Teen Drama

2

"Where is he? I told him to be here for six, and it's twenty past! He always has to defy everything we ask of him." My mom snaps, slamming her fork down on the table by her plate, making everything rattle despite being solid oak and everyone sits tensely as her voice echoes around the giant dining room. "I am so sick of this."

My mum's shoulder-length blonde highlighted hair falls gracefully over her right eye, so she flicks it back with manicured nails. She still looks like a woman in her young thirties and not her mid-forties. Barely has a wrinkle or blemish on her delicate face. Her cheekbones are rosier than normal, even on her sallow skin, and I watch my mom's beauty and elegance with awe, impressed by it even when she's pissed off.

Elisa withdraws further into her hair, so her fork seems to be delivering food into a veil where food disappears, and my stepfather sighs at the head of the table and checks his watch for the fifth time. It's only the four of us as we wait for Dane, supposed to be a cozy small celebration, yet this room suddenly feels crazily claustrophobic even though our table seats eight.

"Mom.... ignore it and eat. It's Bryan's birthday dinner. Dane will show up. You know he will.... late because it's what he does, but he will still come home." I try to soothe her with soft words and some logic, but we all know Dane will show up when he feels like it, regardless of the date. "He does this to annoy you, and it's working." Anytime she gives him a set time, he ignores it. I sigh and push my food around, hating that he has ruined yet another family meal.

"The food is really good, Mrs. Masterson. You should eat it before it gets cold." Elise pipes up shyly, her sweet voice coming out from the hunched-up figure as she aids in smoothing my mom's ruffled feathers. She's been an extension of our family for years, as she lives two houses away and practically grew up with me since I moved in here. My mom loves having her around and always invites her to family-related events. I think she felt Elisa was a sibling I needed because I was an only child, and Dane hated coming here for visitation, so he would dodge it.

"Honey. It's fine. He'll show up when he's hungry, and I told you I didn't need anything special today. I'm happy to spend time with my family at any time. It's just another year of reminding me I am old." My stepfather gives mom a tight smile, trying for light-hearted warmth, but her grip on her water glass tightens, and she sits up straight, tenser.

Bryan is nothing like his son. He's handsome in that mature guy kind of a way and fit because my mom is a stickler for health. He compliments my mom with their good looks – the typical Florida, wealthy, good-looking couple.

Where Dane is tanned, with pale eyes and black hair, Bryan is pale naturally, a little freckled in places with light brown hair and smiley hazel eyes. Dane's all angles and smoldering gazes, while Bryan's happy face always seems approachable. The only thing Dane seemed to get from his DNA was their height. Tall and stocky as though they were meant for the sports field.

She furrows her already frowning brow further. Her happy mood of a half hour ago has been dying by the second.

"I'm so tired of dealing with this. Anything I say, he ignores. Anything I do, he throws back in my face.... what am I supposed to do with him?" She exhales heavily, eyes misting over as though this is the worst stress of her life, and sometimes I don't get why she tries so hard. She wouldn't always be at his throat if she let him be and didn't demand anything. She can't change him. Since he moved in, it's like she tries so hard to be his mother, whereas before, she didn't give him the time of day.

"Stop expecting.... It only sets you up for disappointment. You know how he feels." Bryan reaches out his hand and covers the one beside my mother's discarded fork, squeezing her, and I try to focus on my food. The steak is getting cold as I am picking at it, but I have no appetite thanks to the tension of the atmosphere once again caused by Dane.