Better Off Friends

mom’s family lives in Ireland and I saw it when I visited them


a couple summers ago. I have the DVDs at home.”

“Me too! My buddy’s dad is head of development for a produc—

tion company and he was thinking about adapting it for here.”

I groaned. I hated it when a perfectly awesome show from

the UK got changed for the US. Sometimes British humor did

not translate and it would end up dumbed down.

“They’d totally ruin it,” Levi and I said in unison. Both of

us were surprised for a second before we started laughing.

9

“Favorite episode?” He was leaning forward, his shoulders

no longer up toward his ears.

“Oh, there are so many. The one where Floyd’s sister is

about to give birth —”

“Blimey if I know where to get boiling water unless a cuppa

tea counts.” Levi’s cockney accent was spot-on.

“Yes!” I slammed my hand against the tabletop.

“What’s going on over there?” Emily looked inquisitively

at both of us.

“You know that British show I’ve tried to get you to watch?”

“That? ” Emily shook her head at me like she always did when she found my little eccentricities amusing. She turned

toward Levi. “You know about that?”

He laughed. “Yeah, it’s so funny.”

“Uh-huh.” Emily wrinkled her nose. “It’s adorable that you have that in common.”

“Common!” Levi crowed. “I know I ain’t the queen o’

England, but I ain’t common.”

This was another line from the show.

“A common nuisance, you are!” we both finished.

Emily looked at us like were aliens. Danielle seemed

amused.

We talked a little more about our summers, and when it

was time to go, I made sure Levi knew where he was

going next. This time when he said, “See ya later,” I found

myself not dreading the idea. It was pretty cool to have

someone around here who didn’t like the same things as

everybody else.

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Emily laughed as we put our trays on the conveyer belt.

“So you and your new boyfriend seem to have a lot to talk

about.”

“Stop it! You know he’s not my boyfriend.”

“I know that, but everybody else in the cafeteria seemed to notice your little lovefest.”

She was probably right. People were most likely making

comments about our overanimated conversation. But I really

didn’t care. It would be a welcome change from everything

else people had whispered behind my back over the past year.

Uncle Adam was waiting for me after school to take me home.

He was always excited to see me, even if he’d dropped me off

only a few hours ago.

“How was your first day?” he asked while his arms

wrapped tightly around me.

“Good!” I reassured him.

“All right.” He grabbed my backpack and started walking

me to his car.

Levi was getting into an SUV with a woman I assumed

was his mom. He said something to her and she started to

walk over to us. With some reluctance, he followed. A knot

began to form tightly in my stomach. I always got defensive

whenever anybody met Adam for the first time.

Uncle Adam is an amazing person and everybody in town

loves him. He’s friendly, outgoing, always willing to lend a

hand. But he was born with a speech deformity, so when he

talks, his speech sounds a little slurred. I’m not exactly sure 11

what it’s called, but the back of his throat doesn’t close properly, so it can be difficult to understand him sometimes.

When I was little and I asked what was wrong with Uncle

Adam, Mom made it clear that there was nothing “wrong”

with him, he spoke differently because of a birth defect. So I

took it at face value. Then, two years ago, I was walking home

from the park when these boys started asking how my “retard

uncle” was doing. I yelled, “He’s not retarded, he just talks

funny.” I came home in tears and told my dad what had

happened. That’s when he informed me that Adam was devel—

opmentally disabled. My parents thought I already knew. But

what did I know? He drives, has a job, and lives in his own

house (right across the street from ours). His life isn’t really that different from ours.

I held my breath as she introduced herself to Adam and

me, worried that, like some other people, she’d do something

wrong. “Hi, Macallan, I’m Levi’s mother. Thank you so much

for being welcoming to Levi today. It’s hard to move halfway

across the country and start fresh at a new school.” She had

the same long blond hair as Levi, but hers was pulled back

into a high ponytail. She had on yoga pants and a hoodie. It

looked like she was coming back from the gym. Even without

makeup on, she was absolutely gorgeous.

“Mom,” Levi groaned, no doubt trying to prevent her from telling his whole life story.

She turned toward Adam. “And you must be her father.”

Uncle Adam grabbed her hand, and I saw her flinch

slightly at his grip. “Uncle.”

“This is my uncle Adam,” I said.

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