Retarded In Love

Shortly after that, dinner was served. Bam, Jeff, Dunn, Jess, Johnny, Liz, dad, mom, uncle Vito, Dico, and I sat around the table and laughed almost non-stop. I kept waiting for Steve-O to meander into the room, but he never came. It was a nice family dinner, and I loved it. Bam and Dico were picking on Vito, and Johnny was giggling to himself at the sight. Mom was yelling at Bam, telling him he wasn't going to ruin another dinner with us. Jess was shoveling food into his mouth, and I was carrying on a nice conversation with my dad.

I loved my family more than anything in the world, but I'd always been Daddy's girl. If nothing seemed right, I'd go to my dad. If I needed anything in the world I would go to my dad and he would try his hardest to make things ok. My mom did that too, don't get me wrong, I've just always been Daddy's little Ellie.

After dinner, we all went into the living room to talk about the things we were going to be filming. I was a little nervous about my mother listening in, but I knew nothing she said would change anything. So there we were, crammed into my living room. Because of the limited space, I was sitting on Dico's lap, my legs draped across Ryan's lap. Johnny sat beside him, and Bam sat by Johnny. Liz was on Bam's lap, her legs sitting on Johnny's lap. Jess and Jeff were sprawled out across the floor, papers surrounding Jeff. Mom and dad were sitting into the two chairs in the room, mom was looking nervously in Jeff's direction.

Jeff looked up and smiled. "Dunn's gonna jump in poo."

Everyone laughed except Dunn, who stared at Jeff in disbelief. "Is this your fucking genius idea? Why do I have to do it?"

"Because, you're dumb enough to do it. You need to bathe anyway," Bam laughed.

"You're not coming into my house after you do this, Ryan!" Mom squawked.

Jeff kept naming off ideas, mostly Ryan doing gross dumb things like the Fisherman's Wharf. When he started to talk about the BMX Joust, Dico got excited that he was going to be in another skit and he didn't have to leave West Chester. Of course. mom thought it was a dumb idea. I was slightly disappointed that I hadn't been mentioned yet.

"Land skiing. I think it's genius, and it's supposed to feature Ellie. This girl can take a hit," Jeff smiled up at me. "so I think it would work wonderfully."

My mom's eyes bulged. "What exactly is this land skiing?"

"We're going to attach wheels to some skis and Ellie is going to ski down a hill... Don't worry, April. She'll be fine."

Mom shook her head and sighed, defeated.

+ + +

The morning of June 13 was beautiful. I woke up to a brilliant sun pouring through the open window. It was warm, but there was a slight breeze. I stretched out my legs, peeking my toes out from the light cotton sheet that surrounded Brandon and I's naked bodies. I slipped out of his arms and made my way to the bathroom to take a nice relaxing bath.

I started the water and stared at myself in the full-length mirror. A small, pale body covered in cuts, scrapes, and bruises... My right shoulder was a giant faded bruise. There was a circular bruise in the center of my chest from BMX jousting with Ryan. It would never make the show, but it was fun. A pretty nasty cut went all the way around my left forearm from land skiing. In addition to this were an assortment bruises, scrapes, and cuts from other random things I couldn't keep track of.

I walked away from the mirror and turned off the water, then climbed in the tub. I slid back into the water and wiggled my toes. Everything was splendid.