Am I . . . ?

Chapter Five

Lucas and I make friendly conversation while the adults take their seats. The friendly small talk quickly rolls into conversations about random, yet interesting things. Jessica talks to Lucas's mother about how their life is and what their day consisted of. Michael and David talk about politics, periodically involving Lucas in their conversation. I sit there awkwardly eating my food in "silence." It's incredible how alone you can feel even though you are surrounded by so many people. 

After a while, Lucas catches on to my being ignored, though I don't blame everyone. I AM the new one here, after all. It's always easy to forget the new one of the bunch. Lucas looks at me for a moment before proceeding. Within the voices of the other conversations, I hear Lucas ask me, "How is your recovery coming?" I glance at him to see who he is talking to and find myself quite surprised to see him looking at me. His right elbow is on the table just next to his plate holding up his head, as you would in the middle of a boring class, though the last look his face shows is boredom. 

After a moment of looking at his beyond beautiful eyes, I stutter in slight embarrassment as I realize how odd I must look, "It's. . . It's going great, actually." I smile in excitement, "I can walk without tripping as much, now, and I'm getting used to doing most everything with my right hand." Lucas's face brightens up with mine when he sees how excited I am with my improvement. 

He lets how a giggle, "That's great!" He takes his head off of his hand and picks up his fork, "How is the food?"

I look down at the chicken and smile, "It's great, like always." 

Lucas smiles and takes a bite. His facial expressions are quite easy to read, though I can tell he can't quite read mine. It must be why he shows his excitement when I show my emotions so clearly. I must say, though, I feel vulnerable when my emotions are shown so clearly. Once Lucas seems to be done with the portion of food, I suck up my nerves and ask him a question that has been on my mind for months. "Lucas." 

His face perks up at me in slight shock as he realizes I am starting a conversation. I continue, "Would you mind if I called you Luke?"

Lucas's face brightens up and the smile on his face widens. His eyes seem to sparkle brightly when he hears this. "Yes! That would be great." He pauses for a moment, "Could I call you a nickname, too?"

I giggle, "What would the name be?"

Luke pauses for a moment as he thinks about names to call me. Quicker than I anticipated, his eyes brighten in pure excitement. He readjusts himself in his seat as he prepares himself to spill the tea of the name he has given me. "Well?" I smile as I rest my head on my hand, "What will it be?"

Luke smiles at me as his hand gestures toward me, "Lia." 

My head lifts off my hand quickly, "That's a pretty name." I tell him, "How'd you come up with that so quickly?" 

He shrugs, "I don't know. . . I took the last 'L's' out of your name and voila." He looks at me in a "that's the best I can do" face, which I can't seem to handle. My face cracks a smile and I let out a giggle, closer to a laugh. Everyone in the room slowly looks at me while Luke and I share our moment together. . . "bonding," I guess you would call it. 

"I see you two are getting along just fine," David looks at Luke and I. He turns to his wife and nods, "Lillia. . ." He slowly looks toward me as he continues, "I believe we may have a spot opening up if you'd like to work."

Luke's smile immediately is torn off as his expression changes drastically. He looks at his father as if David had just said something Luke wanted to remain unsaid. His gorgeous eyes reflect that of pure anger toward his father. David looks at Lucas for a moment before quickly looking back at me, avoiding eye contact with his son. 

"What's the job?" I ask curiously. I never knew he had the power to get me an interview. I not even sure where he works. Michael and Jessica look at each other with a certain kind of worried look on their face. 

"Well. . ." David begins, "As you know, in the country, military power is essential. We are constantly getting young men to enlist and help keep the country steady-"

"You want her to join the military?" Michael asks almost in a disappointed manner. 

"Dad, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever witnessed. . . and we are talking about you," Luke chimes in. His facial expressions move seamlessly with his choice of words.

"I was thinking if she'd like to get to know, not only us better, but how the country is put together-" David tries to explain himself, but Luke cuts him off.

"You would throw a sixteen-year-old girl into the military just to have her get closer to a family. . . and to learn about a country. There are multiple other, not dangerous, ways to do that, you know." 

"I know, Luke, but I was thinking she may want to-"

"Risk her life? For what? A country she has spent a couple of months in? She barely knows six people here, dad, do you think she wants to go through hell for training just to risk her life to protect a country she has never even heard of?" Its obvious Luke is furious, and I don't blame him. He's right. I just came here and I barely know these people. Before I came here I never even knew this country existed. 

David sighs, "Listen. Lillia, I know Luke is spouting words that may make sense now, but I want you to think about my offer. I would be willing to work with you personally if you'd like, even before you decide to enlist." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "I could give you a partner when you start if you'd like." He glances a Luke for the quickest second before continuing, "I may have someone in mind."

Luke groans but he doesn't say a word. Not a single word, though I know I'd be the same way. He knows he won the common sense part of the argument, and maybe even the entire thing, but his father won't back down. 

I've never seen him like this. . . Angry. I must say. . . I'm not disappointed with what I'm seeing. He's smart about his arguments and he keeps himself relatively cool throughout the entire thing. He's not the type to walk out in anger or do something beyond what he should. He's smart about what he says and how he goes about doing so. That's smart. 

"I'll keep it in mind." I give David a slight smile, but I can feel Luke's surprised eyes beating into my head. He must be pissed. 

Michael stands up grabbing his plate, "Thank you for dinner, dear."

Everyone snaps back into dinner land and begins to talk in their normal conversations again. I smile at Jessica, "Thank you for dinner, Jessica." She smiles at me as she stands up with her plate. She and Michael walk into the kitchen. Luke looks at me after his eyes trail away from Michael and Jessica. 

"I'm sorry about my father. . . He can jump to decisions very quickly without thinking much about them." 

I giggle softly, "It's no problem. He's just showing worry for me." 

Luke smiles softly and his face relaxes back to how it was when we first had a conversation, "I suppose you're right."