Bullied

Chapter 10

Please don't let him embarrass me. It was stressful enough that I was eating for the first time with Luke's moms, but adding my Dad into the mix created a whole new level of anxiety for me. Like I had previously mentioned (you were listening right?), I worry about everything due to my Social Anxiety issue. I tend to daydream about everything that could go wrong and psyche myself out in a way. For example, what if I dropped my pizza? Or choked on a topping? Or threw up from the stress? What if my dad said something stupid? What if I cried in front of Luke's moms? Worse. What if his moms hated me after tonight and forbade him from ever speaking to a loser like me again? See? My thoughts are a jumbled, illogical mess. I don't blame you if you stop reading right now. Seriously. I probably would have by now.

Unless, of course, I'm making you laugh hysterically because i'm such a huge joke to you. This is why I don't talk to people much. I don't expect that anyone will ever read this journal, but you never know. People get bored sometimes. Moving on. Back to my irrational panicking. I just felt so uncomfortable with this whole thing. I'd rather be at home, behind closed doors, reading a good novel on my bed to tell you the truth, but alas, I was here. Onward and upwards, right? Whatever that meant. Kelly and Jane greeted us at the door. Jane seemed rather surprised by the fact that my dad was there, but she didn't tell him to get out or anything. Unfortunately. My inner cynic was at it once again. Couldn't she ever just let me be happy? Kelly was as exuberant and excitable as ever. I swear she was like a freaking puppy sometimes.

I'm sure she was nice and all, but happy people made me nervous. It made me feel as though they were plotting something evil and that their happiness was a charade, but maybe that was just high school experience talking. I wondered if it changed when people grew up or if jerk-faces just became even bigger jerk-faces. Getting off topic here, though. My dad was polite and everything. He tried one of his lame jokes and I just rolled my eyes at him. Kelly, of course, laughed her ass off, while Jane smirked slightly and sipped her water. I could tell that Luke was more like Kelly in personality, while he looked more like Jane. Who carried him? Was he adopted? I made a mental note to ask him these questions when we were alone. I didn't want to seem like I was being nosy in front of his parents, but I was really curious to know everything about him.

"So, Luke. How long have you been, erm, friends with my daughter?"

Luke laughed, while I choked on my water. How could he? He might as well have put up the imaginary quote marks when he said the word friends. It was obvious he was leading to something. I don't know why he felt the need to do it in front of everyone. So rude!

"I think it's been a few weeks. Basically since a couple days after we moved to town I think. Right, Kylie?"

He looked to me, amusement crinkling his soft brown eyes in that way. I just nodded dumbly. My tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of my mouth and my heart felt like it had dropped into the pit of my stomach. My dad caught the panicked look I shot him and thankfully he seemed to back down, laughing it off. I was thankful when Jane spoke up and intervened. I think she could probably tell I was dying inside just a little bit by the way she was looking at me.

"How about we get started on those pizzas, huh?"

"Sounds good, mom!"

I mouthed a silent thank you to Jane and she smiled a genuine smile while winking at me. I like her. I was so sure at first that she would hate me or something, but I had misjudged her. She had probably saved me from any further embarrassment. My cheeks were flaming and I was trying so hard to hide my face. Luke noticed my red face as well, but thankfully didn't say anything. He simply squeezed my hand behind the kitchen counter. The adults were on the other side of the island. So, nobody saw the exchange. I blew out an anxious breath and tried to follow the rest of the conversation. I kept getting lost though and instead found myself watching Luke from afar. He was an interesting piece of work and his family seemed wonderful. I was semi-jealous that he had two parents, while I only had one, but I tried not to dwell on it for too long.