The Bet

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Chapter 6 *Homesick*

~Sophia

“Can you please pass the rice?” Andre requests.

“Sure,” says my mom, lifting the bowl of rice and handing it to him.

This is the most awkward dinner ever. Remembering seeing Draky earlier, the surprised I felt was astonishing. He was the last person I expected to see in this house! When my mom told me I was going to stay in her friend’s house, and I learned its Andre’s, I didn't know what to feel. He is my classmate! More importantly, he’s the best friend of Drake Swift.

I begged my mom to let me stay in our house but her decision was firm.

And then when I saw Draky outside Andre’s house, my dream last night came crashing down on me. After Andre welcomed me to their home, his mom, Veronica, walked inside the house coming from work. She looks like Andre, with their emerald eyes. Of course, he’s her son. She was so eager to finally see me, her best friend’s daughter. It’s quite unbelievable that I just met my mom’s best friend now. But if I really think about it, it’s not surprising considering my mom and I aren’t close.

And then something unexpected happened. Aunt Veronica told me that Drake is here because he needs help with his studies. Andre is what, his savior?

My life is like a roller coaster nowadays.

Someone kicks me under the table making me yelp in surprise. Looking across from me, I see Draky with an amused expression on his face. When he catches me staring at him, he smirks.

“What?” I ask.

My mom looks at me patiently and says, “You haven’t told me that you are assigned to tutor Drake in Literature.”

“Oh. That,” I mutter. Everyone looks at me expectantly. As if waiting for my answer that can change the world. “Yeah, but I haven’t tutored him yet.” I look pointedly at Draky making him choke the water he’s drinking.

“You can teach him tomorrow,” Andre suggests, joining in the conversation. I have no doubt he saw the look Drake and I shared a while ago.

“Tomorrow will be good,” Drake says.

Something in his expression makes me raise my eye brows. He looks like he’s on to something. Like he has a secret no one knows.

“Okay,” I agree. It won’t do any good prolonging the inevitable. The sooner the better so I’m free off him.

Trying to look busy eating my food, while my mom and Aunt V chat, my eyes lands on a photo beside the china ware. I’m going to call Aunt Veronica Aunt V from now on, in my head; Veronica is a mouth full. A young Andre and her mom are on the picture. The man beside her is maybe her husband. He looks like an old version of Andre.

“Where is your husband?” I ask Aunt V without thinking.

Everyone in the table stops eating at once. A fork suddenly falls to the ground making a clattering sound. Andre gets up abruptly from his chair to get another fork. The tension in the air is thickening. What have I done? Did I say something wrong?

“He’s dead,” Aunt V says softly.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, I can feel my face heats up in embarrassment. “I.. I didn’t know. Sorry.”

Aunt V smiles sadly. “That’s okay.”

I feel so horrible right now. I want to be small, and to be precise, I want to vanish. Looking all around me except Aunt V, I see my mom with an incredulous expression on her face. A rage is building inside me. She forced me to live with them without telling me anything about their family. Good job, mom.

The dinner becomes more awkward, if that’s possible. Andre comes back with a grin on his face, as if I didn’t do something wrong.

He chatters cheerfully about his professors and the girls who are falling head over heels for him, making our parents laugh.

He’s trying to make us forget about my stupid question, and I want to thank him for that.

When Draky thinks I’m not looking, I see him in the corner of my eye, stealing glances at me. Gritting my teeth, I control the urge to snap at him. I easily feel self conscious, especially when I’m eating.

“Mom,” I say, looking up at her and blinking back the tears that are threatening to spill from my eyes. I don’t want to cry here, in front of them.

“Honey,” she begins, “you are safe here. I’ll come back for you when the right time comes.” She gives me a peck on the cheek and then walks away outside the door. She leaves me with these strangers.