I Don't Want To Be
Standard Disclaimers Apply.
Note: Heh…I've had another change of heart. Sofia's name is now Mia, and I have gone back to edit the previous two chapters to reflect that change. I promise not to change their names anymore. It's just a good thing that these are relatively new characters, which makes for an easy name change, but…yeah. I'm done.
------- … scene change/break or indicated flashback
Italics … thoughts
Bold … emphasis
I Don't Want To Be: Chapter 9: Small Blessings
"Lucas!"
"Luke! Hey Luke, over here!"
Lucas stopped his walking, saving the page he had been reading. He was quite skilled at walking and reading without running into anyone or anything at this point. The blonde boy turned his head and noted that he was passing the Rivercourt. Skillz and the guys from the other day were waving him over. Slowly, he complied.
"Would you quit pacing please??" An exasperated blonde shouted to her sister.
A smaller brunette, the addressee, stopped her pacing, frowning at her big sister. Or one of them anyway. "I can't help it! How can you not see how huge this is?"
The elder girl rolled her eyes. "So you had a little argument, no big deal." That wasn't what her little sister had wanted to hear though.
"No big deal?" The younger of the two looked positively scandalized. "No big deal???" She huffed. "It is a huge deal, okay? He didn't speak to me for the rest of the day – "
" – you don't have all your classes together you know."
"Not the point! I didn't see him after school or at the café. We always walk to the café and Deb gives us a little snack. Then Lucas walks me home and then he goes home. That's…that's our thing! He broke…the thing, which means he must be really mad and – "
"Haley!"
The tiny brunette halted her mile-a-minute rambling. "What?"
"Would you relax? Just because he broke your 'thing', which is a routine by the way, doesn't mean he's mad or doesn't want to be friends anymore. Just talk to him tomorrow or something and I'm sure it will all be fine!" Jeez, sixth grade and already with the drama!
Haley sighed. "If you say so Taylor…"
"I do say so. Now go do your homework or something."
"I finished my homework."
…Such a nerd, too late to save her now. "Hence the 'or something'."
Haley opened her mouth and then closed it, frowning at the loophole of a word. "Fine then, I will." The petite girl went upstairs.
Taylor rolled her eyes as she turned the TV back up. "Kids."
"How you holding up?"
Deb looked up and smiled. "Hey Keith; I'm doing great." The look on his face made her wary. "Why? What's wrong?" Immediately, her mind fed her a list of things that could have gone wrong. Lucas! Before Keith could say anything, Deb's mouth was up and running. "Is it Lucas? Oh God, it is Lucas isn't it? Something's happened. Is it his arm? His shoulder? Does he feel sick? Is he sick?"
Keith reached out and grabbed the panicking woman by the shoulders. "Deb!" The blonde went quiet, eyes wide and questioning. "Nothing is wrong with Lucas." As far as I know, he added mentally. "He's fine. I was asking about you."
"Me?"
"Yes Deb, you. How are you?" He knew that Lucas pretty much summed up Deb's life, in her mind anyway. Her devotion to her son was something he admired and worried about at the same time.
It was good for her to love Lucas so much. It was good that she was doing her best as a single parent. It wasn't good if Lucas and anything concerning him consumed her thoughts to the point that she didn't take good care of herself.
Deb smiled at the man's obvious concern. If he only knew… No, you were supposed to have kicked the habit. You told him - you promised him! – that you were done. Are you done Deb? a malicious voice in her mind queried.
Keith wondered about the look that crossed Deb's lovely face. "Deb?" She looked up at him, smiling away. He wasn't sure whether to buy it or not. "You okay?"
"Is that the only thing you came to ask me?"
The question, or the way it was phrased, threw him a bit. Keith scratched his head, not knowing what kind of reply she was looking for.
Deb mentally snickered at the man's confusion. He was so cute when he was confused… Ah-ah-ah…let's not go there. She sighed. "I'm fine Keith." She threw a rag at him, glad that he hadn't called her bluff.
Keith caught the rag. He held it away from him, pinching a corner with minimum contact. His face held expression of mock-disdain. "Eww…"
"Says the guy who works in a car garage all day, every day." Deb laughed at him. "I'm fine," she reiterated, "but I'll be even better when this counter gets cleaned." She batted her eyelashes at him for extra effect. "You wouldn't happen to be wanting to do that now would you?"
"Well…" He really didn't want to clean the counter.
"You hungry?"
Keith's eyes fixed onto the loaded BLT in front of him. Well, first it snapped to something else and then the sandwich, but we shan't go there. "Bribery?" he asked with a sigh.
Deb smiled, still holding the plate away from him. "Bribery."
"Are you sure you hurt your arm?"
Lucas looked over at Junk. It was a weird angle to look at him from, considering the fact that Lucas was laying on the court along with Skillz and Fergie.
"Yeah dawg, you sure?" Skillz asked.
Lucas made a face. "What are you talking about? You all saw my sling and stuff; of course I hurt it."
"Tch, you don't play like you hurt it."
Lucas shook his head, smiling slightly. "Ow! Mouth!"
The skinny boy gave Lucas an apologetic look. "Just checking…"
Lucas wrinkled his brow. "Yeah, well, find another way to check or something." The blond rubbed his sore arm. It wasn't his whole arm that hurt. It was mostly the upper part of his arm and his shoulder. Those were what ached and made him wince with their soreness.
"So now what?"
"What do you mean 'now what'?"
"You guys just played three whole games. Aren't you going to do something else now?"
The four boys in question looked at Mouth like he was crazy. "Three games? Man, those weren't three games. The winning score had to be 10 every time."
Mouth frowned at Fergie. "So how many games is that then?"
The boy thought for a moment. "One."
"Just one?!"
"Yeah, just one."
There was a silence after that as the boys sat there. Actually, Mouth and Junk sat there. Skillz, Fergie, and Lucas all continued to lie on there ground. As he laid there on the asphalt, Lucas felt a calm settle over him.
Basketball had always been therapeutic to him. And with his life, he needed all the free therapy he could get. There was just something about running up and down black asphalt and watching a dark orange sphere sink smoothly through a cylinder net…something peaceful. Something reassuring.
It felt good. Basketball felt good and Lucas was glad he could play it. When everything was confusing and left him feeling lost; when everyone seemed to have lost their minds; when nothing else made sense…there was basketball. He didn't know what he would have done without it. Lucas hoped that he wouldn't have to find out anytime soon.
It made the boy smile to himself. So the blue-eyed boy closed his eyes and thanked God for small blessings.
So there's that. A teeny-weeny filler chapter. Nothing huge, just setting things up. And it's shortness prompted me to load two chapters at once. I think my inspiration has returned during this break!
