33 Days To Live (Under Revision)

23

304 Pretyn Drive, Crescentburg 6871.

That was what the address read and by the end of school I had memorized because I couldn't stop looking at the scrawled words in amazement. It may just be an address to anyone else but to me it was progress.

As you can imagine, I ran straight to Andrew like an excited little kid when the final bell rang and I explained everything to him as he walked home with me. I wasn't the only one astounded at the sudden change in Lucy and it was either a miracle or I had finally broke her with my persistence and charm.

Andrew thought it was a miracle.

All to soon our conversation had to come to an end and we both split off on the path and went our separate ways to our homes.

The instant I got home I ran upstairs to gather my books and anything I had that I could use to tutor Lucy. I had never taught anyone anything before except how to shoot milk out of their left nostril.

Another secret talent of mine.

Once I was sure I had everything I needed I went downstairs to see if I could borrow my mom's car.

"Hey mom?" I called out upon entering the kitchen and she looked up from behind her laptop, her cheeks puffy from the sandwich she was munching on.

"Yeah?" She asked best she could without spitting out any chewed up chunks of tuna and lettuce.

"Can I borrow your car? I'm going over a friends house to help her with homework." At that my mom choked a little before swallowing quickly.

"She?" She asked, a curious smile appearing on her face.

Probably shouldn't have specified on a gender.

"Yeah, a she," I said cautiously and my mom looked at her shoulder at the living room.

"Antonio! I think Ben has a new girlfriend?" She called out making me roll my eyes as I sat down across from her.

"She's not my girlfriend mom, she's just a friend." I groaned as my dad came running in like we just told him we won the lottery.

"My ragazzo has a new principessa?" He asked hopefully and I shook my head.

"No papa, she's just a friend. A friend I'm helping with homework. Why do you guys think I'm in a relationship with every girl I mention?" I asked and my mom looked back to her computer.

"We don't think your in a relationship with Gene," She said and my dad nodded in agreement.

"Mostly because she's innamorato with Leopold." He informed, earning a look from me. "I know things," He said before sitting down next to me.

"Apparently so, how is the question? I don't keep a diary or a blog, have you mastered mind reading?" I asked, making him laugh.

"I wish!" He then looked at my mom who had lost interest in the conversation and was back to eating her sandwich while working on whatever she was working on.

My mom was one of those parents that lost interest in conversation quickly when she was focusing on something else. Something that was relieving because I didn't want the burden of a nosy parent.

"If you do, you better tell me," I said, making him smile warmly as he looked back to me.

"So, tell me about this new lady friend of yours," He said and I sighed.

"She's just a new friend I made at school. Nothing more." I shrugged.

"What's the principessa's name?" He asked curiously. At first I hesitated, but I didn't see the harm in saying it so I did.

"Lucy Burke," I said. My dad then sat back, studying me for a long moment, he then stood up and kissed my head.

"Its very sweet how much you care for her, she's important to you. I can tell by how you say her name." and with that my dad went back to the food network in the living room.

One thing I had always found fascinating about my sometimes overbearing father was how perceptive he was. All you had to say was one word and he knew the entire story. When Rachel and I were kids it use to freak us out, but now I thought it was kind of cool.

Exhaling slowly then I looked over at my mom.

"So can I borrow the car?" I asked and she brushed me off with the wave her hand.

"Yeah, yeah be back before midnight. You may be doing homework but it is a school night," She said and I did a little happy dance on the inside before kissing her goodbye and grabbing her keys.

A couple of minutes later I was pulling out of the driveway. I was really nervous about going to Lucy's house, so nervous I was contemplating calling Andrew and asking him to come with me.

I needed to remember though that this wasn't Andrew's mission, it was mine.

The more people I brought in on this the more suspicious it was gonna look, maybe even give her the wrong impression. I wanted Lucy to see how genuine and sincere my actions were.

I really did care about her, deeply, and I wanted more then anything to save her. So if I had to pretend there was no such thing as fear to succeed, then that was what I was going to do.

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Hi guys! I'm sorry this is a little short but I couldn't think of what to write so I just rolled with what I had lol. My goodness this summer has been hectic so far! I'm working full time this summer, writing, and volunteering at the library! At least my sleep schedule is normalizing itself a little lol.

Thanks for being awesome!
-Mari.