33 Days To Live (Under Revision)

24

When I pulled up to Lucy's house I felt my fingertips trembling a little bit in anticipation. It was a nice big house, well decorated in the front and very clean looking. This didn't seem like such a bad place to live but I wasn't going to let its beauty deceive me.

The devil was once an angel and look how that turned out.

"Alright Ben you've got this, you are one of the most together kids when it comes to socializing. Just pretend you know what you're doing," I said to my reflection in the rearview mirror. After a moment or two of pumping myself up with a series of pep talks, I opened the car door and grabbed my books.

I was still shaking a little but not as much as I walked up the sidewalk, taking in everything around me. This neighborhood was clearly inhabited by wealthy folk and that made me regret not dressing a little nicer.

Even if I did, my nicest shirt had a sauce stain on it. So I'd have to pretend I looked better than I did right now and plan on making a better second impression.

Who knows?

Maybe her parents won't be around today. Lucy had only written a couple of brief entries about them, didn't really focus on them much. She had a step-dad who pretended to know everything but didn't have a clue about anything and her mom didn't spend much time at home, she worked all the time and never had time for anything but.

I was glad my mom managed to put aside an hour or more a day for Rachel and I. I couldn't imagine my mother not being there for me, I was a mommy's boy. I remember when I was little and she'd drop me off at kindergarten and first grade I'd cry for the first twenty minutes for her.

Fortunately I grew out of that.

After I had ringed the doorbell, I stepped back and I tapped my foot on the floor. I was really beginning to wish I had brought one of the others with me; I didn't like doing unfamiliar things alone. It made me feel vulnerable and I didn't like feeling vulnerable, it was unmanly.

Gnawing at my bottom lip I rang the doorbell again, just in case Lucy hadn't heard it. Or maybe she did but she was ignoring me because she changed her mind. I hadn't even checked to see if the number she gave me was real. It could be one of those joke numbers girls gave to guys they didn't want to give their real number to.

Swallowing thickly I went to ring the doorbell a third time but Lucy opened the door.

"Hey Ben," She said and I smiled in relief.

"Hey, ready to waste precious time on homework?" I asked, making her smile a little.

"Most certainly not but I guess we can do a little since your here," She said prior to stepping aside and I walked inside. The inside of the house was just as satisfying as the outside and almost immediately you nose was meant with wonderful smells. Probably from an air freshener. In my house it always smelled like pizza, dirty socks and excessive perfume from my sister.

Maybe I should ask Lucy what air freshener her mom used?

"Sweet place. It's so clean," I said and she laughed.

"The house cleaning company came by yesterday, this place will be trashed by the weekend." She informed before gesturing to the kitchen. "Want to grab some snacks before heading up to the study room?" She asked and I nodded.

"Sure, I forgot to eat dinner so a snack would be nice." I admitted as I followed her into the kitchen. At the table there was a little boy with blonde hair sitting on his knees and coloring in a drawing of a dog.

When we came in he looked up and glanced at me before looking at Lucy with a curious expression. "Wally this is my friend Ben from school," Lucy said as she opened the cabinets to pull out various snacks. Smiling at the little boy I shifted the books to one arm to offer him a hand.

"I'm Ben, nice to meet you," I said, assuming this was her brother.

"Hello Ben, I'm Wally. I was named after the robot from Wally," He said and I laughed as I shook her hand.

"That's a good movie. My sister and I use to watch it when we were little." At that his face brightened up.

"That movie was around when you were a little kid?" He asked in astonishment and I laughed.

"Yes, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth," I said playfully, making him laugh before he held up the photo he was coloring to show me.

"This is a dog named Banjo; my sister drew him for me so I could color him in." He informed, making Lucy look back at him with a bit of a bashful glare.

"Oh really? Do you mind if I see?" I asked and with little hesitation he handed me the drawing and I looked at it before smiling at Lucy. "This is a really good drawing, you should draw more dogs named Banjo," I said and she rolled her eyes as I handed the artwork back to the boy. "And you Mr. Wally are an excellent colorer, the way you use the pencil shows promise for your future as an artist." I complimented, making him beam as he picked up his pencil.

"I just color it like this, it's so easy," He said as he began coloring again. By then Lucy had put all the snacks in a bowl to make carrying them easier and she walked back over to me.

''Ready to go upstairs?" She asked and I nodded. Suddenly then, before we could leave the kitchen I heard the front door open.

"Lucy! Wally! I'm home!" A very very familiar man's voice called out and Wally squealed before he leaped off the chair and ran out of the kitchen.

"Daddy! Daddy I colored a photo of a dog!" I heard him shout as Lucy stayed by my side, making a pained face. A moment later their step-dad came around the corner holding Wally on his shoulders and it took everything I had not gasp.

Lucy's step-dad was Oscar, the school counselor.

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Hi guys! So I hope you like Wally, I haven't done a little brother character in any of my stories yet so I'm excited to introduce one and he is going to be important later in the story ;) Also I decided it'd be a nice twist to have Oscar be more important then he was because I envision Matthew Morrison as him and I don't want that vision to go to waste lol.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading today's chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! ;)

-Mari.