Evangeline
I wake up under my big pile of stuffies. I claw my way to the surface and climb out of bed. Last night was so much fun, but it was exhausting. I smile when I see bubbles swimming around in his bowl happily. I drop a few pieces of food in there and go take a shower. I pull on a loose top that hangs off of one of my shoulders and a pair of jean shorts. I put my hair into a messy bun after brushing it. There aren't many tangles because Sophie helped me brush it before bed last night. She was gentle with getting getting the tangles out, and it was calming.
I skip downstairs, but Luke isn't in the kitchen like he usually is. I decide to cook breakfast for Luke since he always does it for me. I scramble three eggs in a pan and add cheese to make them cheesy eggs. I make sausage somehow without burning myself on the grease. I carefully cut up some strawberries and set them atop two cups of yogurt and set it all on a tray. I pop pieces of bread into the toaster and spread grape jelly on them when they are ready. I pour two glasses of orange juice and set them on the tray with the rest of the food. I let Nugget out for a few minutes and give him his breakfast before going back upstairs. I peek into Luke's door to find him sprawled out on his bed. I tiptoe in and set the food on his dresser quietly. Then, I run and jump onto his bed. I bounce up and down on the mattress to wake him up.
"Daddy, Luke, wake up. Wake up, we have to go to the pet store for Bubbles!" I express urgently
He groans and rolls over to face me. I keep jumping on the bed to wake up him up. I plop down onto the bed and throw my body across his chest to make sure he's awake. He lets out an oof followed by a chuckle and I crawl over him to the other side.
"Wake up, sleepy." I say and poke his cheek
"Well good morning to you too." He says sarcastically
"I made you breakfast!" I squeal excitedly
"You did?" He says shocked
"Yup, I'll go get it." I say and carefully carry the tray over to his bed. He sits up and I place the tray on his lap.
"Do you like it?" I ask with slight fear in my heart.
"I do, thank you Kitten." He says situating the tray so it won't spill.
I sit beside his legs in criss cross form and take sips of my juice. We eat the food and Luke almost drops his piece of toast which makes me laugh because of the face of horror he made as he realized he was going to lose his precious piece of food.
"Did you have fun yesterday?" He ask me
I nod "Bunches. I love the fair!" I squeal as I happily remember yesterdays events.
"I still want a corndog." I mumble disappointedly. Why do I have to be allergic to peanuts? Couldn't it be anything else? All I wanted was a freak fracking corndog from the fair.
"I will get you a corndog, I swear." He chuckles
"Yay." I cheer
"After breakfast, which is very tasty by the way, why don't we go to the pet store to get Bubbles something to make his home more exciting, and then go to the park with nugget to play?" He suggest
"Good plan." I say. We high five and finish breakfast. I wash the dishes while Luke gets ready and clean up the mess I made.
We drive to the pet store when Luke is ready. It's not far from home so it doesn't take us long to get there. We walk in to see a room full of different types of animals. Birds, lizards, snakes, mice, rats, ferrets, and puppies all in different enclosures. Care items for these animals line the walls, making the room extra colorful. I gaze at the adorable animals and occasionally stop the pet a puppy or kitten as Luke attempts to lead me to the back of the store. When we finally reach the back room it is filled with multiple aquariums with many different species of fish in them. He takes me to the far right side of the room where the fish tanks and decorations are.
"What does Bubbles like?" Luke ask jokingly
"Bright colors." I say happily
"Okay, so what about these pebbles?" He says holding up a bag of neon colored pebbles for the tank.
"Definitely." I say. I spot a Marlin and dory decoration that I instantly fall in love with. Nemo is in between them like a family, and it would fit perfectly in Bubbles big bowl. I grab it off the shelf and show it to Luke. He smiles and ruffles my hair.
"I think that's all that's gonna fit." He says
"Yeah, maybe." I say with a shrug. I smirk and look to Luke "Can we play with the puppies, pleaseeee?" I beg. He chuckles at me and nods.
"Only for a little while." He says
"Yay." I squeal. I give him the things for Bubbles tank and rush to the puppy enclosures. I peer over the glass to the puppies and smile. I feel a small tap on my shoulder and turn to see an employee standing next to me.
"Would you like to hold one?" They offer
"Yes please." I say
"Which one?" She ask
"Uh, that one." I say pointing to the smallest one.
She gets it out for me and leads me to a play area. It has toys in it for the dog to play with inside. She lets me inside and sets the puppy down beside me. It starts sniffing around and I give it time to get used to the new surrounding. It wobbles over to me slowly and I let it sniff me. I gently scratch its back and it warms up to me immediately. It starts jumping and prancing around the play area from excitement. I giggle when it climbs all over me licking me and begin to pet the dog. Luke comes over after paying for the things for Bubbles' tank. He leans over the side and pets the dog with me, watching as I play with the adorable pup.
"You are so cute." I tell the dog
"Don't get too attached, Evangeline." Luke warns me
"I was just stating the obvious." I mumble annoyedly
He sighs and continues to pet the puppy with me.
We play with the puppy for about an hour before Luke has to pet the puppy from my hands to put him back. I grumble sadly as we make our way to the car.
"Couldn't we stay just a little bit longer?" I ask
"No, we have to give Bubbles his new decorations, and then we can play with Nugget at the park." He says
"Okay." I sigh
By the time we get home, Luke has me smiling again and excited to take Nugget to the park. I skip upstairs with the decorations in hand upstairs to my room and carefully bring the bowl downstairs to the kitchen. Luke scoops Bubbles out with a cup so I can pour the multi colored neon pebbles into the bowl and situate the Finding Nemo in the bowl. He puts Bubbles back into the tank and I carry him back upstairs. I snap a picture of his tank and head back downstairs. I help Luke make us sandwiches for lunch with fruit on the side.
With Nugget ready to go with his leash on, we head out the door and start our way to the park. I walk Nugget while Luke carries his toys. Nugget chews on his ball as we walk which makes his cheeks look like chipmunk cheeks. We make it to the park within ten minutes and head to the dog section. I unclip his leash from his bright blue collar to let him roam free. Luke calls him over and makes him heel before throwing his ball. We alternate between the ball and his frisbee for a while until a big Saint Bernard with a pink collar steals the frisbee from the air. Nugget stops and tilts his head confusedly because someone else has his frisbee.
"Sugar, no!" We hear a familiar voice yell from afar. Soon after, Ms. Harris runs over to the dog and pries the toy from her mouth. She hasn't noticed us yet and gives it back to Nugget. He races back to us with a wagging tail like before and Luke takes the frisbee from him. He makes Nugget heel beside us, and doesn't let him go get the toy when he throws it. Sugar takes off after the toy and away from a flustered Ms. Harris. She snatches the frisbee mid air and runs around with it happily.
"Thad not yours! Stop stealing other people's toys!" Ms. Harris says urgently to the dog
"Let her have it!" Luke shouts to her. Sophie looks our way and a smile spreads across her face. She wrestles the frisbee from her dogs mouth before trotting over to us. She hands Luke back the toy and brushes a stray hair from her face.
"Sorry, she hasn't quite grasped the concept that every toy she sees isn't hers, yet." She apologizes
"It's alright." Luke chuckles
"I haven't made much progress with training her." She admits blushingly
"Well, what does she know?" Luke ask
"Uh, to not use the bathroom in the house and to sit. That's about it." She says "I'm not great at training." She says laughingly
"We can help." I offer even though I know nothing about training a dog.
"I don't know, she's pretty tough." Sophie jokes
"I'm sure Sugar isn't that bad." Luke says
"You would be surprised." Sophie says comically
"Lets see." Luke challenges her.
"Did you bring treats?" Luke ask
"Yeah, they are with my stuff, over there." She says pointing to her things a little ways away.
"Sophie." I say getting her attention
"Yes?" She says
"Uh, Sugar just stole someone's ball." I say and point to her dog, whom is thrashing a ball around in her mouth behind Sophie. She groans and runs over to the dog. She managed to retrieve the ball from her and give it back to the original owner with an apology. She brings the dog back to us breathlessly.
"Lets go get those treats." Luke laughs
We help Sophie train Sugar to heel with the help of Nugget. He acts as an example for the young dog to copy which makes it easier for her once she gets used to him. They get along well, in fact, almost perfectly. Sophie is blown away from how well Sugar is listening based on her previous actions. We take a break and let the dogs get some water with the portable pop up dog bowls we brought. I notice Sugar has two different colored eyes. One is a bright blue and the other is green. It's very pretty and she is a beautiful puppy.
"I still have your jacket, sorry. It's at home." Sophie tells Luke.
"It's fine." He says
"If I would have known you would be here then I would have brought it." She explains
"It's fine." He insist again
"It's hot." I say and lay down in he soft grass
"Today would be a good day the get in the pool." Luke says "Aw crap, we didn't get you a swimsuit." Luke says
'Oh no, if I wear a swimsuit then he will see the bruises.' I say in my mind
Even if I wore a one piece then the bruises would still be visible on the top of my back. Colin had left a particularly bad on in between my shoulder blades which made it kind of painful so move sometimes. His kicks had started to become a lot harder since soccer started again. I'm sore all the time now, and getting tickled is kind of painful if Luke presses down too hard. Of course I always hide my pain and just use our signal to stop him. By then, I usually do need to use it though.
"I can take her." Sophie offers "Do you want to go with me?" She ask me
I shake my head no and she looks confused.
"I-I don't really want to swim." I say
"Why not, it's fun." Luke says
"I don't know, I just don't." I say and try to be convincing
It was a total lie. I really do want to swim. I just hope that my face is red enough from the heat that Luke can't tell the color difference in my nose. He must not be able to because he doesn't say anything about me lying.
"Can you swim?" Sophie ask. I shake my head no as my answer.
"Are you afraid of the water?" Luke ask
I give a small nod which isn't a total lie. I can't swim, so being in the water where I can't touch scares me. I've never been swimming before. The closest I've come is being in the bathtub, but that doesn't count.
They look at me sadly and then to each other and back to me.
"Kitten, we can teach you to swim." Luke says sympathetically
"No, I don't want to." I fight back. Again, a total lie. I want to swim. I want to be able to float around in the pool and not be afraid of drowning. I want to be able to save Nugget or Luke if something where to happen in the pool and they need help.
We sit in silence for a few minutes before Luke speaks up.
"Do you want to come over for dinner?" He ask Sophie
"Uh, sure." She says
"Can you bring Sugar?" I ask while petting the dog beside me.
"I guess." She says which makes me happy.
"Why don't you walk home with us, instead of going all the way home for nothing?" Luke suggest
"Okay." She says
We play for a few more minutes with our dogs and head home. Sophie and Sugar walk beside us unlike before as we walk. Sugar starts sniffing around as soon as we get inside. Her and Nugget start playing together in the living room with the toys.
"So, what are we doing for dinner?" Luke ask us
Sophie looks at me and then so does Luke so I know it's my choice.
"Pizza?" I say but it turns out more of a question
"I'm good with pizza." Luke says and we turn to Sophie.
"Sure." She says
Luke goes to call in the pizza it comes back to ask what kind. Sophie and I agree on cheese and he calls in the pizza. We end up having an early dinner because the pizza arrives before we expected it too. We start a movie after eating and I lay on my stomach in the floor with sugar and Nugget by my sides. Sophie sits on the couch behind me and occasionally comment on the movie. Luke is on the other couch next to Sophie's. Nugget starts pushing his nose into my body which feels funny.
I giggle and start giving the dog attention since that's what he wants. Sugar on my other side starts doing it too.
"That tickles, Sugar!" I giggle
I rollover and feel and pair of soft hands start tickling my sides. I turn into a fit of giggles and squeals when Luke joins in. Sophie stops and I feel my shirt hem raise up just a hair.
"Evangeline, what is that?" She ask shocked
You know that 'Oh Shit' moment when you know all hell is about to break loose? Well, this is that time. It's like all time slows down and everything is in slow motion for a second before shooting back into hyperdrive. My heart stops completely and my eyes go wide. Luke has stopped now and is looking at the revealed part of my stomach. I see anger flash across his face and Sophie raises my shirt a bit more to my belly button. I pull it down quickly and try to scurry away from them.
"Are those bruises?" Luke ask sternly "Don't you dare lie to me, Evangeline." He says firmly
Tears fill my eyes because I know I can't lie or else I'm going to be in even more trouble. Luke is going to punish me now. Colin is going to get in trouble too and he is going to hurt me more.
There is no right answer to this question, and I know that. Hurt shoots across Sophie's face as I back away from them.
"Evangeline Clark, tell me right now what that is." Luke growls at me
I shake my head no as tears stream down my cheeks. I climb to my feet and sprint to my room with Nugget in tow. I close and lock my door and throw myself onto my bed, sobbing into my pillow.
Bangs on the door make me jump and cry harder. Nugget stands over me and licks the tears off my face and nuzzles his snout into my body in an attempt to make me feel better.
"Evangeline open this door, now!" Luke bellows from the other side. I shake my head no even though he cant see me. I lay there mumbling the same thing over and over like a mantra to them.
"You weren't supposed to know."