Lilly and I waited on the patio as Tony and Liv finished their pizza. I had played two be one with the twins, but eventually sat down next to Lilly. She was cute in her comfy clothes and messy bun, it was a side of her I’d never seen before. Lilly was usually put together with a perfectly cute Lilly outfit, her hair was always done, and only wore the slightest bit of mascara.
She was reading one of her many books as I watched the twins play H-O-R-S-E. It started to smell like pizza, which meant it was almost time for Lilly and I to make our pizza. I cleared my throat before talking.
“Hey Lil, what kind of pizza are we gonna make?” I asked.
“What kind do you like?” She asked, not even looking up from her book.
“Umm… cheese or pepperoni.” I looked at her.
“Ok, I know a recipe for a five cheese pepperoni pizza, wanna do that?” She still hadn’t looked up.
“And how does this all work?” I asked.
She sighed and looked up from her book, her blue eyes looking at me. “We all make pizzas, then everyone gets a slice from the others’ pizzas. You don’t know who made what pizza and then you vote on which one you liked best. If there’s a tie then our parents come down and choose which they like best, but they only get one vote for the both of them. Once it’s done you have a slice from each pizza, and we eat.”
“What happens if you win?” I asked, feeling bad that I didn’t know more about the competition.
“Bragger's rights, and you get the first pick of whatever desert we’re having. Tonight we’re having ice cream sundaes.” She turned back to her book and I sensed it was the end of that conversation.
Liv and Tony emerged from the house. “We’re done.” Liv announced. “Our pizza is covered and ready for the competition.”
They were both covered in flour and sauce, but they had on aprons.
“C’mon basketball star.” Lilly said as she pulled me up and dragged me towards the kitchen. She pulled out two more white aprons and tossed the longer one to me. “Get one of the dough balls out from the fridge.”
I opened the refrigerator to find two plastic wrapped balls of pizza dough, waiting to be turned into delicious pizzas. I picked the one on the right and headed back towards Lilly. She had pulled out sauce, pepperions, and five different cheeses.
She looked up and smiled at me. “Ready?” She asked. I nodded.
She instructed me on how to toss the dough to make a perfect circle, and she stuffed some cheese into the crust. I watched as she expertly spread out the sauce and put on the first layer of cheese. She let me do the next layer, and we alternated. We both put the pepperions on, making sure they were all evenly spaced out. She smiled at me as I put the pizza in the oven and set the timer for twenty minutes.
“What do we do now?” I asked.
“We’re not allowed to leave until the pizza is done cooking and covered, so we can just hang out here until the timer goes off.” She went over and sat on the couch.
I sat down beside her. She grabbed a remote off the table and handed it to me. “Here, pick something.”
I scrolled through the channels and settled on a football game. We sat in silence for a few minutes as we watched the game. “How’s your ukulele?”
“My what?” She asked, looking kinda shocked.
“Your ukulele, the one I saw you playing in your room? How long have you had it for?” I asked.
“Three years.” She told me. “But I got into it two years ago.”
“That’s really cool. I don’t know how to play any instruments.” I thought for a little bit. “Have you applied to any colleges yet?”
“No, I’ve just been looking at some. It kinda stresses me out, so I try not to think about it.” She looked down at her hands. “Where are you going?”
“Colorado School of Mines. Or that’s what it is for right now.” I told her. “I haven’t signed with them yet.”
“What sport are you gonna play with them?” She asked.
“Basketball, but CU might want me for football.” I told her. “But CU doesn’t have the program I need for my major.”
“I was thinking about going to Mines, since it’s so close. And they have a lot of good programs. But…” She paused. “I don’t know what I want to do in life.”
“You’ll figure it out.” I smiled at her. “I know you will.”
She blushed and looked away. Eventually our pizza was ready, so I got up and slid it out of the oven and onto a wooden cutting board. “So we just leave it here?” I asked.
“Yup, and we head back outside. But I’m gonna head upstairs for a little bit.” She said, “Just call me down when it’s time to taste test.” She headed upstairs.
I just shrugged and headed back outside. The twins smiled when they saw me come out, they rushed into the house, not even asking where Lilly was. I sat down next to Tony and Liv, who were watching a movie on a projector that was meant for outside.
We hung out for a little until the twins came back out. “Our pizza is done,”Asher announced. “Where’s Lilly?”
“Upstairs in her room.” Liv said.
“Ok,” Jake looked at me. “Josh, will you go get her while we dish up?”
“Of course.” I quickly headed upstairs and knocked on Lillys door. “Lilly, it’s time for the competition.”
There was silence. I furrowed my eyebrows and slowly peeked through the crack. There was no one in the room. I walked in. “Lilly?” I heard someone behind the closet door. I knocked before opening. “Lilly?”
She sat in the corner of her closet, clutching her chest and hyperventilating.
I knelt down next to her. “Lilly, are you ok?”
“Can’t… breath…panic…attack.” She gasped out.
I thought for a moment. “Lilly, look at me.” Her eyes kept quickly looking around her closet. “Lilly.” I grabbed her face in my hands. “Look, you’re ok. Just breathe. Look, hey.”
She stared at me and I could hear her breathing calm down. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my lap. She started calming down. A few minutes later she looked back up at me. “Thanks Josh.” I could tell she was trying to hide her blush.
“Yeah.” I helped her up. “Are you ok?”
“I am now, thanks.” She headed out of the closet. “I’m gonna go fix my face, I’ll be down in a minute.”
I nodded and headed downstairs. Asher looked at me as I walked towards them. “Where’s Lil?”
“Oh, she’ll be down in a minute. She just wanted to finish something on her ukulele.” I said, sitting down.
“Ok, well the plates are all dished up, Mom came down and helped.” Jake told me. “We’ll wait ‘till Lilly gets here.”
As he finished talking Lilly walked down. She smiled and took her seat next to Liv. She looked up at me and I winked. She silently laughed and started talking to Liv.
The pizzas were really good, there was a meat lover, ours, and then one that had pineapple on it.
There was a tie between the meat lover and ours. The parents came down and ate some, quietly talking to each other.
“The winner is…” Mr. Cooper smiled and let the words hang in the air for a little bit. “The five cheese pepperoni pizza!”
Lilly turned around and hugged me. I smiled and hugged her back.
Everyone laughed and went back to eating their pizza.
I saw Lilly look up at me multiple times during dinner, she would always blush and look away. I felt a smile on my face when she looked at me.
Maybe there was something more about her.
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkN0tr3QnbD
