The Lost Sister ✓ [COMPLETED]

Ch. 16 *Dinner At The Emerson's*

That must be Michael's mom.
She sets the dinner down, before her eyes meet mine and a bright smile forms on her lips.

"Oh! You must be Luna," she comes and shakes my hand. "I'm Lucy. Sam and Michael's mother."
"Pleased to meet you," I reply, before Michael comes into view, his hand gently smacking me on my shoulder to let me know he's here. "Hey, you made it."

"I did," I grin, pushing aside some pieces of hair that's escaped it's braids.
Though I'm still kind of shy and embarrassed to be around Michael, after everything, I'm staring to get used to it.

By now, I'm beginning to see Michael as my friend, and my friend only.
He smiles at me softly, before Lucy waves us over.

"Well come and have some dinner before it gets cold," Lucy goes to the table, preparing the plates.

As a gentleman, Michael gets my chair for me.
"Thank you," I smile up as him, and he winks, taking his seat beside me.
The grandpa sits by Lucy, and Sam takes the chair on the end with Nanook out of breath by his side.

I fill my plate with spaghetti, a garlic bread, and a ton of Caesar salad.
The first bite I take, my taste buds explode.
"Wow, this is so good Mrs. Emerson," I compliment, and she blushes.
"Please, call me Lucy," she replies, and I smile.

I continue to eat in silence for several moments, until Lucy chimes in.
"So, Luna. How long have you lived in Santa Carla?"

"Going on two months," I swallow my bite of salad, "my parents moved out here because of career reasons."
"I see," she clasps her hands, "do you go to school?"

I shake my head. "I've been homeschooled most of my life. I'm hoping my parents will enroll me in a school here." I giggle softly, not thinking anything of it until Lucy points something out.

"That would be wonderful! You and Michael could spend more time together!"
With the way she said it, and with the way she looked at Michael, I caught on immediately.
She thinks that we're more then friends.

Michael looks down at his plate, slightly embarrassed, but I smile softly.
"Michael's a great friend," I glance at him, "I'm happy."

"Me too," he grins, in a total 'You're just my friend,' kind of way.
Sam glances between us, before he stands up. "Mom, can you drive me to the boardwalk tomorrow?"

"Sure honey," she smiles, going for seconds on dinner.
Sam smiles a little, and I stare at him for a moment.
I don't know much about him, but I would like to.

"Sam?"
He looks at me.
"How old are you?" I ask, I know Michael is 18, Sam can't be too much younger.
"Fourteen," Sam replies, and my eyes widen.

Four years apart.
Just like Star and I.
"I'll be 15 in a couple weeks though," Sam points out, staring at me a little funny.
"Yes yes, you keep going on about that Sammy," Michael laughs softly, finishing off his plate and standing up.

The grandpa follows him to the kitchen, in kind of a rush.
I glance at them, hearing a few words exchanged.
One being, 'No Grandpa, I am not going to steal anything from your second shelf.'

The second shelf opens, and I see its full to the brim with cookies, ice cream, and soda pops.
I giggle softly behind my hand.
Someone's protective over his treats.

"When's your birthday?" Sam asks, breaking my train of thought.
"Oh," I clean my hands, "it's next spring. May to be precise."
"That's coming up," Sam points out.
...not really.
It's only the beginning of July. But I get what he means.

I stand up, brushing my skirt off and taking my plate.
I almost head to the kitchen, but Sam stops me.
"Are you dating Michael?"
I look at him. "No."
"Weird."
"Why?" I ask, and he shrugs. "Because you seem to make Mike pretty happy. I don't know, don't ask me."