- Notes: Thanks to Athena for helping me with the summary. I was having trouble there lol! Didn't want to give too much away... -
Luke Girardi growled as his sister pushed past him and ran in to the bathroom, locking the door. He sighed, and went downstairs in search of breakfast instead. "Morning," he said as he re-fastened his robe and then headed for the fridge.
His father looked up from the paper and frowned, "Morning Luke. Why aren't you dressed?" Luke was always dressed before breakfast recently, perhaps because he wanted to see a certain young lady before school.
"Oh Joan beat me to the bathroom," He replied, taking a carton of milk from the fridge and scanning the shelf for his favourite cereal. "She pushed me out of the way, can you believe that?"
"Your mother has to go to the doctors this afternoon," Will informed him, tossing the paper on to the table. "So she won't be able to give you a ride later."
Luke nodded and sat down at the table, digging in to his cheerios. "Right – is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's just feeling a little under the weather, that's all. Nothing to worry about," he assured him. "Is Kevin up yet?"
"Don't know," Luke shrugged. "He ate the last of my cereal. So I need to walk to home? Joan has something after school...I can walk by myself. That's fine."
"No I don't," Joan replied as she entered the kitchen, clad in purple jeans and her favourite shirt. "Dad, does this look okay?"
"Yes pumpkin," he nodded. "Looks fine."
"Sure?"
"Yes," he nodded again.
"I thought you were going out with..." Luke began. She had been talking about her plans for Friday evening all week.
"Nope," she shook her head, grabbing a banana from the fruit bowl. "So I have to walk you home?"
"Have to?" Luke said, offended. "You don't have to. It's just Mom and Dad prefer us to walk home together."
"Yes, we do," Will confirmed. "There's a very dangerous criminal on the lose. I want you guys sticking together."
"Will do," Joan nodded coolly. "Besides, we can chat."
"Okay," Luke frowned - weird change of tune.
"Luke, go and take a shower. We're going to be late," Joan told him, looking at her watch.
"I would be dressed if you hadn't hogged the bathroom," he told her, rolling his eyes. He stood up, and went to put the bowl in the sink, but Joan took it from him. He went off to have his shower, wondering what was up with his sister now.
When he came back downstairs, he found her watching the t.v. in the living room. "Joan, let's go," he called, grabbing his bag.
She jumped up, took her bag from the closet and followed him out of the door. She still held the apple in her hand. "Are you actually planning to eat that?" Luke asked her a few minutes later, as they walked. She ignored him and put it in her bag. "So, what happened to your plans with...whats her name...Allie?"
"Just got cancelled that's all," His sister replied. "What you doing this weekend?"
"Umm, just hanging with Friedman," He sighed. "You?"
"Adam and I are going to see a black and white movie," She laughed. "He likes them, and I finally said I'd go again. They aren't so bad, although I'd prefer to see a colour movie with...I don't know...Tobey Maguire in it. Someone from this century!"
"Don't you think his neighbour in Spiderman 2 looks a lot like Glynis?" Luke thought.
"Glynis? Maybe. Didn't notice," Joan said. "Meet me on the front steps at 3. Don't be late.
-
Joan stared at her tray, as she had been doing for five minutes now. She obviously had a grudge against broccoli.
"Jane," Adam called for the fifth time, "Jane!"
Joan snapped back to reality, and smiled. "Sorry?"
"Never mind," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry Luke, what were you saying?"
"It doesn't matter," Luke sighed. He was used to being ignored. "I was just asking if you'd seen Grace."
"Nope," Joan shrugged. "I think she must be sick."
"Yeah, she is. She said she was coming down with the flu or something yesterday," Rove nodded. "Everyone has it – Mrs Girardi, Grace, Lisa."
"Maybe I should take her some soup," Luke said, more to himself than her sister or her boyfriend.
"Soup? Grace?" Joan laughed. Her brother could be so sweet. "Luke that's really sweet, but I don't think Grace is a bring-me-soup kinda gal. That's more...Glynis."
"You're right," he said. "Dumb idea."
The bell rang, and Adam groaned. He hadn't finished his meal yet - he'd been too busy trying to wake Joan up from her daydream. "Later," he said to Luke, before picking up his tray and walking off. Joan smiled to her brother and then did the same, except hers was almost completely full.
They ended up spending most of the afternoon together in AP Chemistry, so when it turned 3pm, they were ready to go straight home. Joan kissed Rove goodbye, and then walked up to Luke, who was still chatting with Friedman. "Ready to go?"
"Yep," Luke nodded. "See you tomorrow," he told Friedman, grabbing his bag and standing up. "Let's go home."
-
"What is that noise?" Luke frowned, as they walked along. "Sounds like a very faint growl."
"I don't know," she replied. "Maybe it's a dog or a lawnmower."
"That's you. Your stomach is growling really loud," he whispered. "Have you got mom's virus or something? Wait, I really don't want to know."
"Actually I do have the sniffles," she nodded. "Maybe it's the flu."
"Stay away from me," he warned, moving off slightly. "I've managed to avoid it. I thought we all had."
"Except for Kevin," Joan reminded him. "Poor guy was in bed for like a a week and a half."
Luke nodded, "Do you still need my help with the Chem assignment?"
"No, I think I've actually got it figured out, but thanks," she said proudly. "I knew I could do it eventually. It just looked so complicated."
"I thought you'd be able to do it," he admitted. "I mean, it's pretty easy."
"Thanks," she smiled. They didn't usually talk like this, and being the smarter one, Luke would usually (lovingly) poke fun at her. Of course, him being the smarter one, she often poked fun at him. It worked both ways.
The walk seemed fairly short to Joan today, perhaps because they'd been chatting the whole way. She was quite surprised when they walked up the drive. Luke took out his key and unlocked the door. She went inside and took her shoes off. He followed her in and then locked the door. "Do you want to zap us some popcorn?" She suggested, as she dived on to the couch.
"Okay," he nodded, slipping his shoes off. "Please do not put MTV on."
"As long as you don't put the History, Science or Discovery channel on," She bargained. He agreed, and she flicked through the channels, attempting to find something they could both watch.
She landed on The Simpsons. The whole family loved that show, especially her and Luke. "Hey, it's a new one!" she called to him. He appeared a couple of minutes later with a bowl of popcorn and a coke. "Didn't offer me one."
"Get it yourself," he replied, taking a handful of popcorn. He'd done his part. She could get her own soda!
She took some popcorn, and then put the bowl next to her on the sofa. He watched as she ate a lot more than her half of the bowl in ten minutes flat. "Leave some for me, will you?" He frowned. "Geez you could eat for the olympics."
Joan glared at him and picked the bowl up, taking it upstairs with her.
Once the show had finished, he headed upstairs to apologise. He felt like a complete jerk for making that comment, but she'd eaten most of his share!
When he reached the top of the stairs, he found that she wasn't in her room. "Joan?" He called. "Joan?" He ventured further down the hall, until he reached the bathroom. The door was closed, but not locked. She always locked the door. He knocked on the door three times, and then opened it when he got no response.
He walked in and saw his sister sat in the corner of the room, leaning against the bath, hugging her knees. "You've been sick?" He asked, sliding down to sit beside her. She nodded, and wiped her eyes. He nodded, and put his arm around her. "Why don't we get you in to bed?"
Joan sniffed, and he helped her up. "I remember the flu. It's awful." He helped her to her room, and she dove under the covers, reaching for her favourite old teddy bear, who was sat on the windowsill. Luke went over to the window and opened it, and then handed her the bear. "Uh...do you want a drink or something?"
"Please," she croaked. "I'm not too bad...you should just go back downstairs and watch t.v."
"I will once I bring you a drink," he replied, heading for the door. "I'll call Dad at the station."
"No, don't bother him," she shook her head. "I'll live. Mom will be home soon. Besides, I have Nurse Luke here don't I?"
"Okay," he sighed. "Back in a minute. Oh, Joan?"
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry for saying you could eat for the Olympics. I'm such a jerk," He apologised. Joan smiled slightly, showing that she forgave him.
He returned to find her propped up in bed, watching television. "Here you go," he said, placing the glass on her bedside table. "Hey, look on the bright side Joan, you get to miss days and days of school."
"Yeah I bet you hated that when you were sick," she said with a smile. "Thanks for the water. Wait...is there sugar in this?"
"Dad always gives me sugar water when I'm sick. Apparently Grandma used to give it to him," He shrugged, perching on the end of the bed. "Ooh, Led Zeppelin."
"Yes, there's all sorts of music on this channel," Joan said, sipping at the water. "Everything from White Stripes to Linkin Park and even Ozzy."
"Cool." When the track had finished, Luke closed the door and left her in peace.
Once he was gone, Joan kicked off the bed covers and drank the whole of the sugar water. She then got up and rummaged through her handbag, looking for the candy bar she'd bought the day before.