by Sarah Tork
“What is that?” I asked the food attendant, horrified at the cheese covered pancake shaped vegetable.
“Eggplant Parmesan,” the food attendant quickly answered. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I pulled my plate back.
I fucking hated eggplant! Mom knew this!
“No, thank you.” I quickly moved to the next tray. It’s a rice dish, but it looked gooey with some sort of white meat sticking out of it.
“What’s that?” I asked the next attendant, trying to mask the look of confused disgust on my face.
“That is squid risotto,” the attendant answered and my plate jerked back in response.
Squid!
How could she!
This time I couldn’t hide the look of distain from my face. I had fucking stomach issues when it came to octopus or squid.
Mom knew this!
Next table.
There were three covered trays and I stopped in front of the first one, praying that it was something I could actually eat.
I exhaled and asked the million-dollar question again.
“What’s that?” I asked the third food attendant, an older woman who looked like she was on the cusp of retirement. She lifted the lid and…. lots and lots of ONIONS!!!
“Chicken and onions,” she answered tiredly, which was also code for ‘Bitch, if you don’t want it, move on, fucking hell!’.
I.
Fucking.
Hated.
Onions!
Mom knew this!
“Can you give me the chicken with absolutely no onions on it?” I asked the woman. She peered into the tray and moved things around with her tongs.
“I’ll do my best,” she said, grabbing a piece of chicken with the least amount of onions on it and placed it onto my plate. I looked back and forth between the chicken that still had onions on it, and the woman, horrified and confused that maybe she didn’t understand what I asked her.
I quickly twisted my neck and searched the room for Mom, finding her seated at her ‘special table’, laughing it up with her people, eating this poor excuse for food.
Look up and face me, you shedevil! I urged her silently, hoping she’d look up and catch my death glare. She didn’t.
“Are you going?” the person behind me asked, breaking my focus.
“Sorry.” I said and moved to the next tray, peering in and sighing in relief at a selection of roasted potatoes in which I held out my plate happily for. The next tray had some sort of lemon infused fish.
Fuck.
No.
The next and last tray was pasta.
“What is that?” I asked an older man, who also looked like he was on the cusp of retirement. Trust Mom to pick a place that employed senior citizens, making them work for practically nothing while being made to work like slaves.
Fucking.
Selfish.
“Eggplant—” he began to say.
“What?!” I moaned, horrified.
“Lasagne,” he finished saying.
Eggplant lasagne!
How could she!
Fucking eggplant lasagne!
WHY!
Mom took my hate list of food and made a buffet out of it.
“No, no, no, no, no…. no thank you!” I jerked my plate back and turned away from the buffet table, coming face-to-face with Ben’s table, where Ben was happily munching on his overloaded plate. That momma’s boy loved and ate all kinds of food. He wasn’t picky with food like I was. He wasn’t picky with lips either…. you know, just pointing it out.
He picked this beautiful moment, while I looked like I was on the verge of cracking, to look up and make eye contact. He looked down at my plate, beginning to snicker. Taylor, one of our parents’ friend’s kids who was our age, looked up at the sound of Ben’s laugh, followed his line of sight to me, glanced at my plate, and began laughing.
“All your favourites, right, Marisa?” Taylor laughed out loud with food in his mouth. “Come join us.”
I narrowed my eyes at them, annoyed at the sound of their laughter. “No, thank you. I’m going to sit with my sister.”
“You’re going to sit at the kid table?” Taylor asked in disbelief, looking between Ben and me. Ben stopped snickering and leaned back in his chair, looking at me, waiting for my next answer.
“That’s right, the kid table.” I told them and walked away. Back at my table, all the kids were already there, happily eating with no problem.
How come, out of everyone, I was the one who had a freaking picky eating problem?
Why was I always the one who had to be different?
And not in the good way, more like always-the-cause-of-trouble kind of way.
I placed my plate down, and smoothed my dress sitting down. I dug into the salad first, as it looked to be the most appetizing.
“How is everyone doing here?” Mom’s high–pitched, fake happy voice towered over us. I looked up and her eyes are wide and excited.
Everyone muttered ‘good’, hoping that would be the end of it, but it wasn’t, because her eyes settled on me.
I didn’t join the ‘good’ mutters with everyone else.
I placed my fork down.
“The food, oh my God, it is absolutely amazing. I don’t know how you did it all, simply wonderful. So good!” I practically yelled in faux joy, also using a thumbs-up to illustrate how yummy the food is.
Mom’s eyes narrowed for a moment before returning to…..
“That’s lovely, I’m glad you’re enjoying it!” she yelled back and looked away. She moved along to the next table. I glanced around the room and everyone was staring. I looked across the dance floor at Ben’s table. He wasn’t looking, but he was shaking with laughter.
I looked away scowling and glanced at my table, everyone was staring at me too. “What are you guys staring at?” I picked my fork back up, spearing my salad.
“You and Mom, I’ve missed it,” Darcy said, giggling. Jennifer, Ben’s sister, joined in, as did Cameron and Johnny.
*~*~*
“I ate too much. Maybe I should sit this one out, Darcy.”
“But this is our song, Marisa!” Darcy shouted in disbelief.
“Alright, alright, I’m coming.” I got up, smoothing my dress in the process, and allowed her to push me to the now-crowded dance floor. I slowly swayed to the heavy beat of the song, as Jennifer and Darcy danced wildly to the track. Behind them, I saw Mom and Gwen busting a move with their friends.
After dancing to a few more dance tracks, my feet were killing me. I wanted to sit down. A minute away from foot comfort, I glanced up at the sound of high-pitched squeals and saw Mom and her friends coming over, shaking their hips around us. I looked away embarrassed, hoping the track would finish, like now.
I glanced around the group for Mom’s partner-in–crime, surprised she wasn’t there with the crew busting a move like they were back in the good old days. Mom danced her way over to Darcy, leaving me to awkwardly dance by myself.
That’s when it happened.
I looked up and Gwen was dragging someone into the crowded dance floor with her.
Ben.
All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my back push me forward. I turned and saw Mom pushing me a few feet before pulling back and shuffling away. I glanced up at Ben, who was standing right in front of me with his jaw clenched, seeming uncomfortable.
I heard the song dim to an end and breathed a sigh of relief. I turned around to march straight back to my seat, but a pair of hands grabbed my arm. I turned to see Ben grabbing my other arm as the DJ began to play a slow song.
“What are you doing—” I began to say, but Ben’s arms circled my waist. I shut up and circled my arms around his neck instinctively.
“Let’s just dance,” Ben murmured a few inches away from face.
CHAPTER 15
“What do you think you’re doing?” I whispered to him, his soft brown eyes taking me hostage for a moment.
“Dancing, isn’t that obvio
us?” he answered softly, showing me sweet Ben.
Sweet Ben was a deadly assassin in the emotion department. I could not let him win.
“It’s obvious, but you know what I mean,” I replied back, mimicking his tone, but with a touch of assertiveness.
“Do I?” he asked, not blinking.
“Whatever,” I murmured, concentrating on swaying my body to the music instead of his hard body.
Crap…. there’s that good old trouble inside me, stirring.
“Can you like…. give me some space, please?” I pulled my body away from his, but his arms tightened in response, pulling me back in again.
“I’m good where I am,” he murmured.
“Yeah? Well, I’m not, so a little space, please,” I pulled back again, and this time he stayed still.
“Better?” he asked.
“Much,” I replied, noticing his eyes were clouded with anger.
“What?” I asked defensively.
He looked away and shook his head.
“What’s the problem now?” I asked him, and he turned his eyes back to me accusingly.
“It’s going to be okay,” I murmured. “I understand, though.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked warily and I leaned in a little.
“I know what it feels like to chafe down there. Be sure to tell your mommy to use baby powder tonight when she’s changing your diaper right before you go night-night, okay?” I told him, doing my best to keep a straight face.
It was really hard.
“Song’s over, nice dancing with you,” I told him abruptly, and then left him standing alone on the dance floor. Sitting back down, I glanced at the still-crowded dance floor. Ben was hunched and flailing his arms around angrily.
Which he had no right to be, because he was the villain in this story, not me. The crowd cleared away, and Mom and Gwen were in front of Ben, seeming shocked as he said something, and then quickly walked away from them.
As Ben made his way off the dance floor, the terrible twosome turned around with their greedy eyes scouring the room for the criminal that was I.
I felt the sting of both their eyeballs when they finally located my ass.
They gave me the death/poor-excuse-for-a-human-being glare; adding a shake of the head and a roll of the eye, and they were finished. They gave me their backs and returned to their friends to get jiggy with it, not wanting to let me ruin this fabulous evening like I’d always done in the past…. supposedly.
They weren’t going to let me win this time.
I didn’t deserve their time.
So inconsiderate and rude of me.
Jesus, why couldn’t I just open my eyes and see that I was just so lucky to even have a catch like Ben in my life? I mean, who else would see me like he did?
A prized possession, the rose of his flower garden, the Earl Grey tea in his tea collection, when I was really just an Orange Pekoe, the store brand version, but I was graciously being treated as if I was Earl Grey. I should have considered that and appreciated it.
No.
Fuck them.
I may have been just the store-brand version of Orange Pekoe in their eyes, but I knew that I was more than that. In fact, I was the store-brand version of Orange Pekoe that came in a packet of twenty, wrapped and rivalling prices of the top-selling tea in the aisle.
So suck on that, bitches!
“A cola, please,” I ordered at the bar, leaning against the marble countertop. As the bartender filled a glass, I thought I heard someone whisper my name. I glanced at the entrance and saw Daniels’s head peeking through from the hallway.
“Daniels?” I mouthed, surprised as he waved me over. I held up a finger for him to wait a second while I grabbed my drink from the bartender, quickly glanced around the room and entered the hallway, finding Daniels waiting for me.
“Is everything okay, am I taking too long?” I asked him worriedly.
“No everything is okay. I’m fine. It’s just, Mr. Barns has been trying to contact you for the last half-an-hour, and he’s called me to pass along a message, considering my near location.” Daniels replied politely and professionally.
“He called you to come and tell me to pick up my phone?” I asked him slowly, slightly bewildered.
Daniels stared at me for a few seconds before answering with a small smile. “I’m sorry, Ms. Gellys, but if you can just give him an answer, all will be okay again,”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Daniels nodded, looking relieved. “I’ll be outside when you’re ready.”
Daniels walked away and I took a deep breath and entered back into the party. The DJ kept the dance theme going, blasting a very loud track that had everyone excited and jumping all over the dance floor.
That’s good, nobody noticed me gone. I scoured the room for a few seconds as I made my way over to the table to get my bag so I could see how many missed calls I had from Xander, A.K.A that sneaky son-of-a-bitch.
As I made my way toward my bag that I could see sitting by itself at the kids’ table, from the corner of my eye a hand flailing out caught me off guard. I turned my head, seeing Gwen and Mom consoling an angry Ben.
As I arrived to the table, Mom caught me looking and gave Gwen a nudge. Their eyes narrowed on me, while their injected lips did their version of a snarl. Ben turned around to see what they were scowling at, and once he saw it was just little old me, he shook his head and walked away.
What was the princess-boy upset about now?
Was he upset about having to stay at the party when he could be out making out with some more short, red-heads?
I leaned over the table and grabbed my clutch when something in the air switched. I felt a certain danger approaching, and my heart began to beat faster.
Shit.
“Where were you just now?” Mom screeched behind me, but not loud enough for any of her precious party guests to hear her lose it. I slid the clutch underneath my arm and raised an eyebrow.
Hold the fuck up, in that tone – yeah, I don’t think so. I turned around, finding Mom and Gwen with the annoyed scowls on their faces. Simultaneously, they folded their arms over their chests.
Oh Mom, you never will learn, will you? You can’t talk to me like you did before. I inhaled some oxygen, getting my motor running to annihilate.
I had a treat for them.
Well, a treat for me, punishment for them. What could I say? They should have known better.
They’re going to get it…. soul destroying style.
Activating Marisa in humiliation mode…
COMMENCED.
I gave them a small smile. “I was looking for the bathroom when I realized I forgot my bag,” I held my clutch up to them. “I need to change my tampon_”
“Marisa!” Mom hissed, interrupting me rudely while looking left-to-right in case anyone heard.
I kept going. “My flow these past few days has been off the charts, crazy heavy. I’m bleeding everywhere, thank God, I brought extra TAMPONS IN MY BAG!”
A few people around us stopped what they were doing, pretending they weren’t listening. It wasn’t the whole room, but a few people listening in on my period rant was enough to get Mom’s blood boiling.
Her eyes bulged out, seething. Her head twitched and Gwen held her shoulder to calm her down, to reassure her, that yet again, I probably was joking.
“I’m… not… joking,” I growled lowly to Gwen and then hurried out of the room with my heart beating like crazy.
Wow… I just did that.
I just freaking did that and if felt fucking amazing!
If Mom knew anything about me, she would have known what I’d just declared was a lie. She should know that my cycle started at the beginning of the month, not in the middle.
Shouldn’t a mother know when her daughter’s cycle was?
So, shame on her for forgetting when I’d get my period. She deserved that lie. I didn’t have my period, in fact except for the whole cream coloured
thong fiasco I was clean as a whistle down there.
I douched regularly.
My clutch vibrated underneath my arm, reminding me of Daniels impromptu visit about missing Xander’s calls. I took my phone out mid-buzz and went to the bathroom at the end of the hallway.
In the ladies bathroom, I checked each stall for security reasons and picked the handicapped stall. The toilet had a seat cover, which was great because I needed to sit. My feet were killing me.
Xander: 7:30
I can’t wait….
Xander 7:32
Answer me…
Xander: 7:50
You know I always get what I want…I’ll be seeing you later…it’s a fact.
Xander: 8:10
Tried to call you….hope your dad’s party is going well…I’m having a good time too, a real good time…
Xander: 8:15
Tell me how good of a time you’re having…then I can tell you about mine…it’s so good right now…
Xander: 8:35
Why will you not answer your phone? I find it ridiculous that you can’t answer a simple phone call or text! I need a status update…when are you coming over?
Xander: 8:45
Be a nice kitty and give Uncle Xander a ring…he misses you.
Xander: 8:50
I’m not that perverted…I just like what I like…can’t you understand that? When are you going to get here? If I must be honest, the wait…it’s a bit torturous. Come over…soon.
Xander: 9:01
Answer your phone or else I’m going to call Daniels to come in and get you. I need to know when you’re coming over.
Xander: 9:18
Baby, please…give me something. I was good to you...No?
Marisa: 9:20
Fuck you, mother fucker! I can’t just leave my father’s fiftieth birthday party to come and give you the thong I’m wearing. I’ll be leaving within the next hour…but I won’t be coming over. I’ll give Daniels the thong in a plastic bag and I’ll go straight home. Do as you please with it. I don’t owe you shit after this.
