The Girl in Blue

33- The Girl Slips

Lana

Even though my family doesn't celebrate Christmas, my sister and I have always exchanged gifts. Not store bought gifts because that would feed the capitalist monster that my parents despise but we make something for each other. Mine is always predictable: a short film of all of the videos I've taken of us over that one year.

It's predictable but it's always cute and it even sometimes makes her cry. The issue with my plan this year is that I left one of my memory chips in Levi's camera when we were filming the last of our footage for the short film. I still have about a month until Christmas but these videos take a long time to get together so I text Levi on Saturday, a week after getting back to campus after Thanksgiving.

He tells me that he's at his brother's house about fifteen minutes away from campus and that I can come get the memory card if I really need it today. It's snowing pretty badly out so I have to really consider it but I've barely had time to work on the video yet and I really need to get some of it done today so I decide to just get through the snow to get the card. Almost all of the film that I need is on that card.

Sutton is gone with Jonah so I just leave with the car and use my phone for directions on how to get to the suburban house that Levi gave me the address to. I'm hoping that Addison isn't there too because although she's a sweet girl, the sight of her face makes me want to vomit.

Once at the house, I hurry inside to get out of the freezing snow and I knock on the door under a patio awning. Levi answers the door with a friendly smile.

"Hey," He greets me.

"Hi. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, I appreciate you letting me stop by," I tell him gratefully.

"It's not a problem," He assures me. "My camera is up in the guest bedroom, I'll go grab it. Just keep quiet because if Susanne finds out that you're here, she'll-"

"Levi, who's here?" A high pitched woman's voice calls from another room.

"Never let you leave," He uselessly finishes but the blonde woman is already coming into the room with a friendly smile on her face.

"Oh," She sounds surprised. "Is this Addison?"

"No, um, this is Lana. We're working on a film project together, she just needs to get something from my camera," Levi informs the woman.

"Yeah. Sorry to interrupt. I'll just go grab it and be out of your hair," I say because I'm getting the sense that something important is happening and I probably should have just waited until Monday to get my memory card. Obviously, it's too late now.

"No, that's ridiculous. That snow is terrible, come have dinner with us," The blonde woman, who I assume to be Susanne, insists as she motions toward the dining room. "I'm Susanne, Levi's sister-in-law."

"We're having our late Thanksgiving dinner," Levi explains. "Because everybody was busy during the actual holiday."

"Oh, that's more of a family thing," I realize aloud. "It's really okay, I don't want to impose."

"She's not going to take no for an answer," Levi warns me and Susanne shrugs in a way to say 'he's right'. "I'll take your coat."

I am hungry. I could go for some free food and that snow really wasn't fun to drive in so maybe I can wait it out here with Levi's nice family. "Alright. Thank you."

So Levi takes my coat and then they lead me into the next room where there is a man who looks to be about Susanne's age and then two children. Small children.

"So this is my brother, Eric, and their kids, Grayson and Zack. Eric, this is Lana. She's a friend from school," Levi introduces me to his brother and I take an empty seat between Levi and one of the children. Maybe he's six or seven but I'm not very good with kids so I have no idea. Susanne gets out a new plate for me and it looks like they're about halfway through dinner already by the look of how much food is on each plate.