Remember to Forget, Revised and Expanded (17 page)

Levi smiles widely, and he laughs.

Levi
laughs.

He quickly puts his hand over his mouth, and it's like everything is frozen. He
stops moving, and his eyes widen. His eyebrows furrow together, and I can sense his
panic.

I can't believe he actually laughed. I don't think he believes it either.

He finally notices me standing in the hallway, and he stares at me with wide, shocked
eyes. I smile meekly and walk into the room.

“Hi,” I whisper, sitting down beside him and Lucy.

“I told Levi a secret,” Lucy says. She looks over at Levi and says, “Shhh.”

He nods and looks over at me. Levi looks like he's about to cry, but he starts to
smile.

Then, he laughs a little again. We both start to laugh, until we're laughing for
no reason at all.

I like the sound of Levi's laugh. It's light and quick. It's weird to hear him making
an actual sound, but I like it. His dimples are deeper than they've ever been, and
his eyes squeeze shut as he laughs.

Levi wipes at the corners of his eyes once he's done laughing. He shrugs like it
was no big deal, but it was.

He doesn't stop smiling for a long time.

He takes his phone out of his pocket and quickly types something. He passes his
phone over to me, and I read what he's written.

“I'm sorry.”

I look up at him. “It's okay.”

He smiles a little and tilts his head to the side. He reaches out to shake my hand.

It's like we're starting all over.

I feel like things between us are going to get better now. I wonder what Lucy said
to him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

DELILAH

W
hat are we gonna do today?” Lucy asks. She's sitting on the windowsill, tapping
her finger on the glass panes.

“Noah wants to go see a movie. Do you wanna do that?”

“Can it be
Frozen
?”

“I already told you, it's not at the movies anymore.”

“But I wanna see Olaf!”

“I'm sorry, Lucy, but he's not at the movies right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Cause why?”

“Because it's summer?” I say more like a question. It's fall, but hopefully she won't
realize it.

“It's not summer, silly,” she says, giggling.

I sigh, knowing I'm not going to get anywhere with this. I pick Lucy up off the windowsill
and set her down beside me on the couch.

“What about going to the park?” I ask her.

She tilts her head and thinks for a second. “Okay!” she says excitedly. “Let's go
to the park! Let's go to the park!” she says, jumping up and down.

After a few minutes of getting Lucy into her jacket (she just
had
to zipper it herself), we're finally ready. It's kind of cold out, so I'm hoping she won't want to stay
long. Noah decides to stay home.

“Can we ask Lev-ee to come?” Lucy asks.

“His name is Levi. And no, he's busy,” I lie. She's asked about Levi every day since
Thanksgiving.

She pouts and looks up at me. “No, it should be Lev-ee. It sounds like Lucy.”

I laugh and decide not to correct her again. “What did you say to Levi the other
day?” I ask, still wondering how she made him laugh.

“When?”

“Thanksgiving.”

“When was that?”

Lucy always forgets things, or at least she says she does. I don't believe her half
the time.

“It was a few days ago,” I tell her.

She shrugs, putting one hand in the air. “I dunno.”

“Are you sure?”

“It might've been about a green bean, I don't really know. Was I eating a green bean
when I said it?”

“No,” I say, trying not to laugh.

“Oh . . .” she says, losing focus and looking around. As we walk, she holds tightly
to my hand, swaying our arms back and forth.

When we're almost to the park, Lucy lets go of my hand and starts running down the
sidewalk. I'm about to yell at her until I recognize what, or who, she's running
to.

“Levi!” she shrieks, running toward Levi. He's standing at his front door with his
hands in his pockets. Lucy wraps her arms around him, or more so his legs, and hugs
him tightly. He slowly puts his arm around her as best he can since she's so much
smaller.

She looks up at him, still holding tightly to his knees. “Will you come to the park?
Puh-leaseeeee?” she says, drawing the word into two long syllables.

Levi smiles and looks down at Lucy, then up at me. I don't say anything.

He nods.

“Yay! He said he'll come!” Lucy reaches up to grab Levi's hand, and she opens and
closes her hand until Levi notices. He holds her small hand inside his and walks
over to me.

“Sorry about that,” I tell him quietly.

He shrugs and
smiles.

We all walk down to the park, with Lucy in between us, holding both of our hands.

Lucy runs over to the swing set, waiting for someone to help her up onto one. Levi
surprisingly lifts her up onto the swing and starts pushing her lightly.

It's cute to see this side of Levi.

“Do you have a younger sibling?” I ask Levi as he pushes Lucy.

He shakes his head no.

“Higher!” Lucy shrieks.

She continues to giggle as she swings back and forth. Levi grins as Lucy shrieks
every time she goes higher. She's not going too high, but to her it probably feels
like it.

“Okay, I can stop now,” Lucy says abruptly. She gets bored easily with things.

Levi quickly grabs the swing to stop her. She jumps off and stands between Levi and
me.

“Can I go on the tire swing?” she asks.

“You don't have to ask,” I tell her.

“With Levi?”

I look over at Levi. He bites on his lip ring and slowly shrugs, then grabs Lucy's
hand and walks over to the swing. He picks her up and puts her onto the tire, then
sits across from her. His legs are too long, and he has to lean far back to keep
them off the ground. Lucy laughs uncontrollably as they spin.

After about thirty minutes of going from the swings to the slide to the see-saw,
Lucy gets bored. She wraps her arms around herself and runs over to me.

“I'm frozen!” she pouts.

I know where this is going . . .

“It's not that cold,” I tell her.

“I said, I'm frozen!” She pretends to shiver.

Levi grabs the beanie off his head and puts it on Lucy. It's probably bigger than
her whole head. It slides down a little bit onto her forehead and she giggles. He
runs his hand through his flat hair to try to fix it.

“I'm still frozen,” she says, tugging at Levi's hat. “Let's go watch
Frozen
!”

“Lucy, please,” I beg. “We watched it a few days ago.”

“Anna needs me, though.”

“Oh, really?”

“She wants to build a snowman.”

“Fine. C'mon, let's go,” I say.

“Let it go, let it go, I can hold it in the back no more,” Lucy sings. She always
sings the wrong lyrics, but no one has told her yet.

“Pick me up, please,” she asks.

“I don't really want to,” I tell her. I honestly hate carrying her.

She sticks out her bottom lip and looks up at me. Levi bends down and swiftly picks
her up. She wraps her arms around his neck and leans her head on his shoulder.

“Levi is nice. You're not,” Lucy tells me.

I shrug. “Sorry.”

It's strange seeing Levi being so nice. He cares so much for Lucy; I've never seen
him be like this with anyone.

I want to know what Lucy told him so badly. It had to be something important. Otherwise,
I don't get why he's being like this with her.

“Wanna just walk slowly around the neighborhood for a little? She'll fall asleep.
Would you mind?” I whisper to Levi.

He shakes his head, and we walk slowly. After a few minutes, Lucy's eyes shut until
she falls asleep. She can fall asleep anywhere.

We get back to my house, Levi still carrying Lucy. He puts her in bed, and thankfully,
she doesn't wake up.

“Thanks for coming,” I say, when we're out of the room. “She really likes you.”

He waves his hand as if to say, “No problem,” and we awkwardly stand in the hallway.
He puts his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels like he always does.

I break the silence with the first thing that comes to mind. “Do you want some Skittles?”

Chapter Twenty-Four

LEVI

D
elilah looks around her whole house searching for Skittles. They must keep a secret
stash at all times or something, because she always has them.

I'm sitting on the couch, waiting for her to come back. I look around the room, even
though I was here a few days ago. I notice things I hadn't paid attention to last
time, like the family photo on the wall and the scribbled drawing made by Lucy that's
on the coffee table.

Wait, on top of the drawing, it says Levi. The “e" is backward. I feel the corner
of my mouth tilt up.

I pick it up and look at it. She's made my hair very tall, and my legs very long.
All my clothes are black, but there's a rainbow behind me and a crown on my head.
There's a tiny yellow sun in the corner, and it has a big smile and sunglasses.

I think I'm smiling wider than the sun is while I look at the drawing.

I hear the door open and put the picture back down on the table.

“Delilah, I meant to tell you earlier that I'm leaving tomorrow, but I—You're not
Delilah,” Noah says when he sees me sitting on the couch.

I shake my head.

“Where is she?” he asks.

I shrug and point down the hall.

Noah shrugs his shoulders too, and he sits beside me on the couch.

“So, how's it going?” he asks.

I shrug.

He points to the picture. “Did you see what Lucy made you? I think she has a crush
on you,” he says, laughing.

I nod and smile.

“I think she likes you more than Delilah does,” he says.

I look at him with wide eyes, confused as to what he just said.

“Crap, I hope Delilah didn't just hear me say that,” he says, putting his hand to
his head.

I tilt my head to the side, still shocked.

“Don't act like you don't know,” Noah says.

I scrunch my face in confusion.

“You seriously don't know? Are you really that oblivious? Before she even said anything,
I could tell she liked you when you came over!”

She said something? About me?

“Do you like her?” he asks quietly.

Delilah walks in just then, happily holding a bag of Skittles. “I found some!” she
says excitedly. She notices Noah beside me, who is still looking at me to answer
him.

I don't answer.

“When'd you get home?” she asks him.

“Just now. And now I'm going to go,” he says. He nudges my shoulder a little and
gives a small thumbs-up before leaving the room.

What is
that
supposed to mean?

Maybe Delilah said something that was
about
me, not necessarily about liking me.
I don't think she could possibly like me. If anything, she pities me.

She plops down beside me and smiles widely. She pours some Skittles into her hand
and then gives some to me.

“Sorry about Noah and Lucy, if they bug you,” she says quietly.

I shrug and chew on the Skittles in my mouth.

I can't focus. All I can think about is what Noah said. She doesn't like me. Or maybe
she does. Why would she like me? How can she like someone if she's never heard the
sound of their voice? It seems impossible.

I look at Delilah as she digs through the Skittles bag for the red ones, like she
always does. She eats all the red first, then she eats the green and orange at the
same time. She notices me watching her, and stops chewing.

“What?” she asks, raising one eyebrow.

I shake my head. I take a Skittle out of my hand, which is now rainbow, and throw
it at her. It hits her on the nose, and she scrunches her face when it hits her.
She throws one back, but I catch it in my mouth.

“You always do that, and I can't do it,” she says, sticking out her bottom lip.

I shrug and smile.

We hear Lucy wake up and walk down the hall.

“Why can't I be an only child?” Delilah mumbles when Lucy walks into the room.

Lucy yawns and rubs her eyes. “Did you watch
Frozen
without me?”

“No, we didn't watch it. Don't worry,” Delilah tells her.

“Good,” Lucy says quietly. She slowly gets herself onto the couch, and squishes between
Delilah and me. I look over at Delilah, who is looking down at her hands, which are
rainbow like mine.

She looks upset. I reach behind Lucy and poke Delilah's shoulder. She looks up,
and I smile widely to get her to smile.

She grins back, and her cheeks blush a little.

Lucy pokes my cheek. “Can a Skittle fit in that?”

I'm guessing she's referring to my dimple. She quickly reaches for a Skittle that's
in my hand and shoves it onto my cheek.

“Stop movin' your head,” she mumbles, sticking her tongue out while she concentrates.
She puts one of her little hands on my forehead while she tries to get the Skittle
to stay on my cheek. It stays there for a second until I start laughing hysterically.
Delilah laughs too.

This is the second time she's made me laugh. Out of all people, it's a three-year-old.

“Lucy, you are unbelievable,” Delilah says, out of breath as she laughs.

“What's so funny?” Lucy asks, laughing just because we are.

“I can't believe you just did that,” Delilah says while wiping her eyes.