Something Like Romeo and Juliet

Chapter 26

School was over, and I was in the middle of trying to survive the hallways on a different route than usual. I had agreed to meet Jonathan at the back exit of the campus, which, according to him, had much less people stampeding to their buses.

The crowd broke at the start of the one of the hallways, and I continued down it in the new silence. I paused at the sound of footsteps behind me.

"Hey."

I covered my mouth to hide my squeak of surprise at Jonathan suddenly appearing at my side.

"Um--hi," I replied, ignoring the faint smirk on his face. "How was...geometry, right?"

"Oh, you know, best part of my day," Jonathan deadpanned.

"Right," I said. "So...."

Jonathan coughed. "Okay, so, uh...I have something to ask you."

"Okay..." I trailed off.

"Right," Jonathan began. "Okay. So, I know this might be a lot to ask, but I was wondering if you would be willing meet my, uh--"

"Your parents," I finished, sighing. "Right, of course. I mean, we've been dating for a few weeks, kind of, and I'm sure they..."

"What?" Jonathan interrupted, looking at me like I was crazy. "No, not my parents. My--well, my cousins."

"What?"

Jonathan paused for a moment, sighing and running his fingers through his hair. "My cousins," he repeated. "They've kind of suspected that I'm, you know, dating someone since I'm gone more and won't tell them why, and...well, so I kind of admitted to it, and they haven't shut up about it since, and, uh..."

I narrowed my eyes a little. "Do you mean all those cousins I met that one time? Aran and Preston and a bunch of other names I don't remember?"

"And Josh and Ramsay and Rose and Theo," Jonathan finished with another sigh.

"Yeah, uh..." I started fidgeting with a strand of my hair. "I don't know if you remember, but the first time I met them it didn't go all that well."

"They're just jerks sometimes," Jonathan told me, and I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be reassuring. "But they really want to meet you for some reason, and...I don't know."

He looked at me warily, and I could tell he expected me to say no.

"Well..." I sighed. "Okay..."

"Wait, really?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah, I guess," I responded, laughing a little. "When should we go to meet them?"

"Well, uh," Jonathan coughed. "Uh...how would right now work?"

I started to laugh and stopped myself at his serious expression. "Are you serious?"

"They told me to ask you yesterday, but then I kind of...didn't."

"Your cousins made these plans yesterday?" I asked. "They have terrible etiquette."

Jonathan started walking again in the direction of the door at the end of the hallway, a trace of a smirk forming on his face. "Well, I'm sorry that we can't all go to finishing school, Lady Strasburg," he mocked.

"I did not go to finishing school!" I retorted. "I just have a very strict grandmother who would lecture me about these things whenever we went to visit her in Naples."

Jonathan glanced at me as he opened the door for me. "Italy or Florida?"

"Neither," I replied, focusing on keeping a straight face. "North Carolina."