How To Stay Afloat (BxB)

Chapter 24: A secret boyfriend is still a real boyfriend, right?

"Your mom said Kevin will come here for your birthday." My dad says as soon as I sit down at the dinner table.

I can feel my throat tighten at his comment. He's going to tell me he can't come, isn't he? I can feel this go in a bad direction.

"Yeah. I wanna invite some friends over." I tell him.

My mom sets down the plates for us and sits down, too, smiling at me.

"Is he gonna stay for the night?" Dad asks me, raising his brows.

"Uhm, yeah that's the plan. We don't have school on monday, so he could stay two nights." I say hesitantly.

He sighs, but he smiles a little. "I guess you would prefer it if we weren't around for your party on saturday. So your mother suggested we visit your grandparents and stay saturday to sunday."

What? Is this really happening? They let me have a decent birthday party? And they let me have Kevin as a guest?

"Seriously?" I ask him, not being able to believe him just yet.

"We're all gonna visit my parents because they wanna see you for your birthday and Caleb and you can drive home after lunch." He suggests.

"Oh, wow. Seriously?" I ask him again.

He nods and my mom smiles warmly.

"Thank you so much!" I thank him excitedly. "But Caleb wanted to take Kevin with him." I tell them, realizing. My grandparents live about two hours from here. It would be stupid for Caleb to drive there and then drive back to pick up Kevin.

"He can come eat with us if that makes it easier." My mom suggests, ignoring my dad's scoff.

"But there is a condition." My dad says. There's always one condition and I think I already know what comes next. "Both Kevin and you will do a drug test on sunday. I don't trust him."

I bite my tongue, trying not to roll my eyes at this stupidity. He really thinks Kevin is Satan himself.

"That won't be a problem." I say confidently. Although it will be a problem to convince Kevin to do that. He is very stubborn.

Both my parents smile and start eating. I can't believe this. I thought they would be around on saturday and that we had to be quiet after 10, but turns out I can have a real birthday party.

"But no alcohol. You might be old enough to drink then, but I don't allow any alcohol under my roof." My mom adds sternly.

I chuckle. "Yeah okay, no alcohol." That's a fucking lie.

We fall silent and eat a bit after that. My mom made some kind of potato stew. She left out the sausages for me.

"Who's gonna come over?" My mom wants to know.

"Uhm. Kevin, Carla and Harry." I explain. "Maybe Nora? I don't know if I should invite her, too." I tell her honestly.

My dad raises his brows. "Nora? Are you still in contact with her?" He wants to know.

"Uhm, not really." I say.

He rubs his chin, like he's thinking of something. I'm pretty sure he found out about Nora being kicked out of her home, mom probably told him the reason. Is it bugging him that I hang out with her maybe?

"What about Jessica and Austin?" My mom wants to know.

I hesitate. I don't wanna invite Austin. Kevin doesn't know about him, I don't want him to find out on my birthday. I also have to tell everyone else to keep their mouths shut.