Lone Star in Jersey

by Anne Key

  “Have a seat.”

  Eli looked between them. He didn’t want to sit next to Dad, and Mom looked like she’d swallowed something sour. He pulled the big ottoman over to sit on instead.

  “Eli.” His dad looked at his mom. “Your mom just got off the phone with Sammy’s dad.”

  “Yeah?” He’d given them the phone number, so he figured they’d be talking. Oh god. Did Sammy’s dad not want her to go? Wait. Did her dad not want her to go with him? “What’s going on?”

  “So, he seems to understand that you asked his daughter out to a dance….” Dad didn’t sound all too happy.

  Eli shrugged. If he made it seem like no big deal, then they’d be, like, no big deal too. Right? “Well, yeah.”

  “And you didn’t think we might like to know? Maybe meet her or be involved in this?” Huh. Neither did Mom.

  Involved how? Involved in his date? That made no sense. “Sorry. I asked Sammy to go with me to the dance. There. It’s just a dance, Mom.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Just a dance. Are we going to get to meet her?”

  “Yeah. I mean, if you want to, I guess. You want me to invite her over? Like Sunday or something?” Well, that wasn’t so bad. They just wanted to meet Sammy? “You’ll like her, Mom. She’s really smart and funny and she’s from Texas.” And her hair smells like strawberries, and she’s so pretty.

  “Are you two dating, Eli?”

  Eli looked at his dad, who sounded mad or something. He knew he had to keep it cool with his father. “No, Dad. I just asked her to the dance is all. Everyone is going.”

  He wasn’t sure exactly why he was in trouble, but he knew he was. This sucked. He was supposed to do normal kid things, right? Normal things other boys did? Wasn’t that the point?

  “Michael.”

  Dad sighed. “I’m getting to it, Ellen.”

  Oh, he was definitely in trouble. Dad looked at Eli. “Eli, your mom and I want to make sure you’ve thought this out. This year—this move, the new school—we did it so you could be yourself, so you could live as a boy. So you could pass.”

  “I know, Dad.”

  “We’re glad that you’ve been able to do that so far and that you’ve made some friends.”

  “Yeah, it’s cool.” He seriously had no idea where Dad was going with this, but it felt like that talk they’d had when he first said he wanted to cut off his hair. They were happy he wanted to be himself, but maybe he should just go with a bob until he was sure.

  “But have you thought about what happens after the dance? What if Sammy wants to date you?”

  Well, he had talked about it with Doc, actually, and they’d made some decisions. Eli knew he had to tell Sammy the whole truth if things went well. “I have to be honest.”

  That was Part Four of The Plan, but it was super scary, and he didn’t want to think about it right now. He still could make a mess of the whole dance thing, and then he wouldn’t need to say anything at all, right? So.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s just a dance, okay? I’m not thinking about after, yet.”

  Dad looked at Mom and shook his head.

  What? he thought. What did I do this time?

  “Let it go, Michael. You’ve said your piece, hmm?”

  Eli saw his dad shake his head again, and Eli just knew. He knew he’d somehow let Dad down again and had probably said the wrong thing. Dad didn’t want him to take Sammy to the dance; he sure heard that. But he honestly didn’t understand why.

  Every time they had a big discussion, it was the same thing. He knew that part of Dad wanted Elizabeth back, not because Dad didn’t like Eli but because Elizabeth was easier. Eli made things hard—confusing—he understood that. Thing was, Elizabeth never really existed. It even took a while for Eli to realize that for himself. One day, he’d make his dad see it too.

  “Do you know what you’re going to wear? Do you need to get her a corsage?”

  Eli looked at his mom. It was definitely safer to talk to her right now. Plus, she was asking questions he could actually answer. “I don’t know. I’m trying to figure that out. I’m hoping my friend Erik knows about flowers and stuff because Sammy says he’s taking Mari. I don’t have anything to wear but jeans—you know how hard pants are.”

  “We’ll figure it out. We have a week, right? I bet something with pleats would work.”

  Ick. Pleats. No way.

  “Eli,” Dad interrupted, “what are you going to do when this girl figures all of this out?” He looked like he was going to have a stroke or something. “What if she tells everyone?”

  Then she wasn’t the girl Eli thought she was. “She would never!” Sammy had just made a big deal about not wanting to out her dad, right? She’d never.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do. I trust her. Wait until you meet her. You’ll see.” If things went badly, she might not ever speak to him again, but she’d never tell. He felt kind of sick to his stomach anyway. “She’s great, Dad. Her mom died, and she had to come up here to live with her dad. She was a cheerleader in Texas.”

  “Invite her to dinner, Eli? Sunday?”

  He nodded, swallowing around the lump in his throat. “Sure, Mom.”

  “Are we not missing the whole point here, Ellen? Eli, you should not be dating. It’s been one month. You should be focusing on school and your own… mental state.”

  “Michael.”

  “No. I’m worried about you, Eli. We spent all last school year watching your friends disappear and worrying you were going to get hurt. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you smile again. I know I’m slow at this, but I’m working on it. I just want you happy. I want you safe. It’s been a good year so far; why risk it?”

  Whoa. Eli struggled through a long silence. What did Dad expect him to say to that? Walking through the doors on the first day of school had been a risk. Talking to literally anyone was a risk. Every freakin’ thing he did felt risky. Hell, each new trick he learned on his skateboard, no matter how much air, felt less risky than the rest of his life. Maybe he was just used to that feeling now. He stood up.

  “Eli.” His mom’s voice was quiet.

  “It’s okay, Mom.” He moved over and sat right next to his dad. “I’m going to the dance with Sammy, Dad.”

  His dad nodded and put his arm around Eli’s shoulders.

  “It’s scary, but I’m not being stupid. Meet her before you make up your mind. She’s cool.” And pretty and good and she laughed at his jokes.

  “You got it.” Dad gave his shoulders a squeeze. “So, we need to have a talk, then?”

  Oh god what now? “Talk?”

  “Yeah. The talk. About girls. And how you treat a date.”

  “Oh my god. There’s a talk?”

  “Mhm. Later. Don’t want to give away my secrets in front of your mom.”

  Mom rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “I can’t wait to meet her, Eli.”

  “I’m going to go text her right now, okay? We’re done?”

  Dad nodded. “Sure, we’re done.”

  Eli hugged his dad, gave his mom a kiss, and then disappeared into his room, closing the door behind him. He finally just let his hands shake and his heart finish pounding—it was too hard to keep it together anymore. That was horrible. And some not. But mostly horrible. The only thing that would have made it worse was if his stupid sister had walked in.

  Okay, so, good stuff. Shopping! So he didn’t have to wear jeans and maybe Sammy would think that was cool. And his parents both knew what was up now, so that was off his chest. And also, maybe he could ask his dad some questions about dancing.

  He picked up his phone and texted Sammy. He deleted and changed his text three times and finally settled on:

  Yo my stupid rents want 2 meet u B4 the dance. Can you do dinner Sunday?

  That was just cool, right? Not too much like he was four and Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t let him have a playdate?

  Daddy says yes. So yay! Should I brin
g something?

  Just your smile Ew. He actually sent that. What a dork.

  She sent him a heart and, okay, wow, that was sort of great. Maybe even less terrifying than he thought it should be. Eli sat at his desk and started shopping for just the right vest.

  Chapter 14

  MARI AND Sammy had plans Saturday, and Erik had some family thing, which meant Eli was so bored that he finished all of his homework. That was a good thing because it turned out he was so anxious on Sunday that his mom had to coax him out of bed at noon with her homemade mac and cheese.

  After that, Mom took him shopping, and that was actually cool. He found gray pants and a black vest with silver stripes. Mom said she thought he was handsome in the vest, and the silver was a little shiny, so if Sammy got sparkly they’d work.

  He gave up on skateboarding after he almost went off the sidewalk twice and then tried to watch a movie, but his eyes were constantly on the clock. Sammy was coming at six, and it couldn’t come soon enough for him. At five thirty, he hurried off to get dressed. He never even asked what Mom was making for dinner.

  The doorbell rang at exactly six o’clock, and both he and Becky came out of their rooms. Eli glared at her, and she gave him an evil smile, but neither of them got to the door first.

  That was Dad.

  Eli figured he better get out there, so he stepped right in front of Becky and headed for the front hall.

  “I’m Michael.”

  “Hey, I’m Seth, and this is my boyfriend, Jian.”

  Holy crap! Sammy’s dad brought his boyfriend. How cool was that?

  “Great to meet you both.” Eli watched them shake hands, trying to keep his eyes from popping out of his head. He loved that Mr. Moore was just so… out. “And you must be Sammy.”

  “Yes, sir. I’m so tickled to meet all y’all. I brought y’all flowers, and Daddy says that wine is like a nice thing, so he has some for y’all too.” How did she not sound nervous?

  “Thank you very much. Come on in.”

  Mom walked right past Eli and gestured into the living room. “I’m Ellen. Apologies, I was in the kitchen.” She looked at him. “You joining us, Eli?”

  “Oh. Yeah.” Eli’s feet had been glued to the spot, but he finally moved, following everyone into the living room and stopping next to the couch. “Hey, Sammy.”

  “Hey there. How’s it going?” She was wearing the sparkly tank top she’d worn the second day of school. “Are you Becky? You’ve got the prettiest hair, I swear. I’ve always, always wanted to be a blonde.”

  Becky bit her lip and giggled, giving Sammy a huge smile. “Thank you, Sammy! I love your tank top.”

  Mom smiled at Sammy, too, and then looked at Mr. Moore. “Would you two like to stay for a glass of wine?”

  “Oh, no thank you. I just wanted to make sure you still have my cell number. Jian and I are going out for a bit.”

  “Sounds like a great idea. Yes, I have it. Maybe next time we’ll plan something for the group of us.”

  “We’d love that.”

  Dad put his arm around Mom’s waist. “We’ll text you after dinner.”

  “Perfect.”

  Dad showed Mr. Moore and his boyfriend out. Eli could hear them talking in the hall. “You’re more than welcome to stay.”

  “I think Sammy would rather we not, you know? This is her evening. We can be kind of—”

  “A lot of company,” Jian interrupted. Everyone laughed.

  “Well, next time, then.”

  “Thanks. See you later.”

  Becky came over and sat right next to Sammy on the couch. Figured. Eli grabbed the ottoman.

  “Eli, maybe you’d like to offer your guest something to drink?”

  He hopped right back up. “Oh. Sure.” His knew his cheeks were hot. “Can I get you something to drink, Sammy? I asked Mom to buy Dr Pepper.”

  “Oh, y’all are dear. Thank you. I’d love some.” She shot him this smile that seemed to say “I got this” and “we’re cool” and “no stress.”

  He had to learn how to do that. Must be a Texas thing, because her accent was deeper than he’d heard it since the first day of school. Whatever she had going on, he was totally ready to go with it.

  Mom followed him into the kitchen, which left Sammy alone with Becky and Dad. But Eli trusted Sammy, and he’d heard Mom tell Dad earlier to be on his best behavior, so Eli wasn’t worried.

  “She’s so sweet, Eli.”

  Eli smiled. “I told you.”

  “And so polite, and I just love her accent.”

  “I knew you’d like her, Mom.” He grabbed a Dr Pepper for Sammy.

  “In a glass, sweetheart. It’s company.”

  “Oh. Okay.” He poured it into a glass with some ice and got a Coke for himself. “Can I go back out now?”

  Mom laughed. “Of course.”

  “Thanks, Mom. For this. For… everything.”

  “Anytime. Go on. Take the girl her drink.”

  Eli walked carefully, because it would be just like him to do something dumb like trip and spill something. Dad and Sammy were sitting across the coffee table from each other. Sammy was smiling and she looked relaxed.

  “Here’s your Dr Pepper, Sammy.” Eli held it out to her.

  “Sammy was just telling me about how you met in that drama class you told me you were going to drop.”

  Eli sat on the ottoman with his drink. “Well, I didn’t drop it; they wouldn’t let me. But it’s kind of turned out to be cool. Besides, I don’t have many classes with Sammy ’cause she’s super smart.”

  “You are way better at acting than me, though. My talents are not in memorizing lines.”

  “You should hear Shakespeare with her accent,” Eli teased, but he made sure he was smiling so it wasn’t mean. “Mr. A loves it.”

  Dad shook his head. “You be nice, son.”

  “Sorry.” But wait, did Dad just call him “son”? Like, in front of someone?

  “Oh, he’s so right. I’m hopeless at the thous and thees, and all because it’s all iambic pentameter, and when I say fire it has, like, six syllables.”

  “Say that again and let me count.”

  “Dad!”

  Dad just laughed, and Becky giggled right along with him. Seriously, she hadn’t stopped staring at Sammy yet.

  “Hey, everyone. Dinner is ready.”

  “Dinner!” Becky hopped up and hurried right into the dining room.

  Dad stood up and leaned closer to Sammy. “Listen, Sammy, I didn’t want to say anything in front of Becky because she’s, well, twelve. But I just wanted to say that Mrs. Green and I are very sorry to hear about your mom.”

  Who was this guy, and what had he done with Dad?

  Eli moved out of the way so Sammy could head into the dining room first.

  “Thank you, sir. I was scared to come here, but everyone’s been so nice. For reals.”

  Eli covered a smile with his hand. That thing Sammy had said about him being a better actor was a total lie. Sammy had Dad wrapped right around her little finger, and she had Becky starstruck.

  “Sammy,” Mom said, setting a huge bowl of spaghetti on the table. “Eli had no idea what you liked to eat, so we just went with simple. This is what we usually have on Sundays anyway. There’s a big salad coming if nothing else appeals. Eli, come get the garlic bread?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’m going to open this nice bottle of wine Seth brought us. You want some, Michael?”

  “Sure, sounds good.” Dad was already sitting when Eli came back with the garlic bread, and Becky was too.

  “Oh, you don’t have to wait on my mom,” Eli said, jogging around the table to get Sammy’s chair. “It’s cool. You can sit.”

  “Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to help?”

  “Nah, I got it.”

  “Eli’s right. Have a seat, Sammy. Help yourself.”

  Mom came back with two glasses of wine and two bottles of salad dressing under one arm,
and placed everything on the table. “Everyone good?”

  “Yup!” Becky dug right into the pasta, and bowls of food started making their way around the table.

  “What part of Texas are you from, Sammy?” Mom asked, serving herself some salad and passing the bowl.

  “It’s a little town called Georgetown. It’s north of Austin about forty some odd miles. It’s the county seat of Williamson County.” Sammy looked at Mom, just straight on, and grinned. “I could tell you all about it, ma’am, but it’s just the kind of place that isn’t big enough for a mall and still has a cattle drive once a year through downtown.”

  “Wow, that just makes this an even bigger change for you, then,” Dad said, breaking off a hunk of garlic bread. “How are you settling in?”

  Eli felt awful for Sammy, getting the horrible third degree from his parents. He’d be so nervous if it were him. But she seemed so cool talking to them.

  “Eli’s helped tons. I swear to y’all, I was so scared, and he was so nice to me when he didn’t have to be. He showed me how to get home that first day. I’d never been on a bus that wasn’t headed to a football game.”

  He was not going to blush at the table in front of his parents. Nope. “That was fun. I hate the bus, anyway.”

  Mom nodded. “It’s nice to live close enough to school to walk.”

  “Or ride,” Eli said, his mouth full of a big bite of garlic bread.

  Becky shifted in her chair. “Can you show me how you do your eyes like that sometime?”

  “Totally! I love to play with makeup. It just takes practice, but that’s fun too, huh?” Sammy winked at her. “I spent a year looking like a drowned raccoon.”

  “Awesome. Thanks! Mom gave me a kit for my birthday, but I’m terrible.”

  Oh, the things Eli could say right now, but he didn’t say any of them. Not with Sammy being so nice to Becky. But Sammy hadn’t seen Mom send Becky back up to her room last week to take off the eyeliner. Wow.

  “So, are you looking forward to the dance?” Mom’s turn, and that was a good one. Eli was about to take a big mouthful of spaghetti, but he waited.