Whoop! Next chapter. Not going to say much, just enjoy. And Vote! :)
Saturday morning I woke up and the first thing I thought was; what is that wonderful smell? It smelled like pancakes and bacon with a side of hash brown. I swiftly got out of bed and went downstairs where I found my dad already up and cooking breakfast.
"Good-morning!" He said brightly as I sauntered my way to the table.
"Morning, dad. What's with all the cheeriness and breakfast-iness this morning?" I asked groggily.
"No reason. Just woke up in a wondrous mood today. And Bethany is coming over to eat with us." He told me smiling foolishly.
My head snapped up at him as he said Bethany's name. That was right! He had proposed to her last night. How could I forget? I jumped up and ran over to him. It was obvious by his joyful mood that she had said yes.
"She said yes?!" I asked jumping up and down in front of him smiling like a kid who just heard that Santa was coming early this year.
"She said yes!" He shouted happily before grabbing me into a bone-crushing hug.
"That's wonderful dad!" I cried pulling away from him.
"I know. I'm so happy right now, I don't know what to do with myself." He chuckled.
"I am happy for you, dad," I told him smiling, "Man! This is so exciting! Does Renee know yet?"
He turned away from me and started back to the pancakes.
"Yeah, she came in right after I did last night. She already seemed to be down and when I told her she didn't seem too excited about it." He said hunching his back over the stove.
"Dad, I'm sure she just had a long night. I know she likes Bethany. It's just something that she has to get used to. We all do. It's going to be different around here once she moves in. By the way, when is she going to move in? Before or after you get married? When are you even going to get married? Soon or soon?" My babble of rising questions just spilled out of my mouth before I could even concentrate on one thing.
My dad shook his head, "I don't know. We were going to talk about it over breakfast today. Bethany says that she wants you girls involved in as much as possible. I don't even know if she wants to move in with us. She could want to buy a new place downtown or something to be closer to her gallery. We'll see when she gets here."
"Oh, okay." I mumbled as my eyebrows pulled together.
I didn't think about this all the way. There could be major changes in my life. We could move and I wouldn't be able to go to the same school anymore. I know I only have one year left but I don't want to leave my friends. Things are starting to work out now; I don't want to go now that everything is coming together.
As much as I'd love for Bethany to come into our lives, I don't want things to change too much. It will be wonderful to have another woman figure around and I can't wait until she lives with us but I don't think I can move away from what I have right now.
Nicole and I have become really good friends this year and I don't want to lose her. And I've always had Les around; it would just be weird if I couldn't see him every day. Not to mention what has been going on with Nate lately. I really like him and from what I have seen, he likes me too. I don't want to give something up that hasn't even started yet.
With these thoughts, I went upstairs to get dressed. When I came down Bethany was already at the breakfast table and Dad was sitting across from her smiling and holding her hand. My heart warmed at the sight and I immediately went over to Bethany and pulled her into a hug.
"Congratulations! I'm so excited that you and my Dad are getting married." I squealed happily.
She laughed and smiled at me, "Thank you sweetheart. I'm glad that you are happy about this."
"Of course. I love you. You are awesome and totally perfect for my Dad." I assured her.
"Aww. I love you too." She gave me a peck on the cheek.
I sat down at the end of the table and put a stack of French toast on my plate along with scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash. I drizzled syrup all over my food and poured myself a cup of orange juice.
"Is Renee coming down or what?" I asked taking a bite into my eggs.
"Yeah, she'll be down in a minute." My dad answered before having a sip of his coffee.
I nodded and went back to eating my breakfast. A few minutes later I heard the pounding of footsteps come down the stairs and Renee appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. I nearly dropped by juice when I saw her.
Her usual black, sleek hair was all in disarray in a loose bun. Her eyes were squinted and droopy with bags underneath. She was walking slightly hunched over and looked as if she were about to regurgitate. All in all, she looked hung-over.
"Renee, are you okay?" I asked staring at her.
She mumbled something and went to the refrigerator and came back with a glass of orange juice then sat down next to me. Nobody said anything for a few minutes and just ate their food. I saw my dad look over to Renee a few times, his face was either contorted with anger or worry. Sometimes he even had the look confusion and sadness. When everyone was done and the table was cleared we all went into the living room to discuss what changes were going to be made in our lives now that dad and Bethany were engaged.
Bethany and dad sat next to each other on the couch with their fingers entwined together and Renee and I each sat in our own recliners. There was shuffling for a minute while Renee and I got comfortable in our seats. I waited for someone to start speaking and dad was the first to break the silence.
"Okay, first thing is first. We both want you to be the maid's of honor, of course. Bethany is going to be reliant on you two to help with all the arrangements, but more so on you, Ruth. Renee is going back to school soon and won't be here to help out. Is that okay?" He turned his head to me giving me a look that said, 'you don't have a say in the matter'. Which I didn't mind too much because I wanted to help out, it seemed like it would be fun.
"I would love to help Bethany. But when do you think the wedding will be?" I said giving her a quick smile.
Bethany was the one to answer the question, "I've always wanted an autumn wedding. So we'll plan it for in about a year. We have plenty of time to get things together and we will have all summer."
"That would be wonderful! The colors of the changing leaves would make a beautiful color scheme." I agreed excitedly.
"Just what I was thinking." She laughed sweetly.
"What do you think Renee?" I asked trying to get her into the conversation.
I looked over to her and saw her half asleep with her head rested back on the recliner.
Groggily she replied, "Sounds good."
"Renee, if you're not going to participate just go upstairs and go to bed." Dad told her with a hint of anger in his voice.
If Renee caught on to it she didn't do anything about it, for she followed what he suggested and left the room to go upstairs. There was a tense silence before dad apologized to Bethany.
"Yeah, I think she just had a bad night. Don't take it personally." I placated her.
She just shrugged and gave a sad smile. I felt bad that Renee was being so rude and wondered what could have happened last night. Ever since Holden came over, she has been in a bad mood. Did she see him last night? No, she couldn't have, he was on his date with Nicole. Maybe she is just stressed about having to go back to school soon. I should really talk to her.
"Bethany, I was wondering..." I started.
I wanted to know what our new living arrangements were going to be. I was so scared that we would be moving. That is that last thing in the world that I would want to do. I've only ever lived in this house, and though it's not the biggest or fanciest place, it still home and it's the only thing I've known. It would be weird not to wake up every morning to the mysterious black stain on my ceiling that magically appeared one day after I left Les alone in my room so I could go to the bathroom. To this day I still have no idea what it is or how it got there.
"Yes sweetie." Bethany looked to me.
"Are you going to be moving in here or...?" I cut off nervously.
She looked up to my dad then back to me, "Well I would have liked to have our own place so we could start our new life together and make our own memories, but I was thinking that you only have a year left of school and it wouldn't make sense for you to start somewhere new. If it's all right with you, I could move in here and when you leave for college, your father and I can get our own place."
I smiled and nodded gratefully, loving the idea. Maybe things won't be changing so much after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Knock. Knock.
"Come in." I called from where I sat at my desk as I wrote down the answer to the next math problem.
The door creaked open and Bethany stepped inside. She took a brief look around my room and then saw me in the corner at my desk.
"Hey."She came in more smiling at me.
I put my pencil down and swiveled in my chair so I could speak to her properly.
"Hi Bethany, what's up?"
"Just wanted to see how you are doing and I wanted to ask you a question." She said.
"Yeah?" I said curious.
"I have this assignment that I need to get done but I don't really have the time, so I was wondering if you could do it for me. I know that you probably don't have much experience but I'll pay you for your trouble."
"Assignment?" I asked confused.
"Yeah, I need to get some pictures for a client but I'm afraid I'm too busy to get it done in time. Do you think you could help me out?" She asked giving me an almost pleading look.
I didn't want to disappoint her by turning her down so I nodded and said, "Of course I'll help you. I don't know how good I'll be but I'll give it my best shot. " I laughed, "Get it? My best shot. I didn't even realize I said that." I grinned at my own childish behavior.
Bethany laughed, "Good one. But thank you. This helps me a lot."
"I have something for you." She said as she pulled something out of her purse.
"It's my old camera. I want to give it to you so you can take as many pictures as you want. It's an EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera Kit." She handed to me and I gave her a giant smile.
"Thank you!"
"No problem." She chuckled.
"Now I need those pictures by next weekend. He wants nature shots down near the trail in Wampanoag. You know where that is right?"
"I do."
~~
"Ruthy, put the camera down! You're going to make me crash!" Les laughed as he pushed the camera out of his face.
"I'm just practicing. I want to do a good job for Bethany. This is important to her." I said slouching back into the seat.
"I get that but can't you do it when I not driving please?" He asked giving me an apologetic smile.
"I suppose." I smiled back.
"How about you practice your photography skills on me? I'll model for you." Brad offered from the back seat. I turned around and he gave me a wink. I rolled my eyes at him.
"You know I'm good looking enough for it." He smirked.
I chose to ignore his comment and I turned back to face the front.
"Did you see that man? She didn't deny it! She thinks I'm hot." Brad exclaimed.
I clenched my fists and huffed trying not to get aggravated with him, which is impossible because it's Brad.
"Shut up." I gritted.
"Nope. Not until you admit that you think I'm hot." He decidedly.
"Gary, can you smack him for me please?" I asked him without turning around.
Suddenly I heard a loud thwap and a groan. Les and I burst out laughing.
"Hey! Why did you do that?" Brad muttered angrily.
"Ruth asked me to." Gary said passively.
"You didn't have to listen to her!"
"I wanted to. You were annoying me too."
"You could have just-"
"Hey! Cut it out! If you two don't stop arguing I'm throwing you out and you can walk the rest of the way." Les intervened.
"How about you just throw Brad out?" I suggested hopefully.
Les and Gary laughed, Brad scowled.
"Why are you so mean to me? Maybe I wouldn't bug you so much if you were nicer." Brad told me.
"Maybe if you weren't so annoying, I wouldn't be mean to you." I snapped back.
"Maybe if-"
"Brad! Shut. Up!" Les yelled laughing.
Brad just stuck his tongue out at him and crossed him arms looking out of the window.
"Somebody's PMSing today." I sang quietly.
I think only Les heard because he laughed and Brad didn't say anything.
"You actually aren't being too nice today Ruthy." Les admitted.
I frowned, "He is being extra annoying today."
"True." He chuckled.
Five minutes later we pulled up to Nicole and Nate's house. We all piled out of the car and I almost ran to the door in excitement.
"Hey guys." Nicole said when she opened the door and let us in.
"Hey lab partner." Brad greeted her with a wink.
Nicole just rolled her eyes but I swore I saw her cheeks turn a little pink. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her but she ignored my accusatory gaze.
"Where's Nate and Holden?" I asked as we entered the game room.
"Nate is in the kitchen getting snacks and Holden couldn't make it." She said trying to sound emotionless about it but I saw her eyes dim a little when she said it.
"Aww, that sucks Nicole."
She just shrugged and went over to the bowling alley and started to get things set up.
"Who's Holden?" Brad asked coming up to me from out of nowhere.
"A guy she went out on a date with last night." I answered absentmindedly as I was still trying to figure out why Holden couldn't come.
"Nicole is dating someone?" Brad sounded surprised and slightly disappointed.
"I wouldn't say she is dating him. They only went out on one date." I corrected.
"Oh." He said frowning and looking like he was thinking deeply about something.
I was about to ask him what was wrong but Nate came in carrying a huge tray out chips, dips, veggies and party pizza. I smiled and jogged over to him and grabbed some food to help him carry them over to the table.
"Thanks Ruth." He said when we put everything down.
"Yup." I smiled and gave him a hug.
He smiled back and we both headed back over to the group.
"Okay so who is going first?"
~~
"Nicole, shouldn't you be good at this? You have your own alley to practice in!" Brad teased.
"Shut up! I don't play that often." Nicole growled at him as she went up again.
She swung back and let go of the ball but it was a little too early and it flung off right and into the gutter. Nicole groaned and smacked herself in the head sitting back down. I giggled at her and stood up.
"It looks like it's just you and me again Gary." I laughed as I went up to take my last turn.
"Yeah, but this time I'm going to win." Gary said cockily.
I snorted, "Sure you are."
I grabbed Nicole's special purple and blue ball and went up to the lane. I held the ball up aiming for my target. I concentrated on nothing but the ball and the pins. I swung my right arm back and whipped it forward in a quick fluid motion and let go. It went straight down the middle and hit the first pin causing all of them to fall down...except one.
"Ugh!" I stomped my foot and turned around.
Les laughed, "What's your problem? You still beat him."
"I know. I just want to get another strike." I grinned sheepishly.
"You are something else." He shook his head smiling.
"I know." I laughed.
Les got up and went over to Brad who was complaining that I cheated. I also got up and went over to get a slice of pizza. I was really hungry so I shoved it in my mouth and started chewing like my life depended on it.
"Hungry?" A voice chuckled from behind me.
I turned and saw Nate standing there with his hands in his pockets and an amused expression on his face. My face flushed in embarrassment at being seen eating like a slob.
I swallowed the pizza and subconsciously wiped my face.
"Uh, yeah. I haven't we eaten since breakfast." I defended myself from look like a pig.
"Well, have more pizza then." He smiled and took his own piece, shoving it in his mouth.
At first I was shocked but then I realized what he was doing and laughed appreciatively. When he finished I handed him a napkin. He used it to get off all the sauce and then threw it away.
"Was it good?"
"Delicious." He smiled.
"I thought you didn't like cold pizza?"
"This is party pizza. It's different."
"No it's not."
"Yes it is."
"Not really, no."
"Yeah, the crust is different and there is no cheese or other toppings to make it waxy." He explained.
"What? Cheese isn't waxy." I laughed.
"When it's cooked and then cooled off it is."
"Sure, Nate." I rolled my eyes.
"Really." He said trying to make me believe him.
"Okay, I believe you." I said putting my hands up.
"I don't think you do." He said, a smirk arising to his face as he stepped closer.
I gulped and stared up at him.
"I-I do." I stuttered as he came closer.
"You do what?" He asked pretending to have a mental lapse.
I didn't say anything.
"You do want to go out with me next weekend? That's a great idea. I'll pick you up at six." He said leaning in and giving me a kiss on my cheek, winking at me then walking away.
I stared at his back incredulously. What just happened? Did I just agree to a date with Nate without actually saying that I would go out with him? Surprisingly, I wasn't upset at him for tricking me into a date. My stomach was actually bubbling with excitement. I felt a smile tug at my lips and I looked over to where he went. He stood next to Gary who was talking with him and Brad about something. Nicole was standing right next to Brad, laughing along with him. Then I saw Les who was staring at me with wide eyes and my smile fell and my heart dropped.