Chapter 31 - Will
"I invited them to live with us, Lise, and Alisha accepted."
It was the next day, and still Annie seemed shell shocked at the news. At first, she'd been upset because Drew didn't ask her. She later told me she wasn't upset about living with a little girl and her mom who were about to be kicked out of their house, but she was upset she wasn't consulted because they told each other everything.
Annie asked her why she couldn't live with her parents, out of pure curiosity, and it was because their landlord wouldn't allow children. Analise's concern was warranted though, because Drew and Alisha had only been dating for around two weeks and it was really early to move in together.
We were now on the way to my house the next day, and I could only hope my mom didn't spring any news like that on me. The foreboding feeling about something going wrong today wouldn't go away, but I hoped it would. I wanted to enjoy this dinner, and once I got the approval from my mom I'd be taking Analise on that date.
We got to my house in the nick of time, since my mom hated tardiness. Analise plastered a pseudo smile on her lips and I kissed her cheek, causing it to morph into a genuine one. "She'll love you," I assured her in a whisper as I fiddled with my keys, getting the house key between my thumb and index finger. I put it into the lock, twisting it and pushing the door open.
"William?" My mom called, and the smell of food wafted to my nostrils. My mom was hardly home to cook and the smell of her famous shepherd's pie reminded me of a time before my dad died and my mom was a workaholic.
"Yeah ma!" I called, ushering Analise in and closing the door.
My mom came bustling out of the kitchen donned in a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, a pair of blue jeans, and an apron. I visibly let my mouth fall open at the site of my mom in anything but a blouse and pencil skirt combo. Mom frowned, looking Analise up and down and I clenched my fist behind my back. "You're not Mallory."
I groaned, rubbing a hand over my face in apprehension while Analise tensed beside me. "No ma'am, I'm not."
"I thought you were going with Mallory, William," Mom mumbled, turning to me with her nose turned up. I had to turn this around and fast because if my snobby mother didn't like Analise we'd have a problem.
"No mom, I went to the dance with Mallory. Mom, this is Analise. Analise, this is my mom."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Analise mumbled nervously, her eyebrows furrowed and I could tell she was sensing the tension. I grabbed her hand to calm her down, which it did, but the action didn't go unnoticed by my mom. She eyed our hands with a hard gaze before turning around and going into the kitchen. My eyes widened at the doorway she just went into and I turned to Analise.
"Analise, I'm so sorry," I apologized on my mothers behalf, wrapping my arms around her.
She frowned up at me. "Your mom doesn't like me."
I shook my head. "I don't care. Let's have dinner and see what happens."
*
The rest of dinner was not much better, and soon we were all awkwardly finishing up the last bites of our dinner. Every few seconds I'd catch my mom eyeing Analise distastefully and I'd give her a look, trying to get across to her to cut it out and yet she continued. Finally, I got fed up and slammed my fork down. "Ma, what gives?"
My mom, ignoring me, turned to Analise. "How are your grades?"
Analise, who'd been silently eating this entire time uncomfortably, looked like she was holding back anger. But, still she was polite. "Pretty good. A's and B's, ma'am."
"Could be better," Mom mumbled to herself, taking a tentative sip of her water.
The sound of cutlery slamming onto plates sounded and I rubbed an anxious hand through my hair. I knew that was from Analise and I slowly turned toward her to see her practically fuming in her chair. I had to give it to her, this girl had been polite for a lot longer than normal. I was beyond embarrassed by my mom by this point.
"What's your problem with me?" Analise snapped, wringing her hands together. "Let's get it all out in the open, because I really like him and want to like you too but you're treating me like trash."
My mom crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes at Annie. "What do your parents do for a living?"
At the question my heart practically stopped, but Analise didn't miss a beat. "They watch over me."
"Obviously, but I mean for work."
"That's what they do, they're dead."
Mom didn't look the least bit sorry for asking the question, but sighed. "Who do you live with?"
"My brother."
"What does your brother do for work?"
I sighed loudly. "God, ma, what is your problem?"
Finally regarding me, my mom turned to me and her hazel eyes narrowed. "I'm just trying to figure out if this is a bet or she's a gold digger, William."
Analise abruptly stood up, her chair scraping against the hardwood floor as she went. She looked furious, and I couldn't blame her. Her beautiful brown eyes were swimming with hurt and unshed tears and my heart clenched painfully at the knowledge that it was my moms fault. "Ma'am, I tried not to be rude but you have no right to think of me this way. I'm sure it stems back to how Will used to be treated, he told me, but I'm not like that. I'm seventeen, live with my brother who's twenty three and a mechanic, and we do our best. My parents died almost six years ago and every day feels like the day of and it kills me."
My mom was silent, listening to Analise go off on her and I couldn't have been prouder. "My brother and I do our best to get by, and sometimes it's hard, but by no means am I trying to take advantage of you or Will's money. I wouldn't even let him buy my brother a suit when he offered one time when we went shopping, and my brother wouldn't have had it either because we aren't like that. In fact, when Will and I last went out somewhere, I paid."
My mom looked shocked by that and Analise continued. "Yeah, we went to the Skydeck and I paid for him, the sad little poor girl. So by no means am I after your money, or his money, and Will is one of my only friends so why on earth would I bet on him and risk losing him? I like him because he's the nicest person I've ever met, and I like him because he's a sweetheart, and I like him because we have a good time together. I like him because he's thoughtful, sweet, and treats me like a human being. I like him because he's nothing like you!"
Analise was panting by the end of her rant and angry tears were falling down her face in rapid succession. She wiped them hastily, still catching her breath after going off on my mom. Her eyes flitted to me briefly and I gave her a proud smile, rubbing her back soothingly. The words she'd said filled my head and my heart picked up pace hearing those words about me. No one had ever said anything like that about me before, much less stood up to my mom.
My mom stood up, coming to Analise's height and I stood up too in case this god bad. Mom nodded, a small smile lifting onto her face and held her hand out for Analise. "Very well, then. Pleasure to meet you, Analise. No one's stood up to me before, it was very brazen."
Analise offered her back a small smile, shaking her hand. "Pleasure's mine, Ms. Gryer, call me Ana."
*
"What are we doing?"
It was the next day and I was finally taking Analise on our surprise date. We had to skip school for it, but it was more than worth it and I couldn't wait to see her face. After Analise stood up to herself to my mom, they talked and got to know each other without the angry words and petty side comments. They seemed to get along pretty well by the time we left to drop Analise back home.
Analise currently had on a blindfold and were approaching our surprise date. I couldn't wait to see her face when she realized what we were doing. I nodded to the guy standing by her surprise and he nodded back with a smile. I slipped him the money and together we stepped in. When we were securely suspended in the air, I told Analise to take the blindfold off.
When she took the blindfold off, she looked around confused before her eyes widened at the fact that we were in the sky. She walked over to the side of the basket before looking back at me with a wide smile. "Are we in a hot air balloon?"
"Indeed we are, m'lady," I murmured, taking her hands and kissing her nose. "Welcome to our first official date."
"Why thank you, kind sir," Analise mumbled with a giggle, resting her head in the crook of my neck. I slowly turned us so that we were slow dancing in the hot air balloon, cuddled up together. I nuzzled my nose on her cheek causing her to look up at me with a blush. "I can't believe you remembered I wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride."
"I remember everything about you, Analise Loughty, you're my favorite subject."
We stayed like that for another hour, slow dancing in the basket and at times just watching the sky. The pilot of the balloon left us alone and it was like we were in our own little world and everything was forgotten. Right now, we weren't Analise the gang member and Will the former suicidal guy, we were just Analise and Will, two people who just wanted to spend time together. It was nice and I didn't want it to end, and by the look on her face Annie didn't want it to either.
"This is amazing Will, I really don't know what to say," Analise told me after sometime, biting her bottom lip. I pulled her lip from between her teeth with my thumb, brushing it over it agonizingly slowly and kissing it chastely. She giggled at my actions, but waited for me to respond to her.
I shrugged, my grin turning mischievous. It was now or never and if I was going to get anywhere, I needed to get over my inhibitions. "Say yes."
Analise raised an eyebrow, narrowing her eyes. She was suspicious, of course, considering I hadn't asked a question. Or I hadn't asked a question to her knowledge, anyway. "Say yes to what?"
Motioning over to the other side of the basket, I told her, "Look down."
She hastily made her way over to the side of the basket with me by her side, and together we peered down to see my handiwork. On the ground, spelled out with a couple hundred red rose petals, were the words, "Will you be my girlfriend?"
It was silent in the basket while she looked, and her hair acted as a curtain so I couldn't see her reaction. My heart thudded painfully in my chest as my nerves took over, and as the seconds ticked by I started to think she was going to say no. Silence was never a good thing. "Annie?" I prompted, nervously putting my hand over hers.
Suddenly Analise turned towards me and threw her arms around my neck, stumbling us back and making the basket shake. I chuckled, wrapping my arms around her waist and picking her up before spinning us around. We pulled away, and I scanned her face for any signs of hesitation. "Is that a yes?"
"No," Analise mumbled, shaking her head. I frowned dejectedly, the pang in my heart not going away until she continued. "That's a hell yes!"