Becoming Beautiful (Wattys2014)

| Chapter 7 |

“That you have a crush on him!” she told me. “Why else would you bother trying to communicate with the idiot?”

“I told you already,” I sighed loudly, stopping and turning to look at her. “And even if I did have a crush on him, which I don’t, it’s not like it could go anywhere- not that it would! He may not have a burning hatred for me anymore but he is nowhere near liking me as a girlfriend! And why does it seem like you’re always trying to set me up with your brother?”

She smirked as she blinked a few times. “I hope you know these walls are like paper.” She knocked on the wall and I felt my face blush as Noah groaned from down the hall.

“Shut up, will you? I’m trying to listen to music!” he replied loudly.

“This isn’t a karaoke studio! You’re a terrible singer!” Marissa replied and we both rushed down the stairs when we heard his rushed footsteps and the opening of his door.

“That excited to see me, Marissa?” a feminine, proper voice questioned from a few feet away. I looked up to see a lady in a light pink dress that looked glossier than the glass tables.

Marissa caught her breath while I struggled to catch mine. “Hey mom.”

I could see where Marissa gets her brown eyes from and most of her features. If this were me, I would be wrapping my arms around my mother now, hugging the life out of her, but Marissa stood a good distance away from her mother, wearing a small smile that seemed more polite than it did happy.

“Is this your friend?” she asked Marissa and her daughter nodded.

“Yes, this is Kennedy," she introduced me. Her mother’s nose wrinkled. “I call her Kenna.”

“Isn’t that a boy’s name?” she inquired and I nodded, shrugging. I didn’t bother repeating myself that it was unisex name, mainly because I doubt she’d care. “Why’d your mother name you that?”

“It was my father’s middle name,” I told her, standing up taller, proud to be named after my father. It’s an honor to be named after him.

She gave me an odd look before outstretching her hand. “I'm Mrs. Rivers, you can call me Ethel.”

I nodded, shaking her hand. “You can call me Kenna, if you’d like.”

She nodded. “That sounds much more feminine.”

Once we pulled away from the short handshake, she turned to Marissa. “Where is Noah?”

Marissa smiled. “He's decided not to eat with us.”

“Figures.” She raised and dropped her eyebrows before muttering to herself. “All that boy ever does is mope and groan, when what he needs to do is get a job and make something of himself.”

I gaped at her back as she walked towards the kitchen, unzipping her jacket and tossing it onto the back of the couch as she did so. Marissa jogged to grab it before hanging it up on the coat rack. “So mom, how long are you staying?”

“Why are you in such a rush to get me to go?” she asked, laughing loudly. Marissa grabbed my arm, shooting me an apologetic look. I still wasn’t over the fact that she openly belittled her husband’s son. “I just got here!”

“No, it’s not that, I just know that you leave often and I want to be prepared for when you do," she responded, forcing me into a seat. She opened the microwave and took out the large roast that she kept there for the past hour. Hopefully it's still warm from the oven..

“Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about!” Her mother clapped her hands as she sat down at the table, across from me. There were several seats at the table, eight in all. I’m guessing Noah sits away from everyone else when the whole family has dinner together, or maybe he sits next to Marissa. “I’m having a banquet next weekend and you’re coming!”