supernova

40

We entered the restaurant, which was a forty minute drive from my house. I looked around to see people who seemed to be getting dinner with friends after work, dressed in their work clothes, or families dressed nicely for a Friday dinner.

"My family is over there," he said pulling me across the room.

"Your last name is your step dad's what do I call them?" I panicked.

"Just Mr. and Mrs. Clyne unless they tell you otherwise, okay?" I nodded. His fingers went through mine and he squeezed my hand.

I took at a seat at the table and Charlie waved at me. He seemed nervous too. I waved back at him. His parents weren't there. It was just the three of us.

A few seconds later a man and a woman sat down at the table. The smile forced on their faces. The looked over me at.

Mrs. Clyne had light brown hair and dark down eyes. Her eyes seemed slightly red as if she was crying.

Mr. Clyne had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He didn't even attempt to seem okay. He was angry.

"You must be Arabella," her voice came out shaky, but loud. She put her hand out and I shook it.

"It's nice meet you," I said shaking her hand. I did the same with Mr. Clyne.

"Sorry, we were talking about something important," he said.

"Yes, it was too important that we had to make things uncomfortable, right Nick?" she asked turning to her husband. I looked over at Atlas who was looking around anywhere but me. My thumb drew circles around the palm of his hand.

"Well, Mari, maybe if you weren't passive aggressive, the kids wouldn't be so uncomfortable."

"We should order," Atlas interjected. 

We stayed quiet until a waiter came over.

"I want Fettuccine Alfredo," Charlie said and Atlas agreed.

"I'll take the Five Cheese Tortelinni." His partners ordered egg plant parmesan.

"Alright, your food will be here in twenty to twenty five minutes," he said and walked away. I took a sip of my water, to calm me down. Atlas and I were playing with each others fingers, trying to calm our nerves.

"Arabella," I looked up from the empty plate in front of me, that I didn't know I had been aggressively staring at. "How is school going?" his mother asked me.

"It's going good. It's busy with college applications though," I answered.

"Right, so Atlas moved in with you after your mom died?"

"Mom!" Atlas interupted.

"Maria, you can't ask things like that!"

I took a deep breath.

"It's, fine," I attempted to relive some tension. "Yes, he did," I turned to look at her.

"So, are you just using him for rent money or something?" she asked and I was caught off guard.

"I am so sorry for my wife's behavior."

"What? it's a serious question!"

"This was a bad idea," Atlas said and called over a waiter.

"Can you make one of the Fettuccine Alfredo's and the Five Cheese Tortellini to go? Something came up," he said and the waiter nodded.

I looked over at his parents to see they were quietly arguing.