𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓, luke patterson

nineteen

N I N E T E E N

I overheard that she was 19, with a fake ID and a nose ring. Those kind of girls tend to know things better than I do. And I'm dying to figure out what she's hiding. She's playing it cool but she's lying.

      PEYTON TOSSED HER LOCKER CLOSED. She wasn't upset she was lost. Really lost.

"What am I supposed to wear to the Patterson's house?" She asked Julie and Flynn as the three walked to the cafeteria. "I can cut my hair and dress up as Natalie Wood and then Luke's mom will drown me."

"What are you talking about? Emily is a sweetheart!" Exclaimed Julie as the three sat down at their table.

"Yeah, with you! I'm always going to be the little neighbor girl who would carry her son around like her dog. I've been to that house four times in my entire life, the four times when I was little, and she would always call my mom for her to pick me up. Once I spent thirty minutes there before my mom showed up. I was nine, what horrible thing would I have had possible done to her little boy?"

"Sounds like she really hates you."

"I know. That's why Luke is always at my house. It's not because of my awesome family, it's because his mother hates me. The last time I saw her was in eight grade when I had to get Luke his assignments because he was sick. I could swear she had a water gun behind her back when I walked into his room to give Luke his books."

"Why would she have a water gun?"

"To spray me and for me to melt! Did I forget to mention that she thinks I'm the freaking Wicked Witch of The West!?" Peyton seemed nervous, at the edge of a breakdown, in fact. "And again, what I'm going to wear? My normal clothes have a "punk literature bitch ready to take your precious son off your hands" kinda vibe."

"Maybe it's the boots," joked Julie, making Peyton exhale.

"I'm the first relationship Luke brings home and I'm so scared to screw it up. It seems very important to him his mom's opinion. He hasn't even told her about the labels and the Fonda Theatre because he's afraid of her reaction. And I'm actual bad news! The gig and the records companies are excellent news! In the Peyton packet you only have a stupid leather jacket, some old copy of a Charlotte Brontë novel and some lame pop culture references that are nothing like Luke's because he actually knows about movies."

Julie and Flynn looked at each other before looking at her.

"You need to play the part."

"What do you mean?" She asked them. "Is this going to be a Princess Diaries transformation because my glasses are new and I don't want you to break them."

"No, you just need to wear a pretty outfit and act nicely. The last time they saw you, you were fourteen. You are a grown woman now. You have a job, you are doing great in school, you are applying to a fancy art academy in New— why are you writing this down?"

Peyton look up from her notebook to Flynn. "So I don't forget."

"It's your life, how could you forget!?"

"I'm nervous! I've never met a guy's parents before, ok? It's tricky. Besides, I feel like they know me but at the same time they don't know me at all."