t h i r t y t w o ;

It was four weeks and counting since Louise Belcher last saw Dieter Park. The day of the incident she decided to cut him out of her life. She didn't need a boyfriend, and she blocked his number altogether. Perhaps her decision had been a bit rash. But she hated feeling powerless and small. She hated the fact that a boy could make her feel so happy and then so stupid. She spent that whole weekend at Logan's place. They didn't go into town because she didn't want to run into Dieter. Instead they spent it at his house, watching movies and playing old video games. 

Once Monday rolled around, he took her back to school and went back to their normal lives. Louise was a bit more calm now, not starting any trouble for him during class like she did on his first few days a the prestigious school. But also, she hardly interacted with him anymore. He gave her space, but he wanted to ask her if she was okay. It was for that reason that instead of asking her directly, he asked Aimee Arriola-Hendricks, one of Louise's best friends and room mates, to stay after class so that he could talk to her. It was only then that he realized he probably should have asked the other twin to stay behind, as Aimee was a little too excited that he asked her to stay.

He was at his desk as the bell rang and the girls piled out into the hallway. All but one. She remained at her seat with a bright smile on her face. Her sister shot her a glance, as though wondering what she was doing. But Aimee urged her with her eyes to continue to their nutrition break and she would catch up to them in a moment. Louise was already outside. She noticed that Aimee had remained in her seat and was curious to know why, but she didn't want to seem too interested either. She knew well that Aimee was in love with their chemistry professor. But she also knew for a fact that Logan had no feelings towards Aimee whatsoever. If he had asked her to stay after class, it was probably about a test or assignment.

When the room was finally empty after a couple of minutes and the hallways went silent signaling that the crowd had moved into another part of the school, Aimee got up from her chair and sauntered over to his desk. He had been running through some quizzes given that day and he looked up past his reading glasses when he saw her place both hands on his desk to lean on it. Her golden hair with highlights fell in front of her past her shoulders and she offered him a friendly grin, eyes twinkling with a hope that assured him this had been a mistake. Her eyes were wide and doe like. "You wanted to see me, Professor Bush." She said innocently, batting her eyelashes at him. 

He gave a nod of his head, as nonchalant as he could muster. The last thing he wanted was for her to think he was interested in her in any way. He was her teacher after all, and she was only freshly turned eighteen. "I wanted to ask you something important."

She bounced on her tip toes with excitement and anticipation of what he was going to ask of her. Her heart was racing madly against her chest.

Logan continued. "I wanted to ask you how Louise is doing." The instant the words left his mouth, her smile dropped into a look of annoyance and hurt. He seemed oblivious to it as he spoke. "She hasn't really seemed herself lately. I think it has to do with that boy she met in town. He maybe hurt her feelings--"

Aimee gave a small roll of her eyes and an exasperated sigh, cutting him off rudely. "Louise is fine. She blocked him and he's done. She's over it already. Right now she's been talking a lot with one of her best friends from back home, Ollie. Maybe you remember he and his brother visited a couple weeks back." For someone who claims they don't care about boys, she sure does seem to get a lot of attention from them, Aimee thought to herself. She supported Louise through everything--rejecting her brother Paul who was madly in love with her, getting heart broken by Dieter, talking to Ollie. But something that did bother her was the fact that the one guy Aimee had her eyes set upon, was too busy worried about Louise to pay her any attention.

She understood that they were childhood acquaintances, from the same home town, but that didn't mean it made Aimee any less upset about it.

"Alright." Logan heaved a tired sigh. He tried to get some information, and information was what he got. Louise was doing well and that was all that mattered. He hoped that she would need someone to comfort her and he could offer her that comfort as a friend, but she was perfectly fine without him. It was a confusing feeling for him to have. He felt like he wanted to protect her and make sure she was safe. But she seemed perfectly capable of doing that all on her own. "Thank you, Miss Arriola."

By now she had changed her posture. Where she had been leaning on his desk, she straightened out her slender body and crossed her arms over her chest. Her lips were brought together to form a tight line. 

"Whatever." She huffed, turning on her heel and stomping out of the room.

-

For weeks, Dieter checked his phone whenever he had an incoming call or text message, hoping that it was Louise calling him back. But she never did. By now it had been four long weeks since he last saw her and it was Thanksgiving week. 

The schools were giving a whole week off for the holiday, and Liesl had time off from her pageant duties as well. Dieter thought about taking his car and making the drive up into the country side to find the private girls school. Maybe Louise hadn't left yet, it was Friday afternoon, once classes had finished early for the day, and they would be having the next nine days to themselves. He decided he would do it. He was sitting in the school parking lot with his friends when he decided to excuse himself.

"I gotta go." He said to them in something of a hurry once the decision was made. When they eyed him with confusion, in the midst of pausing their conversation about going to Granny's Diner like they normally did after school, and then heading to Park's Pharmacy to get tents for their yearly camping trip, he explained. "I'll meet you guys on the camp grounds later tonight. I'm gonna go find Louise at her school and see if she'll come."

Yamilla, who had been leaning on Jai's white Nissan Skyline rolled her eyes. "She hasn't come back in weeks, move on already."

Dieter only shot her glares. But he turned his head as she heard another one of his friends add on to the comments about Louise. "Yeah bro." Jai agreed with his girlfriend obliviously. He never took any notice to the bullying Yamilla was trying to put Louise through. He didn't notice the way Yamilla was always trying to touch Dieter either, and the way her sister Moira was always encouraging it. "Maybe she thought she was too good for us. Or maybe she just got bored and found something else to occupy her time."

Though Dieter only knew Louise for a short time, he knew her enough to know that what they were saying wasn't true. Still, they got the rest of the friend group to agree with them and they decided they weren't going to let him chase after her. Yamilla had gone up to Dieter, reached into his jeans pocket and fished his keys out, tossing them towards Rohan with a grin. "We have to confiscate these until we all get back from the camping trip on Wednesday night. We can't let some little rich girl ruin our yearly tradition." She announced and everyone nodded in unison, even Dieter's own sister Liesl. The only one who didn't fully seem in agreement was Clarisse. But she was the newest one in the friend group. She didn't feel like they would take kindly to her voicing her opinions. 

The camping trip was their annual tradition over the Thanksgiving holiday. They always went ever since they were children. At first it was only Yami, Jairo, Dieter, Liesl, and Moira. As the friend group got bigger with the passing of time, so did the amount of people on their camping trips. Soon it had been Ally, Ralph, Finn, Rohan, and Johnny joining them as well. The last was Clarisse and most recently Ally's younger sister. They also used to go with their parents, but for the past two years, the parents had decided that the group of teenagers could go on their own. They would leave Friday afternoon after classes and make the thirty minute drive into the camping grounds, and they would stay until Wednesday afternoon, right before Thanksgiving.

Dieter wasn't one to have outbursts, but he had to admit their behavior made his blood boil. Still, he thought that he would go along with it, it was their yearly tradition after all and Louise had probably left the state for the holiday since he knew she lived on the other side of the country. Maybe he could go look for her on the weekend, following their return from the Thanksgiving holiday.

He climbed into the passenger seat of his own car with Rohan taking the wheel. Clarisse and Johnny sat in the back. They went to Granny's for lunch and then headed to Dieter's family pharmacy to buy supplies for their camping trip. Then they grabbed their bags, tents, and headed out into the wilderness.

-

Classes ended early for the girls of the elite private school, and when the final bell of the day rang, there were luxurious black cars already waiting for most of the girls. Louise plopped down on her bed with a sigh when she and her two best friend returned to their dorm. Annie and Aimee immediately rushed around their room gathering their belongings. Their family's driver was waiting outside with a black limo that would get them to the airport. They had a private jet waiting for them, that would get them to San Diego, where their family was from. Louise was from the Santa Monica pier area in Los Angeles. But she did not have any money to fly back home. Her parents couldn't afford it either with their restaurant earnings. As it was, it was difficult for them to put money away to bring her back home at the end of the semester.

She planned to just stay by herself in her room over the holidays with the few other girls who were at the school on scholarship and couldn't afford to go back home. 

When Annie noticed Louise was just laying there, she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the room, and looked at her friend with confusion. "Why aren't you getting ready to head home?" She asked, as though it weren't already obvious. 

Annie and Aimee's parents owned the Arriola and Sons mattress company, and though it had started out small with only one shop in San Diego, they now had several stored and warehouses around the country. It was a booming business since as long as there were people on this earth, they would need to sleep. Their father also had spoons in other ventures, such as the tow truck business. He owned several lots. And he also got sizable income from breeding Rottweilers. Not to mention that their brother was a famous soccer player and had connections with all kinds of people. The Arriola Hendricks family was drowning in money, while the Belchers were struggling to keep their little restaurant afloat.

Louise replied, "I didn't get a plane ticket to go back home."

"Why?" Annie asked her.

This time, Louise seemed burdened as she bit down on her lip. "Geez, Anne. Don't make me say it." When Annie Arriola remained silent and awaiting an answer, Louise heaved a sigh and continued. "My family can't afford to buy me a plane ticket back home for the Thanksgiving holiday. So I have to stay here. They can only afford to get me back home at the end of this school semester."

Again, there was a look of confusion on Annie's face. "But..." She started slowly. "I thought it was already established that you could ride with us. And we can just get a driver to take you home, and pick you up when its time to come back...Did we not mention that to her?" As she spoke her last sentence, she looked to her twin Aimee who just gave a shrug of her shoulders. Looking back towards Louise, she said. "Yeah, just pack your things. The private jet has six seats, and its just gonna be me and Aimee, and our driver. We'd have three spots open."

Louise's eyes brightened at her friend's words and she jumped up from her bed. "Thank you!" She shouted as she threw her arms around Annie Arriola.

It wasn't too much of a big deal, but she would be back home again with her parents, her siblings and her friends. But there was a little thought in the back of her mind that wondered if Logan would be there too.

-

soooo i did some research and apparently bob belcher's restaurant is supposed to be in new jersey. but when i was doing research for this story when i was first writing it, i had read somewhere that it was in california. but i mean, a lot of the elements of it do scream east coast. sorry i didn't realize that five years ago. (five years! wow)

so for plot purposes lets just pretend bob has his restaurant in the santa monica area of los angeles. realistically he could never afford rent there. but lets just pretend. bc i already created this whole world with the plot point of them living on the west coast and louise being sent off to a strict girls school on the east coast. 

happy thanksgiving everyone! i hope you all like the update. 

-clary