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Dear Lucy,

Tom and Vanessa want a small casual wedding and ideas fill their daily conversation as well as when the two of them turn in for the night.

Trying to find the right place for the ceremony is stressful but matters aren’t helped when the groom-to-be wakes up early to work off wedding jitters.

I think it’s best if I get out of the house for a while and let them sort things out.

The weather is cool so it’ll be nice to walk Sarge down to the Dog Park and enjoy the fall foliage along the way. However, he quickly indicates that he prefers another form of transportation.

Sarge barks at the odd-looking wooden totem statue before checking out the bone-shaped fountain. Something prevents him from being able to doggy swim so I distract him with a squeaky toy.

Abigail and the twins go on a field trip to the Science Lab. From our conversations afterwards, they weren’t overly impressed by the demonstration and none seem inclined to do further studies in this field.

(Addy’s Note: It’s odd that just the three of them went because there are other teens at the high school. I’m treating it as a reward for academic excellence!)

I didn’t witness most of the following but was able to piece it together from what I heard and saw after arriving home from the park.

As their bus drove past the school, Abigail saw Ethan and waved but he doesn’t notice. When they arrive home, she called to invite him over. “Sure! I’ll be there soon,” Ethan replied.

Since he hadn’t arrived by the time she washed her face and brushed her teeth, she began her homework. “Perhaps he’s jogging here,” Mark mentions.

While Abigail is waiting for Ethan, Luke realizes that Sarge isn’t going to wait until they get home before transitioning into an elder dog.

Happy Birthday, Sarge!

Ethan arrives and joins in the group homework session. With the twins’ tendency to crack jokes and tease others, it isn’t going well and becomes quite obvious when Ethan comments that it might have been better if he’d stayed home. Ouch!

Realizing they’re making matters worse; the twins excuse themselves.

Ethan begins turning on the flirtatious charm and tries to convince Abigail to put away her homework so they can do something more interesting but she declines. “Assignments help us improve our grades and doing well in school opens more doors, like the chance to go to college or find a career we’re passionate about.”

They finish their homework in silence with him periodically staring at her. Talk about uncomfortable!

She invites him downstairs for a game of ping pong but he expresses interest in the dartboard after missing two balls in a row. Before she can take a turn, he heads upstairs and turns the TV on.

Talk about indecisive and downright rude! She’s had enough and lets him know in no uncertain terms that her time would have been better spent in front of her easel.

His response surprises her as much as it confuses: He dip-kisses her and then walks out the door.

(Addy’s Note: After she argued with him, I watched to see what would happen next and this is exactly what he did! Every time there is nothing happening he will dip-kiss her. Outside of Johnnie Parrott in my Randomacy, I have never seen a townie dip-kiss so much!)

Later that night …

The roller coaster emotions are weighing heavily on her and she has no interest in working on her painting from the day before.

“I’m tired of feeling like this! I’m tired of being treated like he can pat me on the head or kiss me to distraction whenever I try to talk about serious things!”
“This has got to stop!”

Oh boy. I would not want to be in Ethan’s shoes right now. He needs to learn how to treat a girlfriend with respect or he will find himself single again.

It’s times like these that I wish you were around to offer guidance and a healthy dose of feminine perspective. I want to say something to him but fear it would fall on deaf ears or cause more tension between the two of them.

Perhaps I should talk to Vanessa and Tom about this. He knows Ethan, although they don’t seem to be close anymore, and she can certainly talk to Abigail much better than I can with my fumbling around female feelings.

You can stop laughing now.

Love,
Luke

PS. You know what’s really bad? Abigail made it onto the honor roll and celebrating this accomplishment somehow got lost in the shuffle. I’ll have to make it up to her, somehow.

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