TANGLED PLANS

11

The weekend was way quicker than I thought, and even though I had been thinking about holding my end of the bargain, I hadn't chosen an outfit yet. Partly because Max hadn't told me what I needed to wear and I had no clue. It was a dinner at his house, but then there were going to be his father's work colleagues there.

contact list. So the afternoon before dinner, I get my phone out and find the phone number that he had saved in my contact. The name is just his own, and for some reason I thought Max would put something cheesy in there. Once I have his phone number pulled up, I text a message to him: What am I to wear to the dinner?

Easy enough question that didn't put me in a weird spot. A few moments later, a text shows up. Anything you like. Was he serious right now? Was he not aware that I had zero common sense in that area? I chew my inner cheek and type: But like, what?

There's a response a while later, and it reads: Just a simple dress.

I can do that, I think in my head as I walk over to my closet. It was weird how my closet had gotten a makeover as well, and now there were many colors in it instead of just blacks and greys. I didn't have many dresses, but I did have a few. We used to go to church every Sunday when my mom was still here. I find a dress that I didn't outgrow and find that it would work. It was a black dress that fell just above my knee.

I decide to leave my hair done and settle on the only pair of earrings I have. They were simple silver, though I'm sure they aren't real studs. After finding that I didn't look too bad, I headed downstairs to wait for Max to be here. He said he was going to come over at around six, so I have a little bit of waiting to do.

"Where's dad?', I ask my brother after I have done a little sweep of the house with my eyes as I head to the living room. Brayden looks up from his gaming and says, "Work, I think." My dad was known to pick up extra shifts, especially on the weekends, so I wasn't surprised. Brayden then looks at my appearance and then curls his lips up in distaste before turning back to the television.

"What?" I ask him with a little frown, disappointed at his disapproval. He doesn't look away from killing a character when he says, "Max told me about the dinner. Is that what you are wearing?"

I flatten my dress with a hand and try not to sound too offended when I say, "What? Is it too bad?"

"Opposite," Brayden quips out, and before I can ask him what he meant, a car honks in the driveway. I move away from my spot and say, "I guess that's him." My brother doesn't say anything to that but holds his hand up in a wave to me. I take the weird interaction and get out of the house, holding my bag with me.

Max's red car is sitting in the driveway when I get outside, and I make my way to the passenger side door. Once I'm inside, I tuck the fabric of the dress in between my thighs and look at Max, who was already looking at me. I tuck in a piece of unwanted hair and give him a smile. He returns that smile and says, "Thanks for doing this."

I give him a shrug and say, "My end of the deal." His eyes on my face linger for a second before he looks away, and he doesn't say a word while he drives away from my driveway. I didn't know what this dinner had in store, and I was nervous about what my end of the deal was going to be for sure.

🌼

When Max stops the car in front of the large house, I look past the window and toward the place. It was a huge house that almost wrapped around itself. It was so much bigger than my own house. "Don't let the size fool you, Dais," I hear Max say from beside me, and I turn to him with my lips pulled down. I didn't know what that really meant. I wanted to ask him about it, but he seemed to be moving on.