Together, We Rise

Chapter Twenty-Five: Boaster

Chapter Twenty-Five

Melody

As much as I liked Miami, it felt great to be home. School was starting in about two weeks and Matt has been trying really hard to find me a personal tutor.

Lakemoat did win Nationals and they were ecstatic. Luke, however, kept his promise and quit the team. I was sure what Luke found out about Briggs and Annie influenced his decision even more about staying on the team. I felt really bad for Luke. He and Annie dated for a long time and to find out she had an affair with Briggs just because Luke wouldn't have sex with her was really awful. And now, he seemed depressed all of the time. On the bright side, Luke's ankle was healed. But that didn't mke him feel better.

"Is this the last of it?" Luke asked me as I carried a box out the door of my now-old house.

I nodded. "Yup. I am officially moved out."

Aunt Celia didn't appreciate me moving in with my boyfriend, but Matt was going to university and Aunt Celia obviously didn't want me to move in with her, so the only other choice was moving in with Luke.

Luke took the box from my arms and loaded it into the back of his truck. I haven't seen him smile in a long time and I really wished he would. No matter what I did, he just wouldn't crack a smile.

I stopped him from going into the driver's seat. "Luke, can you please talk to me?"

Luke sighed. "About what?"

"You know what," I said. "You haven't talked about it since you found out."

"Melody, it feels like I'm destined to have a bad life," he said. "I found out my dad wasn't my real dad, my ex-girlfriend had an affair with m best friend, I sprained my ankle during Nationals, and I'm having two kids soon."

"So having the twins is suddenly a bad thing?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Luke sighed and rubbed his forehead. "No. I didn't mean it like that, Mel........"

"It's fine, Luke," I said. "You're going through a tough time. But look on the bright side. At least you never did it with Annie before she went to Briggs."

That didn't cheer up Luke, unfortunately. "Yes, that is a bright side. But me not having sex with her is the reason she went to Briggs. I kept telling her that I wasn't ready for it and that there could be some severe consequences, like pregnancy."

"Funny," I said, "because you did it with me and got a severe consequence."

"Can we just leave now?" Luke asked. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

I sighed and got into the passenger seat. I did feel bad for Luke. He always had some type of thing that made him angry or depressed. He just couldn't catch a break.

But I did have one thing to make him happy. "So you know I went to the doctors yesterday," I said.

"Cool," Luke muttered.

I sighed. "Can't you just pretend to be excited?"

"Not really."

"That's fine," I said, looking out the passenger window as he drove. "I guess I don't have to tell you the genders."

"Wait," Luke said. "You found out the genders?"

"Yes, but since you're not excited........"

"You have to tell me!" Luke said. "Please, Melody?"

"I don't know," I said as Luke pulled into the driveway of his house. He parked the car and turned to me. "Come on, Mel," he said. "I'm their dad. You have to tell me."