Loving Thy Neighbor

The Family Party

Xavier's P.O.V.
"Mom, do I really have to go to that party?" I asked my mom even though I already knew what her answer would be.

"Yes Xavier, besides why don't you ever want to go to family parties?" She asked.

"I just find them really boring and I get hella annoyed when the little kids scream" I said remembering the last time I went to a family gathering.

It was my little nephews birthday party anyways and I've always had a bad feeling about him since he's always asking to see my phone. I really didn't want to go but I was being forced to go. I just hope it's not as chaotic as last time. There were flying children because some people don't know how to handle kids.

When we got to the party, everyone was already there enjoying themselves and they were all busy talking. I wanted to just stay in the car and listen to music and not have to face the awkwardness of when I see my family. The first one to greet me was my sister-in-law and she gives really hard hugs and wet kisses.

"Oh look at you! I haven't seen you this nicely dressed since a long time ago"

I just looked at her with disgust and hate because she knew I always dressed nicely not just for special events. I decided to ignore her for the rest of the night. I walked around then just greeting more of my family members and some strangers that were always staring at me for some reason, especially a light-skin, tall, and pretty cute guy. Every time we made eye-contact, he would smile a sheepish smile and I would return a sincere grin. I didn't see him until later that night.

The Party then went faster as there was nothing to do for a teenager like me. The women were in the kitchen area chit-chatting while the men were also talking while watching as a soccer character made a goal every 10 minutes. It wasn't really the best experience for a person my age so I decided to just sit down with the men and watch soccer that I didn't even understand. All I knew was that my friends were out having fun at other parties while I was here doing absolutely nothing but boring myself to death. I decided to go with the children since they seemed like they were enjoying life more than me.

I got to where the little kids were playing tag and I was remembering how it was to be a kid, when things never really mattered. I guess being a teenager really changes you. I was just looking at my little nieces and I noticed that the smallest one, Aurora, was trying to tell me something yet I couldn't really understand her. I gave her my hand and told her to take me where she wanted and she quickly pulled me to where the women were chit-chatting and I wondered what she wanted for me to do. She was pointing at something but, I couldn't quite see what it was. Then I noticed that she was pointing at the cookie jar. It was at the top of the fridge and I pulled it down and was about to give her a cookie when the same tall and handsome guy I had seen earlier came in. He was wearing a white shirt with a blue linen jacket and he was also sporting light blue jeans with some black converse shoes. I was wondering what had brought him into the kitchen.

"Hey, I came to get a cookie for my little niece if you don't mind"

"I don't live here, I just came in here for a beer for your dad" he said in a sweet and melodic voice.

"He's drinking again? I can't even see him as my dad anymore" this has happened before and my dad knew clearly that I hated when he drank. It was just a bad experience for the whole family since when he drank, he got really violent.

"Yeah, well anyways what's your name?" He asked

"I'm Xavier, and you are...?"