2.10 I Knew You Were Trouble

"Wake up sleepy head!" Lorie sang.

"Ten more minutes Farina...please," Noah mumbled.

"Who's Farina? Come to the real world Noah. It's Lorie."

"Lorie? Oh crap...did I just call you Farina?" Noah rubbed his eyes.

"Yes you did, but it's alright. Is she the girl you told me about yesterday?"

"Yeah..it's a long story. Don't you have to go to work?" Noah quickly changed the subject. It was too early to be bringing up the past. Well, the future.

"Thats why I'm here. Be ready by five, I'll be home by six. Then we'll leave straight to the party. Dress nice ok? I'll see you later!"

"Great..." Noah mumbled and turned back over.

Noah brushed his teeth and made his way back to Lorie's "room". Apparently, Leia spent most of her time in the living room playing games. Lorie had decided to make the spare room a hang out where she could spend her time. It was just Leia and Noah in the house and Leia was still sleeping, so Noah decided to just check out what was in Lorie's room. He was too tired to do it the night before. He didn't consider it snooping, he was just interested in getting to know the girls better. He made his way over to the drafting table she had. There was a painting, it wasn't the best but it was obviously a dress. Did Lorie want to be a stylist?

Noah was broken from his thoughts by a loud scream. "Boooo!"

"Holy--!" Noah gasped.

"Hahaha! You should have seen your face! It was priceless!" Leia laughed.

"That was so not cool."

"It was hilarious actually. What are you doing anyway?"

"I'm just looking at this thing Lorie drew. Does she want to be a fashion designer?"

Leia frowned. "Yeah, but don't mention it to her."

"Why not?" Noah asked.

"Just don't. Anyway, why are you wearing that? You have to blend in remember?" Leia had her hands on her hips.

"I fell asleep in my clothes yesterday. I didn't bring any pajamas."

"I'll wash them, just go make yourself some breakfast. Boys," Leia said shaking her head.

The two found themselves bored out of their minds. Leia was typing furiously away on her smartphone. She had a blog she was working on. She refused to tell Noah what it was about though. Noah was watching TV. The programs of the future were more intense and these bored him. 

"Hey, do you want to play that Alien Invasion game?" Noah asked the blue haired girl. 

She looked up from her phone. "What timing. I just finished todays post. Alien Invasion is too hard for you. Why don't we play this simulation game instead? You create a family and control their everyday lives. It's pretty fun."

"Alright, I'll try it."

"Here, lets make ourselves. You have to have pink hair of course. And don't forget the blue highlights!"

The two spent much longer on their virtual appearances than they should have. Then it was time to build their house, which Noah was terrible at. Once settled in the house, they let their virtual characters run wild. 

"What the heck is he doing?" Noah asked, flustered. His character had begun to flirt with Leia's, who seemed to reciprocate the affection.

"Heheh...well this is awkward. Let's play Alien Invasion now..." Leia blushed furiously.

"I have to go get dressed now. Lorie should be home soon. This was fun though."

"Yeah."

"How do I look?" Noah asked, coming out of the bathroom. "I tried to be as formal as I could with the clothes Lorie gave me..."

"You look good. Don't worry about it."

"Thanks." He let out a sigh of relief. "I can't remember the last party I went to...."

"That was so corny..."

"I couldn't resist. Has Lorie called yet?"

"Nope. Her phone probably died. She'll be home soon though."

The two hung out and talked some more. Hours had passed and Lorie still wasn't around. Noah decided to stay up and wait for her. He knew at this point, they weren't going to the party, but he still felt like he should wait up for her. Leia felt bad leaving him by himself. She didn't want to get attached, but she also couldn't be rude to their guest. After about the fifth yawn, he insisted that she head to bed. Noah decided to take a nap himself.

It was around midnight when Noah heard someone fumbling with the lock. He heard shuffling and a few choice curse words. Lorie was home. "You're late."

"Oh!" She held her heart. "Don't do that. I didn't know you were there. Something came up that I had to deal with. I wasn't able to call."

"Like what? I mean, I honestly don't care about missing the party all that much and you're entitled to do whatever you want, but your sister was worried. It's none of my business, but you should let your sister know that you're alright. I'm going to change, goodnight Lorie."

"Wait! Did she say anything to you about me?"

"Only that she hates when you're out that late. I'm not here to make friends Lorie. I need to find out my past. Do you understand that my life depends on you and Leia? By tomorrow I need some answers." Noah's feelings surprised him. He was getting angry at Lorie for standing him up for a party he didn't care about attending in the first place. He didn't want her to become comfortable with him living on their couch. He had to find out his answers as quickly as possible. Now, it felt like she was just playing games.

"I do understand that....it was wrong of me to ask you to come to the party in the first place." She came and sat next to him on the couch. "You probably guessed that it was for my own selfish reasons."

"Yeah, you should have came up with a better reason. I was fine just going with you. What was this party all about?"

"Its a group of the elitist artists in town. They don't respect me or my artwork. My style isn't up to their standards. I was sure that they'd cringe at your pink hair but you seemed nice enough to prove them wrong, and then I thought that they'd rethink their ideals. I showed up early to the venue, but everything didn't go as planned."

"What do you mean?" Noah asked.

"Well, I showed up a few hours early. Everyone was busy inside setting up. They were going to be bringing in artwork from all over the town. I figured no one would notice if I snuck in the back and tagged the place."

"You don't mean..."

"Yes, graffiti."

"Why would you do that!?"

"To show them that graffiti is art too! They can't define what is art and what isn't. Any act that expresses your creativity is art."

"That wasn't the way to go about it."

"I know that now...I mean, thats what the officer told me too."

"Officer!?"

"Shhh! I don't want Leia to know.I couldn't call you guys to come and bail me out. I didn't know if you would tell Leia or not. I had to convince the officer to let me go. I couldn't have another arrest on my record."

She began to sob. "I'm so stupid. I keep getting myself into these situations and having to do stupid stuff to get me out!"

"Don't cry...the police officer let you go, right? Everything will be fine."

"No! You don't get it! Why do you think I was out all night? I was with him. That stupid officer. He told me that the only way to get my name off of the record was if I slept with him...and I just feel so naive and stupid. I know it was wrong but....I had no other choice to protect my sister. If I went to jail, she'd be here all by herself...." She began to cry harder.

Noah was shocked. Had he really heard that? He began in a soft whisper, "I won't tell Leia. But...you should never have to shoulder that kind of a burden by yourself. That officer, he's going to pay for doing that to a beautiful young girl. I'll make sure of it. What's his name?"

"Noah...don't. You'll get yourself into trouble."

"I don't care. Tell me his name."

"I don't know his first name, but his badge said Officer Lutz..." 

"Don't worry anymore about this Lorie. Go and get some rest. I promise everything is going to be alright."

She sniffled. "Thank you, Noah." She couldn't believe they had only known each other for two days. She already felt like they were lifelong friends. She bit her lip and headed upstairs. 

"You're home late," Leia snarled. She meant no malice, she only wanted to guilt Lorie into never doing it again.

"I know. I'm sorry, I was held up at work." Lorie answered calmly.

"You could have called."

"I know, my phone died."

"Why didn't you use the office phone?"

"I was so enraptured with my work that I lost track of time ok?" 

"You can't be irresponsible like that. Noah was waiting for you. He got dressed up and everything."

"I just talked to him. He was fine with it!" Lorie yelled.

"He's too nice to tell you otherwise!" Leia yelled back.

"Who cares? You said not to get attached right? So, let him be upset at me." 

"It isn't nice."

"You like him."

"He's a good person," Leia defended.

"You're right. I'm not going to disappoint either of you again, ok? Go to bed, you're helping him find out some information tomorrow. I've got to go to work."

"I have work too!" 

"Not until later on. You're taking him and that's final."

"Who died and put you in charge?" Leia mumbled.

"Mom did."

"That was cold."

"I know, I had a rough night. I'm sorry. Just go to bed ok? I'll see you in the morning."

"Night."

"Goodnight."