Luke believed he'd have the same luck as he'd had the previous few days of trying to call Georgie, only to get a busy line or someone telling him she was asleep or out. However, when he called after doing his laundry, he didn't receive a busy tone. Someone answered, a little girl by the sound of her voice. "Baxter Residence, how may I direct your call?" her chipper little voice came over the receiver.
"Hello, is Georgie there?" asked Luke. He couldn't help the chuckle as the little girl gasped with sheer excitement. She must have dropped the phone and ran off, because the silence for a couple seconds made him think she'd hung up. "Hello?"
But without warning, he heard her shouting, louder than she needed to, "Georgie, your boyfriend is calling!" If Luke had been in the room, he'd have folded in on himself out of sheer embarrassment. However, he wasn't in the room… It didn't make much of a difference. He stayed quiet, waiting for someone, anyone to let him know he was still connected. The sound of pattering feet made him sit up straight. "You caught her just in time! She was going to go for a shower, but I made her wait so that I could get in to brush my teeth, so she wasn't able to get in. Oh, and she said─"
"Jo, hang up on your end," the drawl of Georgie's accent sparked a fire in Luke's stomach. "Now, please."
"But I want to talk to your boyfriend, too!" Josie complained, whining when Georgie sighed, clearly exasperated. He didn't have siblings, but he did have parents who would pick up the other line to listen in on his conversations. It sounded to him like Georgie had had to tell her little sister to hang up on other conversations, as well.
"Josie, he did not call to talk to you," Georgie snapped at the little girl, but not denying that he was her boyfriend. He wasn't…but for as long as she didn't tell her sister he wasn't, he was going to revel in it. "Another time, okay? Maybe when it's actually my boyfriend calling?" And there goes the fantasy. It was nice while it lasted. "Sorry, Luke, give me a second."
"No, you're fine," he insisted, getting comfortable sitting on top of the dryer. Down in the laundry room was the only place he could get privacy. But it wasn't completely parent proof. "Hey Josie? Did your sister tell you what's happening tomorrow?" he asked, hearing a confused 'huh?' coming from the little girl. "Well, she is keeping an eye on you and your brother, and she's going to take you both out for ice cream, isn't that exciting?" The excited 'Really?' and an almost defeated sigh from the sisters was simultaneous. It made him chuckle a little. "Yeah, really. And, after it, you guys are gonna come over to my house and play in the pool. My friend, Reggie, loves to play mermaids and he can't wait to have someone there who loves it as much as he does. But, it's getting kind of late and if you don't head to bed soon, you won't wake up in time."
"He's right, Jo-Jo, you should head to bed," Georgie agreed. Luke waited for a moment before speaking again, but he didn't get to. The little girl said a quick goodnight and clunked the phone receiver down. He didn't know how close Georgie's line was, but he could hear the little girl excitedly shouting that she got to be a mermaid tomorrow. "Well, that was my little sister, Josie."
"No kidding, huh. I thought y'all had a talking dog," he joked, Georgie laughing a little. There was a click sound on her end.
"She natters like one of them little dogs," said Georgie, laughing with him.
Leaning his head back on the wall, he almost didn't know what to say. Truth be told, he'd never spoken to a girl he liked on the phone before. However, he didn't really need to think of something to say. Georgie started them off, first by asking how he enjoyed the orange drink that her dad had given them. Sadly, he had to say that he'd dropped his. He was lucky that it was the drink that fell and not him. Some idiot driver almost clipped his bike, which would have sent him careening off of his bike and straight to the hospital.
"But what I drank was good," he insisted, "refreshing." Georgie's giggle was just as refreshing as the drink. "About tomorrow, I think my mom is probably going to be at the house, as well." He was warning her, just in case his mom made similar comments as Josie. "I think she kind of really wants to meet you." And by think, he meant he knew. She'd all but said she was going to hang around the next day just to meet her. His mom had said the girl sounded so sweet over the phone. She wanted to know what she looked like, but she'd promised not to be too much, whatever that meant.
"That's so sweet," said Georgie, her voice softer than usual, almost like she was whispering. "I kind of want to meet her, too. She's answered all of my failed call attempts. Mrs. Patterson and I have a reporte going."
"She'll insist you call her Emily," he chuckled. She would.
By the grace of God, if Georgie liked him and he managed to buck up enough courage to ask her out, it would benefit him for his mom to like her. He didn't know quite how to put it, maybe it was the drawl, but Georgie was captivating. Once you got her talking, it was like she cast a spell on you and there was no way to rid yourself of it. Not that Luke wanted to rid himself of her or that spell.
"And I will call her Miss Emily, if she lets me," she giggled softly.
Luke rocked on the dryer, uncrossing his legs when he heard the washing machine beep. The cycle was done. He groaned a little, but didn't get off the dryer to switch it around. The dryer was too loud and he wouldn't be able to keep talking to Georgie. His parents had taken away his phone from his room after he'd argued with his mom and he was still waiting for them to give it back. He had to settle for talking to her in the laundry room until then.
"What was that?" she asked. "The beeping."
"Just the washer, I'm doing laundry," he told her. "I'm working my way back into my mom's good graces so that I can have my phone back, but for now, the only one I can use without someone eavesdropping is down in our laundry room."
"Why would anyone eavesdrop on our conversations?" asked Georgie, her voice still soft. She was definitely whispering. Luke glanced up at the time, but it was only ten pm. Why would she be whispering? "Are we going to plot world wide domination?"
"Now that you ask, I should let you know that we will," he told her, lowering his voice as though he was sharing very sensitive information, and chuckling afterward. "Sunset Curve will be our way forward, and as our number one fan and spokesperson, you will be called to help us in our takeover." Georgie giggled uncontrollably and if he had to picture it─which he already was─she was probably rolling over laughing. "What do you say?" he asked, trying to stop himself from laughing too loudly, his mom came down to find out what was happening.
"Count me in," she stated, still giggling. That sound was like music to his ears. He could sit listening to her giggle all night long. If only he had his phone! "Luke, I have to get off the phone," she sighed, sounding so disappointed that Luke could feel the disappointment.
"That's alright, I'll see you tomorrow," he assured her, finally getting off of the dryer and waiting a moment before he said goodbye. "Bright and early, remember? Sleep well."
Hanging up on Georgie felt like someone had punched him in the gut, but he just had to keep reminding himself that he would see her the next day. She'd be just as pretty as ever, with the same giggle and drawl that he was becoming obsessed with, and the twelve hours between ending their call and seeing one another again would fly by in a blink.
Luke headed up to his room once the dryer was done and collapsed onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling of his room and began to grin uncontrollably. He would no doubt dream about Georgie, the sound of her whispering through the phone as she tried to keep voice low, to keep their conversation private.
He didn't even recall falling asleep. He woke up in the same clothes he'd changed into when he got home the night before, his mom at the door of his bedroom. "Get up, you're going to be late," she scolded him, throwing a towel at him. "Go for a shower before coming down for breakfast."
He rolled over on his bed, blinking sleep from his eyes when he saw that it was almost ten. In a panic, he scrambled off of his bed and rushed to the bathroom. He squeezed by his mom in the doorway, in complete disbelief that he forgot to set the alarm before he went to bed. Luke cursed at himself in the mirror of the bathroom, quickly brushing his teeth as he started the shower.
Outside the bathroom, he could hear his mom laughing as she spoke to his dad. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" he shouted out to her, spitting toothpaste into the sink and dropping his brush right after it, hurrying to get undressed to hop in the shower. He never got his answer, but his mom would probably just say he hadn't asked, therefore, she didn't know what time to wake him up.
Hair still wet, Luke hurried down to the kitchen where his parents were having a quiet conversation between the two of them. His mom glanced over her shoulder as she heard him, patting his dad's shoulder to make him stop talking.
They were talking about him.
He paused in his tracks, starting to panic that they were going to change their mind. "Whatever it is I forgot to do, I'll do it right now," he assured them, trying to remember if he'd been asked to do something, "just don't say the guys and Georgie can't come over."
"Luke, calm down," his mom laughed, shaking her head. "Your father and I were discussing what to do for our Fourth party. You said that Georgie's family live pretty close by, right?" she asked, but she never forgot a thing. If he'd mentioned it, she'd remember it. And he probably had. "Well, why don't you invite them?"
"And maybe, you and the boys can have a little performance," his dad chimed in.
When it came to his parents, his mom was the one he argued most with about his music and plans to be a musician. His dad, while he understood why his wife was so stressed about their son's choices, he almost accepted it. He wasn't nearly as hard on him. He only ever threw down the hammer when Luke had been particularly cruel and hurtful to his mom.
Whether or not this was all a catch, Luke smiled at his parents, agreeing. Invite Georgie and her family, get closer to her and them, and even have a chance to perform? He would be a stupid not to agree.
This summer was beginning to look up even more drastically than it already had.
∞༺ ༻∞
Mornings had been pretty rough for Georgie; waking up later than she usually did, feeling groggy but starved. She honestly woke up the last handful of mornings feeling like she hadn't slept at all, even though she slept twice as long as she usually did at home.
But this morning, with the excitement of having plans, she was awake by nine─still a little later than usual but not as late as the last few days─and downstairs helping with the baby as Melinda fretted over leaving him with a bunch of teenagers. Her dad left after apologizing for just agreeing without talking it through with her.
Josie, on the other hand, was bouncing around like someone had strapped springs to her feet. She was excited about ice cream and playing mermaids, and she was not being quiet about it. She was louder than the radio that had been playing all morning. She'd shouted about it for about a half hour, waking Chase and making him come up to shout at her to shut up. "Don't shout at her," Georgie shouted back at him, defending Josie. Their older brother's eye twitched as he stared at the sisters, their new alliance apparently something he had been dreading. "Besides, don't you have work?"
"Don't you still have my board somewhere?" Chase retorted, and Georgie shrunk back. Their dad had to mention that Luke had it. "You'd better not have scuffed it."
"If it was scuffed, you did it yourself," she replied, grabbing Josie and pulling her onto her knee to fix her hair. She was trying to help as much as she could while avoiding the look on Chase's face.
"He's always grumpy in the morning," Josie told Georgie, sticking her tongue out at Chase but rather childishly, he pulled one of the hair ties that was keeping her little bun in place out of her hair, and pinged it at her. "I'm telling CeCe!" The panic on Chase's face as he scrambled around to find the hair tie had both sisters giggling.
The knock at the door made Josie spring off of Georgie's knee and run to the door to see who was there. The girls hoped that it was Luke, Josie because she wanted out to get ice cream, and Georgie because…well, she was excited about hanging out.
Chase followed their little sister and when she opened the door, the squeal made Georgie sit up straight, her stomach filling from base to top with butterflies. There was a brief conversation at the door, before she heard them coming in. She was dressed and had made sure she looked pretty before coming down to breakfast, so she shouldn't have been worried about how she looked. Yet, she was.
"Good morning," a female voice said and Georgie's butterflies dispersed at once as she saw a super pretty girl standing beside Chase. This must have been his girlfriend, she was far too pretty to be dating her brother. "Hi, Georgie? I've heard so much about you, it's so nice to finally meet you. I'm Kelcy, Chase's girlfriend."
She was trying to be nice. She hadn't heard anything about her, who would have mentioned her? Chase? No, he knew next to nothing about her. In fact, she was sure that Luke knew more about her than her older brother. But she was being polite and Georgie could do the same thing. She smiled at her and got up to shake her hand.
"CeCe is the best!" Josie stated, hugging the older girl's leg, giggling as she tickled her back. "Georgie and I are going swimming today. We're going to play mermaids with Reggie."
"Who is Reggie?" asked Cece as she shook Georgie's hand, raising her eyebrow. "Is that your boyfriend?" Involuntarily, Georgie let out a loud 'ha!'. She hadn't meant it. Not that Reggie wasn't…attractive, but he wasn't her taste. He wasn't…Luke.
"No, Luke is her boyfriend," Josie corrected her before Georgie could explain the laugh. "Reggie is his friend. Luke said he's really good at mermaids, but I'll be the judge of that."
"Luke isn't my boyfriend, Josie, I told you last night," she tried to stop the eyes of everyone on her. Georgie could feel like she was getting smaller, she didn't like it. Josie had to point out that he called and they'd stayed on the phone for a while. CeCe didn't say anything but she just smiled at Georgie, then patted Josie's head, offering to finish her hair for her. "He really isn't…we just met. Like…on Sunday there. He's Alex's friend."
All of the deflecting in the world couldn't hide the blush on Georgie's face that burned brighter than the bright pink swimsuit her little sister was wearing under her shirt. Chase disappeared while she tried to stop both CeCe and Melinda from asking. They understood better than Josie that Georgie had a crush, not a boyfriend. And they were smiling at her, like they held a secret. Her secret.
"Leo, baby, you are my favorite person right now," Georgie stated as she lifted the baby out of his high chair, his chunky legs kicking and sprinkling omelet on the floor. He made a noise that could have been perceived as answering her, and she laughed at him. The baby giggled as she tickled his thigh, bending over in her arms. Dancing and singing with him to A-Ha on the radio, she didn't even notice that Chase had returned or that behind him was the person she'd been waiting to see.
"Say it after me," he sang, and without thinking, she replied with the next lyric.
"It's no better to be safe than sorry─" Georgie froze on the spot with the baby, who was giggling into her shoulder from being tickled, having fun. She hadn't looked at the clock, she hadn't even seen her little sister pull him into the kitchen. "Luke!"
"Can we leave now?" Josie asked, holding Luke's hand like she'd known him as long as she'd known her big brother. She was asking him, because she'd told that they couldn't leave until he got there. But she didn't seem to want to wait for her mother to actually approve of the excursion.
"Good morning to you, too, JosieJo," he grinned down at her. "Do you have everything together?" he asked, shooting a grin at Georgie and making her feel like she was about to squeal out, either from pure embarrassment or pure excitement. "Hi, you must be Mrs. Baxter," he said, his attention turned to Melinda who had her hand on her forehead. She was already exasperated by her daughter. "I'm Luke Patterson, you might know my parents, Emily and Mitch?" A little light of recognition went on in the woman's eyes as she smiled, nodding her head.
"Are your mom and dad famous?" asked Josie, letting Luke's arm be and grabbing her juice box from the kitchen table. "Are we going to a famous person's house?" she asked, excitedly.
"No, sweetie, but his parents are friends of Auntie Barb and Uncle Sam," Melinda told the little girl, wiping off her hands to shake Luke's.
The expression that Josie gave her mother was one of complete disinterest. Georgie hadn't thought that maybe the guys' families would know one another. But it made sense. Luke had said that he and Alex had been friends for a while. Was this a good thing or a bad thing? She couldn't decide.
"Oh, well, now I don't feel as anxious," stated Melinda, smiling at Luke and turning to Georgie. "Everything that he needs is in the bag, swim diapers, regular diapers, sunscreen─"
"Snacks, a change of clothes, wipes, and everything but the kitchen sink, I know," Georgie told her stepmom, letting her take the baby so that she could grab her things that she needed to take with her. "Everything will be okay. I'll make sure he and Josie keep their hats on and will reapply their sunscreen every two hours."
"I'll remind her," Luke chimed in, helping Josie put her little backpack on her back. She'd been insistent she was going to bring her school bag. It was mermaid themed, of course, with little frills around the edges that were meant to be colorful scales, and had a little mermaid on the front. Her hair wasn't red, like Ariel's, but Josie had attempted to color it in so that it was red. It just looked purple now. "And my mom is going to make some snack things so that they can have some food, but not too much. Don't want to ruin your appetite for supper, huh?"
Melinda's anxiousness wasn't completely gone as she clipped the baby into his stroller, his pale chubby legs just sticking out. He was happy to sit in the stroller as the big people spoke about him, Georgie smothering his feet and legs in sunscreen. He tried to help, but stopped when he put his hand in his mouth and didn't like the taste of the funny cream.
"6pm," Melinda reminded Georgie. The time they were expected home. "And if anything at all happens, call us. I will be home all day after two." She had plans to go for groceries, seeing as she didn't have the baby and Josie.
"Melinda, we will be fine, and nothing is going to happen," Georgie assured her, wiping the sunscreen that was left on her hands on her knees. "Have a day to relax, don't stress out, and we will be home at 6pm."
With that, and with a little more resistance than they'd have liked, Melinda let the two teenagers leave with the kids. Luke had designated himself as in charge of the stroller, making Georgie giggle a little at him. He got the hang of it pretty quickly, but the wheels were a little funny, spinning whenever he tried to push him straight. Josie helped to clip them in place, so that they didn't swivel.
They waved goodbye to Melinda from the end of the driveway, setting off, Luke pushing Leo's stroller and Georgie holding onto Josie's hand as the little girl skipped excitedly.