"I can't remember what happened that night. I'm not talking slippery details or fuzzy-edged visions; I mean a complete and utter blackout. Like I wasn't even there. Except... I know I was."
Since the death of her boyfriend six months ago, Morgan Cai...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"My mom wants you to come for Thanksgiving."
I blurted the news out one night in November, after sitting on it for longer than I should've. At the time, Josh and I were squashed up against one another in my twin-sized dorm-room bed. It was just the two of us. Hanna's magazine—now christened GXRL, with the first issue hand-distributed to newsstands across campus—had launched the week before, and she was busier than ever with the upcoming second issue, pulling all-nighters on the regular. I did wonder how she was managing to function, and suspected it involved a lot of strong coffee—but it also meant Josh and I were granted many nights alone in my bedroom.
At first, he didn't say anything. The few seconds I spent staring up at the ceiling in the dark were enough for the doubt to creep in; I started wondering if I'd made a big mistake.
But then, "She does?"
"Yeah," I said, taken aback by the tone of his voice. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
"I don't know." There was another pause. "I, uh... wasn't expecting it, I guess."
"If you already have plans, you can totally say no. I won't be offended, and neither will my mom."
But that wasn't it, as evidenced by the way he cut in quickly. "No, no, I don't. I mean, I know I'm welcome back at my last foster home if I ask, but... well, I haven't. Not yet." He turned to look at me. "She really wants me to come?"
"Of course."
The dark obscured the finer features of his face, but I could tell he was smiling. "That's really nice of her," he said. "And I'd love to."
So the deal was sealed, and Mom was delighted when I told her. She knew about Josh—at least all the family-friendly details—but since Davidson was an hour away from home, there hadn't yet been a natural opportunity for my family to meet him. Plus, I wasn't exactly eager to hurry things along. It wasn't him I was worried about; I knew he could dial the charm up to eleven without batting an eyelid, and a few short minutes in his company would be enough for them to fall head over heels. It was him meeting them that had me concerned.
All families were embarrassing, but mine had a special talent for it. My mom would gush and be incapable of stopping herself talking. My dad would definitely find a way to bring up every embarrassing thing I did when I was younger. And while Vanessa would be polite and friendly and everything else she was supposed to be, she was so put-together and perfect that I'd probably seem like a mess in comparison.
It was almost a blessing that Caleb wasn't around, knowing the lengths he'd go to embarrass me.
When we pulled up outside my house in Josh's truck the night before Thanksgiving, it was safe to say I was terrified.
He shut the engine off, letting silence descend on the car. Only then did I notice I was shaking my leg violently. Without a word, Josh reached over and placed a gentle hand on my thigh.
