Force of Habit

Chapter 11

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been busy catching uo with school work but hopefully I'll be able to get another update in soon! Okay  you can go ahead and read now, if you want.

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“Hey, so I was wondering if you’d go to this party my dad’s throwing tomorrow,” Dustin’s voice asks through my phone.

“Sure, I’d love to. But are you sure your dad will like me? I mean I’m not sure I’d live up to his expectations of the kind of girl you should be dating. I’m a waitress at a cheap diner, not going to college, and have a car that barely runs. Scratch that, it doesn’t even run because I can’t afford to pay for the stupid gas for it.”

“I’m sure he’ll love you. I mean I sure do.”

Wait. What! Did he just say that he loves me!? He’s never said that before……

“Did I just say that out loud? Crap, sorry I didn’t mean to say that out loud, it’s really early for me to even mention that.”

“Dustin, don’t apologize, it’s really sweet.”

He clears his throat before continuing, “So, I’ll, umm, pick you up at noon tomorrow then?”

“Okay, I’ll see you then. How should I dress? Is it more casual or dressy?”

“It’s probably more dressy, he likes throwing fancy parties, and since it’s his engagement party I’d expect that he’ll expect everyone to be more dressed up too.”

“Wait, I didn’t know your dad’s getting married? What happened to your mom?”

“She, umm, died when she had me.”

“Oh, Dustin, I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t know her, and so I guess I don’t know what I’m missing? Thanks though.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, so I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bye, Olivia. I love you.”

“Bye, Dustin. I love you too,” I answered and then hung up, and I’m not quite sure why I feel so uneasy right now.

The next day I try to decide what to wear and am faced by the torturous task of finding something fancy enough to wear. I know that I’d have something to wear at my old house, where I had about a hundred dresses fancy enough for an occasion such as this, but I left them thinking I’d never have a use for them and I never felt quite comfortable in them anyway.  A dress is supposed to make you feel beautiful, right? Well I never felt that way when I wore one of them. I certainly don’t feel that way now, standing in front of my mirror in a faded black and white print dress that should probably be reserved to be only worn during the unbearably hot months of summer. I pull a sweater over it, and sigh upon seeing that I’m not dressed up nearly as fancy as I ought to be. Well this’ll have to do. I think to myself as I hear a knock on the door, signifying Dustin’s arrival.

“Hey Olivia,” he says once I let him in.

“Hi.”

“You look… Nice,” he states upon seeing my attire, “Is that what you’re planning on wearing?”

“Yeah… Is it not dressy enough? I’m sorry; I don’t really have anything dressier.”

“No, it’s fine. We need to go, or else we’ll be late.”

“Okay,” I say, allowing him to lead me to his car.

“So, something you ought to know, my family can tend to be very judging. They don’t look very fondly upon ‘outsiders’. So what I suggest is if you act like you belong, they’ll think you do.”