My Silver Lining

Thanksgiving

"So where are we going?" He just stood there staring at me. Ugh, not this again. I waved my hand in front of his face and snapped my fingers. He jolted and shook his head vigorously.

" Dylan? "

" Ugh, yeah? "

" Where are we going? "

" Oh, ummm. If it's okay with you. . . we are going to my house? Since it's Thanksgiving and all. " He looked at me to see my reaction but I just stood there in shock.

" I mean. . . we are goinggggg. . . uuuuh. . . to the park? " He tried to cover up his previous offer and looked slightly disappointed. I shook my head at him slightly, dragged him over to his house and rang the doorbell. A lady who looked almost exactly like Dylan opened the door. I assumed it was his mother.

" Hi mom. " Guess I was right.

" Oh Dylan dear. I was wondering where you ran off to. Who is this? " She turned her brown eyes towards me.

" I'm Rosemary. I live just next door. It's nice to meet you. " I put my hand out but instead of shaking it, she grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me into a hug. I hugged back after awkwardly standing there for a few seconds.

" Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me. The fact that you are here just gives us more to be thankful for. " She whispered into my shoulder, sounding as if she was going to cry. I patted her back confused about what she just said.

" Okay mom. I brought her over to hang out not be crushed by my mother. " He scolded his mom. She released me from her tight grip and I laughed when I saw that her cheeks were tinged with pink.

" It's fine, really. Dylan, don't worry about it. "

" My name is Melody Cities. Just call me Mel. We are way past formalities now. " It was my turn to blush now.

" Mom. No. Just stop. I'm taking her inside to meet everyone. " Everyone?!?! What?

" Oh how rude of me. I forgot to invite you in. Are you hungry? Good, I made plenty of food. " She dragged me inside and I heard Dylan chuckle as he closed the door behind us.

I was pulled through what I assumed was the living room and into a kitchen. About 10 people were in there and all seemed to stop their conversations to look at us.

" Everyone, this is Rosemary. She is Dylan's friend. Introduce yourselves please. " I felt the heat in my cheeks grow to flames. After everyone introduced themselves, I went over the names in my head from the person sitting at the head of the table, to the person sitting at the end of the table.

Jack Cities- 37, father; Jamie Pattersen - 35, aunt; Harold Pattersen- 37, uncle; Liam Dane- 40, uncle; Lily Dane- 39, aunt; Linda Dane-23, cousin; Tammy Wilder- 32, aunt; Tom Wilder- 34, uncle; Hank Tyler- 38, coworker/family friend; Todd Jenkins- 36, coworker/family friend.

Once I had memorized everyone's name, I looked at Dylan to see what to do. He grabbed my hand and guided me to one of the three open seats at the table. He pulled out my chair and I thanked him while sitting down. He sat down right next to me, while his mother sat next to her husband.

" Okay everyone. Eat up! " Once his mom said this, everyone started to fix their plates. I looked at all the food before deciding on eating cranberry sauce, a spoonful of mash potatoes and a slice of turkey. I saw that there was also green beans, stuffing, corn bread, biscuits, mac-cheese, and collard greens.

I wanted to taste all of these things but I didn't want to impose or seem rude so I only ate 3 of the 9 dishes that sat on the dining room table. I smiled and took a bite of my mash potatoes.