Kiss Me Goodbye

Awkward Moments (Day 5)

Thursday, June 29

“Wake up, sweet pea,” my uncle murmurs from next to me. I bat his head away and turn around so I am not facing him anymore.

“Go away.”

“Geez, I was just trying to see if you were feeling any better,” he jokes playfully, poking me in the stomach. “Anyways I'm off to work now, but don't fret, I have a surprise waiting for you.”

I open one of my eyes a crack. “A surprise?”

Suddenly, I feel a heavy weight land on my bed and I turn over, alarmed, to see what it is. To my surprise, Luke is perched on the edge of my bed, smiling. His blonde hair is ruffled, as if he just got out of bed, and his eyes twinkle merrily. “Mornin', sunshine!” he says happily.

“Luke!” I exclaim, “What's up? Why are you here?”

My uncle sniffles dramatically. “Sure, he gets an enthusiastic 'Hey!', but all I get is a 'Go away.'? So not fair.” I roll my eyes and stick my tongue out at him as he leaves my room. “Tell Renee we're going to work,” he calls over his shoulder.

Luke stares at me funnily and I narrow my eyes at him. “What?” I ask.

“You're just so childish!” he laughs, patting my head affectionately. I stick out my tongue at him, causing him to crack up even more. I huff and turn my back to him, glaring at the wall. His arms enclose me and I feel my resolve beginning to crack. “Besides, I think it's cute!” he says. “Look what your uncle gave me! We can spend all day watching these!”

I crane my neck to see what he's holding. “Are they more Bambi movies?”

He shudders theatrically. “Heavens, no. I'm not one to inflict damage upon my brain.”

“You're so weird,” I laugh. “So what are they?”

He looks excited as he finally unveils what he's holding. “Home DVDs!” he says gleefully. I groan and he says “Come on, what's not to like about watching you sing?” I stiffen slightly. Is this my uncle's way of trying to get me to sing again? “Besides,” Luke continues, “these are hilarious. Remember that one song you made up? 'I don't use a diaper, I'm a big girl now. I can do math, cause I'm a big girl now” He sings this in a hillbilly country accent and I slap his arm, reddening.

“Shut up.”

“Now that's not very nice, is it?” he says, bending down to feed the DVD into the player. The screen flickers on and he settles back onto my bed, waiting for it to load. “So how are you?” he says, one hand touching my cheek.

“Awesome,” I grin up at him. My cough is gone and I only feel slightly dizzy now. He squirms up onto the bed until he's nudged up right next to me and I relax in his warm embrace.

“I'm Allison Nicole Lorenzo and I'm going to be a famous singer!” a shrill voice blares out from the speakers. I cover my eyes in shame as a young brunette girl waddles across the screen. “Wanna hear me sing? I just can't wait to be kiiiingg!!!” The younger version of me draws out the last note and stares at the screen, annoyed. “Why aren't you clapping?”

Luke chuckles, his chest moving up and down quickly. For some reason, this feels oddly soothing and I settle deeper into his arms. “You were so cute, Alli.”

“Were?” I glare at him jokingly.

“You still are,” he says, smiling, then turning the attention back to the screen. The clip that is now playing is of my 2nd grade talent show. My hair is piled in a ponytail and I'm sitting at the piano, singing what is possibly the lamest song ever. “I love my family, they mean so much to me. Two plus one is three. I like climbing in trees...”