed. The force of the crash broke Luke’s left leg. Tom got up from the wreck to continue the race. At the finish line less than 50 feet away from his fallen opponent the boy who was only concerned about people seeing him better than Luke declared himself the victor.

Renee and Matt once again agreed with Tom’s lie. They had their eyes on Tom instead of Luke. They did not see Luke was down and hurt. Those two were more concerned about getting back their friendship with Luke to even think that something might be wrong with him. They just wanted Luke being mad at them to be over. Luke would now have to hear them out. Their friend would have to be ready after he heard them out. Luke might be mad at first, but once the Saturday Morning Bike Club started to ride again he would understand. Plus, those two would promise Luke that no one would call him Luka again.

Mike said no. Mike was like Luke and was quitting being a yes man to being his own man. That race was tainted. There is no way someone could wreck into someone else and think they won. Tom declaring victory was not about Tom wanting to be better. It was about Tom wanting others to think he was better than Luke.

As the four friends were arguing over the results of the race some of the older kids came to check on Luke. They saw how serious the wreck was along with Luke still being on the dirt track. The writhing in pain from the fallen competitor was too much for them to watch without getting involved. Seeing Luke’s struggle to try to get up was a sign the injury to the leg was serious. Right now was not the time for those other four to be talking to each other, they should have been wondering why Luke did not finish the race.

As one of the older kids, Nat Mahomes, was checking on Luke he overheard the bickering about the race. He was the best BMX racer at the park so his opinion counted. He could not believe what he was hearing. A boy was hurt and the douchebag which caused it was proclaiming victory. Nat spoke up to end the pointless argument and put the attention to where it belonged, Luke struggling to get up from the ground. Yelling at those four Nate said “Shut up about the race! Dude wrecked right into Luke so he lost. Get over here and check on your friend.”

Renee, Matt and Mike ran over to check on Luke. Tom walked over. He did not care to check on Luke. Renee’s boyfriend was only worried about keeping up appearances that he had some humanity when it came to that the boy did not know his place. As the three which ran made it to Luke, Nat wanted to show his dismay towards Renee. She was a racer and knew that Tom would have been disqualified. As he looked directly at his fellow BMX rider Nat was shaking his head as he said “Come on Renee, you know better than that.“

By the time the Renee and the rest of her friends made it to Luke he was able to stand up on one leg. Luke had to show his strength. He could not put any weight on his left leg. The pain was not going to keep Luke down. If losing his friends did not, that injury had no chance. The wincing in pain and how awkward her friend was standing made Renee concerned. She asked Luke if he was fine. Luke in pain sneered “Leave me alone.”

Before Renee could her get well wishes out Fred asked for help to get Luke to his van. Al and Nat offered. Fred said yes to Nat. Al knew better than insisting that he helped his friend’s son. Earlier today he let his temper get the best of him and talked bad about Luke. He just wanted the teenage drama to be over for his daughter and blamed others for her feeling bad.

On their way to get Luke to the van Renee went to be with him. The hurt boy said “Renee, keep your word and leave me alone.”

Al told his daughter they were going home now. The ride home became quiet after Renee explained what Luke’s last words meant. Hearing about the stake of the race hurt Al. His strong daughter was not as strong as he thought. A part of being a strong person was learning from your mistakes and Renee did not do so. A strong person would not try to force someone who was mad at them to talk with them. They would be patient and give them time.

Al was also hurt by how he acted. His actions towards the falling out were wrong. Instead of looking at the situation from all angles from the people involved, he only cared about his daughter’s well-being. He should have not pushed Fred about the fight between their children. Al should have known that what his daughter did by betraying Luke, even with no malice in her words, was something major which would take time to get over.

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

After Renee and Luke left the park, Mike and Matt tried to ditch Tom. Matt wanted nothing to do with him. Mike wanted to talk with Matt about agreeing with those lies. That was just not right. Matt siding with Tom was making Mike rethink his opinion of his new friend.

Tom thought their cold attitude was from feeling bad about Luke and not the cold shoulder people gave tagalongs. He finally spoke up to try to get his friends to open up “Come on you two. Luka’s leg is not that bad. He is fine. You know he is nothing more than a cry baby. He wants sympathy and you are playing right into it. He will be back here next week.”

Mike once again was not a yes man. Being true to himself felt so much better than trying to make people like him. He did not have that empty feeling inside nor was worried about saying the wrong thing. By not wanting the acceptance of others he got the acceptance of the person who counted the most in his life, himself. “Tom, call him Luke. Keep your word. You lost the race.”

Matt was now on the side of the truth. Lying no longer had a chance of savaging his friendship with Luke “Yeah, his name is Luke.”

Tom was not going to let those two correct him when he was right. “Come on guys, we always call him Luka. That is who he is. Matt you know that I won. You said it. Quit trying to make Mike happy.”

Matt told the truth. “I only said that because there was a chance that Luke would talk with me. I should not have said that. I should not have tried to force Luke to talk with me.”

“You know you lost. The funny thing you call Luke a crybaby, but you moan badly when you lose. You had tears in your eyes when we beat you at laser tag. You were so mad when Luke proved once again today he is better than you.”

Tom did what he always did, tried to save face by saying “Whatever losers. I am going home. I can see that you two just feel bad for that loser.”

Those words were welcomed by both Mike and Matt. Matt was the first to reply with a simple “Bye.” The curtness of their leaving salutation was a sign that Tom’s presence was not welcomed anyways.

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

It took the rest of the summer for Luke to start to recover from the broken leg. The first two months Luke was inactive because of the cast. He gained ten pounds. This added weight gave Lori new ammunition to fire at Luke. Luke’s sister came up with a new name to call him, Lumpy Luka. Now the Brat Princess just needed to be able to get a message to the outside so her court would learn about the new taunt and start to use it.

Being grounded was only a hindrance to the distribution of the information. Even with the harsh sentencing her mom did let some of it slide when her dad was gone. The punishment was too severe to Alice. Alice let Lori call her friends once a week. She did not want Lori to lose how close a friendship with her group she had. How could her daughter have the same childhood as her if Lori was not also surrounded by a big group of friends?

This weekly reprise from punishment was the opening that Lori needed to get the message out. She talked to Tracy Armstrong first. Tracy was more than happy to help get the word out to the others. Lori’s right-hand woman wanted Luke to hurt because he hurt her once again.

Tracy felt bad about Luke breaking his leg so she went to see him. She was going to end being on Lori’s side. Luke rejected seeing her. Tracy was still too young to understand that she needed to do more than just offer an olive branch to regain Luke’s trust. She needed to accept being rejected without falling back on tormenting him a couple of times first. Her lashing out each time only made Luke think that Tracy was only trying to set him up to be taken down once again by her. Being friendly to Tracy was not worth the risk. Luke was going to make sure he protected himself from people.

It was the beginning of August when Luke finally got the cast off and got rid of his crutches. The six weeks since breaking his leg were uneventful. The Nostalgia Queen did not show up once. Alice made sure that Lori was on her best behavior around Luke. During the healing process was not the time or place for Lori to annoy Luke. Little sisters could get under the skin of their older brothers, but not when the older brother was not 100 percent.

Having his cast off gave Luke the true freedom to go outside and he took advantage of not being confined to the house. The young boy wanted to go for a walk. He needed the exercise. Luke was a little self-conscious about gaining that weight, but not worried about it. His dad already came up with a plan to help Luke lose it. He got both of them passes at the local indoor swimming pool. The father knew how much his son loved the water at the beach so the exercise would also be a treat to Luke.

Packing on the extra weight was not a big deal to Luke. The weight would be lost. Luke was determined to do so. He had the tools to do so. Resolve, perseverance, and fortitude come from adversity. Luke had adversity in his young life. His sister and her gang picking on him. His mom playing favorites and his two closest friends turning on him gave him the strength and confidence to lose the weight.

The beginning of the journey back to his natural weight was a walk past Tracy’s home. Tracy was outside waiting. She knew Luke was out and about by getting a phone call from Lori. She shouted “Hey there Lumpy Luka.”

Those words were a sharp pain to Luke’s psyche. The only good the taunt did was make Luke lose focus on the dull pain in his leg. With losing his two closest friends, Tom wrecking into him turned Luke more aggressive protecting himself. His gaze became defiant. He walked right up to Tracy. In a cold uncaring voice Luke said “Yes, I am a little heavy now; but, I will lose the weight. You are a mean and nasty person. After I lose the weight you will still be a mean and nasty person.”

The best comebacks to put downs are not the wittiest ones with name calling. Those quips might be more entertaining to the people hearing them. The best comebacks are hurtful truths. Flaws which the other person wants to change. Luke saying Tracy was a mean and nasty person was him stating the biggest hurtful truth about the girl.

Being a bully was what Tracy hated about herself the most. How she put down others to protect herself was the one aspect about herself Tracy would change if she could. Lori’s friend only hung out with the mean girl’s crowd in school so she was not an object of their attention. Being mean to others did not change Tracy from being scared but did keep her safe until now.

Tracy felt exposed and could not respond. The scared girl fell back on her nervous tick of biting her bottom lip. She ran in the house to cover her naked emotions. Being in her home, made Tracy regain her composure. The bricks were a barrier between her and the person who hurt her. The wounded girl had to get back at Luke. The hurt girl needed to make sure that Luke never told her that truth again. The need for protection was too much and she called Lori. The lady-in-waiting demanded that her princess extracted revenge. Lori was more than happy to oblige. Making Luke miserable was fun and doing so would only put Tracy more in Lori’s service.

To Lori the time was right to start up the War of the Twins again. It has been months since the fateful day she has been banished from her kingdom. It was time for her triumphant return to her throne. Luke got back from his walk feeling stronger emotionally and physically. He was able to not only stand on his healing leg longer than he thought, the boy was also able to stand up for himself to Tracy.

Lori hated seeing her brother confident. In her eyes he should be humble. He had nothing, no friends, no social standing in school, and most importantly to her no place in her spotlight. The time to put Luke in his place was now “Tracy said she saw you walking and you looked lumpy.”

That was the first of two unexpected ambushes. The second one came from the Nostalgia Queen. The one from Lori’s mom was unexpected because of the target, the Brat Princess. “Lori you don’t say that about your brother.”

For the first time in her life Alice was mad and disappointed in her daughter. Being annoying was fine for the youngest daughter in the family. Making fun of weight was not. One of Alice’s closest friends, Beth Johnson, had a weight issue when young. Kids would pick on her and Alice hated it. There was nothing Beth could do about being a little chubby. The girl had a thyroid problem and it was undiagnosed until 8th grade. Beth ate healthy and was active but still was a little on the heavy side. Once she was put on the right medicine the weight melted off of her quickly.

Lori tried to play the innocent “Mom I was not calling Luka Lumpy. I was just bringing up that Tracy called him Lumpy Luka.”

Lori trying to use one of her old standby to get out of trouble backfired on her like an old car. “I told you not call Luke that and you know you are not allowed to call him Luka. Get to your room right now and wait for me.”

“I did not call…”

Then Lori was shocked by what next came out of her mom’s mouth. “Don’t try to play cute with me. Get to your room now young lady.”

Those words were an order. Those words were also calling Lori out on her lie. There was no doubt that Lori had to follow those words. Those words made it seem like Luke’s Lord Protector possessed her Queen.

Alice went upstairs to check on Lori after seeing Luke. The teenager’s stiff upper lip made Alice for the umpteenth time make the bad decision of looking after Lori without really checking on Luke. Alice wanted Luke to be fine so the outward appearance was confirmation enough.

In Lori’s room Alice made a different mistake for the umpteenth time, coddling Lori. Even with being upset with her princess for making fun of Luke’s weight, she did not want Lori to be upset. The youngest got treated with kid gloves. Alice made sure her daughter knew she was mad at Lori’s actions and not Lori.

Luke’s mom being fairer in how she treated her children had an added bonus to Luke. He did not feel as weak towards Lori as before. This was the moment his learned helplessness towards the Brat Princess started to ebb away. Instead of going to his room to be away from everyone when feeling weak. Luke sat in the living room. He was about to become even more proactive in standing up for himself.

*********

The next couple of months Luke regained his physical and mental stride. Each walk and each time going to the pool with his dad made his leg become stronger. The rehab was hard but fun. This came from his dad making sure Luke also was getting rehab for his hurt feelings. The leg was not the only injury Luke had. His feelings were hurt also.

The first day back to school was eventful for Luke. For a moment at the bus stop he forgot that Matt and Renee were not his friends anymore and went to join them. Seeing them put a smile on his face. A smile is very powerful, it can make other people do the same by just seeing it. That smile made those two were so happy to see Luke walk towards them. Maybe now they would be able to say their side of what happened.

The reunion of friends did not occur. Lori made sure that Luke came back to the present running towards Renee and Matt. As she passed Luke the Brat Princess asked Renee how her boy, Tom, was doing. Luke came back to the present and his smile went away. Seeing that also made Matt and Renee’s smile disappear.

Renee still thought that Luke was being unfair to her, Matt and Tom. If Luke would only listen to her then he would understand that Tom was not a bad person, just misunderstood. Luke needed to give her boyfriend a chance. Her friend also needed to lighten up. Tom was just ribbing Luke to get another race.

On the ride to school Luke made a decision. He was going to stand up for himself even more than before. The newfound confidence came from him not being berated nonstop by Lori anymore. He was losing his learned helpless about the situation.

Luke’s choice of making sure he was not messed by anyone was a bad one for Blake. When Luke arrived at school he was greeted by Blake calling him Lumpy Luka. Wanting to set the way things was going to be Luke walked right up to Blake and told him to shut the fuck up.

Blake said “Make me.”

Luke flinched at Blake acting like he was going to punch him. This jerky movement made Blake cower. The kids around Blake and Luke started to laugh at the recoiling coward. Luke just walked away saying “Blake, I would never punch a punk ass bitch like you first.”

Blake hated that people were laughing at him. He also hated that Luke pointed out the truth about him. Blake was nothing more than a punk ass bitch. He needed people around him to act tough. Being a coward made Blake do the cowardly thing and sucker punch Luke from behind. The rabbit punch made Luke stumble but not fall.

Seeing his opponent not fall from the sneak attack made Blake start to retreat. The coward did not want to feel the upcoming retaliation. Luke turned around and said “Now it is my turn.”

Luke hit Blake with a right cross right on the chin. The punch made the punk ass bitch drop as quick as the temperature on a winter’s night. Blake going down was the chance Luke had to make a strong statement. He jumped on his fallen foe and kept on punching. There was only a couple more punches thrown before the other kids separated those two.

Only Luke really needed to be held back. Blake was like Roberto Duran and wanted “no mas” of the attack. Even with not being able to physically hit Blake anymore, Luke’s assault was not done. As he was struggling to get to Blake Luke taunted the loser of the fight by saying. “Who is lumpy now? You are, you lumpy face punk ass bitch. Never forget that. If you want more lumps just keep on fucking with me.”

Teachers were there and they took both of the boys to the principal's office. Luke was ready to hear the standard talk of both of the students in the fight were equally to blame. That talk was nothing but lip service so the school could have their zero tolerance violence policy look good. This talk did not come. The reason was that there was a new principle, his old second grade teacher Mr. Noth.

Mr. Noth did believe in the zero tolerance of violence. To him bullying was also an act of violence. The new principal hated that he had to deal with this issue. Lori and the rest of them bullying Luke should have been resolved years ago by the administration. Before calling the combatants into his office Mr. Noth made sure he got the story. Then after hearing the facts he called both Blake and Luke into his office.

Mr. Noth was going to make an example out of Blake. That boy started the verbal and physical violence. “Blake you are suspended for 6 days. Three for calling Luke names and three for starting the fight.”

Mr. Noth could not let Luke go unpunished. “Luke you need to walk away from verbal confrontation from now on. You tell a teacher you are being harassed and the kid will get reprimanded. You will have two days of detention.”

“From now on any kid caught bullying and harassing another kid will get a three day suspension. This school is a place of learning, a place where all the kids should feel safe.”

After Luke and Blake left his office, Mr. Noth called both of their parents. Blake’s dad was pissed at his son getting into trouble. Losing the fight made it worse. One thing Jack wanted from his son was to be tough, just like he was. Alice was mad at Luke. She could not believe that her son caused her trouble once again about kids just being kids. Luke needed to rise up and let the kids have a little fun.

Lori used her mom’s anger to restart the war of the twins. She sweet talked her mom into putting Luke in a dress for one last time. This was the last time because the petticoat punishment backfired on Alice in a different way.

For the last time Lori goaded her mom into putting Luke in a dress. Luke was standing in the dress giving his mom that stare. That stare always made Alice feel uncomfortable. This time Luke’s eyes were even more intense. Alice felt unnerved by the weight those eyes put on her soul. She was going to make Luke stop staring at her and said “Don’t look at me like that. I am your mother and you do not disrespect me.”

Luke said “No.”

“Then tell me what you are thinking.”

“I hate you mother.”

“Take those words back. You need to learn how to behave and your dad is not here to protect you. You will listen to me and not tell him about this and take those words back.”

Luke repeated those four words. The conviction in his voice told Alice that those words were not said in anger. That her son at that moment really did hate her. Alice's frustration rose as quick as the temperature on a sunny summer day from learning this revelation. At that moment, Alice promised herself she would never put Luke in a dress again. Unlike the other times, this promise was not just empty words. The pain made sure that Alice would never put Luke in a dress again.

Alice demanded that Luke take the dress off. Ending the punishment so abruptly did not have the desire outcome of Alice feeling better about herself. For the first time she was actually remorseful about putting her son in a dress. She could not look her son in his eyes. Luke’s eyes would just start boring into her soul again. There would also be shame because Alice knew she rightfully earned her son’s hatred. Instead of admitting to Luke what she admitted to herself, Alice ran out of her son's room.

Lori saw how upset her mom was and got ready to take action. There was no way her no-good brother was going to get away with hurting Lori’s queen. The princess wanted to make sure that her mom knew Luke would pay “I am going to make sure Luka shows you the respect you deserve mom.”

Those words made it even harder for Alice to hold back the tears. Luke was actually showing his mom the respect she deserved from him, none. Alice wanted to make sure that Lori did not do anything to Luke. One reason was her son did nothing wrong. Another one was she did not want Fred to find out that Alice has been lenient on Lori about name calling. “Lori, do not call Luke by that name. You know you are not allowed. If your dad finds out anything about this you will be in even more trouble with him. Just leave your brother alone. If you don’t you will be in big trouble and I will be as well, also I don’t want to hear from anything from you about what your brother is doing. I know he will leave you alone if you don’t start with him.”

Fred came home and started to get to the bottom of what happened after school. He knew his wife good enough that she would try to punish Luke. This fight made it so Fred was going to put more of an emphasis on moving. Fighting is not the right answer, but Luke had to defend himself. Blake threw the first punch. This has to stop, even with Mr. Noth doling out the harsh punishment to Blake, Fred knew going to that school would be bad for Luke.

Fred got a story from his wife which was believable. That she went too far with trying to punish Luke and that was why their son was mad at her. He was happy that she caught herself and took back grounding Luke. Their son was being punished enough by having to deal with how Lori and her friends treated him.

When they were getting ready for bed Fred brought up house hunting. Alice agreed with him that was a good idea. She did not want to fight about it and knew they would never buy a new house. She would be pickier than Goldilocks and no house other than the one they were in would be just right for her.

Even with the damage done between her and her son’s relationship. Alice felt good about the day. She avoided a huge fight with her husband. Made sure that Lori and Luke would not be frustrating her anymore and now would have time to work on mending the damage she had done to their mother-son connection.