From Me to You [Complete]

45

I beat Michael at Crazy 8s. Then Andy and Robert join in on Jean's request, since he had to go save Marc from dropping the window on something important. We play President and I get stuck in the lowest position for the majority of the game –Andy tends to be really lucky when we play cards. For dinner we have barbequed chicken, courtesy of my dad, wild rice, and, as Robert puts it, peaches and cream corn. I'm glad Andy gets some more chicken so he can stop whining about it.

When the dishes are done courtesy of Robert, Ann and I, all of us set out for a walk around the neighbourhood. The parents walk ahead, and we kids behind, watching the clouds turn pink, and shadows appear around us. I walk with Robert and Andy, exchanging exciting anecdotes from our soccer game. Ann and Jean walk contentedly along behind us and Michael follows behind them on his own. I make sure to check on him every once in a while, but I think he's enjoying the brief alone time after such a crowded day.

"...and then, despite how small you are, you just took him down," Robert finishes, eyes slightly glazed in memory, and a look of awe on his face as he relives my ball capture from Jean earlier.

I laugh. "You know, you're one to talk. You have yet to hit that Lyon growth spurt yourself."

Robert's face turns serious. "I'm going to hit it soon, you know." I grin at him, hoping he knows I'm just teasing. He looks at me critically. "Now that I think about it, maybe you just poetically talked your way out of it, and Jean just fell over because he didn't know how to meet you metaphor for metaphor."

"Hey!" I say, punching his arm playfully.

"Careful," Andy says, leaning his head between us with ease because of how tall he is. "Don't anger the beast!"

Robert laughs along with Andy as I roll my eyes. "Agreed," Robert replies, finally catching his breath. "I wouldn't want to get into any serious discussions with a poet like this one. I'm sure she has a way with words."

"What are you three talking about?" Jean asks us, coming up beside me on the left. I carefully don't answer to avoid being the butt of a joke.

"Oh, nothing. We don't talk." Andy supplies, looking very serious. I grin at Jean's confusion.

Andy takes his camera out of his pocket and, at everyone's insistence, doesn't take any more pictures. Instead, he starts flipping through some pictures of us from earlier in the day. He passes around the camera for us to have a look, and I make a note to take the good ones of Michael and me off of there later. The frog Robert found became the protagonist of some kind of strange flower series. It does look a little cute the way Andy captured it. There's also some great action shots of my dad trying to hold the window up while Marc drills into it.

Once back to the cottage, we all realize how exhausted we are. Michael seems to be sending some kind of signal from across the room, and I remember my promise to my mom earlier. I let Ann know that she can head back to Jean's room instead of sleeping on the couch tonight. The relief in her eyes is clear. Our parents are watchful, as they have been all day. Andy heads up to the attic, and Robert and Jean leave for their room. I follow them, heading to what is once more Ann's room, so that I can change. Thinking over what Michael was trying to tell me with his eyes, I get an idea. I slip my pyjamas over top instead of taking off what I was already wearing. I also do a quick glance in the mirror to make sure nothing is sticking out strangely. I take my hair out of its bun again, thinking that if Michael wants to hang out tonight he'll like to see it down. Ann is waiting impatiently outside of the room, so I am quick. My parents bid me goodnight as I leave, and I stealthily hug Michael before he can slip into his room. Alice and Marc are busy in the front room so we have a couple seconds to ourselves.

"I'll come get you in a few minutes," Michael whispers into my ear, barely audible. I nod slightly in response, looking into his eyes. "Good night," Michael says louder, so that his parents can hear, and heads into his room, closing the door behind him. Marc heads down the hall as Alice sort of supervises that I actually go to sleep –I wonder what she thinks I would do if I didn't go to sleep.

Alice gives me a little lesson on how to unfold the couch into a bed, apologizing that I didn't learn until now. I doubt that this will make my sleep more comfortable in any way, but I thank her anyway to be polite. I unfold and spread the sheets out on the couch. She's subtle, but it's obvious to me that she's sticking around for a lengthy amount of time, watching me. When the bed is made, I say good night to her, and slip underneath the covers. Alice turns off the lights as she leaves, and walks down the hall. I hear her voice and Marc's before their bedroom door is shut. I gaze at the ceiling and think about what I could throw at it in order to make it crack, while I wait for a certain boy to come take me away.