John sounds reasonable, but Peter can’t stop his anger from flaring up. Why does he have to meet all these ridiculous standards, and prepare someone he likes to be analysed by his mother who expects all the women he meets to be perfect. It’s unfair on everyone, except his mother, who seems to get some kind of sick enjoyment out of the whole ordeal.
“Can’t you talk to mom, instead? I don’t want Isobel to lose interest in me because mom is crazy.”
“She is not crazy,” his father says, sternly. “She just wants what is best for you, and this is how she thinks she can achieve that.”
“Ok, well, can you tell her that this isn’t the right way to do that? She’s going to ruin every relationship I ever have, and I’m never going to get married, or have children. Because of mom. You’re her husband. Say something.”
John laughs and shakes his head.
“Since when did you get so dramatic?”
“I’m not being dramatic, dad. She’s the reason I was single for the whole of high school. Every time I brought a girl home, mom destroyed them and they never talked to me again. It’s not OK. Please, dad.”
John sighs and shrugs.
“I’ll see what I can do. I would still talk to Isobel, prepare her.”
“I will. Tell mom she won’t have grandchildren. That ought to help.”
John chuckles and leaves the room, quickly replaced by Jake. He stands in the doorway of the room, wearing jogging pants and a lose fitting shirt. He looks around Peter’s room and nods his head in approval.
“So tidy.”
Peter looks at him, but doesn’t say anything.
“Alright, dude.” He says, as he comes in and throws himself down on the bed next to Peter.
“What do you want?” Peter asks, nudging him over so that he can lean against the wall.
“So hostile. Shouldn’t you be all chirpy this morning? Or wasn’t she that good in the sack?”
Peter punches Jake in the arm, who laughs and rolls out of the way.
“I was just asking.”
“You’re such as ass sometimes.”
“I honestly try my hardest.”
“Why would you over try?” Peter asks, “It’s in your nature.”
Jake shrugs and props himself up against the wall with one of the pillows. He stretches his legs so that they hang over the side of the bed, and then says and does nothing. They just sit in silence for ten minutes, in their own heads, not thinking about anything of particular importance and in no rush to have anything done.
Jake might be an ass sometimes, but he’s still a really good friend. They’re just really comfortable around each other, which is good, since they live together. They don’t see each other all that often anymore, since Jake is always working or at college, and Peter is always studying or on campus. They rarely get to just chill out together, and Peter didn’t realise until now just how much that sucks.
He misses Jake. They should definitely plan to do something together, soon. Maybe go for a drink or go go-karting.
“You know, I think you should consider leaving this Isobel chick.” Jake says, breaking the silence.
Peter looks at him from the corner of his eye, not sure if he’s joking or not. Why would he say something like that?
“Any particular reason?” Peter inquires.
“No. I just think you should ditch. She’s no good for you.”
“Do you even know her?” Peter asks, not really engaging in the conversation properly.
“No.”
“Right. Ok.”
They fall back into silence, and Peter picks up his phone to flip through Facebook.
“I don’t like her.” Jake says.
Peter leans forward to get a better look at Jake. He’s never taken an issue with who Peter has hung around with before, so what has changed? Why is Isobel suddenly a problem?
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know man, I just don’t.”
Jake seems quite sincere, and Peter doesn’t know whether to hit him or to keep interrogating him
“I don’t understand. You don’t like her, for not reason in particular, and because of that, I shouldn’t hang with her anymore? You’re not serious?”
“Essentially.”
This time Peter does hit him, and he makes sure it hurts. Jake rubs his arm, but doesn’t seem too bothered by it.
“What the hell, man? You can’t ask me to do stuff like that, just because you don’t like someone. That’s so stupid. What is your problem?”
Jake shrugs and stands up and walks towards the door, before looking back.
“Figured I should at least ask. You don’t ask, you don’t get, and all that jazz.” And then Jake leaves, and Peter stares after him, shocked.
What the hell was that about?
Peter climbs from the bed and moves over to his desk, ready to pour over his books. He has no motivation to keep studying this stuff, but he figures it won’t do him any harm. He uncaps a highlighter pen and chews on the end while he reads through the book, highlighting facts that he either thinks will turn up on an exam or he doesn’t understand. He’ll return to these parts later and study them more closely.
The book is beyond boring, and he finds himself checking his watch every few minutes, wishing time would speed up just so that he can see Isobel again. He just wants to chill out with her. Maybe have a repeat of this morning.
He’s never experienced anything like it. It was magical. For a start, he’s never had a woman appreciate him so intensely, and he’s never appreciated a woman so much either.
He can’t help but wonder whether it was less to do with skill and more to do with chemistry, but that would be openly admitting to feelings that are too strong so early in them knowing each other.
He lets his mind drift to the time they spend in the shower together.
Just thinking about it sends happy chills across his body. He’s so happy to have finally found someone that he clicks with, and now all he has to do is worry about whether his mother is going to ruin that for him.
He just hopes that Isobel is strong enough to cope with whatever his mother will say to her. Hopefully, John will be able to convince Josie to calm down and be a little gentler. He isn’t overly optimistic about this, but he lets himself hope anyway.
He’s more worried about Isobel coming over now that he was before. Why is Jake suddenly being so weird? Where did that come from? Should he be worried about how he’ll behave tonight? Will he say or do anything weird to jeopardise the meal?
Peter checks his watch again, but he still has a few hours until he needs to be ready. He tries to focus on the book again, but his eyes start to get heavy. He didn’t get a lot of sleep the night before, and it must be catching up with him. He leans his head on the open book and lets himself drift into a light sleep.
He dreams that his mother is shouting at him and Isobel for leaving a mess in the garden, and Peter is trying to explain that he doesn’t have a garden, so that doesn’t make any sense.
“You can’t just go around, leaving messes.” She shouts. “What are you doing, son?”
“Go to your bed, if you’re tired.” His dad says, appearing next to his mother like magic.
He walks from the kitchen to his bed in three steps and falls down.
“It’s ‘cause he was at that girl’s house last night.” His mother says, and Peter begins to wonder if he’s still dreaming.
“Or,” his father counters, “it’s because he’s studying and his parents have just turned up. He’s allowed to feel tired in the middle of the day.”
“I doubt that. It’s because that girl kept him up all night. She must not be very nice if she won’t even let my son sleep.”
“Josie, come to the kitchen.”
Peter’s thoughts drift as the lull of sleep thickens.
“Yo, Peter, wake up. Your girl will be here in an hour.” Jake shakes Peter’s arm until he begins to stir.
“What? Go away, dude. I’
m asleep.”
“I know you are. I’m telling you not to be, because you’ve got to be awake. Isobel will be here soon, bro.”
Peter rubs his eyes clear of sleep and then sits up, staring blearily around the room. Jake stands over him, with his hands on his hips and a grim smile on his lips.
“What’s your problem?” Peter mutters, annoyed.
“You are. And that Isobel chick. But if you insist on having her over, you might as well be there.”
Peter grumbles something about Jake being a piece of excrement, before rolling out of bed and standing up. He stumbles to his wardrobe and pull out his clothes, before going for a quick shower.
The moment the water hits him, he feels himself wake up. He finishes showering, puts on his clothes and dries his hair, styling it so that it looks like he’s just climbed out of bed.
Once he’s satisfied with his look, he goes to the kitchen to check on his mom. She is stood over the stove, stirring a pan while something cooks in the oven. John sits at the table, reading a newspaper and Jake is lounging in a bean bag, playing a game on his phone. Peter sits down at the table, next to his dad.
“That smells amazing, mom. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me until you’ve tried it.”
Peter looks around the kitchen, as if searching for some way to respond to her comment. Upon finding nothing, Peter folds his arms and waits for something interesting to happen.
He’s feeling more nervous now that he’s properly awake. He’s worried about what his mother will say, and the jokes his dad will make and Jake’s sudden personality change. This meal could play out in a million different ways, and he’s not sure either of them will be good for him or Isobel.
“Guys, I need a favor,” Peter asks, remembering something quite vital. “Don’t mention college.”
“What? Why?” Jake asks, looking up from his phone.
“Isn’t that how you know each other?”
“Well, yeah… but…”
“So, why aren’t we allowed to mention it?” John asks.
Peter didn’t think this part through very well. How does he explain that Isobel is pretending she doesn’t go to college, after telling them that he knows her from college? Does he pretend he lied, or admit that she’s playing some strange game with him, where she’s pretending she’s someone that she’s not?
“She’s not doing very well in her classes, so she’s quite sensitive about it.” Peter lies, hoping it’ll put the problem to rest.
“I should have known you’d find a stupid girl.” Josie mutters as she turns the hob off and pours the contents of the pan into a large bowl.
“No, she’s not.” Jake says, raising an eyebrow.
“What?”
Jake looks back down at his phone, as if he didn’t hear Peter. Peter notes that he looks oddly guilty about something, though he doesn’t know what it is.
“Jake, how would you know whether she was doing well or not?” Peter asks, suspiciously.
“So, she’s a liar?” Josie asks, turning to face them both.
“Jake.” Peter insists. “How do you know?”
Jake shrugs and continues to play on his phone. Peter can’t figure him out today. What is going on with him? First, he says that he doesn’t like her, and now he’s been checking up on her grades.
Why?
“What is going on here?” John asks, looking from one boy to the other. “Have you two had a falling out?”
“Not yet.” Peter says, staring and Jake in disbelief.
“Yet?” Jake looks back up defiantly.
“Yes, yet. What do you mean? How do you know?”
Jake sighs and rubs his temples, as though Peter is being a petty child and he’s not got the time to deal with it. This infuriates Peter further, and he stands up so fast that the chair falls behind him.
“Woah, boys.” John says, standing up.
John picks up the chairs and eases Peter into it with one hand on his shoulder. Once Peter is sat back down, John turns to face Jake, who balls his fists.
“Now, what is everyone getting so angry about?”
Peter continues to stare at Jake, hoping he will be the one to admit that he’s done something wrong, and undeniably creepy. Why would he be looking into her school records?
However, Jake says nothing. His fists relax, and his shoulders drop. He looks towards Jake with indifference, as though nothing is wrong. Peter shakes his head.
“You had one of your ex-girl’s look her up, didn’t you?” Peter challenges. “How else would you know what her grades are?”
Jake shrugs and looks away.
“You did! Why?”
Jake ignores him, and Peter is about to shout across the table when the doorbell rings out, throwing them all into silence. They all turn to the door, except Josie who looks up at the clock.
“She’s five minutes early. What if we hadn’t been ready yet?” She exclaims, as she begins to take the food from the oven and place it on the table. “It’s a good thing I know how to be exactly on time.”
She clicks her fingers at Jake and points at the pile of plates and then to the table. He reluctantly stands up and begins to lay the table. John folds his newspaper and looks eagerly at the food as it’s laid in front of him.
“Well?” He says to peter. “Go answer the door!”
Peter rolls his eyes and half jogs to the door. He pulls it open and smiles brightly at Isobel.
“You’re early.” He says, though what he wanted to say was ‘hello’.
Isobel looks down at her watch and then back up.
“I’m sorry.” She whispers. “Did I catch your mother before she was ready?”
Peter laughs, feeling very uncomfortable.
“No, nothing like that. It’s fine. You’re not really early. Practically on time.” Peter doesn’t move away from the doorway. “You look really pretty. Also, hello.”
Isobel giggles at him, and shakes her head.
“Hello.” She looks around him, and into the apartment. “Are you going to invite me in, or are we having dinner in the hallway?”
Peter laughs again, still feeling uncomfortable. He feels as though there is a lot of tension in the kitchen right now, and he doesn’t really want her to feel like she’s walking into the lion’s den. He knows that Jake is probably going to give him the cold shoulder throughout the meal, and his mother is almost certainly going to mention college now.
But, deciding it would be way worse if he made her feel like he didn’t want her inside, he steps to the side and offers to take her coat.
“Ooh, like in the fancy restaurants.” She says, offering him her cardigan. “Thank you, kind sir.”
Peter isn’t sure what to do with the cardigan now that he has it, so he just hangs it on the wall behind him and escorts her into the room.
“Mum, Dad, Jake; This is Isobel. Isobel, meet my parents and my… friend.”
Jake looks up when he hears his official demotion. He scowls and looks down at his plate, and Pater is grateful that he doesn’t chose now to make a scene. He can’t handle that on top of everything else.
“Hello. It’s lovely to meet you.” She gives them all a small wave.
Peter can tell from the off that his dad likes her. He’s never disliked any of his girlfriends, but it’s always nice to know that the theme hasn’t come to an abrupt end.
“Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you too, young lady. Peter has told us so much about you.” John says, politely.
Isobel gives him a startled look, but he returns it with a reassuring smile.
“That’s not true, John. We know absolutely nothing about the girl, other than her name and that she doesn’t respect the need for sleep.” Josie smarts.
Now it is Peter’s turn to look startled. Even John looks horrified at her lack of tact, but Josie continues to bustle around the kitchen, acting as though she hadn’t said anything that might offend.
He pulls out a chair, and Isobel sits down, giv
ing him a questioning look. He smiles sympathetically and sits himself next to her.
“This looks lovely. Thank you.” Isobel tells Josie, politely.
“You haven’t tasted it yet.” Josie replies, shortly.
Unexpected Lover: College Romance Book 1 Page 10