Living It Up

Chapter Six

"So how come you didn't go home for the whole break? Your parents live just an hour away, right?" I said, turning to Drew. He was humming along to the song on the radio while driving.

"Eh, no reason really. I like my independence. What about you? Why are you stuck in this sad place during Christmas?" he said, glancing at me. I had a feeling he was pretending to be nonchalant because he didn't want me to see he was hurt about something.

"Same as you, I guess," I sighed. "And also because my parents are out of the country right now, and my brother...," I stopped. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes just thinking about him. "My brother Jason is too busy right now."

Drew gave me a questioning glance, but didn't ask me anything more, which I was grateful for. It was silent for a while, and I could taste the awkwardness in the air. I increased the volume of the radio in an attempt to improve the mood.

We reached in an hour, pulling into the driveway of a huge house. It could almost be called a mansion. "Whoa, I didn't know you were rich. I would have tried to get on your good side if I knew this before," I joked.

He just rolled his eyes. "I doubt you would 'get on my good side' even if I was the richest person in the world. We can't have a civil conversation for even two minutes, before at least one of us wants to kill the other."

"Huh. You seem to be right, for a change," I observed, as we got out of the car and climbed the porch. I could feel my palms sweat a little at the thought of meeting his parents. I silently prayed that I wouldn't be too awkward.

"Hi mom," Drew said, kissing his mother on the cheek when she opened the front door.

"Oh Drew, you're finally here. Your dad and I were just wondering where you were. Look at you, are you sure you're eating enough? Looks like I'll have to make up for all the lost days by feeding you a good meal tonight," Drew's mother managed to say all this in one single breath. It amazed me so much, I just stood staring at her with my mouth slightly open. "Oh, and you must be Lexi, Drew's friend who I spoke on the phone with, right?" she turned to me with a big smile, extending her hand to greet me.

"Mom, this is Alexandra. Alex, this is my mom," Drew glanced at me a little unsure when I remained paralyzed.

Regaining my composure, I shook hands with Mrs. Parker. "Thank you for inviting me over, Mrs. Parker. Your home looks really lovely."

"Oh please, call me Mary. Come on in. This is Jack, my husband. Jack, this is Andrew's new friend from college, Alexandra," she said as she led us in.

Drew's father greeted us as we entered the living room, which looked quite homely despite its enormous size. Mr. Parker was a tall, well built man, extremely similar in appearance to his son.

"You look so familiar, Alexandra dear. Doesn't she remind you a little of Aria?" Mrs. Parker said, turning around to address her husband and Drew.

"Um, not really mom," Drew said, tugging a little at the collar of his shirt. "Hey, I should give you a tour of the house. Come on," he said, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the living room.

The floor had another, more formal living room, a cozy library, dining room, kitchen and a lovely back garden. We climbed a regal looking staircase to the floor above, which had the guest bedrooms, Drew's elder sister Maddie's bedroom and an enormous master bedroom. Climbing up the final flight of stairs, we reached what looked like the attic. Drew led me to a door at the back, which led to the coolest room I'd ever seen.

"This is my bedroom," Drew said, leading me in. My jaw almost dropped to the floor as I looked around. There was a king sized bed in one corner, and there were floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the beautiful back gardens. The wall opposite had shelves upon shelves of books, DVDs and old vinyls. There was a tiny spiral staircase in a corner. "This leads down to the kitchen. Perfect for a snack in the middle of the night," Drew explained with a grin.