clouds ☁ lrh

one

NERVES NERVES NERVES :(
I HOPE YOU ENJOY! :)
Word count: 913
Week one

My morning started with an alarm clock.

7:59 turned to 8:00. I clicked the button on my old alarm, shutting it off, and groaned, it was Saturday. Why did I leave my alarm on? My feet swung over the side of my bed and rubbed my eyes. I may as well get up.

I shuffled into the bathroom, and examined my puffy eyes. Splashing cool water on them seemed to help, so I did, getting water everywhere.

"Lauren, you're up early,"

I ignored my mother's comment.

"Oh dear," she said, putting her glass into the sink. The new neighbors are moving in in this weather? Everything they own will be soaked,"

I peeked out the window, and sure as hell, it was pouring.

"Go put some clothes on and we will help them." My mom said, rushing off to grab a jacket. I sighed and put in some flip flops, I was getting wet anyway.

I tied my hair up, and unlocked the front door as a car pulled up in front of the house. I dashed across the front yard, and over to the moving van.

"Would you like some help?" I asked.

"That would be great,"

A middle aged woman, also equally as soaked in rain as I was smiled back at me. I grabbed a box and hauled it into the garage.

As I turned back to get another box, there was a third person, (a very skinny one,) using a crutch to attempt to slide a box into his arms.

"Lucas, get inside! Don't get those wet!"

The boy whined, stabbing a hole into the box with the metal crutches end. He hopped away, and stood dripping wet in the garage.

"Go dry off, Luke, I'm telling you the crutches will rust and you won't have any more."

The boy shook his head and turned back to go inside.

"Excuse him," the woman huffed. "I never caught your name?"

"Lauren." I smiled, pretending not to be confused.

"I'm Liz, that was Luke."

I slipped another box, the last one into the garage and stacked them on top.

"I'll have to come meet your mom once I'm dry," she laughed. "Thanks for your help."

I waved and ran off. I would have stayed longer, but the rain wasn't clearing up any time soon.

As I got back inside my own house, my mom greeted me with a towel.

"Are they nice?" She asked, wrapping it around my shoulders.

"I only got to talk to the mom," I said, shivering.

"I heard her son is a cripple."

"Mother," I scolded."That's rude."

"Sorry," she giggled. "I'll find out about it. Go change."

I did as she asked, and put on a sweatshirt and new jeans. By the time my hair dried, it has stopped raining.

-

"The neighbors are coming over for dinner!" My mom called. I put my hair up into a bun and decided to put some makeup on to get ready.

While doing my eyeliner, the doorbell rang, making me jump and smear it.

"Lauren! Get down here!"

"I'm coming!" I called, huffing and fixing my shirt. Immediately, I noticed Luke wasn't there.

"Thanks for helping with the boxes this morning, it's hard doing it when you are by yourself."

"It's no problem." I smiled.

"Is Luke coming?" my mom asked.

"He should be any minute now,"

"Oh, that's no issue," my mom said, starting the classic mother to mother talk. I zoned out.

"Mom, I'll be right back," I said, and ran upstairs to the bathroom. When I heard my mom talking again, I assumed Luke had arrived.

As meeting other children was always awkward for me, I tried to walk downstairs as slowly as possible.

"Lauren, this is Luke," my mom smiled.

"We kind of met," he said, smiling as a kind of hello to me.

"Right," my mom nodded. "So does anyone want anything to drink?"

As my mom passed out drinks, I watched Luke rock back and forth nervously on the crutches, and his mom whisper to him to stop.

The dinner table was not quiet at all, with chatter about moving and taxes, but as we reached the topic of schools, it suddenly got really tense on Luke's part.

I snapped back when I heard my name.

"Luke, you will be in school with Lauren this year!" Liz smiled. Luke didn't, but I had a feeling it wasn't because of me.

"Great, school, looking forward to it," he growled sarcastically.

"Luke,"

"No, okay? I don't want to hear it, I would like to have a day not to worry about school." he said.

"Excuse him," Liz sighed, shaking her head.

As we finished out meals, my mom cleaned up came back to the table.

"Why don't you two go upstairs?" my mom asked, motioning for me to bring Luke upstairs.

I let Luke collect himself, and he followed me upstairs. I was surprised how fast he could walk on those things.

My bedroom door was already open, so I just flopped onto the bed, Luke doing the same shortly.

"Don't pretend like these don't exist," he
said, waving a crutch in the air.

"They are just crutches," I chuckled.

"Correction: they are forearm crutches, meaning the ones those sick kids get in those commercials for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Everyone knows what these mean."

"What do they mean?"

He laughed.