ANOTHER LONELY DECEMBER, Riley Johnson

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🎧: When the party's over - Billie Eilish

It didn't take long for me to check-in and get settled. The room was a decent size, it felt really warm and cozy and the bed was really comfortable. Unfortunately, I didn't lay down for long as I worried I would fall asleep. I took a shower, washed and styled my hair and although I felt a bit lazy I still found the motivation to do my makeup. I kept it natural. I decided to wear a Bordeaux red tight top with long sleeves and a slightly revealing V-neck. A pair of black pants, a beige trench coat, a spray of perfume and I was ready to go.

I got downstairs a few minutes before the car got there as I didn't want to be late. When they showed up I climbed onto the backseat, thanking them for picking me up. The rest of the short car ride was silent. We got to our table and sat, I was placed between Abby and Jane which was fine by me. Although Jane seemed to be the odd sibling of the set, she also appeared to be the nicest, most normal one. A man walked up to us, dressed up nicely in a navy-blue suit, light brown, almost blonde, hair done neatly.

"Connor! What a surprise" Tipper greeted the man. I saw the look between Harper and Abby and the puzzle immediately clicked. This guy was Harper's ex-boyfriend Connor, her cover-up boyfriend who genuinely liked her while she was just faking it to appear straight. This dinner was going to be nice...

"You told me to be here by 7.30, remember?" the man chuckled, probably unaware of the fact that the older lady didn't think to mention it before. He hugged Harper who seemed really uncomfortable. To ease the awkwardness I figured, she introduced Abby and me. He handed out his hand for us to shake which we politely did before sitting back on our respective chairs. He sat between Abby and Harper which for some reason seemed to affect me more than it affected my sister. I couldn't stand the idea of her getting hurt because of Harper's lies and obvious incapacity to stand up to her mother.

The dinner began with formal question directed to Abby, some about her studies, others about her personal interests. I knew my time would come and I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. Not that I didn't want to share information about myself, I just found these types of conversations really annoying. Just a bunch of people asking questions without even caring about the answer. I'd rather have a silent meal and enjoy the food than pretend I cared about whatever vomit of words was coming out of Connor's mouth.

"What about you Amelia, what do you do with your life?" Ted, the father, asked with a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Well, I'm finishing up my studies, I'm a year away from getting my PhD actually" I answered.

"In what field?" Connor mumbled mouth filled with food. Disgusting.

"Psychopathology" I smiled as a confused expression grew on his face. "I completed my master's degree in philosophy and psychoanalysis two years ago" I added. Tipper seemed surprised for some reason.

"Wait so you studied both Psychology and Philosophy until two years ago?" she asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Exactly. Then I figured one PhD would be enough work" I chuckled, Connor still seemed confused, almost as if he couldn't tell the difference between the two subjects.

"Girls, did Harper ever tell you about that time she caught chickenpox on holiday?" Tipper moved on to another subject. Abby and I nodded; we'd heard that story before. She then proceeded to tell the whole story again. When she mentioned how Harper gave it to Connor and they had to spend the entire holiday locked up in a room, I looked over at Abby. Harper's version of that story definitely didn't include him.

"Should we go to the ladies room?" Harper asked Abby, she sounded like she desperately wanted to leave that table. Abby agreed and they disappeared in the hallway, leaving me alone with Harper's family and ex-boyfriend. An awkward silence took over after they left.