Georgie took Melinda's advice and called Luke after she'd eaten, but unfortunately, he was busy. His mom had answered the phone and taken the message that everything was okay. The woman was super sweet when she apologized for Luke being unable to come to the phone. She'd put him on dish duty and because there were quite a few people eating at theirs, there were a lot of dishes to clean.
"You don't have to apologize, ma'am," Georgie insisted. Music played in the background and she could just make out the song. How Will I Know by Whitney Houston… There was someone singing along to it and she guessed it was Luke. His mom confirmed it when she told him to lower his volume. "I just wanted to make sure he knew everything was fine. I'll call tomorrow afternoon, if you could let him know?"
With that, she hung up and laid on her bed for a little while before deciding to start unpacking her boxes.
With a little help from Josie and Melinda, Georgie managed to get most of her videos out and sat up on the bookshelf that was nestled into one corner of the room. The rest would have to go either under her bed or she'd need to get another bookshelf. But she'd done enough for the night.
Chase even lugged the old TV and VHS player up to her room. He helped set it up, but didn't hang around to talk. Josie, on the other hand, did. The sisters sat at the end of Georgie's bed and went through the videos she had, found one and decided to watch it together.
The movie of choice was The Secret of NIMH, but they only got halfway through before Josie dozed off. And just as the movie ended, Georgie did, as well.
The next day, Georgie tried to call Luke again, but he wasn't home. Not too long after that, Max called and the girls spoke on the phone for over an hour.
She'd attempted to tell her about the previous day. However, Josie thought it'd be funny to pick up the phone downstairs and interrupt. By the time she'd been told to put the phone down, it was late and Max had to hang up. But thankfully, she said her momma had been dropped at the rehab place by her mom and things had gone smoothly. She wouldn't be able to call her for a while, she had to get settled.
It would have been a comfort to know she'd made it, however, Georgie missed her too much. That night was spent crying herself to sleep, yet again.
The day after, her dad took her to the family business, the cafe he prided over his own daughter. At his cafe, she saw her Aunt Barb, Alex's mom.
Aunt Barb, unlike her son, was an acquired taste. Sure, Georgie missed her whenever it went a while without seeing her. The thing that made Georgie not miss her was the way her aunt treated her son and others like him.
She was extremely religious, something that Georgie was thankful her father was not, but she used her faith as a weapon against her son. Barb always made snide remarks about 'those homosexuals' any time she saw someone who may possibly be queer, she didn't care who heard her or if she hurt anyone's feelings. Her son was terrified of how she'd react because of these remarks. Her remarks were why he didn't feel safe in telling her who he was.
"I thought God loves everyone as they are," Georgie said as she sipped an iced sweet tea. Alex was sitting beside her, feeding himself up on fries. He almost choked on one when she spoke. His mom stared at Georgie, giving her a smile that looked as though her aunt had stepped in something gross.
"Well, Georgie, He does, but it is not in His-" Barb began, but she cut herself off. "It's neither here nor there, really. I actually wanted to talk to you about something very important." The girl and her aunt had very differing opinions on what was considered important or not. The glee on her aunt's face made her uncomfortable. "In North Carolina, you would have been preparing for your debut."
Oh no. Georgie shifted in her seat, glancing at her cousin. Alex seemed not to know what his mom was talking about and she was envious of him. She'd been to cotillion lessons since she was in the fifth grade, and that was only because her grandmother had forced her momma into signing her up. Her cotillion teachers had always stated that their lessons would be applicable when debbing season came around. And what do you know, Georgie was entering what would be considered debbing season.
She and her momma had spoken about it, Georgie had explicitly stated she didn't want to do it. Her momma had understood, having been against taking part herself but being forced into it by her own mother. However…Georgie didn't have her momma here to take her side in turning Aunt Barb down.
"Oh, Momma and I spoke and we agreed that I didn't have to do it," the girl said, her cousin still oblivious and her dad doing nothing to help her. He probably wanted her to do it.
"Debut for what?" asked Alex, before taking a sip of Georgie's drink and deciding he liked it.
"Into society," Aunt Barb informed him, sliding the fries that were in front of Georgie over to him. "Letting everyone know that Georgie is not a little girl anymore."
"And basically telling the menfolk I'm ripe and ready for marriage," sneered Georgie, snatching a fry from her plate that was now in front of Alex. "Look, it's not my thing and honestly, a waste of money and time." Money for some stupid dress, gloves, dance lessons, and all the frilly extras. And time she could be working, saving for her car, or time she could spend with a newly acquired crush.
"That's not what it's about these days," she was told, her aunt taking a bunch of pamphlets out of her purse and setting them on the table in front of Georgie. "The girls from my church that are around your age are taking part, Pippa is even doing it. Pippa!" Barb called on the girl who was working part time over the summer at the cafe.
The russet haired girl came to the front of the cafe, a dark damp patch on her shirt and a splodge of bubbles on her cheek. She had a spraying of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and her jade green eyes caught Georgie's attention almost instantly. She was so pretty. She was going to look ethereal in her white gown and gloves. But not everyone would, Georgie for example.
"Hi, Mrs. Mercer," smiled Pippa, her voice soft and a little too quiet. She avoided looking in Georgie's direction, like she was afraid of making eye contact. She seemed so meek… Maybe she was taking part to help her build social skills? "Is everything okay? Do you want me to get you more coffee?"
"No, sweetheart, I need you to talk to my niece," Barb insisted as she pulled the girl to sit on a stool at their table. Pippa looked like she was ready to cry the second her booty hit the stool. "Just tell her how much you've been enjoying your deb lessons and how she should join." Well, Barb was just putting words in the other girl's mouth, clearly.
"Uhm, yes, Mrs. Mercer is right. You would enjoy it," Pippa said with an awkward smile, and Georgie realized a little too slowly that Pippa wasn't avoiding making eye contact with her. She was avoiding making eye contact with Alex. Now, why would anyone do that..?
"You don't believe that it's all a bunch of hooey and a glorified way of parading young women around for men to take their picking?" Pippa glanced at Barb, her eyes wide. If Barb had written a script for this conversation that she'd made Pippa memorize, Barb had not put an answer in there that Pippa could use for that question specifically. "Like I said, it's a waste of money and time. And I do not look good in white," Georgie nodded, before the bell above the door of the cafe made a tinkling sound.
"Says who?" someone asked from behind Georgie and Alex, and she knew that voice. It had been playing over in her dreams, asking her out to the movies and talking to her about music. Luke.
"Oh, Lucas, you have perfect timing," Aunt Barb grinned, that look of stepping in something gross appearing once again.
"Well, Mrs. Mercer, I am, if nothing else, punctual," quipped Luke, sliding onto the stool beside Georgie. "And, please call me Luke, I insist. Lucas is so formal and we are closer than that." Alex let out a snort as he shoveled fries into his mouth. He hadn't mentioned that Luke was coming. And it seemed his mom didn't know either.
"Alexander, slow down or you'll make yourself sick," Barb scolded her son, before turning to Luke and smiling, as though she hadn't just looked at him like he was the gross thing on her shoe. "Luke…always a pleasure. Georgie, I want your answer by Sunday. Maybe you can give it to me at church?"
Church? Georgie tried not to grimace but she hadn't been to church in years. Her momma didn't make her go and the school couldn't, so she hadn't gone. If she prayed, she prayed at home.
"Barb, you'd better get going," announced Georgie's dad from behind the register. "You're going to be late for your appointment." Whatever that appointment was, Georgie was grateful for it. It meant she was spared talking about her debut. And she could talk to Luke.
Barb scurried out the door, waving to teenagers and her brother, before she disappeared around the corner of the building to where she'd parked her car. Georgie finally slumped forward, her head almost hitting the table…but it landed on something warm and soft. She turned her head to the side and saw Luke grinning at her.
"So…what answer is Barbie asking for?" asked Luke as she sat up and Alex let out another snort.
After explaining the whole debutante and debut thing, Georgie couldn't tell if Luke found it as funny as Alex did. He had been cracking up every time she mentioned how she'd have to wear a white gown, like a wedding dress, and how she was expected to prance around like a graceful white swan. Georgie couldn't picture herself as the graceful swan, but more the ugly duckling trying to fit in with the other swans.
"You know…the ugly duckling was a swan all along," said Luke, leaning his chin on his palm as his elbow rested on the table. He hadn't made any indication as to what he thought about it.
"Yeah, well, there's no transformation from duck to swan for me," she shrugged, twirling the straw around her cup, clinking the ice cubes together and sighing. "I really don't want to do it. She can't make me, right?" she turned to Alex, who had stopped laughing. He didn't look convinced as he nodded his head. Who was she kidding? Her aunt would get her to do it whether she wanted to or not. "This is gonna suck more than a hooker on Wall Street!"
"Hey, it's a party," Luke tried to make it seem a little more exciting. But even he couldn't do that. "So you have to do the waltzing thing for a bit, and the music might be more classical than classic rock, but that doesn't mean it'll suck. And I hear debs throw some mean after parties."
His efforts weren't entirely in vain. No, she wasn't racing after her aunt to confirm that she'd take part, but the idea of an after party did sound like fun. There would be a meal as well, and those fancy meals were usually good. They paid enough for them.
"She has to waltz with an escort," Alex stated, pointing to one of the pamphlets his mom had left. "That means you have to find a date. Shouldn't be hard."
"Yeah, sure. I mean, so far, I've only met three guys, all of whom are your friends, but only two of them could work because one makes me want to punch him in the face every time I look at him. Don't think that's the message that the deb people are trying to convey, violence," Georgie rolled her eyes. However, asking Luke to be her escort could make an entirely awful event the complete opposite. "Not you, by the way, I meant Bobby," she told Luke.
"Naturally," Luke nodded with a chuckle. Alex's silence made Georgie want to hit him. "It's not until July, so you have time to find a date," he said, biting his lip as he thought something over. "And if you don't, you know─"
"Oh my god, I'm starving!" Reggie's voice drowned out the tinkling of the door bell as he came barrelling over to the table the three were sitting at. Georgie had ordered another plate of fries that she'd hoped she'd get to eat without her aunt's disapproving stares, but Reggie inhaled them. "Sorry, so hungry," he told them over a mouthful of fried potato goodness.
"Help yourself, I guess…" Georgie sighed a little, wondering what Luke was going to say before Reggie interrupted him. But that would have to wait, because behind Reggie came Bobby. "My cue to leave has arrived."
"What? No, stay," Luke told her, his hand catching hers before she could dip away from the table. "He's probably in a much better mood. There's AC."
The cafe did have AC, thankfully, because it was hot again. This summer was supposed to be one of the hottest that California had experienced in years. That just meant the entire summer wouldn't suck. Sunny weather meant plenty of things to do, such as going to the beach or swimming or water balloon fights. Camping could have also been an option, but she wasn't sure her dad's family would be on board with that.
"You look different," stated Bobby, making her glare at him from across the table. So what if she looked different? Was it his business to let everyone know he thought so? "You look nice."
Georgie was taken back at Bobby's…compliment? She looked nice? What the hell? She didn't know whether to thank him or ask him if he had been replaced by an alien double. He'd spent the whole time at the skatepark giving her the cold shoulder unlike anyone she'd ever pissed off before. He could have frozen her and the guys to the core with how cold he'd been. And now, she looked nice?
"What?" Bobby asked the confused expressions of his friends, all staring at him the same way that Georgie was.
"Are you feeling alright?" Reggie asked, half a fry hanging out of his mouth as he tried to press the back of his hand to Bobby's forehead.
Clearly, she wasn't the only one who thought his compliment was odd.
∞༺ ༻∞
Making plans for the next day, the guys made jokes here and there about the change in Bobby's attitude and discussed the pamphlets that were on the table. Of course, Reggie made multiple comments about the pretty waitress that had started working there and had to ask if she was single. But neither Alex or Georgie seemed to know.
Pippa was someone who went to school with them, but she was never around any large groups and she almost never was seen around guys. Luke didn't think too much of it, however, there had been a rumor before they broke for summer that she'd gone somewhere private with one of the popular guys at a party over spring break. After that, people treated her like a pariah.
She was known for being big into her faith and was one of the girls on the Chastity Committee that their school banded together every year to try and push the whole 'no sex until marriage' thing. At their school, that was a lost cause, but there were a few who upheld it. And Pippa had been one of them. This rumor destroyed her reputation. Luke felt terrible for her, because her so-called friends abandoned and she was forced to leave the Chastity Committee.
However, it looked like Pippa hadn't given in and was still wearing the silver band around her left ring finger that the members wore. She was going to keep her purity ring and not let a rumor ruin that.
The plans they'd made for the next day consisted of going to get ice cream before going to Luke's where they would be swimming in his parents' new backyard pool. When he'd been told that they would be getting the pool put in, he'd asked if he could have the space in the backyard, to have a small studio for his music, but both of his parents said no.
The pool was, as his mother had stated, something that the whole family could enjoy and get use out of. They could even throw parties. Back then, he hadn't thought about how well it would benefit his social status having a pool. He'd just been mad that once again his dream meant so little to them that they wouldn't even allow him a small space in the backyard to be his for just music.
Now, after having the time to mull it over, having a backyard pool meant he could also throw parties. Pool parties were going to be all the rage this summer, with how hot the weather was supposed to be. But he wasn't going to agree that they'd made the right decision. He could still be a little annoyed about it.
"You should come," Luke invited Georgie, before Alex could or Bobby had the chance to be horrible to her again. "I still have your brother's board, so you can grab it while you're at my house." The expression on her face made Luke laugh, but it sort of stated she'd completely forgotten about that.
However, before Georgie could say yes or no─Luke really hoped it was yes─her dad interrupted. "She's babysitting her little brother and sister tomorrow," he told the group, giving his daughter a stern look and she gave him a glare that sent shivers through Luke. She was terrifying.
"Uncle Howie, maybe she can bring them over to his?" Alex saved them both, suggesting something that Luke would have suggested, if only he'd known it was an option. "Josie would love the pool, and Reg is great at playing mermaid."
"Oh, I am," confirmed Reggie with a nod of his head and a broad smile. He really was, so much so that he stayed under the water long enough to make them all think he'd drowned.
"Yes, but Leo is still too small for the pool," Georgie's dad shook his head, clearly looking for reasons to say no. "He's only 6 months." Luke couldn't contain the smile on his face.
"My aunt had my little cousin in the pool over spring break, he was about that age," he told the man. She'd left a water ring thing specifically for babies and a bunch of toys that Leo could play with, and Josie. "Sir, there'll be someone watching them at all times, I swear. My dad's even going to be home."
The teenagers turned to Howie, Georgie's dad, all of them waiting for him to say yes. It took a little while but he eventually agreed. Georgie even smiled at him, before she hid it when her dad noticed it. Luke guessed things were still a little strained after the other day.
He had missed her call, both times she'd called, and when he tried to call her back, the line was busy. He didn't want to seem too eager, so instead of waiting a little while after his first attempt and then trying again, he just left it. He'd somehow convinced himself that he'd see her the next day, but he didn't on Monday, and then that night, when he'd tried to call her and once again the line was busy, he thought that he would wait and call her the following day. Seeing her at the cafe was purely coincidence. Luke had asked Alex if his cousin would be there, he'd told him she probably wouldn't be. Luke had tried to call her before he left the house to go meet with Alex and the guys at his uncle's cafe but the woman who answered had said that Georgie had gone out with her dad. Her dad being Alex's uncle who ran the cafe they were meeting at.
Luke wasn't the most religious person, but there must have been some kind of god who was listening to his pleas as he rode his bike toward Cafe Mana. Because when he saw her back from across the street, he felt heard.
Starting to clean up their table before the waitress could come over, it crossed Luke's mind to ask Georgie to come along to the garage for one of their jam sessions. However, he didn't want to push his luck with her dad. Not to mention, Howie was being nice enough to send them all off with iced drinks. Maybe it was the elation of seeing his daughter smile at him or he was genuinely worried the heat would take them out, he didn't have to do it.
Reggie took the plates over to Pippa and he pestered her for a while as they finished tidying the table. Alex took the fries that had fallen off plates to the trash can, along with a handful of napkins that had been used to dry up water that had dripped off of cups. Bobby sat quietly as he brushed salt into a pile on the table, his eyes not lifting from it. And Luke brought over the drinks that had been brought out and set on the collection bar. "Your dad didn't have to send us off with drinks."
"Don't turn your nose up at a freebie," chimed in Bobby, taking one of the iced drinks─some kind of orange frappe─and stuffing a straw in to sample it. By the bitter expression he made, it must have been sour.
"Bobby is right." That was something Luke hadn't thought he'd hear Georgie ever say. "That was as weird to say out loud as it was to think it." He couldn't help laughing at her, running his finger over the side of one of the cups that had a straw in it. "What time are you guys meeting up tomorrow?" she asked, changing the subject to something he would much rather discuss.
Okay, so it would be with the guys and her little brother and sister, but Luke was going to play this off as a practice date. A rehearsal for the real thing. When it would be just the two of them.
"Probably heading for ice cream around lunch," he told her, having to think of a time that was earlier than when the guys would arrive. With her siblings or not, any time without the guys there would be a win. "I can swing by yours around half 11? We can head to the ice cream place with your brother and sister, and meet them." And he could find out which house she lived at.
"I thought we were meeting around one?" Bobby chimed in and Luke shot him a glare. He laughed a little, shaking his head.
"No, we said noon," he insisted. He could figure it out with them later, but getting the time right with her was most important. "Lunch, dude. He's so forgetful." Surely after he'd explained his reasons to Bobby, he'd understand and he'd totally play along.
Georgie's eyes narrowed as she regarded Luke, her eyebrow raising. "Okay," she nodded. "We live at number─ actually, I don't remember the number but the fence out front is painted all different colors and the house is pale yelluh."
Luke tried not to let his excitement show after she told him the color of her house but he did not try hard enough. He couldn't even stop himself from repeating it. "Yelluh. I'm so sorry, I tried to stop myself, but I can't. Yelluh."
"That is gonna take getting used to," she stated, nodding her head and scratching behind her ear. But he could see a little blush running across her nose. He grinned that infectious grin he had and she puffed up her cheeks, like she was trying to stop herself from grinning back.
"I like your accent," he reminded her, her smile starting to break out. "You know you want to smile…don't hide it."
"I am not," she insisted, turning her head away to hide it. But Luke had already seen it and he was already obsessed. "You guys should head out."
"You're kicking us out, now?" Luke, hand on heart, pouted, a fake frown on his face. "I'll remember this one, Peachie." He didn't know where the nickname came from, but it was out there and the stark difference in Georgie's expression made him take it back. "Sorry… Georgie. I meant, Georgie."
She looked a little like she might cry. He honestly didn't mean to upset her, he was only teasing, but he might have put his foot in it. He apologized again, but he didn't get to hang around to apologize any further, because Howie was kicking them out. Customers who actually paid for things were coming in and he needed the seats.
Luke left Cafe Mana with his friends. Glancing back, he saw Georgie with a forced smile on her face as she served customers. Why did he have to call her that? He'd completely messed up.
However, if he wanted to focus on it, the guys weren't giving him the chance to. They were hurrying him to get on his bike so that they could go to the garage and get out of the heat. If he remembered, he'd asked Alex about it.
Waltzing into his family home, an hour after he'd told his parents he'd be home, Luke's heart almost stopped when his mom stopped him at the base of the stairs. "Luke, we spoke about this," she said, her voice already strained, like she was ready to shout. These days, all they did was yell at one another.
"I know, I'm sorry," he insisted, trying to keep his temper even. No arguments, no getting into trouble, no ruining his plans for the next day. "I lost track of time." He couldn't make the promise that it wouldn't happen again, however, so he just didn't. His mom knew him well enough to know that would have been a hollow promise. "I'll take out the trash after I change and throw laundry into the machine."
Doing chores was something he'd stopped doing when he was in his early teens. More because his parents knew giving him them was pointless. He almost always forgot because he was busy on some song writing escapades or playing his guitar. When he actually did them, it was because he wanted something. He didn't doubt his parents had already figured that out, but he thought they wouldn't mind so much, as long as he did them.
"Dad took the trash out, so just do the laundry," said his mom, her voice no longer sounding the slightest bit strained. "Oh, and Georgie called again. Are you planning on going out tomorrow?" Again? Why did she always call when he was out or busy? He slowly nodded his head, biting his lip as his mom seemed to watch him with suspicion.
"The guys and I were going to come over here to the pool, Dad said they could," he started, fiddling with a chain on his jeans as she raised her eyebrow, waiting for the part where the girl came into it. "We met up earlier at her dad's cafe and invited her along…and her little sister and baby brother."
At the mention of a baby, his mom's suspicious gaze changed immediately. She probably thought that nothing untoward could happen when a baby was there. And she was right, but she had probably thought there was a chance of that happening without her younger siblings around. Luke had to figure out how to get through a conversation with the girl first without upsetting her or seeming like a complete idiot.
"Is that so? Well, remember there's some toys and stuff the baby can play with," she reminded him, a small smile on her face. "And if you'd like, I can make up some fruit things for your friends?"
His mom liked the guys. They were polite and sweet to her whenever they were hanging out at his house, but she very rarely offered to make them snacks. Probably because they always came over unannounced or when she was heading out to the hospital for a shift. But the fact that she offered this time…Luke agreed for the sake of agreeing, and because he didn't want to say no and have her upset at him.
"Thanks, Mom," he grinned at her, starting back up the stairs before he stopped. "Oh, and Mom? I really am sorry I was late." His mom stayed at the base of the stairs but her smiling up at him felt like a big warm hug.