"Lucas Eugene Scott!"
"Eugene?"
"Where have yo--" Lucas' mom stopped mid-sentence when she realized that Lucas wasn't alone. "Lucas..." she began to question. He embraced his mother and she kissed his forehead lightly still eyeing my father and me standing in the foyer. I glanced around at the boxes everywhere. The couch, the only thing not covered, was facing a small fireplace on the far wall. I saw a framed photo sitting on the mantle, but I couldn't make out the three figures from where I was standing. My father extended his hand, "Larry." She firmly shook his hand, "Karen, Lucas' mother..." "This is my daughter, Peyton." He nudged me forward. "Hello, ma'am." Both Lucas and my father looked at me strangely. Lucas spent all morning calling my father 'sir' so I assumed he lived in a formal household --definitely something I wasn't used to. Lucas rolled his eyes at me and turned to his mom expectantly, "We'regoingfishingtomorrowmorning,canIgo? Pleasepleaseplease?" "Lucas, I don't know... Don't bother these nice people..." Daddy interjected, "Please, Mrs. Scott, he--" "Roe." "I'm sorry?" She chuckled for the first time since we'd met, "My last name. It's Roe." "Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Roe. But really, Lucas has been no problem all day and we'd love for him to come with us."
She looked pointedly at Lucas, "So, that's where you've been, huh?" Ignoring her direct question, "Mom, can I, um... talk to you in the kitchen?" Karen's motherly instincts kicked in, "Of course, sweetie." To this day I still don't know what was said I the kitchen, but Lucas came running out and passed us bounding up the stairs, he yelled, "I just need to grab my toothbrush!" Karen soon walked out, too, smiling. "Seriously, if he becomes a problem at all just send him straight home."
On our way out, Karen suddenly remembered, "Oh Lucas, you promised you'd help me unpack tomorrow..." "Tomorrow afternoon?" I offered to help, too, right after Lucas proposed the new time. She smiled at me sweetly, "Its lovely of you to offer, Peyton. And please, call me Karen."
o o o o o o o o o
A week had gone by and it was my first night away from Lucas. I had promised Brooke that I'd go to see a movie with her. Brooke had been a friend of mine since before we could walk. It wasn't that I didn't value her friendship, but it was just something that was understood. We'd always be friends, whether we actually chose to be or not. I didn't mind. She was a constant in my life. Always predictable.
"P. Sawyer, are you mad at me?" I mumbled something under my breath. It was typical. I should have known this was coming. "Duh," I exaggerated, "why would I be mad at you?" Instead of trying to make me feel bad like some of my other friends might have, she shrugged it off and asked me to get her my sparkly nail polish. I walked into the bathroom and she yelled after me, "Sooo, what have you done all week? We were wondering where you disappeared to." "Daddy was in town!" I didn't mention Lucas, not yet. She immediately understood why I was so happy and why I had disappeared for the week. "When'd he leave? I was hoping to get to see Papa Peyton." I went back to go sit on the bed, preparing for a serious conversation, but before I could reply Lucas ran into my room and tackled me to the floor, tickling my sides. Thanks to my father he'd learned all of the secret places I was ticklish. I was screaming in amusement. "St-sto-st-op!" By now I could barely breathe. Lucas must have caught sight of Brooke because he stopped and jumped up to his feet. Brooke's face was contorted with confusion. "Bro-Brooke, this is Lucas. He moved in down the street. You know, into the old Smith house?" The confusion was unchanging on her face. I thought about how I could explain myself without making her feel left out this past week. "Peyton and I are best friends," Lucas revealed defensively. I closed my eyes and sighed. I could feel the weight of Brookes stare. "Peyton?" Instead of confronting this potentially serious situation, I started to laugh. The other two looked at me waiting for an explanation. "Hey Brooke, remember that one time that Theresa fell off of the swings over at the river court and got the wind knocked out of her?" Brooke toppled over in laughter. After years of friendship, I knew exactly how to remedy the situation. I had to indirectly remind her about the history that we had and that nothing, or rather no one, could replace her. "Yeah! And Brock Brown gave her mouth-to-mouth!" Brock was one of the older boys and had been my crush since I discovered that boys didn't have cooties. We all envied Theresa after that day. Her lips actually touched Brock's. It made us swoon every time we remembered.
"Peyt, I'll just see you later, OK?" "What, Lucas, don't go," I said rather unconvincingly. Yep, I had just kicked his shin. He was hurt and I knew it. After we heard the front door close, Brooke screamed. "Oh. My. God! Who was that? He was soooo cute!" "Brooke!" "Well..." Sparing all details, I explained that we'd hung out a few times. Of course, a few times meant he spent the night every day for the past week. "He had no friends," I shrugged, "was I supposed to do?"
o o o o o o o o o
The next day I sauntered up to Lucas who was dribbling a basketball in his driveway. I flashed back to the day we met as we studied each other in silence. I didn't know what to say, and knowing he was waiting for me to speak made the words even harder to find.
Suddenly we heard voices. I recognized the laugh immediately. Brooke's older sister, Molly, who was home from college for the summer. I'd never formally met Molly in all of the years that I'd been friends with Brooke, but I'd heard many stories about her. Lucas and I crouched down behind the fence and I put my pointer finger up to his lips signaling him to be quiet. Molly and an older-looking guy came up to the other side of the fence and stopped a few feet away from us. Lucas' eyes widened. Molly giggled and the guy stuck his tongue down her throat. He took a break from her mouth and kissed her neck. Molly made a sound that I'd never heard before. It was a moan from deep within. Lucas and I clamped our hands over our mouths to keep from bursting into laughter. They lay down on the grass and after a few minutes they were done and gone. I looked over at Lucas who was crimson, and this time not just from the humidity. "You ever done that?" I said punctuated by giggles. Lucas shook his head no. "Have you?" "Yuck! No!"
I started to run off, then stopped and turned to him squinting, "Are we OK?" He smiled, which was the only affirmation I needed. I started running backwards, teasing, "Eugene, Eugene, Eugene. Guess who knows your middle name!" He ran after me and I took off in a full sprint. "I'll forgive you if you, but only if you never mention my middle name to anyone." I jokingly contemplated my options and he grabbed me from behind and I bent over forward taking him with me, laughing. "Say it! Promise me you'll never tell anyone!" "I don't know Lucas, that's a pretty big secret to keep..." "Peyt," he warned. I wiggled my way free of his grasp. "Peyt! Say it!" I started to strut off innocently. "Peyton," he sang out. "You'll forgive me anyway, so what to I get from this deal?" He rolled his eyes, "my friendship?" "Don't know," I paused, "I've really only known you for a week..."
Friendship was so much simpler then.