“Nice hair net, Dad,” I said nonchalantly with a slight smirk playing on my lips. “If it weren’t for your apron I might have gotten you confused with mom.”
Closing the oven, he turned around, facing me while wiping his hands off on the dark blue apron that he was wearing. I always thought it was funny that my dad and mom wore matching his and hers aprons. My dad’s is a deep blue and has sausage links circling his waist while my mom’s apron is a hot pink and has two frying eggs on the chest of the apron. Blake has always found both of them to be extremely funny, but I just find them perverted and awkward.
“Not a chance, kiddo. I’m nowhere near as beautiful as Rosie is.” Dad smiled flirtatiously and winked at my mom who blushed and continued stirring the pot that was on the stove.
“Oh gosh, Dad. Can you be any cheesier?”
“If I was any cheesier, I’d be macaroni and cheese,” he replied smoothly, giving me a wink. Then, when Lena and Blake had laughed at his horrendous joke, he took a bow. “Thank you, thank you. I’ll be here all week.”
“This really makes me wonder where I got my amazing sense of humor from…”
Blake poked me in the side. “Your grandma’s pretty funny. Remember last year when she came to visit you for Thanksgiving dinner?”
I chuckled at the memory. “You mean when the wind blew her wig off and she chased it around the front yard for half an hour before finally giving up?”
“Nope.” He laughed lightly, before saying, “I’m talking about how she sat on her glasses and then wore them lopsided for the rest of her visit.”
Dad smiled. “That’s how your mother’s going to be when she gets old.”
Mom laughed and tapped the spoon against the side of the pot before setting it down on the ceramic spoon holder that I had made in art class when I was in fourth grade. She lowered the heat on the stove and turned to us with a smile on her classically beautiful face.
“At least I’ll be a hip and trendy grandma. You’ll probably be a lazy old grandpa with a cane and a balding head,” she teased causing Lena to snicker.
Dad laced his fingers through Mom’s and pulled her close to him with a smirk on his face. “Will you still love me the same?”
Mom giggled and her cheeks flushed a brilliant red. “Of course I will.”
When they leaned in to kiss, I made gagging noises while Lena awed. “Oh my gosh! You guys are so cute! I wish my parents were like that!” chirped Lena, with her hand over her heart and doe-eyed expression on her face.
I looked at Lena with my eyebrows furrowed. “Seriously?” When she nodded, I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Let’s trade then.”
Lena shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. “I wish.”
Blake looked at me curiously as if he wanted me to explain why Lena had said that, but before I was able to respond to his curious look Brianna breezed into the kitchen with her hair gathered up into a high ponytail at the top of her head.
As if she hadn’t noticed the awkward silence that had filled the room merely seconds before she had entered she glanced at everyone before smiling and sending a friendly wave at my parents. Her cheerleading t-shirt was black and decorated all over in different colors of puffy paint, and the athletic shorts she had on were pink and had leopard spots all over them. She was definitely underdressed for the chilly weather that we were experiencing today.
“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Forrester,” she chirped. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m back from practice.” She fiddled with a sweat band that was around her wrist as she spoke.
My mom freed herself of my dad’s embrace and went back over to the stove as she said, “Dinner will be ready soon so you’re just in time. How was your practice?”
Brianna’s face lit up. She had probably been waiting for someone to ask. “It was amazing. We did tumbling for most of the practice and I finally landed my double Arabian layout!”
Dad clapped his hands together loud enough for the sound to ricochet off of the walls and amplify as he said, “I’m just going to pretend like I know what that is, but it sounds extremely complicated.”
“It sure is! Congratulations, Brianna!” screeched my mom in excitement.
To my surprise, Blake dropped his arm from where it was slung over my shoulders and walked over to Brianna, giving her a high-five. “You’ve been trying to get that flip for forever! Congratulations, Bri!”
Bri?
I felt someone’s eyes on me, so I broke my stare at Blake and Brianna and looked toward Lena, who was staring at me with wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows as she mouthed, “What the hell?”
In response to her unspoken words, I shrugged and turned back to Brianna and Blake. Blake had moved away from Brianna and was now engaging in conversation with my dad while Brianna talked to my mom as she chopped up some vegetables. It was annoying how she bounced on the soles of her feet as she spoke. How can someone be so freaking happy about landing a dumb flip? I guess that means I have to be the one to rain on her parade.
Lena watched me as I walked over to Brianna, casually slinging my arm over her shoulder and cutting her off as I said, “Lena is spending the night tonight so I need my room. I guess you’re just going to have to sleep in the guest room today,” I sighed.
Brianna turned her head toward me and gave me one of her famous fake smiles. “Or I could just hang out with you guys tonight instead. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
I suppressed my groan and tried to think of something to stop that awful idea from coming true. “Well, I don’t think that that would be a great idea. You know, you and Lena don’t really get along that well ever since,” I grappled for something to say, pausing momentarily before something popped into my mind, “you got into that fight with her little sister.”
My mom stopped cutting up the onion that was in front of her and gave Brianna a surprised look. “You got into a fight with Lena’s little sister?” Her eyes were wide, and I could see the unmistakable look that she got when she was judging someone pop into her head. My mom loathed violence almost as much as she hated trans-fat. “What was it about?”
Brianna looked caught off guard as she opened her mouth and tried to talk but nothing came out. She slightly resembled a fish out of water.
To her relief, Lena stepped in for her. “It was probably about something stupid. Gabriella even refused to tell me what it was about when I asked.”
My mom shrugged and went back to chopping. “I’d like to meet Gabriella someday.”
“Sure. I’d be glad to bring her over one day. She recently started going by Ella though so if she does come over, make sure you call her that. I don’t want her to chew me out,” she chuckled.
My mom laughed along with her. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She turned and focused her attention on Blake as she said, “Blake, hun, are you staying for dinner?”
Blake stopped talking and smiled at my mom. “No, but thank you Mrs. Forrester. I think my mom wants me home for dinner.”
“Do you need a ride home?” my dad offered.
Blake nodded and before he could say yes, Brianna chirped up and said, “I’ll give Blake a ride home.” She tossed me an evil smile.
Blake looked at me, asking me with his eyes if it was all right or not. I didn’t want to be the jealous type of girlfriend who controlled every little aspect of her boyfriend’s life so I shrugged and nodded; pretending like I didn’t care.
Blake looked to Brianna and shook his head. “No thanks. I’ll ride with Mr. Forrester today. Maybe he’ll let me drive…” he trailed off, raising an eyebrow at my dad.
My dad laughed. “Fat chance.”
I smiled at Blake, grateful that he didn’t accept Brianna’s ride. Lena asked for the bathroom and I directed her toward the nearest one. Brianna sent me a glare before she offered to help my mom set the table for dinner. As Blake and my dad got ready to leave, Blake pulled me out onto the porch with him and pushed my back up against the wall beside the screen door. The crisp a
ir blew against the exposed skin along the back of my neck.
“Thanks for not letting Brianna give you a ride home.”
Blake leaned in and pressed his lips gently to mine. To my distaste, he pulled away just as suddenly as he had leaned in. His shattering blue eyes caught the light as he tilted his head down to look at me, causing a few strands of his black fringe to fall into his eyes. “Violet, I love you. I know that you don’t like that I’m becoming friends with Brianna and I respect that. You’re my girlfriend so you’ll always come first. If you don’t want me to hang out with her anymore then I won’t.”
“I don’t like Brianna and I never will. I don’t even understand how you suddenly became friends with her. Why were you at her house in the first place?”
Blake placed his hands on the wall on either side of my head and stared straight into my eyes. “Promise me that you won’t tell her if I tell you?”
“I promise.”
He shifted on his feet before saying, “Brianna failed physics last year, so she was forced to repeat it this year. Apparently, Brianna has already skipped that class four times and it’s not even the third week of school yet so her physics teacher gave her an ultimatum; either she could join the school’s academic decathlon club, or she would get a call home to her parents and possibly get kicked off of the cheer squad. You know that cheerleading is basically her life. Without it all she has are her overbearing parents and her fake friends that don’t really even care about her. So she joined the academic decathlon team and that’s how we started hanging out. A few of my teachers saw my grades and offered me extra credit if I joined the team. Apparently, we lose to every school in our district each year.” He shrugged and reached his hand up to my face to brush a stray strand of hair away. His fingers lingered against my cheek for a moment as his face tilted downward, slowly moving closer to mine.
Quickly, I pressed two fingers to his lips, halting the kiss. “That doesn’t explain why you were at Brianna’s house though.”
The screen door slammed open next to us, causing Blake to jump away from me. My dad sent us a knowing look before tossing his car keys into the air and swiftly catching them. “Oops. Did I interrupt something?” he feigned an innocent face. “I sure hope I did,” he teased, smirking wickedly. “Ready, Blake?”
Blake nodded his head yes at the same time that I said no.
“Dad, can you give us a moment?”
“Nope,” he said in a sing song voice.
“Please?”
“You have until I start the car.”
I smiled smugly. “Thank you.”
He shrugged and turned away, jogging down the driveway toward the car.
“Smart man,” whispered Blake under his breath.
I shook my head, stepped forward and gripped the cotton of his shirt between my fingers; pulling him toward me. “So why were you at—?”
The sound of the engine starting cut me off causing me to frown and Blake to chuckle.
“I’ll tell you later.” He bent down, pressing his soft lips to mine as the smell of his spearmint gum washed over me. The sound of the car horn beeping at us made me jump in surprise.
“I think I should go.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing at the car that held my impatient father.
“Probably,” I agreed.
“I love you.”
I hesitated at his words. “Thanks,” I replied after a few beats of silence. My cheeks burned as I realized what I had said. To hide the tinge of red in my cheeks I tilted my head down in embarrassment. Say it back, Violet! I encouraged myself mentally.
Blake ruffled my hair and turned away, running toward the car. As they pulled out of the driveway I stood shell-shocked on the porch. I watched the tail lights on the car until it turned at the end of our street with one thought on my mind.
Blake had said that he loved me.
I groaned internally as I thought about my lame response to his sudden announcement of his love for me.
Thanks.
“Gosh, I am such a freak.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying for years. It’s good to know you finally agree with me.”
I spun around to face the owner of that voice, not surprised when I saw who it was. Brianna stood in the doorway with the screen door cracked open and a sinister smile adorning her face. Crossing my arms over my chest, I questioned, “Were you spying on me?”
Brianna scoffed. “Yeah, like my life is so boring that I have to spend time watching you,” she answered with sarcasm so thick in her voice that I could imagine it dripping from her mouth.
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“I only came to tell you that dinner is ready.”
“All right,” I muttered back, but Brianna had already let the door swing shut and was heading back to the kitchen, leaving me to follow.
Chapter 15
“Stop moving, Forrester. You’re going to ruin it!”
To my distaste, the skin on the back of my neck continued to itch intolerably. Letting out a deep sigh, I wiggled my freshly painted toe nails that glittered when they caught the light. Despite my earlier thoughts about how painting your nails makes you look like a self-absorbed, pampered girly-girl, I actually liked the way that the sparkly orange nail polish looked against my skin. My eyes focused on my half painted finger nails that were still in the process of being completed. Lena sat at the center of my bed with her legs folded under her as she held my calloused hand in her thin delicate one. She balanced the bottle of nail polish on her thigh, being careful not to spill anything as she dipped the nail brush into the bottle and began sweeping it in even strokes over my nail.
“I swear you’re going to look so pretty when I finish.”
Rolling my eyes, I scoffed at her statement. “Yes. Because having colorful nails can really change your appearance.”
Lena tilted my hand up and blew on the wet polish that coated each nail. “Just wait and see. After I finish your nails, pluck your eyebrows, and add a little eyeliner, you’ll be breathtaking.”
I scrunched my face up in confusion at her words. “Who said that you could give me a freaking makeover?”
“I did. Come on, it’s the least you could do. Help me take my mind off of the fact that I got suspended for standing up for you.” She smirked at me, obviously thinking that I was going to allow her to cover my face with clown paint just because she defended my honor by punching Brianna. Yeah, right. I would have done that myself eventually anyway.
“Boo-who. I got suspended for a week last year. It’s really not that bad not having to go to school. I think you’ll survive.”
Lena let go of my hand and plucked my wrist before giving me a self-satisfied glare when I realized that I was incapable of plucking her back. “Serves you right.”
“Whatever. I guess you can do my makeup, but if I don’t like it then I’m taking it off. No hesitation.”
“Deal.”
The room elapsed into a comfortable silence for a moment. A trace of Lena’s smug smile was still lingering on her lip gloss covered lips. Trying to start up a conversation that wasn't about myself, I said, “So, what happened at your house? I mean, what happened to make you want to spend the night? Not that you aren’t welcome here, because you are! I'm just curious.”
Lena looked up at me from under her eyelashes. She shrugged her shoulders absentmindedly. “Do you want the long version or the short version?”
I didn't even have to think about my answer. “Long.”
Lena smirked, “I knew you'd say that. You're so predictable.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Don't change the subject. Get on with the story.”
Lena nodded, taking a moment to blow gently on my nails before beginning. “It all started about two years ago. My parents had some big news to tell Ella and me, so we all sat down to have a family meeting.” She rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Of course we were worried about what they wanted to talk to us about. We only
ever had family meetings when one of us were getting into trouble, or something bad had happened in our family.” Lena focused her eyes on mine. “Seriously, only bad stuff. Like when my uncle went to prison we had a family meeting. When my grandpa died, we had a family meeting.”
I nodded, telling her that I understood so that she could proceed with her story.
“I remember knowing that something was wrong as soon as I sat down. The look on my dad's face said it all. I think Ella had been worried that our parents had found out that she had snuck out the night before to hang out with her boyfriend or something. She looked worse than my dad did because a few days before she had been banned from seeing him.” Lena cracked a small smile. “I had been hoping that she had gotten caught, because then that would have meant that nothing really bad was going to happen.
“Even though my dad looked nervous and worried, my mom had a forced smile on her face. If you knew my mom back then, you would have understood why even the slightest of smiles made us less worried. She’s always been harder on us than my dad is, so we knew that any form of smiling during a family meeting would be an indication that we weren't getting into trouble, which we didn’t.”
She looked away, and let out another deep sigh. She was silent for a second before she looked back in my direction and met my eyes. “She was pregnant.”
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion at her words. When I had first met Lena, she told me that she only had one sibling—Ella. Why would she lie?
“They told us right away that they didn’t want either of us to get attached to the baby, because they didn’t plan on keeping it. At the time we were short on money, and my dad was working two jobs just trying to make ends meet. My mom had just gotten laid off so we were living from paycheck to paycheck. I even had to sell my car to one of the girls that went to my school.” I watched an annoyed expression pass over her face for a brief moment at the mention of that.
“They told us that they were going to give the baby up for adoption because it would be unfair to bring a baby into the world when they couldn’t afford another child. I understood what they were thinking, but I found it extremely unfair that my little brother or sister was going to be given away when my parents had kept Ella and me. Despite our money struggles, we were all still a family and we loved each other. I didn't see how having a new baby would make that any different. By the time the baby was born anyway, I figured that we would have been done with our money problems. I just hoped that my parents were going to change their minds and keep it.
Crush: A YA Romance Collection Page 34