Chapter 24: Thanksgiving Disaster
Despite my moaning and groaning, mom drove me to school the next morning. I knew it had more to do with judging people’s reactions than not wanting me to stress out. And though I didn’t admit it out loud, I was glad for it as well. Having her beside me gave me the strength I needed to face everyone.
It was only when no one pounced on our car or do something drastic that mom finally left. I thought the scene would change once I stepped out of the car, but still nothing. The only thing I got was polite smiles and a few good mornings from my classmates.
Suspicion rising, I began my hunt for Ethan. Found him in his classroom.
“Hey!” He greeted, looking up from a pile of project work.
“Hi.” I shut the door behind me and pulled on the latch. I’d arrived early so there were still twenty minutes left for the first morning bell to ring. Ethan pulled me down on his lap as soon as I came to stand in front of him and his lips were on mine the next instant.
“Mmm!” I complained until he let go. “Don’t distract me, my classmates will start coming in any minute now… speaking of classmates, do you have any idea about the reaction I’ve been getting this morning? Did you do something?”
Ethan laughed aloud. “I’m afraid I have nothing to do with that. It was all you.”
“Me?” I was confused. “What did I do?”
“Remember that speech you gave on Monday? Some of the students who had crowded around that day had recorded the whole thing and now it’s on their social media sites. I’m pretty sure the whole town has seen that video.” Ethan clarified.
“Oh?” I was not sure how I felt about that, but at least everyone’s giving me space, treating me like a normal person.
“How are you feeling?” Ethan asked, burying his face in my shoulders.
“Better. I—” The first bell rung then. “Yikes!” I scrambled out of his lap and with Ethan still chuckling, ran to the door, unlocked and kept it wide open. Thankfully, this side of the hallway was all clear. Looks like nobody was in a hurry to get to chemistry, even with Ethan as teacher.
“Oh!” I turned around before I went off to my first class. “Mom invited you to Thanksgiving dinner tonight! Be sure to show up!”
*
*
“Honey?”
“Yes mom?”
“What’s this?”
“Ummm… a dress?”
“Yes. Very good. Now, care to explain what this two-hundred-dollar dress doing in a box, at the bottom of your closet, labeled “Garbage”?”
“Umm…” Okay, I had no answer for that. Sue me! I hate dresses!
“Akira! I bought this dress for you three years ago!” Mom said exasperated as she continued to sort out my closet, something she loved to do in her free time. “Go and check if it still fits. No, don’t give me that face, it’s not going to work. Change, Akira. Now!”
“Now don’t be like that Tasha. If she doesn’t want to wear a dress, there’s no need to force her.” Came my dad’s voice from the doorway.
I mouthed my thanks to my dad who stood with a towel slung over his shoulders, having just returned from a short trip to Montana.
“Of course there is!” Mom glared at him. “It’s Thanksgiving dinner, Dmitri! What is wrong with you?”
Why did she have to be so melodramatic this early in the morning?
Dad held up both hands in surrender and gave me an “I tried” look, before backing out of the room, leaving me alone with the Boogeyman. Trust me—my mom was just that scary.
“Why are you still here? Bathroom. Now.” She gave me her best intimidating evil eye. Unfortunately, her height was her downfall.
“I’m going, I’m going!” I went to the bathroom without any further protest.
Trying on the dress was not difficult at all since I was thinner than I was three years ago. And I was not ashamed to say that I used to be quite a bit chubby back then. The reason why I created that “Garbage” box was to throw all the clothes that were a size too small for me to wear. That was also the main reason for wearing baggy clothes. They were the same ones I used to wear three years ago. Thanks to all the baby fat melting, they were a size too big for me now.
“Are you done? Does the dress fit?” Came my mom’s voice from outside the door.
“Yes, mom!” I walked out into my bedroom to show her the dress.
This dress, however, was even simpler than the black one I wore the other day to Délicieux. It was red and had full sleeves with a slim fit which flared out into a skirt from my waist to knees. The neck line was round and plunging at the back, but thankfully not up to my ass, but to my mid back.
“Oh, dear! You look perfect!” Mom gushed. “Now take it off so I can wash and press it so it doesn’t stink of dust. Oh! And I have just the perfect necklace to go with it!”
*
*
*
“Oh, Mrs. Howell! You look so pretty tonight!” Mom gushed as her and dad’s account manager Mr. Howell arrived with his wife.
It was 7:33 p.m. and almost all the guests had arrived, except for Ethan. Mom had noticed my restlessness and had arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow, but I couldn’t very well tell her that I was worried about him meeting up with dad.
Nick was one of the first people to arrive and help with the last minute touch-ups. As a result of which, the entire ground floor of the house was now decorated with red artificial flowers and candles and tiny Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling, some red, some gold. The dining table was all set, dinner was plated. The only thing left was to bring the plates to the dinner table, which was my and Nick’s duty.
“You look very beautiful tonight,” Nick whispered into my ears.
“Thanks,” I smiled up at him.
“Aki… that’s the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. What’s wrong?” It was difficult hiding things from a person who knows you like the back of your hand.
“You know I don’t like mom’s parties. Greeting people I don’t even remember the names of... I don’t know, feels kind of weird.” Well, not a complete lie since it was part of the reason.
“I know what you mean,” he sympathized.
“Well, you look quite handsome yourself. Mom’s impressed.” And he did look good. Brown hair gelled back neatly, he wore black dress pants and a red dress shirt, somehow matching with me. A lot of the female guests—well, children of the guests—were openly checking him out and those kids were at least five years younger than us. I, on the other hand, wore the red dress I tried on this morning along with red wedges with a golden bow, my hair curled just like before, only without the pearl bobby pin hair band and the ruby necklace mom gave me. Red lipstick and black eyeliner were my only makeup.
“And you? Did I manage to impress you?” There was something in his voice that had the hair at my nape standing in attention.
“Nick—”
“Akira, honey. Can you help your mom lay the dishes on the table? It’s almost dinner time.” Dad cut in right on time. Thank goodness I didn’t have to answer that question. Since when did best friends say such awkward things to each other?
The next few minutes were spent transferring the food from kitchen to table, setting plates and wine glasses. It was when everyone has started to settle down that the doorbell rang.
“Oh! Akira, go check it out, it must be your teacher,” mom said from her spot on the table. Nick somehow managed to sit right next to her and dad.
Without waiting any longer, I went to the door and as mom had predicted, it was Ethan, looking sexy enough to knock the breath right out of me.
He was wearing black dress pants, a crisp white shirt with a black jacket. His hair had that just out of shower wet look and the way he was checking me out, like he was seeing me for the first time, made my stomach tightening. It was not a perverted I'd-rather-rip-your-clothes-off look. It felt more like… a loving stare.
“You look gorgeous, Miss Sanders.” His smile was gentle, almost careful. It felt different from when Nick had told me that I look beautiful.
He entered the house and I quickly checked behind me to see if anyone was around. Then I grabbed his hand and pulled him to a corner. “Nick’s here so be nice and try to impress dad as much as you can. The first impression wasn’t exactly the right kind.”
“I’m sorry about that,” he cupped my cheek with one hand, checking again to make sure we were alone. “But you have to listen to me about—”
“I know what you’re going to tell me Ethan, but seriously, it’s not like that with me and Nick,” I covered his hand with mine, leaning into his touch. “You should trust me more.”
“I do trust you. It’s him I don’t trust,” he said, startling me.
“Why?” I asked surprised.
“Not now,” He looked behind me again. “Telling you might bring you more trouble. But whatever happens, I’ll be with you all through it.”
“Ethan, what you just said doesn’t make any sense. What do you mean?”
“Not yet.” He stepped back. “But we need to go now or your father is going to get an even worse impression.”
I nodded my head and pulled him towards the dining room. “Let’s go.”
But instead of moving forward, I was tugged back into Ethan’s arms his lips were on mine an instant later. But then suddenly, hardly a second later, I heard someone clearing their throat from behind us.
We broke apart instantly and turned to the person, which so just happened to be… Dmitri Sanders.
“Umm… hi, dad!" I smiled awkwardly at his glaring face.
Talk about Thanksgiving disasters.