The Speech

Chapter 11

Avery's POV

With everyone piled in the car, Jayden pulls out of the driveway and heads to the restaurant. Dylan pokes his head up from behind me, leaning in close.
"Where the fuck are they taking us anyways?" He asks. Fuck his breath reeks.
"Gosh did you even try to get rid of the whiskey breath?" I ask, leaning away from him.
"Mouthwash didn't cut it huh?" He asks, flopping back into his seat. I start looking through the glove compartment of Jayden's car.
"Do you have a mint or gum?" I ask Jayden, rummaging through his stuff.
"Check the center console." He says. I open it up and luckily find a pack of gum.

"Here, chew." I say tossing it back to him. I watch as he fumbles with the package, trying to open it until he drops it. Jackie reaches down and picks it up, taking a piece out for him.
"Dylan, did you drink more before we left?" I ask him, worried. He pops the piece into his mouth.
"Just like a shot or two." He says with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Am I missing something?" Jayden finally asks.
"What the fuck Dylan. Jackie was trying to sober you up for a reason." I say annoyed.

"This ass-hat has spent the day getting wasted and we- sorry not we, Jackie sobered him up a bit by throwing him in a freezing shower but now he's undone the work by drinking more before we left." I tell Jayden.
"Do you need a fucking babysitter Dylan?" I blurt, losing my temper a bit.
"Thanks for your compassion about my breakup Avery. You're such a wonderful sister." He retorts. I whip around, facing the backseat.
"I am a wonderful sister, I'm trying to save your ass from the wrath of our parents!" I gripe. He gets in my face, the smell of spearmint wafting from his mouth.
"Yeah, by sending your friend to do the work for you." His snarky tone is evident.
"And look how you repaid her for her help." I retort, eyebrow raised. He sinks back into his seat, shyly glancing at Jackie. She gives him a sympathetic smile, but no one says anything after that.

Jackie's POV

With the immense tension in the air from the sibling quarrel, no one dares to speak. Dylan just stares out the window, tapping his foot on the floorboard. Avery is silently comforted by Jayden who places his hand on hers, squeezing it tightly. I awkwardly sit behind him, twiddling my thumbs anxiously waiting to arrive at the restaurant. I've been in this position many times over the years, their fights are never fun because they're both too stubborn to apologize to each other. So this will unfortunately last the rest of the night, with the exception of slightly civil dinner conversations. And by slightly civil, I mean petty passive aggressive jabs at one another under the noses of their parents.

Jayden finally pulls into the parking lot of yet another fancy ass steakhouse with a name I can't pronounce, and looks around for parking. This place has a valet, but Jayden trusts no one but himself with driving his car. Which is fair considering the amount of money I watched him save up to buy it. Dedication and hard work earned him this car and he'll be damned if some 16 year old valet gets to take it for a test drive. Finding a spot on the side of the building, he throws it in park and hops out. He walks around to the other side, getting the door for Avery. They start to walk off and I notice Dylan stays leaning against his back of the car. I stop my pace and turn back to get him.
"You coming?" I ask. He nods, staring at the ground.
"Yeah, yeah... Right behind y'all." He says softly. I walk over to him, taking a stand next to him.
"We'll head in when you're ready." I say. He glances up at me.
"Sorry." He says quietly.
"For?" I question.
"Drinking more after you froze your ass off in a shower for me." He sounds ashamed.

"Dylan it's okay. I don't know the specifics about the breakup with May, but I know it just happened this morning. You're doing the best you can right now. We just don't want to see you get in trouble with your parents on top of everything else." I say in reference to Avery and I. His hand grazes mine, as if asking permission to hold it. After a moment I grab onto his and give it a squeeze.
"Come on, let's get in there."

Dylan's POV

As we approach the front doors we drop each other's hands. I hold the door open for her, letting her go in first. I have half a mind to just bail and walk away. Call an Uber and go the fuck back home, but then my dad sees me and I know its too late. We approach the round table in the center of the room where the four of them are sitting.
"What took y'all so long? We've already sat down." My dad questions with a laugh.

"Sorry, that was my fault, wardrobe malfunction. Couldn't get these darn straps on my shoe to stay tied. Dylan was helping me." Jackie says, taking a seat next to Avery. I'm placed between my dad and Jackie.
"How are you Jackie? We haven't seen you since the 4th of July." Mom asks her.
"Good Mrs. Martin. Sorry I've missed your past couple trips home, I was a counselor at a few summer camps this year. Trying to save up for a car." She politely responds to her.
"Oh Jackie you make it sound like we've hardly been home!" She says with a startled laugh. I watch as Avery's jaw clenches. My parents are saved from what would've been her outburst, by the waiter arriving for drink orders.

After ordering an old fashioned, my dad starts to tell us about their recent trip to Australia. I drown out the conversation by counting how many brunettes are in this restaurant.
"I'm telling you, the view there is unimaginable!" ...3, 4, 5
"I took you out there once Avery, but you were very young then. You probably don't remember it, or at least don't remember it properly." ...11, 12, 13
"We'll have to do a family trip out there once your mother and I are done with these meetings." ...18, 19, 20- wait no, her hair is black. 20, 21
"What do you say son?" I tune back in at the mention of me.
"Sounds great dad." I respond with enough enthusiasm to satisfy him. Now where was I? Scanning the room for where I left off someone catches my eye.
"Fuck." I accidentally say allowed. Thankfully the only one who notices is Jackie.
"What?" She asks, trying to find what I'm looking at. I don't respond to her though.
"I'll be back." I stand from the table and follow where the person went. I get down a hallway to the restroom, catching them right before they head in.
"May!"

Theo's POV

Haley has yet to move from her spot next to me. A few more of their friends have shown up, but it seems she has disregarded the game entirely. I haven't moved since I got here an hour ago, just been talking to her. She's funny, and she's definitely flirting. I'm just worried that she's wanting more from me than I can give her right now.
"Hey Theo?" She says, breaking out short silence.
"Yeah?" I ask. She glances over to her friends and back at me.
"I'm not interested in top golf anymore." She states.
"Well, what are you interested in right now?" I ask.
"Dinner. With you." She says with a smile.
"Are you interested?" She asks me.
"You name the place and I'll take you." I respond.
"My place." She requests.
"Your place?" I ask her, a questioning eyebrow raised.
"I make the best spaghetti in town. Money back guarantee." She jokes. I stay quiet for a moment, debating if this is a good idea or not.
"You said name the place." She reminds me.
"Alright, I'll take ya." I say, giving in. She hops up from her seat and extends her hand to me. I grab a hold of hers, realizing she has no intention of letting go til we get to the car.

"When was the last time you went on a date?" She asks as we get into the parking lot.
"Is this a date?" I ask her. She shrugs.
"I don't know. We'll see how the night goes." She nudges me with her shoulder and lets out a giggle.
"I don't know the last time I went on a date. Haven't been all too interested in dating during highschool." I answer her previous question.
"A lot of highschool girls have been interested in dating you though." She states.
"Are you one of them?" I ask, stopping in front of my car.
"I'm the closest one to actually achieving it." She says, staring up at me. I slowly let go of her hand and open the car door for her. She smiles proudly and gets in the car.
"Aren't there plenty of other guys to be having dinner with tonight?" I ask, starting the car.
"There are. I'll get to them tomorrow." She says with a smirk.
"So I'm only enough entertainment for the night?" I ask sarcastically.
"Yeah, so make it count." She flirts.