Luna woke up at 9 am. She packed her clothes. She looked at her dad and gestured ‘let’s go’ to him. He had his coffee, and they hit the road. She took his phone and called Laurissa, like she said she would.
“Good morning, my lovely Laurissa. Are you alive yet?”
“Good morning sunshine, your crazy godmother isn’t up yet, but you can tackle her awake when you get here.” Luna loved Sammy, Laurissa’s husband. He is the best guy ever, like if Luna could wish for an amazing guy, she’d make sure that he learns from Sammy. Sammy made Luna feel like she was his only daughter. He made her feel like “daddy’s princess” and it always made her feel amazing. She trusted Sammy with everything, but with her crushes, she never told him because he would be like a dad to her and immediately asked, “Who is he?”
“Good morning, Sammy. I think tackling her will be the perfect way to wake up. We should be there in like 20 minutes.”
“Okay, well, your dad is always welcome to join us for breakfast. We are having pancakes and eggs.” Sammy is a weird type of cook, because he could cook some things but not everything. Laurissa was good at both cooking and baking.
“Let me ask him.” She pulled away from the phone and looked at her dad, who was focused on the road.
“Dad, Sammy was wondering if you are staying a bit to have breakfast with all of us. He said that he made pancakes and eggs.”
“Sure, I’ll stay for breakfast, but then I have to head back to Raina.” Her name almost ruined Luna’s entire mood, but she knew she was seeing Laurissa and Sammy. Nothing was going to ruin her mood. She went back to the call.
“He said he’ll have some. We will be there in like 20 minutes”
“Awesome! Okay, see you in a few minutes.”
Luna didn’t want her dad there, like as much as she wanted to spend time with him. She knew that his mind was elsewhere. She felt like those 20 minutes were the hardest 20 minutes of her life. She didn’t want to breathe; she felt like she was holding her breath; she didn’t want to say anything because she could feel the world on edge. She knew that when she goes back, she will deal with the pain and issues within that nuthouse.
We finally reached Laurissa’s place. Sammy must have been waiting by the door or doing laundry because he was quick to answer the back door. She jumped into his arms, well more like she almost tackled him onto the floor, but since Sammy is a giant next to Luna; she knew she couldn’t tackle him onto the floor until she grew more.
“She’s still not up yet, sunshine. Go tackle her instead of me.” He knew exactly what she was thinking. He let her go, and she booked it to their room. She jumped onto the bed and her head landed right on Laurissa’s stomach.
“GOOD MORNING PRINCESS! You overslept!”
“Well, I was expecting you a bit later. Did Sammy let you in?”
“Yeah, he was also the person to give me the idea to tackle you. I wanted to be your personal alarm clock.” She heard Sammy crack open the door.
“Did I do a good job as a personal alarm clock, Sammy?” He was cracking up laughing as he nodded his head. She knew she was going to have a fun time with them. She didn’t want to think about anything going wrong. All she wanted was to smile like a normal person would.
Luna got off of Laurissa so she could go brush her teeth and do the bathroom routines that everyone has. Luna wanted to make sure no one was around when she said the next words.
“I like someone.” She swore the second after saying those three words. Laurissa popped her head from the bathroom and Sammy popped his head into the bedroom in the hallway.
Laurissa took over for the next line, because clearly her dad didn’t care about her at that moment, since he wasn’t at the moment with all of us.
“Who is it? Where did you meet him? When can we meet him?” The questions she knew were going to come in. Thankfully, Luna knew the answers to all the questions.
“His name is Oliver Price; he is slightly older than me. I met him in my class, we are in the same group. You can meet him at my 5th grade graduation.” She forgot she was graduating from elementary school this year. After all the bullying; she wanted a fresh start. Sammy had the face that every dad makes when they hear their daughter likes a boy. Even though Sammy wasn’t able to meet Oliver because he had to stay home to take their sons to school and back.
“What are his intentions with you?” That line shocked Laurissa and immediately hit his arm.
“Sammy, they are too young to know about that stuff.” Oh Laurissa, she knew he was asking if Oliver wanted to use her for her body. She hates to admit that she knew what he meant, but she didn’t stop Laurissa for the main reason. Her dad was trying to focus on the conversation.
“What are we talking about?” Luna had the same look a deer has when it sees headlights.
“Nothing dad, don’t you think you should head back before Raina calls you?” Saying her name, it burned Luna’s throat, but she couldn’t handle her dad learning about her crush on Oliver. She knew what would happen; he would ask my mother if she knew about Luna’s crush, and once he adds her mother a whole can of worms are going to fly out. Even Laurissa and Sammy were scared to say anything, because they probably thought that if they told her dad, her dad would tell that witch and then she would call Luna’s name. Which wouldn’t have been the first time, but who was counting? Oh yeah, Luna was.
“You’re right, are you sure you packed enough clothes? Did you bring your Christmas book?”
“Yes, I packed enough clothes. Yes, I brought my Christmas book.”
“Okay, then I will see you in a couple of days.”
“See you in a couple of days.” As we all waved her dad away, she could feel herself exhaling again. She felt her body calming down. Which was killing her more inside, knowing that she didn’t have any power in that house? She used to have all this power in her dad’s house, because she knew her dad would always choose her side over any woman.
“Okay, he’s gone! Give us all the details about this Oliver kid.” So quick, everyone got back to the conversation. Even Laurissa and Sammy’s kids, Jonah and Parker, were curious about Oliver.
“Well, what do you guys want to know?”
“Everything!”
Throughout breakfast, Luna was telling them about Oliver. She didn’t miss out on the juicy moments, and by juicy she means how she chases him throughout the field and pins him against a fence. She also told them about the one time she kneed him in the spot where the sun doesn’t shine. That made Sammy proud to show that she was not the type of girl to be messed with. We all laughed about it. She didn’t hold back on the stories because she knew that none of them would tell anyone. Then she got to the story of how they actually became friends, and how they became as close as they were for only a couple of months.
“I guess it all started because I was crying in class. The teacher wanted us to write about our families, and as you can tell, how me and my dear dad are toward each other. It wasn’t easy. I had to do it for homework, but doing it as homework was easier than doing it in front of everyone.”
“I don’t understand why you were crying?”
“Remember how last summer I stayed at his place?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, while I was there…” She felt her chest tightening because it’s reliving the worst moments of her life all over again, but she realized that Laurissa and them didn’t know what happened behind closed doors toward her. “... Raina and her flying monkeys were torturing me all summer, making me feel stupid and trying to make me look bad to him. I couldn’t handle that summer, I had to rush reading my summer reading list because every time I would try to read in the living room, Lucas or Raina would come out of a random room and tell me to do something or say ‘you aren’t smart, stop trying’; those words have been haunting me every day. Since that day, I have been working harder to prove them wrong because I know I am smart. My teachers tell me I am smart and creative, but there are those moments that I believe what they said…”
“STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!” Laurissa stopped her in mid-sentence because she didn’t want Luna to make herself feel stupid because of those horrible people. Sammy had a concerned look on his face after this. What was worse was that she didn’t tell them the worst part? The part that Lucas is trying to do things to her. She would tell no one that yet because she knew Lucas would tell everyone that she was lying.
“It’s the truth. Why do you think my dad, your friend, told me not to tell you anything that was going on in that nuthouse? He knows that if I tell you guys anything, that you’ll yell at him for letting that horrible woman and horrible children treat me like trash. Please don’t talk to him about it, because he’ll say I am being dramatic or that I am not giving them a chance. Believe me, I know what I am saying because I have tried. My mother already verbalized him, especially after the summer break, where she tried to put her hands on me when I was trying to do my summer reading, and you guys know how much trouble I would get into if I didn’t do my homework.” Luna was breaking down. She could feel her tears rolling out of her eyes and running down her cheeks, her cheeks burning up and turning all shades of red from crying. She hadn’t cried like that since her breakdown in Mrs. Lewis’s class. Laurissa went over to Luna and hugged her. She held her tight enough that she could tell how broken Luna was becoming.
“We won’t talk to your dad, but while you are under this roof, you are protected from all of them. You don’t have to deal with this alone.” Sammy was truly her hero, because he kept his word every time we were there. Sammy went over to hug Luna, so did Jonah and Parker. It ended up being a group hug. She needed that hug. The hugs she got from her dad weren’t the same recently. She knew that because of the distance between them; she used to tell him everything, but now she can’t tell him anything.
“Thanks everyone. I never realized how much I was holding in until now. I am fine, I know that after I explode, saying that I am fine isn’t the truth; it is the truth because every time I feel down, I think of the little things that make me happy.”
“Like what?”
“Well, I think about my singing and how I might try out for the school’s talent show this year, I think about what my next way to attack Oliver outside will be, I think about how I am graduating from 5th grade finally.”
“Wait, what? You’re singing in the talent show? What song?”
“Well, I don’t know; I’ve been trying to figure that out for the past month.” She wasn’t lying. She didn’t know what song she was planning to sing. She knew that whatever song she sang would hold it against her if she sang it wrong.
“To keep you practicing, if you need songs to sing, we will be quick to give you a song. Even if it is a silly song like ‘Happy Birthday,’ does your dad know that you want to try out for the talent show?”
“No, and why should I tell him? He doesn’t have time for me, especially with a new baby girl coming into the picture; which fun fact, I found out about the gender yesterday.”
“Luna, I know that he isn’t focused on you, but he is still your dad. You should tell him. Or at least think about telling him.” The answer was always going to be no. Why would she tell someone that hasn’t focused on his daughter? She wanted to tell Oliver to see if it was a good idea.
“I will think about it. If anything, I haven’t told my mom either. She hasn’t shown much support when it comes to me singing, anyway. If anything, she tells me to be quiet when I am trying to figure out what song to sing. So, singing at home is hard when no one wants to hear me, but hey it’s okay. My reason why is… is because once I step foot onto that stage, and I sing my song, and show the entire school what talent I have been hiding underneath.” Luna had this smile that no one could read as either a cry for help, a genuine smile, or if it was her last shred of hope. No one could tell, not even Luna herself could tell anyone. She just had this smile that meant many answers.
“Well, you are always welcome to sing as much as you want here. We want you to have some practice, plus we’d get to hear you sing live since we know we won’t be able to make it to that talent show. I hope you’re not mad if we can’t make it.”
“I could never be mad at you guys, even if it’s something like this.”
“Okay, well, now that all the sadness is out of you. Are you ready for a fun day?” Sammy’s excitement was showing, and it was funny to Luna. She always saw Sammy as a fun guy, but she also knew that when he was upset, he was upset. She could always read his emotions like a page in a book. She didn’t know what they had planned for her first day with them, but whatever it was, she was going to have fun.
“I am always ready for a fun day. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, we were thinking of taking you to our favorite water park, what do you think?”
“I think I should change into my bathing suit.” The amount of smiles that were surrounding Luna made her have hope that everything was going to be okay again. She changed into her bathing suit. It was a one-piece that looked like a dress, but it was short enough that it didn’t make it look like a full dress, it was black with white flowers, she got it when she was in New York.
After she changed into her bathing suit, she looked in the full-length mirror next to the bathroom; she felt powerful in her outfit. She went into “her” room and grabbed her shorts. Came back out and Laurissa walked out wearing her bathing suit, she was always confident in what she wore, then again, she had Sammy telling her that she was beautiful in anything she wore. Luna knew that she had high standards for Oliver because he has big shoes to fill thanks to Sammy.
“Well, don’t you look cute Luna, where did you get that bathing suit?”
“I don’t remember. I got it two summers back, not this past summer but the year before.”
“Oh nice, well, it’s really cute. Doesn’t she look cute, Sammy?” When Sammy turned around from looking at Parker, Sammy looked like a proud parent that she looked amazing in her outfit.
“She looks beautiful, like she always does. No questions there.”
“Thanks Sammy, but it’s just a bathing suit and shorts. No big deal.”
“No big deal? You need to always remember you are beautiful no matter what anyone says.” That was Sammy for her. She always knew that Sammy would remind her she is beautiful in her own way and that no one should take that power away from her.
She went over and hugged him, muffled “thank you” into his stomach, and she could feel her happiness again. It wasn’t even a day at Laurissa’s, and Luna was already feeling more like herself than she had felt in months, unless she was with Oliver.
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