by Ashley Blake
They both chuckled at me. “Oh! You had us worried there for a second!”
“Mom! This is serious!” I let all efforts of trying to keep my cool fly out the window because I didn’t have to pretend with them.
“Honey, Skylar, you have plenty of nice clothes and I am positive that you have something in your closet that you can wear. Why don’t we go back to your room with you and we’ll help you find something, okay?”
Her voice always soothed me and I smiled at both of them. “Okay.”
We paid for our stuff and headed back to the dorms. When we got back to my room, Katie wasn’t there and Jay sat in the chair and read the paper while my mom and I devoured my closet. We were digging for several minutes without finding anything that I liked and I was starting to panic again when my mom pulled out a dress that had fallen to the floor. She vigorously shook it off and held it up.
“What about this one?”
I had forgotten about that dress. It was so pretty. It was the dress I was going to wear to my graduation, the one I wanted to show Bethany, and the one I thought Seth would love. I didn’t end up wearing it because I thought it was tainted and I couldn’t return it because it was a final sale. When I bought that dress I had Seth in mind because I knew he would love it on me, but after he cheated on me I felt that he didn’t deserve to ever see me in the dress I had bought for him. So I decided to put it away and save it for a special occasion that had nothing to do with high school. I wanted to create new memories for that dress so that it didn’t always remind me of what had happened the day I bought it. It would be perfect for dinner with Jonathan’s family.
A huge smile spread across my face. “It’s perfect mom!” I flung my arms around her and gave her a quick hug. Just then Katie walked in.
“Hi everyone! You must be Sky’s parents!”
Katie’s smile was infectious and my mom returned her smile.
“Oh, right! You guys were already gone when Katie got here so you haven’t met her yet. Mom, Jay, this is my awesome roommate Katie. Katie, these are my parents.”
“We have heard so much about you Katie, it’s nice to finally put a face to the name.” My mom gave her a big hug.
Jay leaned in and pretended to whisper a secret. “Just between us Katie, we’re really happy that Skylar didn’t get stuck with some airhead.”
“Jay!” He meant well but he could be so embarrassing sometimes.
He shrugged his shoulders as he chuckled. “It’s the truth!”
“Katie please forgive my step-dad, he seems to have lost his mind.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m happy that I got a good roommate too because it would have been a nightmare if we didn’t like each other! So, what’s with the dress? Are you guys going out to dinner?”
My mom jumped in before I could stop her and I knew Katie’s reaction would be over-the-top.
“We are, we ran into your Resident Advisor Jonathan and his parents while we were at Target and they invited us to dinner.”
I thought Katie’s eyes were going to pop out of her head. “You did? Oh my gosh Sky, you and your parents are going out to dinner with Jonathan and his parents! You have to tell me everything when you get back, I want all of the details!”
“Well that sure is a reaction I didn’t expect!” My mother started giggling and Katie giggled right along with her.
“Well, Mrs. Marshall, Jonathan is super cute and he’s really nice, most guys aren’t like that. You usually find one or the other but not both!”
I was kind of surprised that she thought he was nice since she knew what was going on with us. I also didn’t expect her to be so open with my parents but I shouldn’t have been surprised I guess, because she was a chatterbox and loved to talk to anyone and everyone.
“Okay, that’s enough about Jonathan you guys, we have to get ready pretty soon.”
“Okay honey, we’re going to go back to the hotel to get ready and I guess we’ll see you when they come pick us up. Katie, are your parents coming this weekend?”
“Yeah, they’ll be here tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Well, Katie, it was so nice to meet you and I hope you have a nice time with your parents this weekend. I’m sure we’ll see you again soon.”
My mom gave me a hug. “Bye honey, we’ll see you in a little bit.”
As soon as my parents left Katie pounced.
“Skylar Miller, I want to hear every detail of what happened at Target!”
I glanced at the clock and didn’t have a ton of time before I had to leave so I told her I’d have to fill her in later.
“Sky! Just tell me a little bit. Were his parents nice or were they stuck up?”
“Okay, but then I have to get ready. I promise I’ll fill you in on everything later.”
“Okay, now spill.” She was practically sitting on the edge of her bed waiting to hear what I had to say.
“Well, his parents were really nice and they were kind of funny, really down to earth. It was cool to see the way Jonathan was around his parents.”
“Down to earth? Wow, I wouldn’t expect that from people like them.”
“Yeah, really friendly, not stuck up at all. But don’t get me wrong, you can tell that they have a ton of money just by looking at them. They stuck out like sore thumbs in Target.”
“So where are you guys going to dinner?”
“Some steak house that’s nearby and their car is going to pick us up in less than an hour so I better go hop in the shower.”
“Okay, I’m going to meet Jenn and the girls for dinner so fill me in tomorrow if I’m sleeping by the time you get home tonight. I want to know everything.
“I will, I promise. And Katie, please don’t go telling everyone about this, I want this to stay private for now, okay?”
She winked at me and gave me a small smile. “Sure thing.”
One thing I had learned about Katie in the short time I had known her was that I could trust her. I trotted off to the shower, excitement and nervousness growing in my belly, as I thought about the night ahead.
Chapter Nine
Jonathan knocked on my door at 7:00 on the dot and my heart was pounding against my chest I was so nervous. I was having dinner with Jonathan and his parents with my parents! In what crazy world does this happen to someone like me? I had just finished dabbing on lip gloss when I flung the door open and he literally took my breath away. I had never seen him in anything but jeans, and standing in front of me was a gorgeous man in a well-tailored dark blue suit. My eyes roamed over his thick, dark hair, down to his eyes and I gave his suit a quick once over, a smile touching the corners of my mouth.
“Wow, you clean up really nicely Jonathan.”
He laughed at the look of wonder on my face. “Thanks, I think.” The smile started to fall from his lips as his eyes perused my body. My dress was a spaghetti strap, light pinkish purple fitted dress that skimmed by body but was not tight. It fit me perfectly and I knew that it flattered my figure.
“Skylar, you look stunning, absolutely beautiful.” There was lust in those eyes, I saw it plain as day, and it made me feel good to know that he wanted me.
I suddenly felt very shy because he would not take his eyes off of me. “Thank you.” I grabbed my sweater and closed the door behind me and turned to him. “Shall we go?”
“After you.” His mood had shifted slightly and he was a bit reserved as we walked to the car.
“Is something wrong Jonathan?” I was worried that somehow in the past two minutes I had screwed things up.
“Not at all.” He managed a small smile but it did not reach his eyes.
What did I do? I started to doubt myself and was grateful that I’d be seeing my parents in a few minutes when Jonathan turned to me before we got in the car, his eyes searching mine. He smoothed away the hair that the gentle breeze had blown into my eyes and smiled at me.
“You look so beautiful Skylar, I’m really happy that you and your parents decided to have
dinner with us tonight, it’s going to be fun.”
“I think it will be fun too.”
The driver came around and opened the door to the sleek black mercedes and I felt like a princess as I slid into the car. Jonathan’s parents were inside and siting right next to his mom was Boobs McGee with a huge smirk on her face. You have got to be kidding me. What the hell is Barbi doing here? I quickly composed myself because the last thing I wanted to do was come off as snarky in front of Jonathan’s parents. I dug deep and pasted a saccharin sweet smile on my face and said hello to her.
“Barbi, what a nice surprise, I didn’t realize that you would be joining us.”
She returned an equally fake smile. “It’s nice to see you Skylar.”
Okay, what’s going on here? Jonathan could not possibly think that he could get away with taking two girls out at the same time, especially when one of them had their parents coming along! I shot Jonathan a look and he didn’t seem fazed by the situation at all.
Jonathan’s dad spoke up. “Skylar, I probably should have mentioned that our cousin was joining us, my apologies.” Wait, what? Cousin? And, was that annoyance I saw on his face? Was he not happy that she was there?
I was shocked into silence as I processed what he just said. Barbi is their cousin? If she was related to Jonathan then why was she hanging all over him like that all the time? Ewww gross! I was still trying to process and the conversation continued on without me. Barbi was saying something to Jonathan but everything was a garbled mess to me as the words swirled in the air making no sense at all.
“Skylar dear you look gorgeous, simple breathtaking.” His mom was very sweet and it snapped me out of my confusion.
“Thank you Mrs. Hunter.” I was really happy that she approved. The words were feeble as my brain continued to try to figure out what was going on.
“Beautiful dress Skylar, just stunning.” Mr. Hunter gave Jonathan a quick look a small smile. I was happy that they both approved and really happy that Barbi witnessed it first-hand. I glanced at her and she had a bit of a snarl curling her lip at the compliments aimed toward me.
“Thank you.”
“I have to apologize if I seem a bit dazed, I had no idea that Jonathan and Barbi were related.” My gaze slid to Jonathan and I had to control the annoyance I felt about him not telling me she was his cousin.
Barbi piped in with her obnoxious baby voice. “Well, technically we’re not related. My mom married Jonathan’s cousin.”
Oh, so that’s why she was always all over him, there was no blood relation. I doubted that any kind of relationship between those two would be allowed in Jonathan’s family.
“Yes, Barbara’s mother is his third wife to be exact, and they were married less than a year ago.” That was definitely an annoyed look on his face. Mr. Hunter was not being subtle at all about his feelings. So, Barbara, huh? I knew her real name couldn’t be ‘Barbi with an i’. She’s a moron.
Jonathan finally jumped into the conversation to try to smooth things over. “I was trying to tell you when I walked you home from the library a couple of weeks ago.”
I noticed his mom glance at me and I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. I didn’t want them to know that Jonathan and I had any friction so I was anxious for him to get on with what he was going to say.
“Barbi’s mom is married to my dad’s cousin Ethan, which makes him my cousin too. It was a surprise for the family because it happened so quickly but I think they’re settling in just fine, and so are we, right dad?” Jonathan shot his dad a look and his father was busy tapping away on his phone.
“Joshua, your son is speaking to you.” Her voice was stern and his dad quickly put down the phone and looked at Jonathan.
“Yes, we’ve welcomed our newest family member with open arms.” His smile was cold and I could tell that it wasn’t genuine. He doesn’t like her!
I decided to needle Barbi a bit. “Barbara,” I gave her a pointed stare, “are your parents coming this weekend?”
She did not look happy with me at all and I seem to have hit a sore spot. I don’t know if it was because I called her by her real name or because I asked about her parents. Whatever it was, it put a pretty big scowl on her face and I was loving it. Mr. Hunter jumped in before she could answer.
“No, unfortunately my flighty cousin and his wife decided to go to Paris at the last minute rather than visit her only child during her first semester away from home.” Mr. Hunter definitely did not hold back his real feelings. He really didn’t like his cousin!
I glanced over at Barbi who’s cheeks were bright red with embarrassment. It sucked that her parents didn’t seem to care about her. I almost felt sorry for her but then she gave me a sly smirk as Jonathan put his arm around her.
“We’re here for you Barbs.”
Where I normally would have felt pangs of jealousy that Jonathan had his arm around her, my feelings for him grew even more as I realized that he was a genuinely nice person. He didn’t want her to feel alone and I could tell that it was nothing more than that for him. Barbi was another story. I knew that she wanted him and she seemed like the kind of girl that would do anything to get what she wanted. Hopefully Jonathan was smart enough to know that.
I glanced at Jonathan’s parents and saw subtle disapproving looks on both of their faces. The car pulled up to my parents’ hotel and his parents looked incredibly relieved and I couldn’t tell why until my parents got in the car.
“Hello you two, why don’t you sit over there. Barbara come sit next to me.” Jonathan’s mother was not playing around, she did not want bimbo Barbi next to her son.
Barbi had a definite pout on her face as she left Jonathan’s side. My parents sat next to me and I moved closer to Jonathan to make more room for them. His arm felt so warm and comfortable against mine, I didn’t ever want to move. Our parents were chatting away and his hand was resting near my leg and he discreetly and gently rubbed the side of my thigh with his pinkie. I gave him a quick glance from the corner of my eye and he gave me a small smile and winked at me. Uh, the butterflies went crazy.
I glanced over at Barbi and she was watching us like a hawk and I didn’t care. I was happy that she saw us together because hopefully she would get the message that he liked me and not her.
My mom gave me a quick glance after she was introduced to Barbi and I could tell that she was not a fan. Barbi was sticky sweet to my parents and my mom and Jay could spot a fake person from a mile away.
My parents and Jonathan’s parents chatted like old friends in the car and Jonathan and I chimed in every now and then, but Barbi was silent and I could tell that she felt out of place. If it wasn’t for her, the scene would have been perfect. I discreetly pinched my arm in the car to make sure that all of this was real. It was so surreal yet seemed so natural that Jonathan and I were out to dinner with our parents and the night was almost perfect, except for Boobs McGee.
After we were seated, our parents started chatting away but the conversation never turned to what each one did for a living. I was kind of surprised by that because I thought that that was what adults talked about first. I’m sure my mom was relieved that she didn’t have to talk about it. She didn’t love that she worked in a grocery store, but it paid the bills and provided secondary insurance for us.
Dinner flew by quickly even though we were there for over two hours. I couldn’t believe how well my parents and Jonathan’s parents were getting along. Jonathan and I chatted about the weekend festivities for the fam and Barbi was literally pouting throughout the entire dinner because she was not really a part of either conversation. Ugh, She’s so annoying.
The night had been nearly perfect, minus Barbi’s presence, and we were getting ready to dive into dessert when the mood suddenly changed. Mr. Hunter directed the question to me.
“Skylar, have you seen Jonathan’s band play?” There was definite tension behind that question.
“I have, I saw them a few weeks ago, and they were aw
esome!” I was beaming because I was happy that I had the opportunity to let his parents know how talented I thought he was. Little did I know that was the wrong thing to do.
I glanced over at Jonathan and I could see the irritation on his face and then I glanced at his father and his jaw looked razor sharp as he clenched his teeth.
“We like to encourage all of our children’s little hobbies, but I hope that Jonathan hasn’t graced the stage with his presence too many times.”
I didn’t know what to say to that and thankfully Jonathan jumped in.
“Dad, I know what my priorities are, okay? There is nothing to worry about.”
He did not look happy at all as the words spilled out of his mouth and I could tell that his band was a sore spot for his dad. His mom didn’t say anything but, by the look on her face, it was obvious that she felt bad for Jonathan.
