The best part of going to college forty minutes away from home was the fact that I could randomly pop up for free homecooked meals.
"This rigatoni is actually really good, Dad." I complimented him as I sat at the island.
"Five different kinds of cheese." he pointed out. "Your brother is coming home for Thanksgiving break, and he submitted his Yale application last night."
My big brother was one of my biggest idols.
I don't think he knew that.
Archer was on the state-championship winning baseball team in high school, and he went on to play baseball at Georgetown. He was majoring in Political Science, the president of the UGSA, and now he was applying to law schools.
We called him Cole Junior because he wanted to go into government just like my dad.
"When does he hear back?" I asked my dad.
He blew out air. "Two months."
"Sheesh." I commented.
"I know." he agreed. "How is the dance team going?"
"It's tiring sometimes, but I'm excited about the game on Saturday. Are you coming or do you have to go back to DC?" I asked him.
"We'll be there." my dad assured me. "I don't have to go back to DC until Sunday night. Then I come back on Saturday and I'm off for a full week."
"Nice." I smiled as the alarm system chimed.
"I saw a white Audi in the driveway!" Tatum's voice yelled from the foyer. "Where is my Neely?"
My little sister ran into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around me.
Tatum had curly brown hair in a high ponytail with a sparkly pink bow. She looked so cute her in school uniform and pink converse.
"Hi, Tay-Tay." I greeted my little sister. "You're acting like I just didn't see you on Sunday."
"I miss when you used to drive me to school. Mom never wants to stop for fro-yo." Tatum complained.
I smiled as I looked up at my mom. "Bad mom."
"Tay, I'll try to come to pick you up soon. It's almost time for Ash to get his permit anyway." my little brother (who was taller than me now) gave me a side hug.
"Want some pasta before practice?" my dad offered my brother. "If Nat and I didn't eat it all."
"I'll take some." Ashton sat down next to me.
Tatum skipped off to the pantry and came back with fruit snacks.
"Speaking of baseball, I saw someone on Nat's Snapchat story. How do you know Beau Aydin? He's already the number one draft pick for the MLB next year." Ashton brought up.
In front of our parents.
I didn't know that he was that good at baseball. It was Ashton's dream to go to the MLB.
"Mhm." I looked at my little brother. "We're just friends."
I refused to lie to them.
"Is this Beau a boy?" my dad questioned me.
"It does mean handsome in French and he plays baseball." my mom stared at me.
"Just friends." I reminded them.
My dad slid my brother his pasta. "So kids, your mom and I need to tell you something."
I looked at my siblings and they look just as clueless as I did.
"What is it?" I spoke up.
"Well, you should tell them." my mom looked at my dad.
What the hell was going on?
"As you know election season is coming up, I've decided that I'm going to for re-election. It's going to be a long campaign trail, debates, and press from now until hopefully next November. I would love to have all of your support." my dad announced.
Woah.
"That's awesome. I know you'll win again, Dad. Everyone loves you." Ashton broke the silence.
Tate hugged my dad. "Cool!"
Then all eyes were on me.
"What do you think Neely?" my dad asked me as he held Tate.
"I think that's great, Dad." I gave in. "I'm sure that we all agree that we'll help out in whatever way we can."
I ended up staying the night at my parents' house and headed back to campus in the morning. The morning being 5 am because since it was Tuesday I had dance practice from 6:45 to 9 am.
Practice was a lot of conditioning and getting our routines clean for the football game on Friday. After practice, I had classes from 11 am to 3 pm.
After classes, I took a nap from 3:30 to 5 pm and by 5:30 I was sitting at Starbucks with Beau. He was helping me study for chemistry class.
Beau was actually a good tutor. He turned big chemistry words into explanations that I could actually understand.
"Do you have any more questions?" Beau looked up at me.
I shook my head. "I don't think so."
"Alright, cut the shit, what's going on with you?" Beau confronted me.
"Why do you think something is wrong?" I crossed my arms.
He shrugged. "You've been so weird today. Like just really quiet and I don't know, distant?"
I shook my head. "It's nothing."
"It's obviously something." Beau continued to pry.
"It's not a big deal." I began. "When I went to my parents' house yesterday, my dad told us he's running for re-election. That process is just so grueling. Plus the stress of dance isn't helping."
"Can I take you out to dinner? There's this cafe that has really good pie. I think it'll make you feel better." he offered.
Dinner? With THE Beau Aydin? This almost felt too good to be true.
"Yeah." I agreed.
He took out his keys and spun them around. "I'll drive."
"Come on." he stood up from the table.
I don't know what I expected Beau to drive, but I wasn't thinking of a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT. The inside smelt like Black Ice, but at least it was clean.
"You know, I really expected you to drive a truck." I commented as I put on my seatbelt.
"Why? Because I'm from Texas?" Beau began to drive.
I nodded my head. "Exactly."
"This is better to drive for long distances." Beau said to me.
I turned towards him. "You drive from Los Angeles to Texas?"
"Sometimes. I do it over winter break." he answered my question.
"How long is the drive?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "Like twenty hours, but I do it over a span of three days. It's good to stop and smell the roses. Maybe you'll get to experience it when I have to go to my dad's wedding."
"Wait, you didn't mention this wedding." I held up my hands.
"I didn't wanna scare you." Beau glanced over at me. "It's not until March anyway."
March? That was like five months from now.
"You want me to fake date you for five more months?" I pointed out.
"Yes," Beau responded like it was nothing. "It'll feel more like two. College goes by quickly."
I just stared out the window. "We'll see."
Beau took me to this diner that was 50's inspired. It was called Sunshine's and it had a cute little jukebox and over 20 flavors of pie.
"Tell me more about your dad. Why are you so worried about the president thing?" he asked me.
"Just with the press and everything. I already know the campaign trail is going to be brutal and seeing all those articles and deep-dives on your family. Plus I have two younger siblings. Who knows what Ash and Tate will hear in school?" I vented to him.
"Well, I'm always here if you need someone to vent to. If anyone can make it through this, it's you." Beau looked me in the eyes.
Oh, damn.
That was way too smooth.
"Is he a democrat or republican?" Beau wondered.
I just stared at him as I ate my fries. "It's California. He grew up between here and New York City. He also has a Black wife. You tell me."
"I just thought with the trillion-dollar hotel business that he would've been to the right." Beau brushed off.
I shook my head. "My family is very progressive. My aunt and uncle run that. My dad and my other aunt have always done their own thing outside of that. Two CEOs, a politician, and a doctor."
"All of the liberal teens make those fan cam edits of my dad. It's like the worse thing to see while you're scrolling through social media." I chuckled.
"Oh, I know all about having people make edits of you." he looked at me.
"What is it like being famous on Social Media?" I asked Beau.
He leaned back. "A lot of girls in my DM, the underage girls are the grossest. I don't really mind the likes or anything. I get stuff for free and money now since the NCAA changed the rules. Baseball always comes first."
"My brother told me about your stats." I brought up.
"Your brother knows who I am?" Beau questioned me.
I nodded. "He's very serious about baseball. Both of my brothers play, my dad did, so did my great-uncle, and my great-grandfather played for the Dodgers."
His eyes got big. "No way. That's cool as shit. Who is it?"
"Vincent Keller," I responded. "Archer plays for Georgetown and Ashton is a freshman playing varsity."
"Archie Fitz is your brother?" he pointed at me.
"You know my big brother?" I tilted my head.
Beau nodded. "Well, I know of him. We ran in the same circle during the national championships last year. He's a cool dude. I don't know if he remembers me."
"He's going to law school. I don't know if you'll be in California for Thanksgiving, but you should come over." I informed him.
"I'll think about it," Beau responded.
The waitress placed our food down. I got chicken tenders and Beau got a turkey melt.
"You have the diet of a five-year-old, Natalie." Beau took one of my fries.
I shrugged. "You can never go wrong with tenders."
"That's true, but you have to try the chocolate cream pie." Beau suggested. "We can split it."
"Did you decide on a Halloween costume?" he added.
"What about Sandy and Danny from Grease?" I proposed.
He nodded. "Cool."
And you know what, going to the diner actually did get me out of my head. It was fun to people watch and eat that delicious chocolate cream pie.
Maybe having a fake boyfriend wasn't so bad.