Lorelei stared out the window of the car lazily as the vehicle made its way down a lonely stretch of highway. It was going so fast that the trees flew by. She could make them out if she chose one to focus on ahead of time, but otherwise her vision was filled with nothing but blurred green suggestions of the fauna beyond the window.

Levi and Noelle sat up front, with Levi driving. The camping trip had been all his idea, a probable attempt to switch things up and get Lorelei to open her guard, as if she’d be doing that anytime soon. He tapped his finger along with the beat of the radio and hummed but was otherwise keeping his mouth shut for once. Noelle was silent as well, but was fidgeting in her seat.

Lorelei had already heard all about the mishap of Noelle’s parents butting in on the trip. Judging from how cheery Noelle was, meeting her parents promised to be a real treat. Lorelei’s mental image of them was Cruella de Vil and Count Olaf if Noelle in any way served as an accurate base. That would be put to test soon enough.

She turned away from the window towards the source of the light breathing next to her where Derek was slumbering away peacefully. For some God forsaken reason Levi and Noelle had decided to bring him along and somehow convinced Derek’s parents to let him attend. Lorelei guessed his mom was all too eager to push her pervert son into a healthy activity like camping for a change.

It was a welcome relief from how hyperactive the boy had been just an hour before. Levi had pulled some strings to get Talise to give them a lift on the ley lines for most of the trip so he would only need to rent a car and drive for about an hour. Needless to say, Derek lost it when he shifted from Ithaca, New York to Bangor, Maine in nearly an instant. Levi was quick to wipe Derek’s memory with the filter after that. He had already caught a lot of heat from Oscar for failing to wipe Noelle when he had the chance and it seemed like he wasn’t eager to sit through another lecture.

Derek’s present bout of sleep was a result of a secondary knockout function on Levi’s filter. It had been found that wiping someone’s short term memories had a high failure rate if you let the subject re-examine their surroundings immediately, so knocking them out for at least 30 minutes was recommended.

Lorelei had mixed feelings about the current arrangement. On one hand, Derek’s no doubt incessant chattering would be annoying. On the other, the quiet atmosphere of the car ride was boring her to tears. It was almost enough for her to want to hear Levi say something stupid.

As if on cue, the man cleared his throat while slowing for a turn onto a smaller, residential road.

“I forgot to mention, but I promised somebody I’d meet them in Bar Harbor tomorrow. It’s just twenty minutes away so I won’t be long.”

“Wait...you’re leaving me all alone with them?!” gasped Noelle.

“Is that seriously how you refer to your parents?” asked Levi. “Besides, I thought it would just be Emily until the other day. Don’t blame me.”

“I have two options for your punishment. Choose wisely.”

“What?! This is your fault by association in the first place!”

“Drop and give me twenty push-ups, or,” she leaned in closer to him, to the point her nose was almost pressed against his cheek, “rip off your toenails.”

“Those aren’t equal at all!”

“All complaints will be accepted as choosing the latter.”

“No! I want the push-ups! The push-ups!”

Lorelei found it concerning that Levi was slinking off to meet some unidentified person. It was suspicious and undoubtedly something Noelle would pick up on, but instead she was using the news as an excuse for icky flirting.

She really needed to up her standards.

Whatever, if Levi wasn’t taking them along Lorelei wasn’t about to ask. No good would come from getting mixed up in his business. It was probably something stupid too.

Lorelei’s attention was drawn back to the window as the car slowed. It had been nearly an hour since they got in the vehicle, so this was the home stretch.

The car came to a stop in front of a luxurious wooden cabin overlooking a lake.

“Hey, Lorelei?” said Levi.

“What is it?”

“Wouldn’t it have been funny if Noelle and I had said ‘piss-ups’ instead of ‘push-ups’?”

“No! You stupid fuck! Are you going to let him say this crap, Noelle?!”

Noelle didn’t respond. She was looking out the window distractedly instead. Her mouth parted as she let out a soft whisper.

“Andrew…,”

An uncomfortable silence blanketed the large dining room table of the cabin. While there was a spread of delicious looking food ready to be eaten within an arm’s reach nobody dared take any lest the invisible tension in the room break out into furor.

Lorelei sat on the same side of the table as Levi, Noelle, and Derek, now awake. The other side was occupied by Noelle’s friend, Emily, two older people who were surely Noelle’s parents, and a young man she could only assume was the “Andrew” Noelle had mentioned.

It didn’t take much to guess what their relationship was, or used to be at least.

Noelle was the first to break the stalemate. “What’s he doing here?” she asked sternly.

“Watch your tone, dear,” chided her mother, “Your father and I thought this would be a good opportunity to patch things up.”

“If you haven’t moved on already, that is,” said her father, staring daggers at Levi.

Levi stiffened under the older man’s gaze. “I...uh...I’m...just some guy. Yeah.”

“He cheated on me,” replied Noelle.

“It’s just a phase. We all...wander from time to time. Besides, you two are such a good match,” said Noelle’s mother.

“A good match for your networking opportunities maybe.”

“Tomayto, tomahto.”

“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth,” said Andrew, “Why don’t you introduce your friends here?”

“Sorry my ass,” muttered Emily.

Andrew ignored Emily’s comment and gestured towards Levi.

Rather than answer, Noelle crossed her arms and scowled at her parents. Levi was left to fend for himself.

“I’m Levi. This girl here is my...ward, Lorelei. Derek here is her friend from school.”

“Ward?” questioned Noelle’s mother with a cocked eyebrow.

“Oh yes,” replied Noelle with a sly grin on her face, “Levi is very altruistic, and a business owner too. He’s very accomplished.”

Levi had no choice but to play along. “Nonsense. It’s all a bit too much for me. If Noelle hadn’t stepped in to help me out at my shop every once in a while I wouldn’t be able to handle it and Lorelei at the same time.”

“I always knew Noelle had a strong sense of civic duty!” laughed Emily.

“Yes...just like her sister,” muttered Noelle’s father, “Which is why I’d prefer if she stopped being an officer immediately.”

“This shit again,” groaned Noelle.

“W-why don’t we dig in!” suggested Emily in a panic.

“Don’t mind if I do,” said Levi as he reached towards the food. “I’ve been in a tough spot recently. I can afford enough for Lorelei but I’ve been eating nothing but rice and beans for a month. If only the bookshop did a little worse I could get some sweet government assistance.”

“I...see,” said Andrew.

“You’d have to get rid of the nudie mags to do worse, and I wouldn’t want that,” said Derek.

“Me neither,” replied Levi. “If I got rid of them kids like you would go looking in seedier places for their fix. I’m doing you a big favor.”

Noelle’s parents were silent on the other end of the table. Noelle’s face turned dull as she slid down in her seat as Levi and Derek continued to chatter, unaware of the punishment she would surely inflict on them after dinner.

Lorelei sighed and reached for her own helping of food, sorry for whatever she had done to have to suffer the company of these idiots

Not that she didn’t deserve it.