The Beach House

Chapter Two: "No Awkwardness at the Dinner Table"

Chapter Two: “No Awkwardness at the Dinner Table”

            “You have got to be kidding me,” Juliette said, her mellifluous voice echoing out of my cell phone. “Luke’s there? With you?”

            I sighed. “Yeah. That’s why my situation sucks right now.”

            “Well,” started Juliette, “since you’re obviously struggling, remember I’ll be there in two weeks to help you out. Does that ring a bell?”

            “How could I forget, Jul?” I replied, rolling over on my bed. “I’ll just have to lock myself in here for two more weeks. I bet Bobby would bring me food.”

            I could see Juliette giggling, even though she was about two hours away from me. My family, like many others, spent their summers at the shore, which was a good hundred miles away from my suburban town. I liked the feel of the sand between my toes, and it was a drastic change from the miles of green grasses that I would usually encounter back home.

            My area was populated by high-middle class white families with kids enrolled in local public schools, or private schools—much like me. They owned good-sized homes sprawled out on perfectly trimmed green grass, and spent their summers at the country club. Others had summer homes at the shore. The girls shopped at Nordstrom; the boys wore polos. And it seemed that everyone had an iPhone, or at least some kind of smartphone.

            “Cal, your social skills, or lack thereof, are startling,” Juliette teased. “Just try to make it two more weeks, and could you actually make an effort to talk to people?”

            I groaned half jokingly. “Do I have to?” I whined.

            My best friend laughed. “You’re really stupid sometimes. Luke isn’t that bad, so please? For me?”

            I grumbled a ‘maybe’ before biding Juliette goodbye. She would be here in two weeks, just as she had said. And they better fly by…

            I needed Juliette’s help. Desperately. Two weeks with a guy, and to make it worse, one that went to my school? Not happening. She knew that her services were needed, as I was always the antisocial one.

            On the other hand, Juliette was a social butterfly. She was well-liked by practically everybody, and the people who didn’t like her probably envied her. And they had good reason to. Her happiness was infectious, her charisma was powerful, and her beauty was captivating. If I were Juliette, I thought that socializing actually wouldn’t be so bad. How we ended up as friends was kind of a mystery to me.

            Knock knock!

            “Callie, get out of your room! It’s time for dinner.” The voice coming from behind the door was my mother’s, and she sounded kind of disapproving. “You spent the last two hours in there, and we have guests!”

            I rolled my eyes and cursed. “I’ll be upstairs in a minute…”

            Swiftly, I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent a quick message to Juliette:

                       I have to go to dinner now I’m gonna die send help pls!!!!!

            Juliette replied instantaneously.

                        Ur not gonna die, Cal. Just don’t sit there and pout                                               like you normally do, and remember the rule: NO                                                       AWKWARDNESS AT THE DINNER TABLE