章節 17: Unexpected moments with Lucas. BD
Brittany
13 years ago
The first time I followed my Mum to Los Altos Hills, I thought I would be bored and left alone with my assignments. As luck would have it, I met Lucas. Despite his cold exterior, he was actually a cool person and I enjoyed being with him.
Brand was always the first to notice any change in me but at that time, he didn't notice my extra happiness when the weekend came around. To my mother and brothers, I was merely excited to leave home. Little did they know that my excitement was because of a certain blue-eyed young man.
Young man? He was just a year older, even though his stature was almost the same as that of my older brother, David. Speaking of David, he was in an argument with my mother because of his girlfriend. It was normal that he had a girlfriend but Mum cut him in a lie.
David lied about the time he got off work and had been hanging out with the said lady. She was concerned that they were spending way too much time together and that they were not being careful. David didn't want to hear Mum's opinion about 'being careful' so he slammed his door at her.
That morning, breakfast was tense because Mum was sad about David's behaviour and David, well, David was just David. "Well, are we going to talk about what the shouting was about yesterday?" Brand asked. If there was someone who could act like a father in our family, it was Brand.
"Nothing happened. I am an adult and what I do is my business." David replied defensively.
Throughout the exchange, Mum didn't alter a word, I guessed she was still hurt and angry with David.
Mum was not the kind of woman to keep quiet, we all knew that she was planning something in her mind. When I started my period, we had a long discussion about sex and whatnot. The first time Brand mentioned a girl, he was saturated with talks about condoms and other preventive measures.
Guess She didn't give David the talk when he was a teenager and she thought it would be easy to discuss those kinds of things with twenty-one-year-old old David. I and Brand were much younger when my father still lived with us but David knew.
He knew about the beatings, assault and verbal abuse. When David did stuff like slamming the door when Mum was talking, it brought back memories. "We cannot afford any baby right now. I just wanted to tell you to use condoms, you are too young to have children. It will–"
David was looking more uncomfortable and he quickly cut her off "Nobody is having children, mum. And should we be discussing this while Brittany is here?"
They decided to talk more about it when I was not around; David apologized to Mum. The discussion would later be a reference less than two years later. All three of them would make me sit and they would blame each other for not teaching me enough about prevention.
My mind was buzzing at the thought of spending the day with Lucas even though we had spoken on the phone most of the week. He would never agree to the fact that he was lonely and I would never be caught saying that I missed physical hangouts with him. "Brittany, so you still want go to with me to Los-"
I blurted yes even before she was done talking. Things were great between Lucas and I; we were friends but I took extra time deciding on what to wear and applying make-up even though he never commented on either. He confided in me and trusted me.
It was not hard to tell that the things he told me were difficult for him to say yet, he told me anyway. I often remind myself that he only told me things because I was his only friend but he was comfortable not talking to anyone before we met. Also, Lucas treated me like an adult.
At home, I was always the baby. Babied Mum and both of my brothers but with Lucas, I got adult treatment. He listened to my opinions and I could tell that he valued them.
We finished eating breakfast and I waited for my mum in our small living room while Brand and David were off preparing for work. I had time to think about my friendship with Lucas. My female friends in school say that one could feel if a guy likes them.
They said the signs would be there but I can't see any sign with Lucas. I knew that we were supposed to be friends and so feelings are not allowed to fly but I think I like him. And it is depressing because he probably sees me as a friend or worse, a sister.
Mum finished talking to David and we set to leave for Lucas's mansion. She reiterated the same instructions which was that I should stay in the living room and only go to the kitchen to drink water. I wondered what she might say if she found out that I knew everywhere in Lucas' wing of the house.
I still was not used to Los Altos Hills even though I had been coming there for a while with my mum. The green scenery felt new, fresh and cool every time. There were flowers, almost of all colours, and trees of varying heights. I hoped that if I ever had enough money, I would invest in a place like that.
Tranquil places like that have a good impact on mental health and overall well-being, it doesn't matter if you are not happy, nobody is gonna know. My mind was transported to Lucas's family, whom I had not met. He mentioned that his mum was dead and he had no siblings.
Man, he was lonely even though he did not act like it. I had two siblings and a hovering mother and still felt alone sometimes. But there was Lucas with a whole house to himself, and freedom to choose any school and do anything yet he was deprived of what I know he wanted- a true family.
Isn't it ironic that someone has exactly what you want and they need what you have? We don't choose our family and I know if Lucas had a choice he would not choose his. Well, who was I kidding? A family that can afford original artwork from the 1800s? Latest cars without a dent in their account? I bet he would choose the family after all.
Happenings in our family have deep roots in our family no matter how much we doubt it. For example, most girls my age already have boyfriends and lost their virginity but I can't bring myself to like anyone until Lucas. Jean, a lesbian in my school, passed me a note in class last year; she thought I was interested in girls.
I wasn't.
I just couldn't bring myself to be more than friends with boys my age. Because mom and dad were friends first and then they had David. Later Dad started drinking and he got abusive but Mum could not leave because she was pregnant with Brand and then me. See the interconnection?
My brain did not register anything else except that cycle and I wasn't entirely wrong because the only difference between dating and friendship was sex. Or not. I don't know.
I just know that many people like me are sacrificing a lot to break a cycle.
Maybe Lucas is trying to break a cycle too. He rarely partied and he hadn't mentioned a girlfriend. I made a mental note to ask him that day. We soon got to the apartment and my mother got started to work.
Lucas would know the moment we got to the mansion through the cameras. My mum cleaned Lucas' living room first and unlike before, she allowed me to dust the table and chair even though she re-dusted them. When she left for the other wings in the house, Lucas appeared at the end of the stairs.
Looking as hot as the first day I saw him.
Either Lucas didn't know how beautiful he was or he didn't mind flaunting it. Butterflies were awake in my stomach and fluttering their wings, if I allowed myself to feel a tiny bit more, I wouldn't be able to hear anything other than the beats of their wings in excitement to see him. And my elevated heartbeats.
So much for trying to break a cycle.
" Don't you have any shirt, Lucas?" He gave me that manly grin that made him even hotter.
"Good Morning to you too, Fat ass" A stupid boy in school was the first person to call me fat ass, I hated being called that. But when Lucas said Fat ass, it sounded like a compliment. I caught him staring at me on occasion and there was no insult in his gaze, just pure admiration.
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