I sighed with annoyance; school had started again. The first day of classes was almost over and to pass the time more quickly I laid my head down on my arm, which was extended out straight, while I drew a scene in the margin of my notebook. Lucas was sitting on the other side of me, the back of my head towards him. The school year would definitely be better because Lucas was there, in fact, what did I do before Lucas? He propped his head on my exposed neck to see what I was sketching. "Ew," I teasingly whispered, trying not to disrupt the class, "What did you eat for lunch? Your breath smells." I shouldn't have said anything because he then blew right in my face, inches away from my nose. "Eww!" The class turned towards us. We both immediately sat upright, caught in headlights. "Heh," I laughed nervously looking at the teacher. She just continued to glare at us, "Anything you want to share?" A sly smile leisurely found its way to my mouth. "Nope!" I said flippantly, "It'd embarrass Lucas too much." The teacher's gaze traveled over to Lucas, who in turn looked at me dumbfounded. "What?" "Don't worry," I say loud enough for everyone to hear, but in a manner like I was trying to whisper, "I won't tell anyone where that smell came from." I dramatically pinched my nose. "What!" The class was loud with laughter and the teacher rolled her eyes and smirked at me, trying to be professional and not laugh. Lucas turned red before I had even finished my sentence. His jaw dropped, but he quickly closed it. "So that's how it's going to be, Peyt?" I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "OK, I can play your way." The amusement left my face and I narrowed my eyes at him, "I was just kidding, Lukey," I stuck out my bottom lip for full effect and quivered my eyebrows, "Everyone knows it was a joke." "Aww, no! You started it, now you will have to play." "Like Jumanji?" My face went crooked with amused confusion. "Like what?" he laughed. "The game? Uggh! Never mind!" I shoved his shoulder and the last bell of the day rang out over the school grounds. Time to go home!
Brooke walked over to where Lucas and I were still sitting, "Walk home together?" "Yep!" Lucas grinned. "Ughh, not you!" she pointed at me, "You." "Well, Lucas does live in the same direction, he might as well walk with us, right?" "Fine, whatever." For whatever reason, though I had my suspicions as to why, Brooke and Lucas never got along. Brooke hardly ever laughed with us and spent most of the time rolling her eyes at us. She got over the initial attraction to him around the same time that she noticed how much time we were really spending together. It wasn't even playground love --where she pretended to hate him, but really liked him. She really didn't like him --well, not him but what he represented. She thought he was ruining our friendship, which wasn't what happened. He wasn't ruining it, just redefining it. Through my sincere friendship with Lucas, I recognized aspects that I didn't like about my relationship with Brooke.
"Bye, Lucas. Come over later?" I got a nod from him. We passed his house first, so Brooke and I kept walking. Laughing, Brooke asked, "Why do you guys spend so much time together? It's not natural, P. Sawyer." Even though she didn't like Lucas and rolled her eyes at us, she was able to laugh. It was sort of a lighthearted, jealousy hate --if there were such a thing. "I don't know," I said more seriously than I intended, "He's new to my life," I shrugged, "and he's nice to have around, I guess." Silence fell between us as we both thought about my reasoning. Unprompted, I added, "I like learning new things about him everyday. His newness is endearing." "Endearing?" Brooke scoffed. I couldn't help but laugh, too. It was corny. "Plus," Brooke continued, "what else is there to learn about him? You spent every day together this summer --it has to have gotten a little old by now?" "Yeah, well, I've spent my whole life with you." Brooke stopped walking. "I see." "No, Brooke, come on, I didn't mean it like that." I threw my arm over her shoulder and gave her half of a bear hug and started walking towards my house again. She relented and hugged me back with both arms.
o o o o o o o o o
Lucas walked into my room and silently plopped down next to me as I was lying under the covers drawing scenes from my afternoon with Brooke. After 10 minutes of silence, he was sound asleep. I finished up my last drawing then turned towards the light to switch it off. I laid on my back staring up at the ceiling thinking about my father. I tear fell from the corner of my eye. I just wanted him to come home more often so I would feel less alone.
I thought Lucas had woken up and seen my tear because he turned towards me and draped his arm over my midsection and snuggled his head next to mine. I smiled slightly and looked over at him expecting to see him looking back at me, but he wasn't. In fact, he was still asleep and a delicate-looking smile played on his face. I looked back at the ceiling and continued to cry through my smile. Lucas had come into my life just when I needed him the most. That's why we spent so much time together, that's why I welcomed him into my personal space, and moreover, that's why I loved him.