Prohibitum

Chapter 3

I couldn’t get him out of my head. It was one of the most annoying things I’d ever had to deal with. I had hardly spoken to the guy, so why was I constantly thinking of deep blue eyes, a strong jaw and a toned body? Sam’s brother had become something of a fantasy for me. I think I was attracted to the idea of a guy like him being interested in me. Maybe he had looked up from his breakfast at the same time that I looked towards the house but my mind had conjured something else. I shook my head with anger. He was nothing more than a good-looking guy who I should stop thinking about. He was probably ten years older than me and looking for a woman, not some post-teen girl. Okay, this had to stop. Sam was coming over later and if I kept thinking about her brother I was going to be weird around her. It had been a week since her party and I had been grounded for that time. This was my first free day and I had invited Sam to stay the night. My parents were hesitant to let me have someone stay but they caved when Tristan backed me up. That was a sight to see, Tristan arguing my point rather than going against anything I said. I suspected there was an alternative motivation, there was no way he stuck up for me just because he wanted to.

I spent the morning doing meaningless tasks, attempting to make the clock tick faster. I was so excited to have someone over for the first time and it seemed the more excited I was the slower the clock ticked.

When the doorbell finally rang, I jumped from my position on the couch and ran for the door, almost crashing into Tristan on the way.

“Whoa, slow down there, Usain.”

I ignored his hilarious wit and pulled the door open instead.

“Hey,” Sam said, bubbly as anything and I found myself embarrassed for how excited I’d been, like a kid at Christmas. It only served as another reminder as to how different I was to normal teenagers.

“Hey, come in,” I replied, trying to slow my racing heart and act like I hadn’t been anticipating her arrival all morning.

She gave me a hug as she walked past and then stopped to observe my house.

“Nice place.”

She was looking around with approval but I knew my house was nothing compared to her mansion. I shrugged off her comment and took her bag, leading her to my room and attempting to avoid my parents. I knew that they would have a million questions for Sam and that they would most likely give us both a lecture. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as stealthy as I had led myself to believe. My parents both appeared out of the kitchen to great Sam with their usual stare.

“Hello, you must be Sam. My name is Wendy and this is my husband Zachary.”

“Nice to meet you both.”

“Such manors, you must be a religious girl, yes?”

Oh no, I should have seen this coming; the religion talk.

“Mum, please—“ I didn’t get to finish my sentence as my Dad interrupted.

“From a nice religious family, I suppose. Evelyn, you have such a nice friend.”

“Actual I’m not religious sir, neither are my parents.”

I couldn’t help but cringed at Sam’s response, which she seemed to notice with confusion.

“Oh, what a shame. Well, you know dear, God accepts all His children but only if they accept Him into their hearts. I’m sure you don’t want to go to hell, child.”

She said it so nicely and yet you could hear the disdain she had for anyone who didn’t find joy in religion, it was almost sarcastic, the way she had said the last part. I could have cried with embarrassment or shame or even just sadness at what my mother just had to go and say to the only person who had ever really wanted to be friends with me. Sam stood there, looking so shocked that she was rendered speechless. Sam, the girl who always knew what to say and was always filling the silence with something funny or nice was staring open mouthed at my parents.