He's a She

Chapter Fourteen

            “You sigh a lot, you know that?” Luke asked, his eyes still closed as he absorbed the sun.  I smiled and he did too. 

            “Well, you steal people’s teddy bears a lot.” I stated bluntly.  He opened his eyes at this one.

            “Do not!” He snapped as he pushed himself into a sitting position.  “That was like…three times!”

            “Whoa, don’t go all apeshit on me.” I held up my hands and scooted away on my towel.

            “Since when do you swear in public?” I shrugged.  Really Charlene, since when?  Hanging around guys was really starting to change me.  An awkward silence blanketed us.  It wasn’t really as awkward as it was us enjoying each other’s presence, or more likely, me enjoying Luke’s.

            “Luke!” Vanessa called from the house.  She opened the screen door and leaned out onto the porch.  She was holding a phone to her chest.  “Mason’s on the phone.  He wants to know if he can come over.” Luke rolled his neck.  “Well?  What do I tell him?”

            “One sec,” he told me before getting up and jogging up to the house.  He took the phone from Vanessa and retreated inside with her.  I was left alone.  Well, not entirely alone, I still had the lake.  I etched a little further up the hill.

            The water was shimmering nicely and was nearly wave less.  Two ducks landed on the lake.  Wasn’t it a little late in the year for ducks?  I shrugged, ducks were ducks, and no matter what time of year it was I would always love them and be blessed to be in their presence. 

            The ducks paddled to shore and got out.  Each one shook out their feathers.  They were both drakes with bright green heads and brown bodies.  Mallards.  I sighed once again as they quacked and waddled their way away from the sand and up the hill to me. 

            “Hi duckies!” I whispered in a baby voice.  The larger of the two looked at me, quacked, and then continued on his waddle.  They were so close I could almost touch them.  They started waddling a little bit faster and were on the hill to my left a bit.  “Wait, don’t leave, come back.” I got up from my towel and start to waddle after them.  Yes, I was waddling.  “Duckies, duckies!” I chirped as they sped up even more.  They were headed to the house, correction, we were headed to the house.  “Duckies, duckies!”  The ducks make it up the porch steps and were almost cornered.  I can feel my evilness showing.  “Come here duckies.”  I bended down to pet one.

            “Charles?  What are you doing?” I snapped back up and spun around to face Luke.  He was standing half way out of the sliding door.

            “I…um…I-uh.  I uh…there were ducks and…and I-” the ducks escaped around me and waddled off of the porch.  “I am such a fail.” I shouted as I fell to my knees.  Luke laughed.

            “Do you want to come in the house and have something to eat?  We can bring some bread out to the dock later.  Bill and Murrey always come out by nineish.”

            “Bill and Murrey?”

            “Yeah, the ducks.” He looked at me as if I was dumb or something.  Bill and Murrey.  Bill Murrey.  Who would name their ducks that?  I guess I named a bear Pangaea, but that was only because he was made out of recyclable fibers. 

            I rose from my kneeling position on the porch and followed Luke into the house.  He closed the door behind me and I froze in awe.  Yes, the house had been beautiful on the outside, but it was nothing compared to the inside.