Together, We Rise

Chapter Seventeen: Name Picking

Chapter Seventeen:

Melody

Another day, another basketball game for Lakemoat High. It was a few days after Luke's birthday and they had another game. This time, I was able to watch it from the beginning since I didn't have a doctor's appointment.

I was still feeling a bit uncomfortable. Luke didn't mind me wearing his sweater everyday, but I felt as if some people were getting suspicious as to why I was wearing a sweater in Miami. I did get some weird looks, which made me very uncomfortable. I hated the feeling a lot.

After the second quarter ended, I got off the bleacher and walked over to Luke with my arms wrapped around my stomach. "I'm not liking being here........." I muttered.

"Are you feeling okay?" Luke asked. "Do you need to rest? Do you want to go back to the hotel room?"

"I'm fine," I said. "But I feel like everyone is getting suspicious of my constant sweater wearing........"

"There's nothing wrong with wearing sweaters," Luke pointed out.

"But we're not in Vermont," I told him. "We're in Miami, where it's way hotter than it is back home. People keep giving me weird looks."

"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" Luke asked.

I shook my head. "I really want to watch your game."

Luke smiled. "That's nice, Mel, but if you're feeling uncomfortable, you should go to the hotel. I would love it if you stayed, but going to the hotel may be what's best."

"I'll stay," I said. "I really want to."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you come here and tell me you're not liking being here?"

"Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I don't want to stay," I said. "I just wanted to give you a heads-up just in case I leave in the middle of the game."

"Got it," Luke said. "Well, the game is going to start soon. I'll see you after the game. Movies in the hotel?"

I shook my head. "We've done that too much. We've watched every single movie I brought and I cried at almost all of them. Even the non-sad ones."

"True," Luke said. "Then we'll do something else. As long as I'm nowhere near my team. I'm surprised we didn't get disqualified for their drinking. Anyway, I'll see you after the game." He walked to his team just as his coach called him over.

I walked back to my spot -with Luke's family- and sat down. "So, Melody," Laura said. "Have you, uh....." She lowered her voice so nobody else heard, "thought of any names yet?"

I shook my head. "I haven't, but Luke picked out a name for a boy. It would make things a whole lot easier if I knew the genders."

"If you can't think of any, I have one," she said. "I'm particularly fond of the name Laura."

I gave her a weird look. "You want me to name one of them after you?"

"You don't have to," Laura said. "But I'll will be their half-aunt."

"Laura, she's not naming one after you," John said. "She barely knows you."

"So?" Laura asked. "I'm the half-sister of her boyfriend. That's good enough."

"Not really," Eli objected, his eyes glued to his laptop screen. So far, the only time I've seen him without his laptop was when I went to his house for Luke's birthday. And that was because he had it in his room; he just didn't bring it downstairs. "You don't see me telling them to name the baby Elijah."