𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐒ᵃʳⁱᵃⁿᵃ ᵍʳᵃⁿᵈᵉ

twelve

twelve - soon.

——

"so ariana, where do you plan on attending college?" my dad questioned ariana as he chewed on his steak. i was sitting across from him with ariana next to me. my mother was across from her with joan sitting next to her, with nonna across from joan.

ariana cleared her throat before taking a small drink of water. "um, i sent my application to julliard last month." she answered, sending him a small smile.

we had been eating for about half an hour, and our parents were just plowing the both of us with questions. and my mom kept smirking at me every time she caught my gaze on ariana when she wasn't looking. asshole.

my fathers eyebrows raised in shock. "wow, julliard! y/n hasn't even applied to any schools, i don't even think she has any in mind." he threw in, his disappointed stare on me. i sighed, throwing my napkin down on my plate as i finished eating.

this was a huge problem with my dad and i; he always had an issue of something i was doing or wasn't doing. for college, i had no idea where i wanted to go or if i even wanted to go at all. he went to upenn just like all of the rest of his family. so of course, he wanted me to carry on the tradition. if i didn't apply or didn't get excepted, i would be the first malarky to not go to pennsylvania in over thirty years.

and it wasn't like i didn't have any chance of getting in, i was definitely smart enough and had test scores more than enough to get in. the problem is if i even wanted to get in.

ariana must've noticed my blatant discomfort, because she replied back to my father. "well, she has time left. no need to rush her, it takes time to know where you wanna go. she's okay." she sent him a smile, trying to keep her tone sweet.

my father swallowed thickly and nodded his head, even though he clearly didn't agree. "yes, of course."

i chewed on the inside of my cheek as the table went silent, the only noise coming from forks scraping against plates and glasses hitting the table quietly. my leg bounced nervously under the table before i felt ariana's hand on my knee, trying her best to calm me down.

i looked over at her to see her already looking at me, a reassuring look in her eyes. i smiled at her, earning one back. my hand trailed under the table to rest on top of hers, giving it a small squeeze before i removed it, not wanting to make her uncomfortable at all.

"i think everyone's done, yes?" my mother spoke up, patting her lips delicately with her napkin. we all nodded and joan stood up from her seat, beginning to grab her plate. i followed her, reaching over to grab her plate before she could.

"you guys go, we've got the dishes like always." i smiled, grabbing nonna's plate, along with my mother and fathers. ariana stood up after me, grabbing my plate and hers. she walked immediately into the kitchen, placing the dishes in the sink before coming back for the empty water glasses.

after setting the dishes in the sink, i grabbed four wine glasses from the cupboard, grabbing my mother's favorite wine from the counter too.

i made my way to the four in the living room, setting a glass in front of each of them. i pouted then each a small amount of the drink, leaving the rest of the bottle on the coffee table so they could pour seconds if they wanted any. nonna sent me a small smile, making me bend down so she could kiss my cheek as a thank you.