Between Us

chapter nine

09

Thanksgiving.

The day where you give thanks for everything you have. Also known as the day you lose your mind because of certain relatives.

"Taryn, play with me!" Paige, my six year old cousin, whines, holding her Barbie in one hand and a stuffed bear in the other.

"Play with Sophie, I'm busy. I play with you in a little while," I say, turning back towards the kitchen. I stop abruptly as a short girl, Ella, my nine year old cousin, steps in front of me.

"Will you braid my hair?"

I nod and she spins around. I comb her hair back with my fingers and braid her hair gently but quickly, and tie it off with a hair band. She grins and skips away.

I finally make it into the kitchen, nearly tripping three times in the heeled boots my mom wanted me to wear, along with a lacy red dress with three-quarter length sleeves. I don't want another sprained ankle, but at this rate I'm going to get one.

My Aunt Elise, my grandma, and my mom are all bustling around the kitchen, trying to prepare the dishes for dinner. Somehow, they're also carrying a conversation. How, I'll never know.

I check on my rolls, to make sure they're rising. Right as I lift the towel off, the doorbell rings. "Taryn, will you get that?" Mom asks.

"Yes," I mutter, trudging to the door. Paige and Sophie are bouncing around in front of the door, waiting to see who's there.

I gently push them out of the way and open the door. I'm met with Vanessa, my mom's best friend, and her family. I smile and greet them, opening the door wider. Vanessa hugs me tightly, something I'm not particularly fond of but deal with anyways.

Aaron and Whitney come in, holding hands, as well as Holden (Vanessa's other step son, who's eighteen, a couple months older than me), Ben (Vanessa's actual son, who's fifteen), and Liam (Vanessa's other actual son, obviously).

"Hey Taryn," Liam says, smiling. "How's it going?"

I huff. "It's a fucking madhouse," I say. "And I've tripped a million times in these stupid boots."

Liam looks amused. "Then take them off."

Don't have to tell me twice.

I lean down and unzip the backs of the boots, then grab onto Liam's shoulder as I slip them off. I wiggle my toes in my socks, which happen to have dancing cheeseburgers on them. "And to top it all off, my period started this morning," I inform him, not that he really wanted nor needed to know.

He cringes. "I didn't need to know that, Tare," Liam says, even though he's smiling. When he calls me 'Tare', my stomach seems to erupt into butterflies, as cliché as it sounds.

"Tare?" I say, a small smile on my lips. He seems a little embarrassed and rubs his neck, his ears turning the slightest shade of pink.

"Uh, yeah. It just sort of slipped out, sorry-"

"It's fine. I like it. Tare."

"Tare," he says, grinning. I feel a blush creeping up on my cheeks, so I spin around to hide my face from him.

"Wanna see how the rolls are looking?" I ask lightly, willing my cheeks to cool down. What the hell is wrong with me? It's the period, isn't it? Yeah. Blame the period.