Writer’s Note: There is a blog entry for this chapter. I wanted to address the concern about Luke and the overall arch of the story. It has a minor spoiler in it and that is why I did not put it here.

One of the most famous metaphysical questions is: “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” Some people say it does not, some people say it does and some quickly dismiss the question by saying it does not matter if it makes a sound, the tree did fall and all the effects of it happening occurred. The question is not about the answer but the question itself.

This question which people use to ponder is similar to how to determine which was the newest worse day in Luke’s life. Some people would say it was the day in which he lost his friendship with Renee and Matt and others would say it was when the events occurred which caused the friendship to end. The correct answer does not matter. Either way, the fact was now Luke was friendless and the pain would be the same no matter which day the bond between the Saturday Morning Bike Club was broken.

Lori was the Devil’s spawn, but if somehow if this girl was a saint, Alice’s daughter would be the patron saint of manipulators and opportunists. People who did not pay attention to Lori would say this girl just had a way to get her way. That statement was not true. Lori knew how to read people. This skill made it easy for this girl to manipulate situations to her advantage and she was not scared to take any opportunity to achieve her goals.

One of Lori’s goals was to drive a wedge between Luke and his two friends. For the past four years she had been working towards making her brother friendless. The best way to get this rift would be to have them get very close to her or her inner circle. Them all having No Luke Zones enacted in their presence made it so if Matt and Renee would have to spend time away from the third member of the Saturday Morning Bike Club. Spending time away meant that Lori could work them closer into her group. Close enough that they would have to make a choice between Lori or Luke or Luke would push those two away. Lori knew that the group did split up by Renee and Matt showing up to party where Luke was persona non grata.

The opportunity to cause a division between Luke and his friends came when Lori saw how Tom and Renee were acting when together. Those two had a little crush on each other. Both Renee’s and Tom’s eyes would light up when they saw each other. They would get a little nervous when too close to each other. Renee would make jokes which she knew Tom would like. Tom would laugh a little out of proportion to her jokes. Tom would go out of his way to give Renee a compliment and she went out of hers to make sure she thanked him. Tom also quit getting on Luke so much. The biggest sign was them protesting too much about the crush.

Then the chance to isolate Luke came. Tom wanted to go to a pool party which Renee was having with Luke there. Allowing Luke to even socialize where Lori was at, was a cardinal sin to her. Lori almost messed up by expelling Tom for his suggestion. If she was not wise to the crush she would have just told Tom to leave her presence right away. She knew about the mutual crush and was going to use it to her advantage.

Lori was ready to manipulate her friends and the situation to her advantage. Using Tom’s crush to get the best of her brother did not matter to her. First, everything was about her so doing so was not bad. Second, she was his ward, he was in her service. The third reason she did not feel bad about using her pawn as a pawn was that Tom would have done the same to her. In fact, he was trying to change the group’s stance on Luke. Even though Tom did not like Lori’s brother, he just wanted Luke to be accepted so he could be close to Renee.

Lori’s plan easily came to her for one simple reason, it was a simple plan, have Tom get Renee to invite the rest of her gang minus her over for a swim party. Have Tom also let Renee know, that with them going behind Lori’s back about getting together that Luke should not know about the get together. As for the reason why they were doing this without Lori, use the excuse that the gang was getting sick of the way she was treating Luke. That the childish treatment of her brother had to quit.

Tom was a little confused about the plan. No one in their group wanted to welcome back Luke into the fold. Even the two newest members of Lori’s court, Mandy Travers and Kat Korkowski, were strongly anti-Luke. The plan made as much sense as steering into the skid. The reason Tom could not understand it, was that Lori’s henchman was not privy to the entire plan. He did not know she was just going to show up anyways. Thinking about the plan would have led to Tom figuring out what Lori was up to. Thinking about the plan was not going to happen, Tom was just too excited that he had a chance to be around Renee.

Tom thinking that Lori was not going to be there was needed for the plan to work. Renee had a misplaced loyalty towards Luke and would never openly invite Luke’s sister to her house. This would be nothing but trouble. Also, the plan would have never went into effect if Tom was totally in on it. Renee would have been able to figure out what was going on. She would have seen Tom’s lies about Lori not showing up as what they were.

Blake might have been seen as an outsider as Lori’s second, but in reality her closest confidant was Tracy. Blake was just not as trustworthy as Tracy. Plus, Tracy took the initiative in tormenting Luke. The proactiveness in picking on Luke came from Tracy lashing out on the perceived transgressions Luke did to her. Tracy being trusted meant she knew the rest of Lori’s plan. Have Tracy just bring Lori.

The entire plan was simple and that was why Lori was so sure it was going to work. Renee might not invite Lori to a swim party, but once one was going on Luke’s friend would kick her out. Making Lori leave would end the party, and that would also mean ending Renee’s time with Tom. Staying at the party was when Lori could do her real damage.

***********

The person people lie to the most in life are themselves. Most of the time the lie is to either justify their actions or make themselves feel better about themselves. Most of the time the lies are mostly harmless. The midnight snack is not going to hurt the diet. The girl who said no to the date was not good enough for you. Renee was lying to herself about the party.

The lie was like Lori’s plan, a simple one. The lie being a simple one was why it would work on Renee. The lie made having the party live by the mantra of all for one and one for all. The lie made Luke’s friend believe she was having the party for him and not herself. The lie was having this party without her friend being invited or knowing was what was best for Luke.

This pool party was finally a chance for Lori and her friends to stop teasing Luke and making him an outcast. Renee would be a peace negotiator. These would be delicate talks so Renee could not take the chance of Lori finding out. Tom wanting to make amends with Luke was a sign to Renee she was right about her feelings for that boy. Tom being who she thought he was led to her agreeing to his terms about the pool party.

Matt was a little iffy about the party. He did not like lying to Luke. He also did not like lying to his or Renee’s parents about why Luke was not invited. He knew that they would have had issues with the party. Excluding a close friend to please other people was not right. Him and Renee should defer to what their parents would have done.

Matt did not like cancelling their Saturday Morning Bike Club meeting on Friday. Yes, the meeting was only delayed till Sunday, but the reason behind it was not a legitimate to Matt. To him even with Renee reasoning the postponement of the meeting was just because they found something better to do. Luke not even asking why and just saying yes made Matt feel a little uncomfortable. The level of trust Luke showed made Luke’s friend feel like Luke was a lamb and he was leading him to the slaughter.

His doubts about the party were quickly smoothed when he went along and lied to himself. Him lying was prompted by Renee reminding him to the fact that the party was for the common good. This party was actually Renee and Matt putting the group in front of themselves. This party was not for their enjoyment, but to help Luke. Their friend would be happy about not being invited once he was welcomed back into the fold. Even if Luke was not welcomed back into the fold the founding member of the Saturday Morning Bike Club would still be grateful that the first two inductees went to this effort for him.

Some of Lori’s friends also had to lie to themselves about the party. One of them was Mike Patton. Even with only being 13 he saw himself as a man, after all he had had his Bar Mitzvah. He came of age. Trying to do this to Luke just seemed wrong. A man to him does not try to break friendships between people. Nothing was wrong with not liking someone, but making other people not like him just did not seem right. People had to be let to make their own decisions. The lie Mike told himself to go along with the party was that the bond between Luke and his two friends was too strong for Lori to be able to break.

The other member of Lori’s court which had to lie about the party was Kat Korkowski. She along with Mandy Travers were two of the newest members. Hearing this plan made Kat rethink joining this group. Doing this to Luke was just cruel. Maybe Luke was not as bad as she first thought he was.

The reason Kat joined sides with Lori in the War of the Twins was how Luke bit her head off when she introduced herself to him. Kat was the new girl at school. She was set up by Ned Simpson, a classmate who liked to cause trouble, to call Luke Luka. The new girl wanting to make friends did so. Kat felt that Luke went overboard with telling her in a more dignified manner to go fuck herself. That boy should have known she did not know better, he knew that was Kat’s first day at school. To her that boy’s attitude was why people excluded him. Then with this plan of making Luke lose his friends made Kat rethink her opinion of him. She was still not comfortable being the new girl so she lied to herself by thinking that Luke must have been worse when he was younger.

The party at first went how Lori planned and Renee envisioned. The weather was cooperating and made it so enjoyable to be in the pool. The teenagers were just being teenagers and enjoying a game of Marco Polo or just doing a Cannonball into the pool. Seeing the huge splash made the gang laugh. The party was going great and the three doubters were at ease. How can anything go wrong when there was only one little flaw to the party. Tracy was not there yet.

That little flaw was the reason why everything was going to go wrong to those three and perfect to Lori and the rest of the teenagers in the Walha’s backyard. Then the little flaw in the party was fixed when Tracy showed up with a bigger one, Lori. The Brat Princess was all smiles and most of the people thought that was because she was playing nice.

The smile got bigger when Renee made no objection to the uninvited guest. Lori had a perfect excuse why she was at the party. There was a miscommunication and Lori went to Tracy’s right before she was leaving the party. That was why Tracy was late, she tried to delay going to the party until Lori left, but Ms. Armstrong mentioned the party. Tracy had to fess up.

Renee was having too good of a time to take a chance of causing trouble, so she said nothing. Renee really enjoyed spending time with Tom. She made sure he came early so those two would have some time alone. That would give her a chance to see the real Tom, not the one he portrayed around other people. The girl wanted to see the best in Tom so she forgot that he was going to be around one other person, herself. Tom was still going to put on a show. The audience of one just suspended disbelief and believed she was seeing the real person,

The time shared alone gave Renee and Tom a chance to share something else, their first kiss. The kiss skewed how Renee would see Tom. Tom did really like Renee. The kiss was a real one filled with care and affection. The kiss conveyed those feelings to Renee. Knowing how Tom felt about her, made Renee have the bad assumption that him having care and affection for her made him an all-around good guy. This assumption came from her hoping that the boy she had a crush on was not as bad as he really was. It would make Renee feel better if Tom was just misunderstood.

After having the first kiss with Tom and so wanting a second kiss when he left the party Renee did not say anything about Lori being there. That would upset Luke’s sister. If Lori got mad she would have her friends leave and the hostess so wanted Tom to stay. That boy was not as bad as Luke thought. He was just a little prideful and wanted a chance to prove he was better than Luke. Tom explained Luke forcing a condition on racing again was not fair to him. Renee saw the reasoning, after all Luke did not make a bet to race her or Matt. She did not see friendship was the reason why Luke just raced Tom and not them. A race between members of the Saturday Morning Racing Club was them sharing time together. Luke did not want to share time with Tom.

Two of the four doubters, Matt and Renee, did not see the issue. Luke’s friends saw this as an opportunity. Lori being there meant that they could work some diplomacy on her about Luke. Talking to her would help Lori to see her court and the Saturday Morning Bike Gang was a perfect mesh to combine. Matt and Renee thought the numbers game would win out and make Lori come around. They were right about that but little did those two know they were the ones outnumbered.

Mike knew Lori being there was not good for Luke. He was kicking himself for not seeing Lori’s full plan earlier. The boy who saw himself as a man should have known that Lori was going to go in for the quick kill. He knew this was going to be quick because of seeing the top part of the two-piece Lori had on. It was blue and white striped. She used to own a blue and white striped one piece and joked that Luka would look better in it when they would go swimming at Tracy’s. If Mike knew her plans he would have gotten Renee to abort the party or at least try to talk her into inviting both Luke and Lori.

The numbers were evened out a little by Mike leaving soon after Lori arrived. His body might have stayed at the party, but his mind was elsewhere. Right away he knew how this was going to play out. After an hour he left to join his thoughts. Mike had too much on his mind. The biggest question was if his treatment of Luke was worth belonging to a group. His was coming to terms that being a yes man meant he was not a real man. A real man has to live with themselves and no one else. Saying yes to what was wrong only to not be alone made him feel lonely. His friends did not like him for who he was but because he agreed with them. Mike deserved better friends.

Lori’s plan was working. How relaxed Renee and Tom were around each other meant that those two at least admitted they liked each other and maybe kissed. The details were not important, Lori was not a romantic and care not if those two got together other than if it hurt Luke. Also, Luke was going to find out soon that Renee had a secret party to which his sister had attended. Renee excluding Luke was going to hurt her brother bad. The best part to the Brat Princess’s plan was that she was not only going to see the pain in her brother’s face, but be there when Renee had to confess to the truth.

Lori had a hot hand. She wanted to do more to cause strife in her brother’s life. The reception Lori received told her she could push the issue by making fun of her brother. She took off her shorts to show off the bottom of her two-piece. Then she tilted one hip closer to crowd to model out the outfit. Then the joke came out. “Hey guys, sorry that we did not bring Luka. He had nothing to wear because I borrowed his swimsuit.”

Renee did not laugh at first then she saw the look of disappointment from Tom. He whispered in her ear “Don’t be so serious. That was funny.” Laughing once again at Luke’s expense seemed like it would do nothing to her friend or their friendship. After all, her friend was not there so what he did not hear would not be a sound to him. Luke would never know and in her heart, Renee knew the laugh was not real.

Matt was a boy and could not help but show he liked how Lori looked. He quickly looked away when his eyes locked with Lori’s. Any reaction on her face would be bad from him. Her showing disapproval would make Matt feel like a creep. Her liking him checking her out would be fruitless to him. Matt did not like her personality. Lori was like an expensive unused journal to him. Beautiful on the outside but nothing on the inside. She had nothing but looks to offer to Matt.

Then Lori took advantage of how Matt was looking at her when she was showing off her two-piece. Opportunity just kept on knocking and Lori was not going to be rude by turning down her guest. The member of the Saturday Morning Bike Club did find Lori physically attractive and his eyes could not contain that secret. He found himself wishing that Luke’s sister was more like him. If Lori was just kind caring and compassionate she would be a great girl. Thinking that, is like saying only if ice cream was full of nutrients and vitamins and low on calories then it would be a healthy food.

Lori went over and started to flirt with Matt. This interaction was making Matt nervous. He never dealt with members of the fairer sex liking him before, so he felt socially awkward. The introverted boy had never even kissed a girl before. Then he had to deal with the girl who liked him not having a likable personality to him. Some people would have said he would go against his better judgement, but Matt actually went with his better judgement when he revoked Lori’s advances. Lori was not the girl for him, even if she liked him.

Being turned down played to Lori’s advantage. She used one of her go to plays to get her way by crying. Tears have a way to make people who see them put down their defenses. Tears had a way to make lies which came from the person who was crying sound true. Tears had a way of making those who saw them want to appease who was crying.

The crying was accompanied by Lori saying she was misunderstood. No one saw how much Luke and her fought at home and she was just defending herself in public. She lied about having no allies other than her friends at school. These tactics work in getting empathy. Matt felt for Lori and the scheming girl knew it.

Then Lori started to sneak in using Luka when referring to her brother. The pawn would not dare correct her at this moment. Matt was too concerned about her feelings to chance upsetting her more. The empathy became a weapon when she got Matt to laugh at her using Luka. Luke’s friend did not like the use of Luka but just wanted to make Lori feel better. She was crying after all about how much her and her brother fought. The use of Luka was just a way to feel better by Lori so laughing would not hurt Luke. It was not like he would ever find out. Everyone at the party was going to keep the fact it happened away from him. The party was like Vegas to Luke, what happened at the party stayed at the party.

Lori then went on to say if one of Luke’s friends liked her, then maybe, just maybe, he would change her brother’s mind about her. Then she talked about how much Luke admired Matt. She was setting this pawn up to be used by getting his sympathy and buttering him up. Then she went to get Matt to kiss her by saying if only they were boyfriend and girlfriend it would help her relationship with Luke.

Matt might not have been a teenage Don Juan, but he could read the hints. This boy was going to get his first kiss. Lori wanted to kiss him and she liked him. Matt was only right about Lori wanting him to kiss her. Matt looked around to make sure that no one was looking. He did not want the kiss to be a secret but felt that a first kiss was something private and not to be shared by anyone's eyes. Not even the people who were part of the kiss. A kiss with open eyes was a lie to him.

That first kiss was not sweet to Matt. As soon as his lips touched Lori’s Matt knew her interest in him was a lie. Lori’s kiss was not a sign of affection to Matt, but 30 pieces of silver. The kiss and his feelings were his reward for betraying Luke. Matt did not have to worry about not being the last boy to kiss in his class anymore.

After the kiss Matt saw the truth. The kiss being a lie was what relieved the truth. The lack of caring and affection in the kiss was what saved Matt from falling deeper into the narrative Lori and her gang wanted. Seeing what was really happening at the party made Matt see that once again he put being popular above his friend. He soiled what should have been a cherished memory. Instead of thinking of innocent childhood crushes when thinking back on that kiss, Matt would from now on think about how he did not treat his friend how he would have wanted to be treated.

Right then, everything about today was making Matt uncomfortable. The heat from the summer sun became unbearable to Matt. It was also too bright. The heavy humid air was weighing him down. The sounds of his friends playing, swimming and chatting was hurting his ears. The guilt-stricken teenager had to leave.

Trying to be polite, Matt went to find Renee to say good-bye. Making his way through the crowd he saw Renee talking with Tom. As he became close enough that their conversation became audible, he heard Tom say Luka. Then instead of Renee correcting that boy she did her fake laugh. Matt knew his friend good enough to know she was just appeasing Tom. The reason still did not make the laughing right.

Seeing the interaction between Renee and Tom acted like a mirror to Matt. Matt saw how wrong his was to go along with what Lori and her friends wanted. Matt knew not to say anything. He already heard the justification Renee would use. Matt used it himself. Laughing when Luke was not there would not hurt him.

The object of their ridicule not witnessing the ridicule did not make mocking him right. Matt and Renee not standing up for their friend was a sign of approval for the put downs. Them laughing to fit in made them unthinking cohorts in ostracizing Luke. The other kids around them seeing Luke best friends joining in making fun of him would reinforce that was how people should treat Renee and Luke’s friend.

If Renee and Matt would have thought for a second those two would have known the consequences of having the party behind Luke’s back. If the time was taken to put themselves in Luke’s place they would have saw how wrong they were. Matt finally came to that conclusion but it was too late. The damage was done. The sad part was all of this was over finding someone cute. This trap was easy to fall into, Matt did it at the party. He might have hurt his friendship with Luke, but Matt learned something valuable today. What is important about people cannot be seen by the eyes. He prayed that the lesson was worth the upcoming bill.

Knowing he was going to have to deal with Luke, meant that Matt also did not want to say anything to Renee right now. The real possibility of losing one friend over doing the wrong thing made Matt scared of losing another over doing the right thing. He knew he was going to need Renee’s support and she was going to need his if their actions hurt Luke. He also knew that would be the best time to bring up how badly they messed up.

As Matt was leaving, Mandy Travers was reevaluating her stances on her friends and fellow classmates. The person she did this reevaluation of the most was Luke. The plan and party made the new girl in town realize how harsh Lori has been to her brother. Having to deal with someone always undercutting you can make someone act like a prick. Luke did not know she was set up to call him Luka and knew she would have reacted the same way if she was him.

Mandy was looking around the party and really did not like anyone else there. Her feeling towards them was not only how Lori’s court got on Luke. There was no real connection with any of them. The only thing she shared with her friends was a dislike of Luke and now that was gone. Her being new and needing a group to be with was the only reason she lashed on to them. The only reason Lori’s and her friends took her in was for strength in numbers. Mandy knew she was going to have to find new friends at the start of the school year. She was friends with them for all the wrong reasons.

Mandy did want to see if Renee was worth being friends with. She saw how close the hostess was with Matt and Luke. Renee might have been throwing the party, but Matt was going out of his way to help. He acted like a de facto host. Even without Luke being there Renee made sure to talk her friend up when those two chatted. Renee had this party to try to make connections instead of serving them. She wanted for Lori and her friends to come around on liking Luke.

Thinking about how that bond those three had was positive, help put Luke in more of a good light to Mandy. Friends should get together to lift each other up not put others down. Mandy felt she would get along with the Saturday Morning Bike Club. She shared interests with each of the members. She loved to bake like Renee. Her and Matt shared the same favorite subject in school, science. She even had something in common with Luke, their favorite video game was Rodo-Mon.

Mandy was not looking past how Renee and Matt did laugh at Luke. Those actions were out of character for how the friendship worked. She felt that they both were doing it more to keep the peace than finding it funny. Maybe they were not betraying Luke. If Luke never found then to him it never happened. The big question was if her hunch was true. If Renee and Matt just showed their true colors at the party today it would not be worth Mandy’s effort to get into their group. Why get a new circle of friends which was the same as her old one. Later on, at the party Mandy was about to find out if her assumption was true.

Renee went into the home to use the restroom and Mandy followed her. The girl waited for Renee to come out. This would be a perfect chance to talk in private with the hostess. There would be no one else there to judge Renee on her reactions.

Mandy started the conversation “Hey Renee thank you for having us over. The party was great. You did the right thing by not inviting Luka. There would have been way less laughs with him getting mad about nothing”

Renee hated what Mandy was showing gratitude for. First it reminded her that she went behind her friend’s back. She had a party and did not invite Luke. Snubbing him would have been worth the pain if the party worked out as planned. Sadly, no headway was made in getting the guests to accept Luke. In fact, Luke looked worse by the end of the party.

Then hearing Mandy use Luka got under Renee’s skin. Her friend’s name was Luke. Renee might have not stopped it before, but that did not mean she approved of it. Joining in with the laughing was just to make Tom feel better. Tom just felt bad about Luke beating him in a race. Renee so wanted to believe that reason. That there was no malice in those words. She wanted Luke’s friendship along with having Tom as a boyfriend. The only way to get this was for the lie to be true. The lie was easy to believe for Renee because she told it to herself and wanted to believe it. The person who lies to you the most is yourself.

“His name is Luke”

Wanting to show her true colors Renee had snark in her voice. The snideness was to show disapproval. Then there was an added emphasis put on Luke being one syllable driving home the point.

Mandy was playing coy to see if Renee would stand up for Luke when there was pressure when she said “Sorry! You laughed so hard when Tom said it.”

Renee fired back “It was not funny I was being nice, understand?” Once again Luke’s friend added an emphasis to the last word to drive her point home.

Mandy felt good that she was right about why Renee laughed. She knew that was the same reason for Matt. She did want to just see how strong that friendship between those three was. “I said sorry. I was explaining why I used Luka. Come on you also laughed at Lori joking about her borrowing Luka’s bathing suit.”

Renee defended herself by saying “I did it to make Lori stop. You know her. She would have harped on Luke until everyone laughed. I wanted that out of the way so people could hear the good about Luke. Now excuse me, I’m going back outside.”

Mandy said “Again, I am sorry. I had a great time here today and I promise to be nice to Luke from now on.”

On her way back to her guests Renee was feeling worse about the party. She knew she had to make the wrongs right. First thing was to make sure there was no more picking on Luke. Stopping these kids would take backup. Luckily Renee had it with her mom. Her guests knew that Meg would not take them being mean towards someone so they would stop.

Renee also was going to get Tom to stop putting her friend down. They liked each other so Tom had to be nice to her friends if he wanted to be Renee’s boyfriend. Being nice to his girlfriend’s should not be hard for a boy.

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

The next day the Saturday Morning Bike Club met for the last time. Luke’s day started off bad by his mom informing her son that Lori was going to the bike park with him. This news made Luke as happy as a protagonist in a Russian novel. He knew his sister was only going to make him miserable. There was nothing else at the bike park for her. His sister had not ridden a bike in years. His sister did not want to spend time with their dad. The Father daughter interacting without their mother there just increased her chances of getting in trouble. Plus, Lori hated that Fred tried to make sure both of his children were treated equally. Equality was an affront to Lori.

The drive to the park was slow for everyone in the van. Luke’s sister would not be all smiles and going to the bike park unless she was going to once again get one over on Luke. The smugness oozing out of Lori made Luke’s feelings of learned helplessness come to the forefront. The sense of doom just made Luke dread going to the place he loved the most. His safe place was going to be ruined.

The time was going slow for Fred for the same reason as Luke. He knew his daughter was up to no good. Fred also felt helpless. A preemptive strike would be useless in stopping what was going to occur. Fred did feel the dread and doom Luke did, but knew that he would strike hard back at Lori. There was no way that his wife could stop him. Lori’s father gave his daughter multiple warnings in front of her protector to not cause trouble. He also objected to Lori going and that would give him more authority in doling out punishment for whatever his daughter had planned.

The time was going slow for Lori for another reason. She thought this was the endgame. That from now on Luke would be pushed off to the side of the stage and the spotlight would be all on her. On how her plan was going to play out today, no one would blame her for thinking it was inevitable. Luke was about to get in a huge fight with his only two friends. He was going to be all alone so the ostracism of him would be amped up. Luke would be ignored other than when people were putting him down.

Lori did not take a couple of factors into account. The biggest one was that Luke still had allies. His father, his Lord Protector, would make sure that Luke knew someone would always give him support. There was also a queen which lived in a distance land. Her balcony looked upon that shore where Luke will one day greet the rising sun. The sunrise would be a reminder of the promise of a new day.

The other factors were also vital. They just were not as direct as the main reason why Lori would not win the War of the Twins. The fight within the Saturday Morning Bike Club would only weaken their friendship. Even with the mistake they made, Matt and Renee were about lifting their friend up when they could. Those two would learn from their mistake and make sure it did not become a bad decision. Being at someone’s side was not always physical. They might not be able to spend time with Luke anymore, but they would still do what they could to help their friend. They would stay true to their motto all for one and one for all. The one time those two broke the motto they also broke the hearts of all the club members.

The last one was that even with feeling that he could not win against his sister, Luke would not give her the satisfaction of just giving up. Luke was too strong to stay down. He picked himself up each and every time his mom put him in a dress, each and every time people mocked and teased him. Now Luke had nothing to lose and some people believed that was true freedom. True freedom would give him power to carry on with the struggle.

Luke and Lori got to the bike park and Fred got his kid’s bikes off the rack. He had to leave this to play out. The inevitable had to happen because of no true united front existed between the parents. Knowing that his son was going to be hurt somehow, made Fred get mad at his wife. Alice needed to see Lori for what she was, a spoiled brat. The actions of their daughter needed to be taken serious by his wife.

The day was partly cloudy. There was a break in the clouds as Luke and Lori rode off. The sun shining on his son made Fred think that maybe somehow everything would work out fine today. The time frame was wrong for Fred’s hope, but at the end everything was going to work out fine for Luke.

Having his sister follow him made Luke know exactly how prey felt like when being pursued. The fear of being caught was intensifying until he saw Matt and Renee. Those two offered a safe place, a den where the predator could not get him. The safe place actually turned out to be the dead end which Lori wanted her brother to go down.

Renee and Matt were so happy to see Luke. Those two were going to make up for yesterday to him. Luke was going to be treated like a guest of honor. They had gifts. Matt brought Luke the newest superhero DVD. Renee got Luke some new elbow pads from the shop here. This was not the only peace offers they had. Another olive branch was that Luke was not going to have to pay for his snacks today.

Before the two could start to make amends themselves and Luke, they saw Lori behind their friend. At that moment they knew the secret was going to come out. They each looked down the conciliatory gifts and knew the offering would not be enough. No amount of showering Luke with gifts would be able to clean the pain away from Luke’s soul after he found out about the pool party.

Before those two could start to try to placate Luke, Lori, as loud as she could, said “Renee thank you for having me and not Luka at your party yesterday. It was so much fun.”

Those words should be a lie. Those words should be as true as knives do not cut. If not for the looks on Renee and Matt’s faces Luke would not have believed them. If not for being able to tell when his sister was lying Luke would not have believed them. Those words which should have been a lie were true as knives do cut. Those words were also as sharp as a knife and cut a hole in Luke’s soul.

Trying to salvage the bonds of connection of the Saturday Morning Bike Club, Matt and Renee became a united front. In perfect harmony they said “His name is Luke.”

Correcting Lori was another sign Lori’s words were true to Luke. There was no denial of his friends also calling him Luka. The truth coming up made Luke ready to doubt anything which would put Matt and Renee in a positive light. To the heartbroken boy, his two friends were just like Lori and her court. Luke started to treat them as such and the other two members of the Saturday Morning Bike Club would receive the benefit of the doubt no more from their friend.

Lori then replied. “You used and laughed about Luka yesterday. Plus, you thought that my joke about the bathing suit was hilarious.”

Luke speed off. Again, being a united front Matt and Renee. Those two were not only on the same page, they were also on the same word in the same sentence of the same page in the same edition of the book that Luke’s friends used the plural instead of singular pronoun when they said “Hold on Luke we can explain.”

Luke’s thought process was like today’s sky, cloudy. He just kept on riding off. This was the first time he rode off away from pain without a destination. He just knew he needed to be away from everyone. His sister because of how she treated him. His so-called friends because of the betrayal. He felt that the last five years had been a lie. That those two were even worse than the rest. This was because they acted like his friends, then would laugh about him behind his back. His dad because he could not provide support. The support was worthless.

Fred saw his son take off as fast as he could from his friends. The concerned Dad did not know what happened other than what Lori planned on happening has happened. His anger started to rise and yelled for his kids to go to the van. Saying goodbye was foregone by Fred. The sudden and drastic change in Fred’s emotions made Renee’s dad and Matt’s mom not even question why. They knew whatever Fred saw was of the utmost importance to him.

Luke turn his back right back around. Following the order from his dad did not meant Luke was eager to do so. He was as reluctant as a beagle dropping a scent he was following. The little boy fought his desires just so he would not get into trouble. The closer Luke got to his dad the slower he got. He was as cautious as a wounded animal. This made sense because Luke has never been as hurt as he was right then.

Fred waited until Luke aarived at the van to ask his son what was wrong. Luke got every milligram of his reserved strength to put up his strongest front. Holding back the tears, taking a giant inhale to clear his nose Luke said in a cold voice “Father I want to go home.”

Hearing Father hurt Fred. Those words were as sharp as the words Lori said earlier to Luke. Those words also cut into Fred’s soul. He knew his son was hurting bad and was trying to distance himself from everyone. There was no way that Fred was going to take his son pushing him away personally. He was going to be supportive to his son. Fred slowly went down to one knee to be eye to eye with his son. Then in a gentle loving voice said “I love you Luke. If you want to go home, we will go home now. Get in the van, and I will get Lori.”

Luke tensed up hearing that Lori was coming with them. He wanted to go home to be away from her. Now he was going to be stuck in the van with her gloating about him not having friends. That everyone liked her better than him. Today was the first day he believed that lie.

Fred knew why his son became uptight. He opened his arms to invite Luke for an embrace and said “Do not worry about Lori. She is in big trouble.”

Luke showed he felt safe opening up to his dad by hugging him. The hug was a sign that he was fine sharing the ride home with Lori. Their father was going to stop Lori from gloating on the way home. She would be too upset about having to pay for what she did. Even with having what she thought was the endgame of the War of Twins, winning would not be enough. She wanted an unconditional surrender from Luke. She wanted to be able to do anything she wanted anytime she wanted.

As Luke was getting in the van he felt strong enough to tell his dad that he loved him. Those three words of I love you gave both of them strength. Saying those three words were verbal confirmation that Luke knew he had his dad’s support. Hearing those three words were confirmation that Fred was going about the right way to rectify the situation.

Once again Lori’s hubris was her downfall. This time her vanity also had an ally, her disrespect of her father. When Fred called her and she did not come, that was bad enough. Then whatever she did to cause Luke to get so upset added to her punishment. Now the punishment was going to become even more because Lori was going to indirectly confess.

Lori was at the age where she should have come right away when her dad called for her in such a manner. The father yelling across the park showed it was important enough for his daughter to drop anything she was doing and listen.

Fred came up behind Lori. She along with Matt and Renee were in a heated discussion so they did not notice him. Fred was about to get Lori to come with him until he heard the Brat Princess say “Don’t blame me for having a party without Luka and laughing at my brother. You called him Luka also. Renee, you had me at the party knowing about my dad’s rule, if both of us were not invited then neither could come. My mom did not care yesterday because she knows that I am more popular than Luka.”

“Matt you thought I was cute and nice enough to kiss yesterday so don’t act like I am a bitch. Don’t act like you don’t like me. It is fine if you like me better than Luka. After all Luka is still a crybaby who likes to wear dresses.”

Fred knew enough from his eavesdropping to let his presence be known. In a harsh stone cold voice a drill sergeant would be envious of, Lori’s dad bark out “Lori, when I call you to come you come. Do you understand?”

Lori knew her dad heard everything. The gloating became a confession. There was no trick to play to get out of his doghouse. She made sure her dad knew she did not care for the punishment he was about to give her by nonchalantly saying “Ok.”

This act of defiant only made the trouble Lori was in worse. Fred made sure his daughter knew. Rising the tone of his voice to make sure Lori knew she just got herself in more trouble Fred said “Young lady, I asked do you understand?”

Lori relented. She did not realize how grievous her dad found her actions. She went on her best behavior and with a sound of defeat in her voice replied “Yes, I understand. I will come when you call me from now on.”

Fred was not happy with the situation. It saddened him that his daughter worked hard to make sure her own brother had no friends. It hurt him that at this moment he did not want to see his daughter. He was ashamed of who she was. A father should always be happy to see their daughter. A father should have pride in their daughter. Fred could not help but feel that he failed Lori. To relieve himself from seeing the product of his shortcomings Fred ordered “Good get to the van and stand outside of it until I get there. Do not say a word to your brother. Do not do anything which will upset him even more. Do you understand?”

Lori might had contempt for her father but was wise enough to know not to press her luck anymore by showing it. “I do understand. I will go to the van and stand outside until you get there. I will not say a word to my brother. I will not do anything to upset him.”

Lori rode off. Even with being in trouble, the cost of her victory was worth it. To her Matt and Renee were no longer friends. This was not true. Those two still loved and cared for Luke. they knew they messed up and would not hang out with him anymore. That did not mean they had to stop being his friend. Those two were going to do anything within their power to make this up to Luke. They tried to start down the road to redemption by explaining to Mr. Zahn what really happened yesterday. Before they started the journey, they were pulled over by Luke’s dad, he was a state trooper for the road back to Luke’s good graces.

Fred knew he had no right to yell at those two, even though that would feel so good. In a calm voice he said “Matt and Renee save whatever you are going to say. I do not want to hear it. I heard enough from Lori. I know what she said was true by the looks on your faces now. I am not going to say anything else other than I am disappointed in you.”

The disappointment was shared. The disappointment was also shown by those three having their heads down as Fred left Matt and Renee's presence. The cloudy sky was not dark enough for Luke’s friends. They did not want anyone to see them.

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

Alice did not expect Fred and her children to be home so soon. Her assumption of something bad must have happened was correct. Lori was the first one who came in and she was crying. The clouds over match the ones in the sky. Seeing her presumption being correct made her tell her daughter to stop. Alice wanted to comfort Lori and was a little peeved that Fred did not do so. She told Lori to tell her what was wrong.

Alice being peeved moved to being mad when Fred was the next one in. Lori was about to clue Alice in on what was wrong and how she could fix the situation when Fred barked. “Lori! I told you to go straight to your room when he got home. Get to your room now.”

Loir crying amped up. She was never spoken to in this manner before in front of her Queen. Luke’s Lord Protector daring to take that tone and give orders to her as the real ruler was there was a high offense. Lori felt powerless because she could not do anything. The only comfort was Fred’s wife will not allow him to show such disrespect to Lori in her presence. “Fred if I want to talk to my daughter right now I can.”

Fred’s anger was like an all you can eat buffet, there was more than enough to go around for everyone. “Alice, I gave Lori an order and she will follow it. You can talk to her after I am done talking with you.”

As this was going on Luke finally came into his home. He knew his mom and dad were going to have a huge fight. He blamed himself. If he was only strong enough to accept that the kids do not like him then everything would be fine. He was a boy so he should have been strong enough. Luke swore to himself he would get strong enough to not be bothered about being a lonely child.

Alice of course fell into her old ways of blaming Luke. She demanded that Luke told her what he did to upset Lori. Luke had no answer. He did not know what he did. The answer was that Luke existing was what he did to upset his sister.

Fred jumped back in the conversation “Alice, Luke did nothing. Quit blaming him for everything.”

Luke did not want his parents to fight. He stood as straight as he could. He was going to show his strength by admitting why this was all his fault “The kids like Lori better than me and I will handle it better from now on. Please don’t fight. I don’t want you to fight about me.”

Seeing his son in pain lowered Fred’s anger and pain. It was his turn now to be strong. He had to comfort his son once again and dispel that bad notion in Luke’s head. “Luke first we are fighting about you. We are fighting because your mom plays favorites and she should not. You did nothing wrong.

Also, the kids do not like Lori better than you. She works against you to make the kids not like you. Your sister is nothing but a brat.”

Alice was not going to take her husband down talking their daughter. “Don’t you call Lori a brat.”

Fred ignored his wife. There was something more important. He needed to make sure that Luke knew he did nothing wrong. The loving father needed to make sure his message about who Lori was clear to Luke. “Your sister is a brat. She worked Matt and Renee against you, just like she did with all the other kids. Now go upstairs and play your Gameboy I will be right up after I am done talking to your mom.”

As Luke was going upstairs Alice said “I told you not to call Lori a brat.”

Fred’s anger came back as he looked at Alice. She was the reason why their daughter was a brat. “I will call her a brat because she is one. Lori is a brat because she does not listen to what we tell her. She calls Luke Luka all the time and still brings up him being in a dress. She goes to parties which Luke is not invited. To parties which she makes sure that Luke is not invited to. Then again I don’t blame her because you let her. I know you let her go to those parties behind my back.”

“Our daughter works hard at making sure people do not like Luke. Our daughter was not happy with just most of the kids liking her over Luke by her manipulation. She also had to have Luke’s only two friends be against him also. She is so self-centered and abusive, I do not know how I let her become this way”

“She is the youngest….”

“Shut up about her being the youngest. She was born on the same day as Luke. They are the same age. God dammit woman, I am pissed off and you are trying to defend going behind my back with that same old bullshit. Deep down you have to know how you treat Lori compared to Luke is wrong. If you don’t, then we have major problems.”

Alice had a shocking wake up call. Seeing her husband so mad and hearing him say that they might have major problems acted like huge buckets of freezing water on a sleeping person. This fight was not some minor bickering between husband and wife. The disagreement in this fight was the type which led to marriage failing. Alice quit lying to herself and listen to that little voice deep down inside her. “Honey I thought you went too far punishing Lori.”

Sometimes the best way to calm down someone who was mad was just to say you were wrong. Adding anything else will only add to the anger. This was one of those times. “Dammit, quit making excuses and stick with the facts. The party was not a punishment. We agreed to it because you wanted to stop Luke from going to a party which Lori was not invited to. That was wrong of you. You only wanted to stop Luke and not Lori.”

“Honey calm down, I am trying to say sorry.”

“Then say it. You went behind my back. You helped Lori bully our son.”

“I did not. I did not know how bad it was.”

“Instead of trying to justify your actions, look at what you did. You stop Luke all the time from giving Lori what she dishes out. You did not do the same for him. You let Lori break the rules we set but made Luke follow them. If that is not helping our daughter bully our son then I do not know what is.”

“I am sorry. I did not know. I promise you it will stop. I will make sure Lori knows that she will be in big trouble if she ever does any of that again. Calm down honey we have solved the issue.”

“No, we have not. Lori right now is in big trouble. She is grounded for the rest of the summer, then, I will make a decision if it is lifted or will continue.”

We are going to start house hunting. Luke needs a new start. Lori poisoned the kids against him and he will not have a normal childhood living here. I let this happen by trying to look only at the good. I was happy that Luke had some close friends. I should have paid closer attention.”

“Hold on I get a say about this. I messed up, but the reason is you go too far to protect Luke. That is why I did not listen to you about the parties and let Lori go to them. That is why I handle Lori calling Luke Luka without telling you. She was just teasing her older brother.”

The famous Tribiano anger might have sparked Alice to defend herself, but she was smart enough not to give a full confession. There was no way her husband will even know about the petticoat punishment. Alice knew they were wrong. In fact, knowing how bad she treated her son was part of the reason she was so mad. Alice was transferring her anger at herself to her husband.

The defense backfired on Alice. Fred did not know how many parties Lori went to and how Alice let their daughter call their son Luka. Alice knew she put her foot in her mouth when Fred asked “You knew?”

The question made the little voice deep down in Alice take over again. “Like I said I did not know how bad it was.”

“Don’t lie. You helping Lori bully our son is why you kept it from me.”

“Don’t call me a liar.”

“You are. You lied to me so many times. Each time you let Lori go to one of those parties. Each time you did not tell me about Lori teasing Luke about being in a dress. You kept what was going on in our home from me. I was not dumb enough to think that Lori was treating her brother decent. I just did not know how bad it was.”

Alice saw her chance to get Fred to her way of thinking. If Luke did not tell his dad then it could not be as bad as Fred was trying to make how Lori and her was treating him out to be. “You didn’t know because there was nothing to know. Luke was fine with it. That is why we are going to ground Lori or look into moving. You need to quit babying our son”

Alice believed what she said because she wanted her words to be true. The fault in those words started to crack with Fred reply. “Luke was fine with it. Then I am going to talk with him about it.”

Fred then started to go to Luke’s room. Alice was about to stop him from walking up those stairs. She changed her mind. Trying to stop him from going up to Luke’s room would have been as productive as shaking her hands at the clouds demanding the rain to stop. This storm Lori’s endgame started was about to get bigger.

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

The electronic music and beeping from Luke’s game console was not much of a distraction from what was on Luke’s mind. Luke was having a hard time paying attention to the brightly colored pixels on the screen. Some of the joy from playing his game was taken away today. Now he had no one to share the experience with. Him and Matt would no longer talk about Rodo-Mon.

The light tap on the bedroom door totally broke Luke’s concentration on his game. Instead of just walking into his son’s room Fred knocked on the door. He wanted to ask permission to come in to see his Luke. He knew how devastated Luke was, that his son might still need some time alone.

After getting permission Fred sat next to Luke. He started the conversation. “Luke, I need you to be honest with me. Are you fine with how Lori treats you?”

Lori getting her way with ending the friendship between the members of the Saturday Morning Bike Club made Luke once again give into his learned helplessness. Luke would have lied to protect himself if he did not believe no matter what he would end up being in a dress once again. “No, Dad. I hate it when she calls me Luke. I hate it when she gets Mother to call me Luka. I hate it when...”

Fred was planning on letting his son let it all out. That plan was destroyed when the revelation of his wife picking on their son came out. Sunlight was always the best disinfectant. It took all his willpower to hold in screaming what. “Luke, you need not tell me anymore. That is enough. It will stop. Get ready you are going to see your Memaw. Don’t worry Lori is not coming with you she is going to see Paw. I need to talk with your mom.”

“I am going to be taking next week off of work so we can spend time together. Everything is going to be fine. You are going to be fine. Trust me Luke. I love you and I will never lie to you about this. You are going to be fine. I will do everything that I can to make it so.”

How fast Fred returned to continue the talk made Alice think that Luke said everything was fine. Alice wanted to move on because everything was her way. To get back to their normal routine Fred’s wife said “See, I am right.”

Alice was not prepared for the Fred not acknowledging her. Her husband was holding in his outrage so their kids did not hear him lose his cool. Even with how bad his wife messed up, Fred wanted to show a united front. Alice wanted her husband to admit he was wrong and said “Come on, admit that I am right.”

The look of anger on her husband’s face was not right. Alice tensed up seeing how mad her husband was. Fred was not a spoil sport when he was wrong. He held his cool until he got close to his wife. To show how he felt Fred growled “Alice, never again call our son Luka. Do not talk to me until the kids are out of the house.”

At that moment Alice was ready to succumb. The only course of action was to quickly accepted her husband cease-fire agreement. Even with the fight being over, the remnants would linger for a long time. The anger her actions caused would not be going away for a while. Knowing her husband had the high ground made surrendering the only option. Fred was morally right and she could not defend her actions “You are right. I will back how you want to handle punishing Lori.”

“Now we are going to Lori's room to punish her.”

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

This day might have been the worst day in Luke’s life but it was going to make a direct path to his life getting better. This day was the start of the year long journey towards ending up on that new beach greeting that new sun and finally having the promise of a new day, a new start come true.