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.
10
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.
12