Chapter 18 Dinner With The In-Laws
Dinner With The In-Laws
It’s Emily and Joey. I’ve known them my whole life.
They’ve seen me biting their son, crying, and they even drove me to my therapist’s once in a while when my dad couldn’t.
Besides, I’m practically a pro at hiding my feelings for the past eight years, so I can absolutely lie to their faces.
Then why is my head pressed against their gate and banging repeatedly?
“Come on.” West’s voice invades my brain, and I just keep banging my head, close to pouting and still avoiding coming in, even when he opens the gate. “You know, banging your head like that doesn’t make you smart.”
“I’m not even gonna argue because the fact that I got myself into this situation only proves that I am, in fact, stupid.”
He grabs my arm and pulls me inside, dragging me along to his kitchen door.
“Game faces on, Brown. This will be the performance of a lifetime.” He grabs both my shoulders, and I roll my eyes.
“Okay, Christopher Nolan.” I mutter beneath my breath, and he opens the door.
The kitchen is chillier than it should be for the summer heat that is taking over this village. A shiver runs down my body the second Emily takes something out of the oven.
“Cold?” West asks, and I nod. “That must suck.” He snickers like a little child, and before I have the chance to even slap his arm, his mom beats me to it.
“Give her your jumper, you tosser!” Emily slaps the back of his head harshly, and he winces, then begrudgingly moves to the nearby wooden chair where his sweater lies and passes it to me.
I accept it, and oh my god, this is the softest fabric my fingers have ever touched… I hurry to put it on, and his minty and forest scent invades my brain like some type of drug. I close my eyes for half a second, completely thrown off by what appears to be some type of fog clogging my judgment.
“You’re so obsessed with me…” West whispers in my ear, and another shiver, a different shiver, runs down my entire body.
“What? Gross.” And I lightly push him aside, considering his mom is watching.
“I always knew this would happen…” She stares at us while adding some type of condiment on top of the very well-cooked chicken legs.
“It was inevitable. Besides, I couldn’t fathom another girl being my daughter-in-law.
They wouldn’t be you, Maddie, and they wouldn’t push Jacob to his maximum, that’s for sure.
” She points the silverware at us, and my heart is rapidly beating.
I’m not particularly enjoying this conversation.
“They sure wouldn’t be.” West gulps beside me, and then his joker facade is back on. “They wouldn’t annoy me so much, that’s for sure.”
“Jacob Louis West, you insult your girlfriend- No, not your girlfriend, our Maddie, one more time, and I swear to god, I will smack the rudeness out of you.” She glares at him, and it’s like a warm blanket fell on top of me, comforting me.
She’s too kind. Too important for me to do this to her.
My dad is, too, but she stepped up when she didn’t have to, you know? It’s like I owe her extra or something…
“Jesus, Mom, this is how we flirt, it’s almost embarrassing how you know nothing about modern dating…” He jokingly throws back, and she shakes her head, daring him to do it again.
“What’s embarrassing is your behavior and the fact that you still wear Superman underpants. Now lead her to the dining room, if you will?”
I lightly smile at that, and then his fingers brush my back, pushing me towards the dining room.
Alana walks in, bag in hand, seemingly heading out.
“Where are you going?” I ask, and it came out too panicky.
“Uhh, dinner. At your house. Why?” She levels me with that early teen stare as if I’m stupid or something. I swallow my worries.
“You’re not staying? So it’s just gonna be me, your brother, and- and your parents?”
“Yeah… My sincere apologies.” She lays her hand on mine as if she understands she lives in a house full of nutters and then bounces.
“And you’re panicking…”
“Your sister is not gonna be here to be our buffer! Of course I’m panicking! Oh my god, I don’t know if I can do this- I never met someone’s parents before! What if they don’t like me?”
“You mean the people who changed your diapers and went to our godawful school recitals?”
I grab his collar, manic eyes, I’m sure.
“As your girlfriend? What if I’m not everything I’m made out to be?” I stare at the ground, insecurity filling my every sense, and my anxiety.
“Brown, for better or for worse, trust me, you are everything and anything you are made out to be.” I look up to his daring eyes, and it’s like they can see right through me. Through my bullshit, through my doubting, through my deepest fears, and through my truest soul. Through me.
I nod tightly, but still, throughout half of this dinner, I feel like a ghost. I’m there.
I nod and here and there, but don’t say more than four words.
It’s like my brain is muffling everything around me.
I laugh when I’m supposed to and stay serious when approaching earnest topics, but that’s it.
Until… The story is told. The one thing that can wake me up from the dead.
I look up to Joey and Emily’s adoring eyes towards each other, and my heart squeezes.
“They think telling this story over and over reinforces their love.” West complains, but I just listen intently. “Brown?” He nudges me, and I snap out of it. “You’re not pretending to be shocked that I know how to use reinforced in a sentence?”
But I choose to ignore it and listen to the married couple in front of me.
“She thought I was British because I was faking a flawless accent, and throughout the night we would find Americans and make fun of them for being so dumb.” Emily cringes at that, like it happened yesterday, and Joey just shakes his head, proud he pulled off an English accent.
“And somehow I got her number, and next thing she knows she’s meeting me in a coffee shop in New Castle.
When she comes up to me, I start speaking like I always spoke, strong Jersey accent on me, and you should have seen her face-” Joey is laughing too much to even finish his sentence, and Emily is covering her face, red as ever.
“I was mortified! I couldn’t believe it, I had been trashing his country and its people for a whole night, and he was just smiling up at me like that didn’t matter.”
I’m pretty sure my eyes are glistening like I’m reading one of my unattainable romance novels. I’m mesmerized by their story. Of course, my dad had told me before, but it’s different seeing it told in person. Their reactions, their body language, and their love. There’s nothing quite like it.
“Only took about a hundred flights to the UK and one tense dinner with her parents to put a ring on her finger.” He kisses her hand, and she suppresses the biggest smile ever. “And then we expelled Jake here from our love to the world…” They look passionately at each other, and Jake is shocked.
“Don’t say it like that! Jesus… Weirdos.
” He shakes his head, and I’m sure that even though he’s disgusted on the outside, inside, he’s happy and comforted by their love.
In a way, you could say I’m a Jakeolist. I can see his bullshit from a mile away.
I can tell when he’s lying or when he’s genuinely happy.
Or sad. He’s rarely angry, which is odd, too.
“As if there aren’t many girls who are happy your parents didn’t sleep that night…” It leaves my mouth before I can help it, and then I’m the one who is absolutely mortified. I DID NOT JUST SAY THAT. WHAT THE HELL?!
They all look at me, eyes wide and mouths slightly open, until Joey bursts out laughing and Emily along.
“I’m so sorry, I-I don’t know what took over me, I-” They just keep on laughing, and their happiness is contagious, so soon enough I’m smiling too. I glance at Jake, and he’s watching me intently, with a slight smirk on his face.
I ignore it, his stare. Too intense and fake for me to care for it.
The rest of dinner goes by in no time, and when Joey gets up to take everyone’s dishes to the kitchen, West gets up too, following him, and I’m left staring at the tablecloth.
“You shouldn’t be worried, Maddie.” Emily says, and my eyes look up to her face. “I know you’re probably torturing yourself right now, and you shouldn’t…”
My heart drops. Was I so obvious? Did she figure it out?
“How did you-”
“You weren’t yourself all throughout this dinner.
It was frankly quite disappointing since you’re such a delight to be with.
” I examine my hands, ashamed to look her in the eyes.
“God knows how much you’ve been through, but you shouldn’t worry about Joey and me thinking you’re not a good fit for Jake.
Ever. Even if you two don’t work out, and if that happens, no matter who breaks up with who, I can assure you, you will still be the best thing that could have happened to Jake. ”
I try not to sigh in an obvious way because thank god she didn’t figure it out. But also, why is she seeing through my mind right now?
“And you can always count on me. Got it?” It’s almost as if she makes me say yes, but I couldn’t be more thankful because when this ends, I’ll still be welcome and won’t seem like an ungrateful brat who just dumped their son due to her mommy issues.
I nod affirmatively, and she smiles, content.
When Joey and Jake come back, we get up, and I wave them goodbye because I think that if I hugged them goodbye, I would never let go and start screaming I’M SO SORRY, WE’RE LYING, PLEASE DON’T HATE ME!
So yeah…
As soon as I step foot outside, it’s like some type of weight is lifted off my shoulders. That’s it for the night.
I look up to the starry night as if searching for some type of reassurance that I’m not overreacting or that I’m just simply making those mistakes you should make when you’re seventeen.
Of course, it’s not every day you fake date the boy who put a country mouse in your sleeping bag when you were nine, but it is what it is.
“I’m sorry you had to lie to them. Thinking back, I should have just said no to dinner.” West expresses remorse, which is new for him, and I just kick the gravel on the road.
“You had to lie to my dad, too, so we’re even.”
But we’re really not, and I think he knows that, too.
“Except John is my dad’s best friend and gave me cool gifts on Christmas and my mom…”
I gaze forward at the end of the road, well aware of all the things his mom did for me and didn’t have to.
“When I was younger, I looked up to your parents’ love.
I loved it, and when we were eating at yours or just hanging out, I almost forgot that when I came home…
” Pause. “My dad did everything alone. Worked in editing, cooked, cleaned, took us to school, and picked us up. Still had time to make our lunch in the mornings and leave a special note. I actually overheard him sometimes turning down invitations to a night out or a drink with a friend. He reassured us there was nothing else he would rather be doing than watching every Barbie movie known to humanity.”
“Your dad is… I don’t know how he did it. I’m glad you found escape in my parents; it’s the least they could offer, but trust me, not everything is as it seems.”
My face twists at that. Emily and Joey? Not living up to their disgusting love displays?
I beg to differ, but then again, West never told me anything.
He knows every traumatic event that went down in my life, and I didn’t get to choose if he knew or not, but he…
He’s too jolly for his own good. I may be angry all the time, but he’s happy all the time, and that’s concerning…
Or maybe I’m just projecting, but I don’t think so.
It’s in these moments that I truly wonder what goes on deep inside him.
Beneath the charm, and the smirk, the pranks, the laugh that sometimes never reaches his eyes.
I glance at him, distraught and looking around.
I can only wonder…