Beauty and the Nerd

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

My heart stops in denial of what happened. I'm pretty sure I black out for a good 10 seconds after I hear Tyler. Wow, you never think it will be your own flesh and blood that will betray you like that. I'm not chewing; I'm not looking up at anyone to see their reactions; I am a stone statue.

Hannah's green eyes bore into my body, Mikey's gulp can be heard across the room, my mother fixes her napkin in distraction, while my father, who is oblivious to what is happening, comments on how he cooked the steak a little too well. Tyler's expression reconciles what he's done.

There's no way Kassie could be more embarrassed than me at the moment. I swear my cheeks are heating up singing "Burn baby burn..." There is no going back from this. There is no disco. Only inferno.

Underneath the table is a hard "thump" and Tyler immediately bursts out, "I mean...Peter has an undying love for Kassie's brownies!" Uh...what? Most of our heads turn to the brownies on the table. My paralyzed state becomes a confused one instead.

"Um...I didn't bring-" Kassie begins to say.

"Yeah, they are so good!" My sister cuts in and grabs a brownie off the plate in the middle of the table. Mikey immediately zones in on the brownies and grabs one as well.

I glare at Tyler as he makes an "oops" face. There's no way a redirection of "Peter being in love with Kassie," can turn into brownies and be convincing.

He is not getting away with this. Tyler has thrown me into a rabbit hole, and I'm about to take him down with me. "Oh, by the way, how has Judy been Tyler?" I pick up the vegetable bowl, "I hear you are getting along well with her," I nonchalantly say while piling peas on my plate, knowing the repercussions of bringing her up. I'll do anything to get away from the subject at hand.

"Ooooh," My mother lights up with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes, "Judy Heathen? She is such a sweet girl, Tyler. You can't go wrong with a girl like that," She continues to ramble on about Judy coming over as a little girl and possibly mentioning this to Tyler's mom.

You're dead, Tyler mouths to me.

I glance over at Kassie next to me who has a puzzled look on her face. She picks at her ripped jeans in obvious contemplation. Mikey notices and places his hand over hers.

The rest of dinner goes off without a hitch. My parents talk to Kassie about her family and how her dad is doing. The conversation continues about Mikey's football season ending soon, thanksgiving coming up, and Hannah's future road trip across the country. Followed by my parents questioning how good of an idea that is.

Being present in the conversation becomes difficult due to my brooding cringeyness from the situation. I'd give anything to know what Kassie thought in that 10 seconds of silence. Would she like the idea of me being in love with her? Does she already know and choose to ignore it? Does she feel bad for me because she's in love with my brother? There are so many answers I'd like to know.

I instinctively brush my bangs to the front of my glasses and eyes, looking down at my plate of peas. I don't even like peas.

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When the rest of the night played out in my head, I did not imagine this: me sitting in the backseat of the jeep with Mikey and Kassie in the front. Mikey, Kassie and I went out for ice cream at the local creamery before dropping her off at home, and I volunteered to bring back ice cream for the others. I am bringing back a quart of rocky chip ice cream home for my mom and sister. Not so much volunteered but told.