Leap of Faith

Day Eleven

“Yeah?” I say a little too sharply before turning to look at Dad. “Well, that’ll be the last thing he ever says if he doesn’t stop ratting out all my secrets to you.”

Dad laughs and motions me over to him. “Come on, Kiddo,” he says as I perch on the arm of his chair, and let myself drop against his side. “You know I love you, Pie.”

“Pie?” TJ quirks his eyebrow at me questioningly.

“Short for Sweetie Pie,” I explain with a roll of my eye. “Very rarely does anyone in this family actually call me by me real name.”

“Ditto,” TJ smiles. A noise echoes around the house as the ladies in the other room laugh about something, and TJ winces. “My mom can be a little overbearing,” he explains before he looks up at me. “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along today. We said yesterday that we were going to hang out but we never actually made plans, so I took the initiative.”

“It’s fine, son,” Dad chimes in before I had the chance to say anything. I’d never heard my dad call anyone ‘son’ before, not even David or Sawyer and they had been a part of my life for years. TJ had only been my friend for a week, and already Dad was inviting him to be a part of our family. “Are you kids going to hang out in Cate’s room?”

What world have I woken up in? It’s certainly not the real one, because it’d be a cold day in Hell before Dad let me wander off upstairs with a boy unsupervised. And why was he encouraging it anyway? Whenever Adam came over when we were together, Dad wouldn’t even leave us in the same room together. Actually, maybe that’s the difference- TJ and I are just friends and he’s not a threat to my status as Dad’s favorite daughter.

I nod in response to Dad’s question and usher TJ from the TV room back down towards the hallway and to the stairs. Mom and Libby must have heard because as we were halfway up the stairs, they both called me back down. I groan as I push myself past TJ, our chest brushing as I climbed down the steps. Vivian smiled at her son who had followed me to the family room, and then grinned at me.

“Ah, there you are,” Mom said, looking up at me from over the rim of her glasses. “We’re hosting an engagement party for Libby and David on Saturday night. Before you even think about making up excuses, yes, you do have to be there. I’ve asked Nathaniel to accompany you, unless you already have a date.”

There were so many things wrong with what my mom just said that I’m not even sure where to start. Scratch that, I do know where to start. Party. I don’t even need to ask whose genius idea that was because it had Mom written all over it. She loved playing hostess and would find any excuse to have a party. Then there was the fact that I had to attend. Ok, so I’m the bride’s sister and it would look suspect if I wasn’t there, but I’m not the party kind of girl, especially if it’s one of Mom’s parties. There were always hundreds of guests that I was expected to mingle with, and for a girl with Social Anxiety Disorder, it was a beyond overwhelming for me.

Attending Mom’s parties also threw in the question of dates. It was ok for my Libby and Anna because they were in relationships and always had a Plus One, but it never worked out like that for me. Which is why, ever since I was old enough to attend these soirees, my cousin Nathaniel has been my date. Don’t get me wrong, I like Nathaniel, but it was always such a hassle having to explain to strangers that we were not dating on the account of him being my cousin.