Chapter 9
this is referred to in notes as chapter 8.5
Dinner With A Bad Boy
I looked up at my parents, still not sure what these two were doing here. My mom had tears in the brim of her eyes, I chalked it up to her hormones from being pregnant. My dad looked confused. I was too; I'm used to Adam and Andy coming over for diner. But not when we're having other company over. Especially for such an important meal as tonight was. I had a horrible feeling in my gut that things were going to go awry but I didn't dare question it. We all sat there in silence for a long time. Me, not wanting to converse with Andy. Adam, probably still mad at me, and the rest of my family super confused and uncomfortable.
The doorbell rang, echoing through the lower level of the house. "Oh, thank god." I muttered, getting up and heading to the front door. I swung open the door, putting on my best hostess smile. "Welcome-" My eyes open from my large smile, and before me is the worst possible scenario. Worse than the one already unfolding inside. Brett. Like it was a reflex, my arm swings still holding onto the door and slamming it shut in his face.
I had a million questions running through my mind, all frantic and not quite formed. The largest of them, though, was "Why is Brett here and how the hell did he find out where I live?"
I heard another knock at the door, this one much more authoritative. I looked through the peephole. It was a man in a business suit, definitely my Mom's boss.
I politely opened the door again, repeating my smile, with a kind, "Hi, won't you come in?" As I moved aside. He gave me a skeptical look, "I don't know, can I? You slammed the door in my nephew's face a moment ago."
When what he had said registered in my brain, my face went white. I had just fucked up as much as I possibly could in a matter of seconds. I almost couldn't believe it. He must be joking, right? Or I hallucinated seeing Brett's face. There was no way this was my reality right now.
I heard a bit of laughter come from behind the man. I craned my neck and sure enough, there he was. Dressed to the nines in a tux, just like his uncle. I couldn't help but admire how good he looked. All guys looked good in a tux, after all. I quickly push those stupid thoughts away, and replace them with what an ass he is.
"I'm sure." I nod my head, smiling as I let him through. The man walks in and quickly turns to the kitchen. As Brett walked past me, he got really close. He smiled and looked down at me, which definitely gave me the creeps. "Guess I can't call you Racoon eyes tonight." I grimaced at him, taking a step away and pulling the door shut. I turned back to him as he was walking into the kitchen, grabbing his arm. I give him a serious look. "Listen, I know we don't like each other. But please please behave.. my Mom's job depends on this dinner going perfect. So please, just don't do anything jackass-ish."
He frowned as he again got close to me. Our bodies were almost pressed together. I looked up at him and he looked down at me, I gave him a pleading look. "One condition." He sighs out, trying his best to look disinterested. But it was clear from his eyes that he was enjoying this. I nodded my head in response seeing no other way to get him to cooperate with me. "You have to set that guy from the football team straight and..." I interrupt him. "No and's. You said one thing. Uno." I hold up my finger as an indicator that he'd already put in his request.
He leaned his head closer to me, our eyes meeting. I mentally wanted to slap myself for not doing anything about him being so close to me, but the only thing that ran through my mind was punching him. So of course I held myself back. As I stare up at his glistening green eyes, I have to give myself another mental slap for thinking about how gorgeous his eyes were. I was a sucker for pretty eyes, and there was no denying they were gorgeous. "You're negotiating with me. So your going to get an and." He scoffed. I sighed, what was I going to do? Say no and let him ruin my life? "Fine. What is it?"
"You need to go out on a date with me." I was immediately repulsed, but knew he had to be joking. "You're joking." I say back flatly after regaining my composure.
"Nope, dead serious, actually." My first reaction was to push him away and tell him only in his dreams. It was followed by a big fat WHY? Then the thought about my little sister and my Mom crossed my mind. She was four months pregnant, this would be her third kid. What would happen if she lost her job?
My dad has always had a tough time getting high paying jobs because he only has up to a middle school education. What if my parents start to fight over money? If they get a divorce my dad might get deported back to Mexico. Emmi would never see him as she grew up. And what about the baby? What would happen to our family if I blew this? "Ok." I said, feeling defeated.
He looked surprised, and I felt deflated. I had such high hopes for the night and they'd already been ruined before the food was even served. "Really? No snide remarks? Cruel jokes? Nicknames?" He jeers at me. "No." My voice was flat, I couldn't spare any energy to that response. I hated how so many things seemed to be put onto my shoulders. The finances, caring for my sister, even the internship is something I wanted to get because of my underlying, crippling fear of not making enough money when I grow up. I didn't mind watching my sister, or helping pay for bills if my mom got sick and couldn't work for a few days. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't weigh heavily on my mind.
I knew it was something that to some degree I was putting on myself. I mean you have to be a little crazy to shoot for Harvard.
"Okay then." He shrugged. He was practically holding my mom's job hostage. What else could I say but yes? He looked back down at me. "By the way, you should wear this when we go to the movies." He added, which I'll admit did put some fire back into me. "I never agreed to movies." He didn't get a chance to reply, because my dad called us.
"Hurry up. Dinner's getting cold." I quickly hurried into the kitchen with Brett following me. I sat down in my seat glad that Emmi was here to keep me company in the presence of all this testosterone floating in the room. Emmi turns to me before I have a chance to even pick up my fork. "Jess, lookie! I finished it all! Can I join the Clean Plate Club now?" I laughed. "Yeah. Your an official member. I'll make you a badge tomorrow after school how 'bout that?" She shook her head enthusiastically, then my Mom interrupted us.
"Honey, since your done, could you let this young man sit there while you go and brush your teeth and get ready for bed?" She gestures to Brett, who had no place to sit, since we had our extra guests here. "Okie dokie." She bounced out of her seat, then turned to me. "Arti chokie." I finished for her, she giggled and ran up the stairs.
My mom passed me the Mac 'n Cheese hot dish and scooped some up onto my plate. I handed it to Brett who actually said 'thank you'. Weird, but at least he seemed to be keeping his end of the deal. For what I was giving him, I expected nothing less than a gentleman.
"So what took you two so long at the doorway?" My dad asked. Eyebrow raised.
"The door got jammed again, Dad. Brett was just helping me." I let out a small breath of relief as I can tell my dad bought it. I was surprised at how quick on my feet I've been today. "Oh, ok. I'll take a look at it tomorrow, I've got Tuesdays off for a while. So you all go to school together?" I nod, "Um yeah, Dad. We do."
"Yeah. Actually, we are all good friends. Well, Brett doesn't really like Andy all that much, but no one does. Right, Jessi?" Adam asked raising an eyebrow and poking me in the side. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Yeah. I guess. Can we talk about something else?" There was a long silence followed by my words. I glanced at Brett's uncle to gage his reaction, but he was happily chomping down on my mom's cooking. Thankfully, Brett kept his end of the deal and began a conversation. "I love your house. It's Colonial Revival, right?"
"Why, yes it is." My Mom answered shocked. "It is a nice house. It's the same one as ours." Adam added, either happily oblivious to the tension, or purposefully ignoring it with expertise. The conversation went on smoothly for the rest of dinner. The entire time, Andy kept quiet, and I could see him sneaking glances at me every once in a while.
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