A Girl Called Lori

Chapter 14 - Helen's Check In

"Alright Lori, what do you want to do now?" Alex asks the 7-year-old, as they walk out of L-Corp, hand in hand.

"I don't know." Lori replies, in a sad voice.

Alex notices Lori's sad voice, and makes a good guess that it's because the young girl is sad about leaving Lena, and not being too sure when she will see her next.

"Hey, you'll see Lena again soon. Don't be sad over it." Alex says, in a soft voice.

"Yeah..... okay...." Lori nods, biting her lip slightly, still in a bit of a sad voice.

"Come on. Let's go have some more fun so you can forget about things." Alex says, "We can either go to the arcade, or go bowling."

Lori is silent for a little while, before she finally looks up at Alex again.

"I've never been bowling.... I don't know how to do it." Lori admits.

"Oh..." Alex says, surprised, but realises she probably shouldn't be, as it's likely Lori didn't get to do a lot of things because of being a foster kid, "Well..... I'd be happy to teach you.... Plus.... a lot of bowling places also have some small arcades in them too.... So even if you don't like bowling, we can still play in the arcade after."

"Okay.... We can go bowling then." Lori replies, with a nod of her head.

"Great!" Alex smiles, happily.

Lori and Alex then walk hand in hand down several blocks until they eventually reach a bowling alley. Once they are inside, they walk to the front desk, with Lori looking around, taking in all the sights of the arcade and everything, while also hearing the crashing of pins in the background. After they arrive at the front desk, Alex pays for them to have two games, before giving the person her shoe size.

"Here are your shoes." The person at the front desk says, handing Alex her bowling shoes.

"Thank you." Alex smiles back, taking the shoes.

"What size shoes does your daughter need?" The person at the front desk asks Alex.

"Oh... uhh... she's not my daughter." Alex says, in a bit of a flustered voice.

"Oh, my apologies." The front desk person says.

Alex then looks down at Lori and realises she has no idea the size of Lori's shoes.

"Uhhh... do you know your shoe size?" Alex asks.

"No." Lori replies, shaking her head.

"Okay." Alex nods, and then crouches down, "Let me take off one of your shoes, so I can see the size and check."

"Okay." Lori says.

Alex then undoes one of Lori's shoes and reads the size, before standing up to look at the person at the front desk again.

"Uhhh..... her shoes here say she's a 13 and a half. So.... whatever you think will be best for her?" Alex says.

The person at the front desk nods his head, and then turns around to retrieve some shoes for Lori, before placing them on the desk again.

"You can try these." The person at the front desk says, "Bowling shoes tend to run a bit big, so these are a kid's 13, so hopefully they'll fit her."

"Alright. Thank you." Alex smiles.

Alex then crouches down to Lori's height again.

"Here. Let's put these on." Alex smiles.

"Okay." Lori says, and then lets Alex undo her other shoe, watching on in silence for a little while.

Alex then begins to help Lori put on the bowling shoes, which thankfully fit perfectly, before standing up again and handing Lori's shoes to the man at the front desk. After this, Alex crouches down, undoes her own shoe, and puts on her bowling shoes, before standing back up to hand her shoes to the person at the front desk.