Their sense of style was similar as well, not quite the same, but close. Meredith had the earthy, bohemian chic look with her loose fitting green blouse and flowing brown skirt, and Joanna wore a flowy brown and red geometric patterned peasant top over a pair of faded jeans. Their look reminded me much of the comfort of home with Flora and Martin. So much so that I felt my nerves ease.
“Oh, good, Nate,” Joanna said, her voice warm and motherly, breaking through my thoughts when she looked up and saw us. "Put this on the table." She handed him a pitcher of lemonade before turning toward Sera and me with an earnest smile on her face. She extended a hand toward Sera.
“Hi. I am Joanna Weber, Meredith’s mother. You must be Sera, Caden’s sister.”
Sera shook her hand and then Joanna looked at me.
“And you must be Caden.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
There was still activity in the background as the group continued preparing for our dinner. Nate grabbed something else in the kitchen; then headed back into the dining room.
“Well, welcome to Erie,” Joanna said. “I’m glad we could have you over for dinner tonight. I hope you’re hungry.”
Sera and I both nodded.
“Go ahead, grab a seat. It looks like the kids have already.”
Joanna had looked past us toward the dining room, and I turned that way. There was an open spot on the one end of the rectangular table, next to Meredith, that was close to the wall, looking toward the house. I assumed that Mrs. Weber would be sitting next to her daughter. However, on the other side of Meredith, two seats were left open for Sera and me.
We took our respective seats, and Ms. Weber sat in the open spot left for her after turning down the radio in the kitchen so that it was more of background noise. Ajax was seated across from Meredith with Jesse next to him, and Nate next to Jesse, but at the other end of the table.
“Everything smells wonderful, Ms. Weber,” Sera complimented, unfolding her napkin and placing it on her lap. “Thank you for the invitation.”
“Yes, thank you, Ms. Weber,” I agreed.
Everyone was looking at us, as Sera and I got comfortable. It was a little unnerving.
Joanna laughed softly as she looked around the table and noticed. “Forgive them for staring. I told them not to start grabbing food before you guys got situated. They are just kindly waiting before they act like cavemen with their food.”
Sera and I chuckled, becoming even more at ease.
“We’re good,” Sera said with a small smile, which was enough for the boys to start grabbing food off the serving plates.
“It’s your cooking, Ms. Weber,” Ajax remarked, taking two rolls.
“You boys always act like you never get a home cooked meal.”
Jesse grabbed a scoop of corn, putting it on his plate.
“We really don’t,” he quietly said. “Most of the time we are ordering out.”
“Or in,” Ajax added before taking the serving spoon from Jesse.
“Are you guys brothers?” Sera asked, scooping some mashed potatoes onto her plate. I had already grabbed the mashed potatoes and meatloaf. I was waiting on the corn to come my way.
“No,” Jesse answered, passing the corn to Nate.
“I would have been surprised if you were. Do you live together then?” Sera grabbed a roll from a bowl.
“More or less,” Jesse shrugged. “We are in the same apartment complex.”
“What about you guys?” Joanna asked, looking at Sera and me. “Where do you guys live?”
“They are right down the street,” Nate said, receiving the meatloaf that had been passed around. “They live in the middle between us.”
I finally was handed the corn, and I scooped some on my plate before responding. “We are that ranch style house on the corner of Crabtree and Chestnut. It’s that light tan house with the brick on the bottom.”
“I can envision the area,” Joanna asserted. “But I am not too sure about the house. How do you guys like Erie so far?”
“I am a fan,” I said rather quickly, and then blushed when I realized that it sounded eager.
“It’s a very nice area," Sera replied.
“Meredith said that you guys just moved.”
“Their house looks like they just moved yesterday.”
“Nate, you above all know better than to judge something based on appearances,” Joanna admonished.
“Actually, he’s not too far off,” I defended, taking a roll which finished off my plate. “We moved to Erie three days ago.”
“Where did you move from?” Joanna asked, pouring herself a glass of lemonade before handing the pitcher to her daughter.
“Jackson Township,” Sera responded, while I started digging into my food. I had already gone through this conversation with Nate. I would let Sera handle this one.
“That’s quite a rural area. What brings you to Erie?”
“The library assistant position at the High School.” Sera grabbed the pitcher of lemonade from me after I had filled up my glass.
Joanna studied Sera for a minute before her eyes rested on the charm at the base of Sera’s throat. “That’s a beautiful necklace.”
Sera instinctively touched it at the mention of the necklace. “Thank you. It was our mother’s.”
“It’s a Praesidis, is it not?”
“Is it? I actually don’t know what a ‘Praesidis’ is or if it is one. Mom always wore it. Most of the time it was hidden under her clothes,” Sera infirmed with a sad smile. “But wearing it, helps me remember her.”
Joanna’s returning smile was filled with motherly warmth. “Well, it’s fitting.” She took a sip of her lemonade before continuing. “After dinner, we should chat. I can tell you some of the parent groups around the community that are really helpful for those new to the area.”
“I think I would like that,” Sera beamed.
The conversation turned more toward classes and teachers. The guys giving Meredith and me pointers on how to pass certain teacher's classes or how to get in their good graces, since they were a year ahead.
Then it went to band practice and that Ms. Weber wanted them to cut down to two days a week instead of four because school had started. This, of course, led to groans from the band, but Ms. Weber, of course, had the final say and there was no negotiating with her. I had soon discovered that Ms. Weber was a very strong and determined woman who always got her way.
And then before we knew it, we were helping Ms. Weber clean up after dinner. Even Sera and I, picking up on old routines that we had with Flora and Martin. Ms. Weber reminded us so much of the love that surrounded us when they were alive. I could see that the Webers would be a second home for me.
After cleanup, Meredith took us outside on the back porch to hang out while Ms. Weber took Sera into her office to get information on the community groups she had mentioned earlier. The deck had built in bench seating against the small fence that enclosed it, making the area a nice social gathering place. There were even outdoor cushions on the benches, giving it that rustic, cozy feeling. And true to Nate's word, Meredith's backyard was surrounded by acres of woods.
It was a warm, quiet, peaceful night with a clear sky. The sun hadn't set yet, still on summertime, but the light was fading from pre-dusk. And our social gathering conversation was light. There was no talk of troublesome girlfriends or death of parents or complicated pasts that made conversations awkward and heavy. There was subtle flirtatious banter between Ajax and Meredith, and band talk between Jesse and Nate. I was just content to be a part of the group, even if there were side glances of longing towards Nate. It was enough for me, and it would be one of the lighter moments of my life that I would remember.
It seemed as if Sera and I had found a second family; a second chance of a home. While this one was very different from our life with Flora and Martin, it retained some semblances of Home; caring, support, a loving mother figure. It was enough. My hope was it would be enough for Sera.
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✽✽✽
“Will we have to move again, Sera?” I asked when we had gotten home later that evening. Sera and I had stayed a couple of hours after dinner before we all mutually ended the evening. But now, we were getting ready for bed. Sera and I had already changed into our pajamas and had just brushed our teeth. She and I were in the dining room, preparing for the next day. She was signing my forms, as I was getting my bookbag packed, waiting for her to finish so I could add the last folder to my bag.
“I don’t know,” she replied a little despondently, signing the last of my forms. Sera had been drawn in and pensive on the walk home. Not as if she had hated going over to the Webers, but more like she had had an adult conversation with Ms. Weber that had given her much to think about.
“Everything in my gut would tell me that mom would want us to leave,” she continued, handing over the papers.
Deep down I knew that’s where she was mentally heading. And it didn’t matter that I had made friends my first day of high school at a new school. It was a feat that had never truly happened to me. My heart was breaking at the thought of leaving, and I hadn’t felt a pain even similar since Flora and Martin’s deaths.
“This is home, Sera. Can’t you feel it?” I pleaded with her, my eyes begging her, putting the last folder in my back.
She shook her head. “Of course this would feel like home to you.” She sighed in resignation. “If I feel the need to move, we move. Do you understand?”
It was my turn to shake my head. “No, not really. I don’t understand why we always had to move, but I hope we won’t this time.”
She stood up and headed to the kitchen, patting my head as she passed me. “I hope we won’t have to either.”
I turned to watch her as she prepared our lunches for the next day and noticed how sad she was. I didn’t understand the burden that she carried, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would feel that sad again as we prepared to move. I didn't know if my heart could take it this time if I completely opened up to the possibility of having a second family with my new friends. So in that moment, I had decided that I would keep everyone at arm's length.
And throughout that entire rest of the year, even with the sudden distance that I had created, my new friends didn’t treat me any differently. In fact, they never let me truly distance myself, and it made it impossible to not let them in. I was pretty sure they were close to knocking down my walls. And when Sera renewed the lease on our house at the end of my freshman year, I allowed my walls to crack a little.
It would appear that we were staying. And I had spent my summer with them until they went to Band Camp at the end of July. There wasn’t a moment in my memory that we were apart. Even when Korina made my life hell, I stayed. Meredith and the guys wouldn’t let me bail. Not even Nate, who still continued to date Korina off and on. My second family held.
Chapter Twelve
And now Meredith was back from camp, and I was impatiently waiting for her to open her door. There were only a couple weeks left before school started again, and Meredith and I were going to use the time we had remaining to catch up. Really, it would be Meredith telling me all the gossip that happened at band camp. Since my group was involved in band, I had spent the month reverting to old habits and getting prepped for school.
Sera had spent the past month at the school, getting the library prepared, and I had gone with her, meeting my teachers for my sophomore year. I was a little dismayed that I had Mr. Myles for English this year. We did not exactly get along. Sera had been dating him off and on throughout the past year. She didn’t seem exactly serious about him, and he was less than thrilled with that outcome of their relationship. He also seemed less than thrilled that she had the “baggage” of me. He had made that little comment to another young teacher in the hallway. Something close to the idea that he had no desire to be a "father figure"; after all, he was "only twenty-six." Unfortunately for him, I was just in hearing range for that little conversation.
Needless to say, whenever he came to pick up Sera, I wasn’t exactly nice to him when Sera was out of hearing range. And as long as she kept him at arm’s length, I never told her my opinion of him or his douchery comment. I knew she needed an adult outlet, and even going to community group meetings with Ms. Weber once a month wasn’t enough. So, I never interfered.
But I was not looking forward to sitting through his English class every day for the next hundred and eighty days. Time would tell if he would make my life hell by messing with my grade, or if I would make his life hell if he did mess with my grade. The best that either of us could probably hope for would be a truce to get through the year.
So, I had spent my last month before school started, reading through the summer book list for English, getting all my textbooks and syllabi for my classes early, and I started working ahead in the school library. Ms. Weber would have us over for dinner a couple times a week, keeping the family atmosphere going, as she felt lonely without Meredith there. Then, Sera and Ms. Weber would have adult talk in the office, while I lost interest and did more school work or read. For the first time in my life, I was honestly truly bored without my social group.
And the minute Meredith opened her door, I tackled her in a bear hug. She smelled of the sun, and the vanilla spice body wash she used.
“Oh, my god, I am so glad you are back. If I had to spend one more day in the library working ahead on school work, I think I would have died of boredom.”
She chuckled, as she patted my back. “That bad, huh?”
“Let’s just say my excitement for the past month has been finding creative, secret ways to piss off Mr. Myles behind Sera’s back.”
She barked out a laugh. “Come on, let’s go out back.”
I followed her through the house, and we stopped in the kitchen for a second as she grabbed a piece of mail from the counter. Then we walked out the back door through the dining room to the deck.
It was the perfect summer day. Warm, but the breeze was cool and refreshing on the skin. Meredith pulled her blue and red geometric patterned maxi dress up a little before she sat down on the outdoor bench. Her ginger-colored hair was in tight curls, a sign that she had just gotten out of the shower. And as much as Meredith loved the sun, the sun had not been too kind to her while she was at camp. Instead of the bronzed, sun-kissed look that would have been expected on her mom, she was sporting the remnants of a serious sunburn.
"Should we be out here? You look a little crispy," I asked, concerned about her well-being.
She huffed and rolled her eyes. "I put some cream on and sunscreen. I'm good. I just forgot the sunblock at camp and had a hell of a time getting any from anyone. They were very stingy."
“I think you are challenging the sun too much.” I plinked her spaghetti strap on her dress before taking a seat next to her.
“The sun can try it’s best, but I feel confident.”
I snickered.
She eyed me with a scowl before her eyes glinted.
“You really did spend the past month in the library, huh?”
I looked at her questioningly.
“You look pale even by your standards.”
“Nice, Mere,” I said sarcastically. “Why else would I be over here in a tank top and the shortest shorts that I own.”
“And how’d you know I would want to be outside?”
I looked at her earnestly. “You always want to be outside.”
“Fair enough.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Did we miss anything around here?”
“Not really. Although, Korina actually called me a couple of weeks ago.” I crinkled my nose.
Meredith laughed loudly again. “And you answered it?”
“It was an accident. I was reading in the family room when she called. I was distracted and thought it was Sera asking about dinner. I didn’t even bother to look at the caller ID.” She had been snotty and demanding when I answered it. Not even a greeting.
“What did she
want?”
“She wanted to know if I had heard anything from Nate.”
Meredith raised her eyebrows in shock. “He had said that he was going to take a break from her. I’m surprised he actually followed through.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Nate's over there now, isn't he?"
“Yeah.”
I shrugged as if it didn’t bother me. It did, of course. And even though Meredith knew that I still liked him with an intensity that didn’t waver after the past year, I tried to bury my feelings as best as possible. I don’t think that I really fooled Korina either, but I never made a move on Nate, never flirted, never made suggestions for something more, and tried my best not to cause any stress between the two of them. I was the perfect friend, and never gave Korina a reason to fight with me. However, she must have had some inkling for her to have called me wondering if I had heard from him. I hadn’t, and I hung up on her the moment she had asked me, which was basically her greeting. She didn’t bother to call back after that.
“Let’s forget them for now. How was band camp?”
Meredith's lips tightened, and anger burned in her eyes.
“I take it that it was not all that it was cracked up to be?”
“Band camp was fine. I’m not talking to Ajax for the moment.”
This was a shocker. There was very little that Ajax could do that would actually tick off Meredith. He teased her relentlessly, but she never seemed to mind. She would act like she did, but there was no heart in it.
“What did he do?”
“He’s been withholding things from me, and messing with my head.”
“Oh, my gosh, he finally told you that he loved you.” My heart stuttered for a moment until I realized that what he had told her couldn’t have been happy news if she was this angry.
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