Shawn spent all Saturday at Em's house. He finally came back Sunday morning yawning loudly, but nevertheless there was a smile on his face. I was happy to see that Shawn was back to his normal self. Spewing out random stuff that magically popped into his mind. It made me realize just how much of a filter he needs for his mouth.

He keeps looking for evidence of me being part ape. Going through my closet, checking my recent searches under my google history, and any downloads of monkey pictures. I gave up after a while and started shouting at him in what I assume is Gorilla. Pointing his finger at me, he shouted, "I knew it! Ooh-ahh! Ahh-ah."

That all happened around lunch time when mom was teaching Suzie how to make white chicken chili. It took forever to make, but Shawn was good entertainment. At least to the rest of the family. I was being made fun of every two seconds. "No mom you gotta make Tori a banana chili. With extra fruit and lettuce." He'd say.

"Ha ha that's so funny." I would cross my arms and roll my eyes, "I'm just dying of pure laughter."

Other than the constant jokes with the follow up of laughs, it was a decent lunch. Dad asked me about the dance and mom kept blabbering on about how nice I looked. When I had gotten home, I had given her the clips back. She only smiled and placed them back in her little jewelry box.

I was ready to tell Mark. When Cole and Shawn said they'd ask Blake I was beyond happy. It felt amazing to know I'd be able to tell Mark now, I couldn't keep hiding this from him. It was a lie piled onto another. It just kept escalating to a point where it would topple over. I was just glad it wouldn't have to chance to fall. I'd be able to tell him before the large tower of lies came crashing down.

"So we were thinking," Mom said while she was taking the plates up getting some pie from the fridge.

"Who's we?" asked Cole.

"Mario and Luigi Cole." Shawn remarked sarcastically, giving everyone a chance to chuckle while Cole gave Shawn a look.

"Lilly and I," Dad said, "we're thinking about going to the lake house for Christmas. What'd you guys think?"

Christmas in a cabin with a nice fireplace sounds like a scene in a Christmas movie. But it did give me a nice feeling of being at home. Just sitting down on the couch drinking hot cocoa with a blanket over my legs, watching the fire crackle in the fireplace. It made me drowsy just thinking about how peaceful it'd be. How serene I'd feel. I could almost feel my hands getting warmer as if I was holding a cup of hot chocolate now.

"Why?" Blake asked. My daydreaming came to stop. I felt like a record just scratched in my head bringing me back to reality. "Why can't we just have it here like we do every year?"

"We just thought it'd be nice," Lilly smiled softly, "To try something new."

Cole looked at his brother, "Yeah man. It'd be fun. Plus it's up north, we could possibly get snow. Or build a fort outside. Or maybe we play Russian Roulette with Nerf guns and loser jumps in the lake!"

"I'd so beat you!" Shawn bursted pointing his finger at Cole.

"Heck no!" Cole threw a bean at Shawn. "Hope you have a diving suit or you're going to freeze!"

Cole and Shawn started to argue about who was going to win and who was going to jump into the lake at night. Lilly finally intervened when Shawn shouted that Cole would be so frozen his manhood would snap right off like an icicle.

Blake didn't say anything. He just watched, leaning back in chair. It looked like he was studying his brothers. Watching their every movement and waiting to see what happened. Almost like a scientist observing animals from afar. The only difference was that Blake didn't just watch his brothers. He watched mom and dad as well.

He looked over at me and noticed me watching. Giving me his famous glare, I turned my attention back to my food. Guess he's not the only one observing, I thought to myself.

"Boys that's enough." Lilly hissed through her teeth.

"I think it's funny." Suzie giggled.

"Your mother's right." Dad agreed with Lilly looking at the boys sternly before turning into a grin. "Besides I'd win anyways."

Lilly's mouth dropped open while Cole' s and Shawn's eyes turned wide. "No!" Shawn shouted first, "You and Cole will both have to jump in the lake."

Dad's laugh echoed slightly with the continuous shouting of Cole and Shawn. Suzie started to giggle, which turned to a full laugh. I just stared at the scene in front of me as it unfolded and looked like the tea table the Mad-Hatter would sit at. Lilly finally recoiled her shocked face and smiled. I rubbed my temple realizing how crazy this family was.

"No." Blake said flatly, but loud and strong enough to be heard around the table.

Cole, still smiling, asked, "What do you mean no?"

"As in no I don't want to go." Blake stated causally, grabbing a piece of bread from the center of the table. He ripped a piece off and started to dip it into his chili.

"Well..." Lilly tried to find her words, shocked that her son was so blunt and flat. Everyone was staring at Blake as he calmy ate his chili like he owned the place. "Why not...?"

Blake shrugged, "Because I don't want to."

"More like you don't want to have fun." Cole muttered under his breath. Blake snapped his head and glared straight at Cole, who flinched and looked down, playing with his spoon.

"Yeah man," Shawn pushed a smile, "It'll be fun. Come on, don't you want to see Bill jump in the lake."

At this dad chuckled and murmured "Yeah right," under his breath.

At the sound of my fathers name, Blake directed his attention to dad. "I don't want to go, Bill," He dipped another chunk of bread in the chili, "So you gonna make me?"

Dad's face paled slightly. He was trapped, everyone quickly caught onto what Blake was doing. Even Suzie seemed to understand as we all stared at my dad. The expression clear in his face: fear. He was trapped in a corner like a mouse. Dad sat there, silently concentrating on what to say. "Well...I can't force you to do anything."

Blake chuckled, but there was no humor behind his laugh. He dipped his last piece of bread into the chili. "You are, after all, the head man of this...family." Poison coated his words as he chewed loudly.

Cole and Shawn turned to look at their brother. Both of them gave Blake a cold glare, but Blake remained stiff, keeping his attention on dad.

"Well, if you look at it like that," Dad muttered before continuing, "It looks like you're the only one that doesn't want to go. So we'll have to take you with us."

"I can stay home alone."

"Not for Christmas."

"Then don't go." Blake shrugged. Frustration started boiling inside me. What was his problem? Why couldn't he just come? It's Christmas in a cabin beside a lake there was no chance it wouldn't be fun. Blake might not be the kind that likes fun, but he's the kind that will do anything to get on your nerves.

"Everyone wants to go Blake." Lilly intervened.

"So Bill is going to make me?" Blake lifted his eyebrows.

Dad glanced over at Lilly whispering loud enough for everyone to hear but soft enough so it didn't seem like the tone he was using with Blake. "It's ok, Lilly. I can handle myself."

"Why don't you want to go?" Suzie asked, softly picking at the table.

Blake shrugged. "Maybe because it's bad enough having to live in this house. But at least I can get out and go with friends. What am I suppose to do in a cabin with the nearest town being twenty minutes away by car?"

"Gee I don't know," Shawn said sarcastically, "Maybe hang out with us?" He motioned to himself and Cole.

"Yeah seriously," Cole added, "Play football outside. Practice soccer, you're trying for that scholarship. Maybe sing Christmas songs and spend time with us." At the mention of a scholarship, Blake snapped his eyes at Cole, narrowing them as if telling him to keep his mouth shut.

I didn't know Blake was trying out for a scholarship. Let me rephrase that, I didn't expect Blake going to college period. But it made sense for him to get a scholarship for something sporty. It was all he was good at. Sports. Tackle, run, pass, shoot, score. If anyone was going to get a scholarship for that, it was Blake. It was his first nature, his second would maybe be the nature of hating and insulting others. He's pretty good at that too.

"So it's settled," Dad tried a smiled, "We're going."

Everyone shouted their agreements except Blake. He kept his eyes on Cole, who simply returned his gaze. It looked like a telepathic communication between brothers. After all, they were triplets. "I still don't see why I have to go," Blake dropped his gaze and looked back towards dad.

"Because it's Christmas. Why don't you want to go Blake?" Dad had his elbows on the table, folding his fingers together and resting his chin on them. "Everyone else does."

"Then I guess I'm unique."

I snorted, "You got that right."

"I didn't ask for your opinion." Blake spat out.

"You're asking for a kick in the groin, that's what you're asking for." I snapped back.

"Ok that's enough," Dad sternly, "You're going to go, Blake. I don't care if you whine the whole way there. Give me the cold shoulder. Or lock yourself in your room when we get there. Hell, for all I care you can watch porn while in your room alone. But you're going. That's final."

Blake clenched his jaw, his fist balled up beside him on the table. Everyone stayed quiet, watching while Dad and Blake stared each other down. Finally Blake stood up and grabbed his plate walking to the sink and throwing it in angrily, it shattered, causing everyone to flinch. He stormed off towards the stairs, "You're not my dad Bill. You're a sick excuse for a dad."

By the time everyone came to their senses, Blake was already in his room. "H-he didn't mean that." Lilly stuttered in shock. I wanted to rip his throat out. Grow long vampire nails and just watch him die slowly while trying to rip his non-existing heart out of him. How dare he say that to my father! That was low, even for Blake. He should be more caring. What if I insulted his mom? Or his dad? How would he feel? Probably nothing, considering he doesn't have feelings.

"Don't listen to him, Dad," I said to my father, who was looking like he had just been punched in the gut, "He's an as-jerk. He's a stupid jerk with a huge ego." I quickly looked over at Lilly, "No offense to you, since you did give birth to him."

Suzie went over to Dad and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you Daddy. That's all that matters."

"You're a great dad." Cole added trying his best to show a Dad a smile.

"Yeah. Blake is just...mad. He's PMSing." Shawn added waving his hand around like it was nothing, "Trust me. He's just trying to be all macho."

"He's trying to be a nacho?" Suzie asked confused.

The mood lightened slightly as we all laughed quietly. "No," Shawn explained, "Macho. With an M."

"It means you try to act all super cool and bigger than anyone else." Dad pulled Suzie into his lap as he explained.

"Oh ok..." Suzie looked down at the table picking at the side. It grew quiet, a very awkward quiet where no one knew what to say. Not even Shawn spoke. Suzie broke the ice first, "So...I know this isn't a good time to ask but...what's porn?"

At first no one said anything. Then we busted out into a fit of laughs, except Suzie. She stayed wondering what porn was.

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

It's been a week after Blake's outburst. Cole had explained to me that he'd talk to Blake when he's in a better mood. Dad has been talking to Cole and Shawn more. They've been bonding well, but whenever Blake would enter the room, everyone would stare at him. He'd act like he didn't notice, grabbing water from the fridge, and making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, later taking it upstairs to his room where he'd lock himself. Then we all went back to talking.

The whole week had gone by slowly. Everyone was waiting for Thanksgiving Break. It's what everyone was thinking about. A whole week away from school to stuff ourselves with delicious foods. I could just imagine the hot gravy running down my throat with cranberry sauce on the side of my mashed potatoes. Then in the middle of the table, in full display, the giant turkey which is perfectly roasted and hot from the oven. It made my stomach churn and mouth water in anticipation.

I was lying on my bed playing videogames when there was a knock on my door. "Come in," I said never taking my eyes off the TV I stole a glance of the person that came in before going back to the game. "What up?"

Cole looked around my room with a raised eyebrow. Everything was everywhere. My backpack was spilling notebooks and papers, I had materials like color pencils and poster paper spread on the ground. Study notes were scattered on my unmade bed along with some old college brochures. "Your room-"

"Looks like a tornado went through it I know." I shrugged it off. I felt the bed dip down and looked beside me. Cole held the other controller in his hand.

"Nah don't worry. Mine isn't any better." He turned his controller on, "Now add me." After getting Cole set up into the game we started playing together. "So..." Cole said awkwardly.

"So..." I asked back with a smirk. "Have you talked to Blake?"

He sighed, "No I was going to do it today but--Tori to your left," I made my character turn to the left and quickly shot the zombie. Cole continued, "But he's been in a bad mood all week. I can't ask him when he's in a bad mood."

"Then ask him after he has sex." I shrugged, "Wouldn't he be happy then?"

Cole laughed, "I guess. Depends on how good he got it." He gave me a wink and I gagged only making him laugh more. When his laughing subsided his lips formed a straight line, "I was going to ask him today."

I turned my head to look at Cole. "Really?"

He nodded, "Me and Shawn have it all planned out."

I smiled. I couldn't describe how it felt knowing they were helping me. It just didn't make sense to me why Blake hates me. I've never done anything to him, "What are you going to do?" I asked Cole as I clicked the buttons on the remote.

"Ask him."

"That's your big plan?" I nearly shouted.

"Well I'm not going to threaten him Tori."

I paused the game and groaned while burying my face into the mattress. "Don't ask nicely though. Be a jack-ass to him because he deserves it."

Cole laughed softly, "Fine." We played a bit more before he decided to break the ice. "What college are you going to?"

It caught me off gaurd. A random question if you ask me. I hadn't been worrying much about college yet. I didn't really want to think about it right now since I already had enough family problems and drama. "Uh..." I stuttered grabbing one of the papers on my bed, "These are my grades? If that helps any."

Cole raised an eyebrow since it didn't sound like I was sure of myself. He looked at the paper and while he scanned the grades I kept playing. "These are really good." He said after a minute.

"Thanks but I don't really care about grades I mean-"

"What college though?"

I sighed. I had applied to a nearby college last year and accepted for one reason: home. At the time I hadn't known dad was going to re-marry so I figured I'd stay close to home. Maybe not for dad but for Suzie. She would be spending a lot of days alone and seeing to that the college was only about an hour away I could be home in a short time or visit on weekends. But now she had Lilly and dad. She wouldn't need me to cook or help clean the house. I don't want to drop out though since I already planned it all out.

It wasn't a bad college, it was business and teaching. I frankly didn't care what I studied. I wasn't someone enthusiastic about what career I wanted. I know people who have dreams of becoming surgeon's or engineers. I just wanted anything with a good salary. "Just the one up north." I muttered.

Cole nodded, "Oh yeah me too. I wanna go to the college up north also. Because, as you already know, there's just that one college that's up north." I rolled my eyes but he kept going, "I'd be able to go see you every day because I we're both going to the college up north."

"Ok I get it there's a lot of colleges in the north."

Cole smirked, "And south, east, and west. Then you have the smaller directions like North east. North west. Sou-"

"I get the point Cole." Before he could say anything more I beat him to it. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"College?"

"Oh..." He shrugged, "It's whatever."

I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't going to lie, he probably had bad grades. And everything revolved around your GPA. At least Shawn was now getting his grades up, he's been paying more attention in school but by now it barely mattered. "Whatever?"

"Yeah. The what to the ever. It's slang Tori."

"Come on show me your grades."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

I sucked in air making a hissing sound, "That bad huh?"

Cole glanced my way, "Yeah."

I shrugged, "It's ok. I won't judge."

Cole laughed, "Good. But I'm still not showing you."

"Please I showed you mine." I gave a big smile and batted my eyelashes.

He rolled his eyes. "Doesn't work on me. Never has never will."

"Not shocked girls have tried." Now I rolled my eyes.

Cole gave me a confused looked before it seemed to click in his head, "Oh you think I meant..." He laughed. "I was actually referring to Shawn but okie-dokey."

We played about five minutes more before I started my rant of annoyance. One of my favorite things to do would be to annoy people. Let's face it, everyone hates someone annoying but we all love to annoy people. "Show me." I said.

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"They can't be that bad."

"No."

"If I guess where you put them, then can I see?"

Cole smirked, "Yeah if you guess."

Without hesitation I answered, "The red box under your bed."

"N-Yes. Wait how the hell..." Cole turned to look at me but I kept my eyes on the screen. "Have you been in my room?"

I shrugged, "Shawn told me to go in one day. Said he needed something from the red box under your bed. First, I didn't want to look in your red box. But Shawn convinced me and told me he just wanted the blue notebook. Anyways all your old school stuff was in there. Pretty good grades in middle school."

Cole glanced at my door like he was scared someone was listening in. He looked back at me and paused the game before grabbing my hand and standing me up. "Come on." He led me to his room where I took a seat on his bed as he pulled out a small red box from underneath.

It was werid he was being so secretive. I realize his grades may be down the toilet, but I've seen a lot of bad grades. Considering in elementary and even a little in middle school the teacher would let me help her grade some work I realized then a lot of the smarter kids weren't really as smart as they turned out to be. "Are you scared to show me? Because honestly Cole they're just numbers."

"Shush." He sat on the ground and opened the box. Rummaging through all the papers he pulled out a yellow envelope and handed it to me. "Just...don't tell anyone. Especially Blake and Shawn."