Weightless

chapter forty two

"Justin, it's nice to see you again," my mother smiled. She walked closer to us. "I don't know if she told you this or not but I wanted to sincerely apologize for the way that I treated you before. I don't have an excuse for it other than I was judging you before I actually got to know you. I can see now that you make my daughter really happy and I can only thank you for that."

Justin moved forward to shake her hand but she pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Mrs. Morales," he said, smiling at her.

"Don't thank me," she waved him off. "You must be hungry, so why don't we start eating?"

Marissa plopped down next to my father and then, too, I was nervous. She knew what Justin did. She could spill at any given moment. She had no reason to lie for me or protect me. The thought was making my head pound. I had to have faith in her that she wouldn't mess things up for me but honestly, I didn't. I didn't even get to tell her beforehand to not go and blab it. I could only hope that she'd sit back, relax and keep her mouth shut.

"So you two are dating, correct?" My mother asked.

Justin nodded. "Yes."

"Since when?" My mother asked.

"Almost five months," I tried to say nonchalantly. It'd be five months in two days, but I didn't want to make it seem like I was counting or anything.

"Yeah, five months in two days," Justin nodded. I tried not to let my eyes widen. He remembered?

"How sweet," my mother smiled, looking between the two of us. "You've met his family?"

I nodded. "Yes, his mom is very sweet as well as his grandparents."

She didn't ask about his father and I was happy about that.

"So you two are pretty serious?" My dad asked.

I shifted a little. "I guess."

"So you're being safe?" My mother asked.

Both Justin, Marissa and I choked. In fact, Justin began choking and I began hitting at his back. He eventually calmed down and I swallowed.

"We're—We're not—" I tried.

"Oh, don't lie now," my mother deadpanned.

She was teasing us but I was on fire. Memories of every single sexual thing Justin and I have done replayed in my head.

"Safe, yes," I stammered out words. Justin couldn't even look at them. His posture stiffened even more when I put my hand on his knee. I was simply trying to get his attention.

"Don't torture the poor children," my dad was laughing. "The poor thing, he can't even look up."

I nudged Justin and when he looked up, I noticed that he was blushing. He rubbed the back of his neck and I couldn't help but stifle my laugh. He looked incredibly cute when he was uncomfortable. At least one of us did.

"Are you going to stay together throughout college?" My mom changed the subject which I was incredibly happy for.

"Yeah, we won't let that really separate us," I muttered, digging my feet into the floor.

The talk of breakup always made me nervous.

Justin cleared his threat. "I care for her too much to just let her slip away."

"Not to be the negative one but," Marissa started, "college is where you usually meet newer and better people. You might meet your soulmate there."

I rolled my eyes. "If you didn't want to be negative then you should've just kept that to yourself."

"Hey, I'm just being truthful. It's something you have to think about."