"I need help!"

   Juliette had just returned from Target. She had been procrastinating buying her necessary supplies and required books for her first semester at Blanesville Community College. Though she was still not particularly excited about her freshman year, she was overly excited about all of her new school supplies.

She had gone overboard with her shopping, as she usually did when notebooks and pens and anything related to paper were on her list.

   Uncle Andy did not quite hear Juliette over the sound of a high-speed car chase scene over the speakers, but he did hear thud of a car door closing. He brought his beer to his lips for a quick swig before going to window. He saw Juliette's slender frame crouched over Target bags and what appeared to be a stack of thick academic books in her backseat.

   "Hey, there," he had come outside to help her. "You sure left this to the last minute, haven't ya?"

   "Yeah, I know," Juliette said. "But I got a lot of stuff on sale because I waited so long. Even found some things on clearance!"

   "Ah, you've achieved ultimate consumer success then."

   She lifted two bursting Target plastic bags in front of her uncle's face.

   "I sure did, Candy!"

   "Did I just hear you call Uncle Andy, Candy?"

   Len had peeled herself off of the couch to see what had taken her sister so long.

   "I thought we discussed that that nickname was off limits," Uncle Andy was just about to pick up all of Juliette's books from the backseat. He removed his hands and crossed his arms over his chest in mock frustration.

   "Lenny, you don't really remember this 'cause you weren't even born yet," Juliette explained, handing over her heavy books to her uncle, one by one, "but I used to call him Candy. When I was one and a half--oh, mind you, Jude was barely talking at that point, he was far too busy yanking his diapers off and climbing on top of everything--I couldn't say 'Uncle Andy'. It was more like 'Kah-Annie'." Juliette slammed the car door shut. "And then it became 'Un-Kah-An-Dee'. By the time I was two years old, I dropped off the 'Un' completely and he became 'Candy'!"

   Juliette let out a satisfied laugh. Lenny covered her mouth and giggled. Uncle Andy gave them a sideways look as he propped the screen door open with his foot.

   "I'm tellin' ya. I don't want that name back again. Not in this house. Do you know how long it took me to get you and Jude to quit callin' me that?"

   The three of them entered the house and took everything into Juliette's room. Jude paused the movie and followed them.

   "Remember when," Jude scratched behind his neck and grinned, "we would ask him whenever he came over what kind of candy he was that day?"

   "Yeah!" Juliette beamed and popped up from her squatted position over her bags. "We had to guess. 'Cause Uncle Andy used to be so moody."

   "Hard Candy," Jude furrowed his brow.

   "Soft Candy," Juliette chimed in, batting her lashes.

   The twins looked at each other, in a rare instance of shared delight, and shouted in unison, "Sweet and sour Candy!"

   Andy waved his hand in the air and exited the room. The kids could hear the movie start up again in the living room.

   "Juls, what the heck!"

"What? I had to do some shopping for college. You know, the usual step one takes after high school."

"I'm not the usual," Jude stated and then left the room.

   "I think it'll be awesome," Lenny gave her sister a small smile.

   "You think so?" Juliette took out her new spiral notebooks one by one. "I couldn't decide between this one or the pretty green one, so I got both."

   Lenny admired all of her sister's new supplies. Pens. Pencils. Sharpener. Notebook paper. Stapler and staples. Three-hole punch. Sheet protectors. Dividers. Binders. Folders. Printer paper and ink cartridges. Highlighters. Juliette's colorful spree almost covered the entire area between her dresser and bed.

"Look at this planner I got."

She held out a slim and compact student planner with a lovely print of hand drawn wildflowers against a bright blue sky.

"It looks like our backyard."

"That's what I thought," Juliette ran her fingers over it. "I'm starving! Anything to eat?"

"Yeah, Candy made bean and corn enchiladas. I set some aside for you."

Juliette snickered and then tapped her sister's nose.

"Thank you!"

She leapt off of the ground and hurried into the kitchen.

Lenny looked over all the supplies again and picked up a package of pens.

"I like this color of purple," she called out. She could hear the microwave buzzing.

"Huh?" Juliette said standing in front of the open fridge.

"This purple pen. It's cool."

"Oh, yeah. You want it? Take it. I don't mind."

Lenny tore open the back of the package and pulled the purple pen out.

"Thanks, Juls."

"You're welcome, Dood!"

***

   The credits of the action movie selected for that evening were playing as Andy shifted on the couch to turn towards Jude on the other one. His long legs surpassed the length of it, and he had his feet crossed on top of the couch's sturdy yet soft arm.

   "We need to talk about this morning, bud."

   Jude set his cell phone face down onto the cushion. He hooked his fingers together and brought his arms up and over his head and stretched.

   "It's one thing to be comin' home at all hours of the night, but it's another thing to wake up and see that your car isn't out in the driveway with the others."

   Andy straightened his back and placed his palms on his knees. He titled his head to the side and waited, patiently, for a reply from Jude.

   Jude flicked at a tiny ball of lint on his shirt and looked over at his uncle.

   "I spent the night at a friend's house."

   "Well, there's no problem with ya doin' that. I would just like to know. Give your uncle a heads up."

   "Yeah, you're right. I should have texted you."

   Andy got up from the couch and leaned forward. He tried to look into Jude's eyes that were already back on the small glowing screen beneath him.

   "If that friend happened to be a lady--"

   Jude looked up quickly with an annoyed look on his face.

   "Just listen," Andy continued, "If that friend happened to be a lady, I would hope that you feel the same way about her as she does for you. Back in my parent's day, that sort of behavior was looked down upon if not unheard of," he took a breath before continuing and slowed his words down just a tad, "Back in my day, you only spent the night with two kinds of girls. The unforgettable ones and the forgotten ones. I hope, for her sake, she's not the latter."

After Uncle Andy broke his serious eye-lock with Jude, he brought his shoulders back and relaxed his arms. He walked out of the living room and into the kitchen asking the girls what they were up to in there.

Jude looked as if he was looking around the room for something.

He ran his fingers through his locks hastily and then laid down flat on his back. Once a minute had passed, he leaned over to reach for the remote and began searching through crime shows.

***

"Oh, Lordy. It's almost eleven o'clock, Lenny girl, you should've been in bed already. And you," he turned to look across from him at Juliette, who had just finished putting on some top coat on Len's fingernails, "You need to be hittin' the hay as well, Miss Little College Student."

"Five more minutes and you won't hear a peep from either of us. Just make sure they're good and dry before you change into your jammies, okay?"

"Yeah," Lenny, seated next to her uncle at the kitchen table, nodded and wiggled her fingers in front of her him.

"What do they call that color?" he asked with amused eyes.

"They call it," Lenny could barely say the words without a faint blush growing on her cheeks, "Vampire's Kiss."

"Ah, well," both of his eyebrows rose, and he put up a flattened hand next to his mouth as if he were telling her a secret, "Let's all hope it doesn't attract any unwanted paranormal types."

He gave her a wink and rustled her hair before getting up from the table.

"She's a freshman in high school, Uncle Andy," Juliette declared from inside her room, "She is surrounded by the most awful of them all! The abnormal types!"

Andy winced and said, "That's harsh, Julie. It's hard to believe not one fine gentleman caught your eye back in high school."

"Nope! I was far too busy studying, maintaining my GPA, and avoiding the advances of many many boys that for some reason thought I was easy because a certain relation of mine was so popular with the ladies."

"I heard that!" Jude yelled from the living room.

***

Lenny looked at the time on the bottom corner of her laptop screen. She had been online for the past half an hour. She wondered if she should message Erik before she went to bed. They had chatted for almost an hour the night before.

It was probably too late, though.

Just as she was going to shut down her laptop, a pleasing ding announced that she had a new message.

She clicked her chat icon and saw that it was from Erik. Her heart began to race at lightning speed.

They had such a wonderful time at the coffee shop. They discussed music and movies and shows for hours before her uncle came to pick her up.

Len was starting to like more than just his face, hair, eyes, and the way he looked in his band tees, flannels, and Converse.

She was starting to like him as a whole. As a person.

She thought this realization would help calm her heart beats, but it only made them quicken.

Erik: I see you are still awake, fellow night owl.

Lenore: Yeah. I was just about to go to bed.

Erik: Me too. I was studying for my algebra test. Why do teachers insist on giving tests on Fridays?

Lenore: Cruel and unusual proof of compliance.

Erik: You have many more words when we are chatting. I like that.

Lenore: Maybe you talk enough for the both of us.

Erik: You are far more courageous with your words as well.

Lenore: Isn't it easier for most people to be themselves without an audience?

Erik: Perhaps.

Lenny could see that he was still typing. She waited.

Erik: Sometimes an audience is necessary. With the help of others you can remember so much more.

Lenore: Perhaps. What if you don't want to remember? What if you just want to forget?

Erik: Your audience could help you to forget as well. They could stand up and clap for you. Cheer you on, no matter what path you have chosen.

Lenore: Would you stand up and clap for me?

Erik: No. I would go backstage and bring you flowers.

A/N: Hello, sweet reader

I will keep this short because I am tired and getting over a cold.

I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. A fly-on-the-wall type one. Just observing the Wakelin family.

Please vote and comment. I'd love to hear what you think!

XO,
Leanne