Surviving Life on the Tuscany Reserve

Chapter 6: Luke's Secret

I climbed up the ladder to the boy's room to see Luke looking out the window. I climbed the rest of the way up and took a seat next to him. I saw how his hair fell over his right eye, the blind one. Luke was born with one blind eye and one normal eye. He always made sure that his hair covered the right one though, to avoid questions.

I brushed his hair away from his eye. "You gunna tell me what happened?"

He blinked a few times. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Come on, Luke. You've always been able to tell me everything." I said.

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"But what? I am still the same Elle right? And you're the same Luke." I pointed out.

"But we have different lives now. It's not the same anymore." He said.

"That doesn't mean you can't talk to me bout' stuff." I said. Luke didn't say anything, so I went on. "So you gunna tell me what happened at school?"

"It wasn't that bad til lunch. Some kids offered me a seat, and I accidentally knocked over one of their drinks and he punched me." Luke moved the hair out of his right eye to reveal a black and purple bruise.

I gasped. "Oh no! Luke, does it hurt?"

"Yeah, a little. It was because of my stupid handicap. His drink was on my blind side, I mean, how was I supposed to see it?!"

I pulled Luke into a hug. "I'm sorry, Luke. You don't need to worry about being good enough for others. There are gunna be jerks like them out there. And just remember i will always have your back." 

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"And your handicap isn't stupid. Your not stupid, either." I said.

"I know. It's just hard."

"That's why I'm here." I said.

He nodded. We sat in silent for a while. It wasn't one of those well-this-is-awkward kind of silences, but it was more of a I-understand-you kind of silences. Luke and me shared moments like this a lot. Especially after my parents died, before we moved here of course.

"Hey, Elle?" Luke mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna watch a movie or somethin'?" He asked.

"Sure, buddie." I smiled.

*********

Luke and I ended up watching Paul Blart: Mall Cop three times til it was time for dinner. It was one of Luke and my favorite movies. It always got us laughing, no matter how down either of us were. It did the trick for Luke, too. Soon he wasn't sad anymore, though I know he would still be depressed about the school incident for a long time.

"Hey Elle?"

I crawled off the bed and over to the edge of the fourth floor to see Zach looking up at me. "What's up, shortie?"

"I ain't that short." Zach said with a flat expression.

"From here you are." I lauhed.

"It's dinner time." Zach grumbled, heading for the door.

"Hey, hang on!" I giggled. I turned to Luke. "Dinner time."

"I'll be down in a minute. I just wanna finish this part." Luke said starring at the television.

"Kay, kay." I climbed down the ladder and raced down the stairs in enough time to where I could jump on Zach's back.

"Hey!!" Zach cried.