STARDUST ⭑ LUKE PATTERSON

fifteen and a half

LUKE AND HIS MOM WOULD ALWAYS FIGHT, no matter the circumstance. She liked to blame it on his teenage angst. You know. Teenagers and their hormones.

She understood, but she couldn't help but wonder if it was her.

It always started the same. It would be something mundane. "Luke, put away your laundry." "Luke, why are your grades slipping?" "No, you can't go to that party." And it would always end with slamming doors, whether it be his bedroom, or the front entrance.

That morning was different. For once, Luke was in a good mood, and Emily picked up on it. She looks over her breakfast with an excited smile, her husband barely paying attention. He was focused on the morning crossword puzzle.

"You're very happy today," Emily says slowly, in fear of another outburst.

Instead, Luke takes a bite of his waffle. He pauses for a second, and his mom fears the worse. "Yeah," he says. "I guess I am."

"Is it a girl?"

"What?" Luke gawks at his father, who was listening more than he thought.

"That Penny girl."

"Her name's Emmy, dad."

"I knew it!" Mrs. Patterson beams. She always looked so much younger with a smile.

Luke rolls his eyes. "No, you didn't," he was quick to reply.

Ever since they were younger, Emily and Camila had always gushed over their children. At first, the latter detested her daughter climbing trees in her frilly dresses. Luke always got her to do the most outrageous things: jump in the pond near their house, race their bikes down steep hills, egg someone (a boy who told Emmy she threw like a girl's) house.

Things just got worse when Alex, Reggie, and Bobby were thrown into the mix.

But as time progressed, it was always Luke and Emmy.

He was there the first time a little boy yanked at her pigtails. She was there for his first performance in the first grade talent show.

"When do you think they'll realize they're soulmates?" Camila asked one Fourth of July in the Patterson backyard. Alex and Bobby were chasing Emmy around with a lit sparkler.

"Not for a long, long time," Emily decided.

"Why's that?"

Reggie tackled Emmy to the grass with one swift leap. They rolled around, Alex and Bobby piling on top of her.

Luke was by the buffet table, talking to a girl with blonde hair and a ruffled red, white, and blue dress.

"Because my son doesn't understand girls," Emily sighed. Her friend laughed as they watched Bobby call Luke over.

"Now what's wrong with Penny?" Mr. Patterson asks. He folds up the paper and places it on the table.

"There's nothing wrong with her," Luke scoffs. "She's just not my type."

"Pretty isn't your type?" Emily gasps.

"I never said that! She's my best friend. We'd never date. Plus, I think Alex might have a thing for her."

"Hey now," Luke's dad says. "Your mother was my best friend."

"Grew up right next door," she adds on.

Luke rises from his chair, taking his plate to the sink without being asked for once. "Well, it's a good thing she lives a couple blocks away then, huh?" With that, the young boy stalks out of the kitchen to head over to the said girl's house. They walked to school together every morning.

"They're gonna get married. I know it," Emily gushes.

Her husband sighs dramatically with a laugh. "I like that Emmy girl."

She hits him with her napkin. "You called her Penny! She has been coming to our house since she was seven years old."

"But did you see how defensive he got?" Mr. Patterson grins.

Emily's snarl morphs to a dropped jaw of utter pride. All three Pattersons spent the rest of the morning smiling.