Fried Burrito

e l E V e n

"What's going on out here?" questioned a voice I was far from familiar with.

Jace and I turned our heads to see his older brother watching us from his end of the hallway. The three of us stood in painfully awkward silence, not saying a word. I don't think either of us knew how to describe whatever was happening here. I'd never felt more uncomfortable in my life. 

"I see you bought the trophy wife home," he scoffed while moving closer to Jace and me. 

I frowned. This boy seemed to have it out for me. What was his deal? 

"Back off, Alex," Jace ordered.

"What? I haven't done a thing to-"

"Jace, Caden, dinner!" Jace's mom called from downstairs. 

I took this as an opportunity for me to slide away from my tension-filled position with Jace and escape downstairs. Jace was only a couple of steps behind me but I could tell that things between us were only going to get tenser and possibly weirder. If not because of his brother, it'd be because of him... or even me. I was far from sure. 

All I knew was that Jace was starting to catch onto me and had begun to read me like an open book. I didn't know how to stop it. 

But, from what I've thought about so far, it seemed like he was very serious about wanting something genuine while I was intentionally playing hard to get because I didn't know how to process my emotions.

I desperately wanted to kiss him a few seconds ago but I didn't know him that way and I didn't know if I wanted to follow through on it yet. What if it wasn't worth it?

"Mom, are you kidding me?" Jace's loud sigh had cut into my thoughts and brought me back out to the real world.

"What? What's the matter?" she questioned.

"What kind of dinner is this?" 

"Hopefully one that Caden will like. We wanted her to be comfortable!" she defended her cooking as I took a look at the table. 

It was filled with collard greens, baked macaroni and cheese, cornbread, and fried chicken: The "Typical Black" meal. 

"You have to make something else, Mom," Jace argued with a blushing face. 

"Why? I'm just trying to make Caden feel as comfortable as possible-"

"With this? Are you out of your mind?"

As comedically cringeworthy and stereotypical as this was, I had to interrupt them. "This is great... I've never actually had this before." 

The whole room stopped to look at me with clear surprise while I smiled coyly.

"How have you not had this before? Isn't that what all bla-" His sister started.

"Obviously not! Out of all the stereotypes you had to follow-" Jace interrupted but I chuckled and placed my hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm just... more of a pizza girl," I said after a few moments. "I'm excited to eat this though, everything looks great."

The room became noticeably light once again seeing as everyone felt comfortable again. 

"I like her already Jace," Jace's mom beamed at me before setting the last dish down and digging into her dinner. 

"So Caden," Jace's mom said after a while of silent eating. "Why don't you tell us about yourself? What are you doing in life so far?"

The rest of his family turned their attention towards me as I swallowed my last bite of macaroni and cheese. 

"Well, I'm currently in law school. I just finished my first year and I'm home for the summer working, doing what I can to stay up to date with my studies, and just... catching up with my friends and family, of course."

Alex was the first to react to my response. He shook his head as he looked at me in a way that made me feel small. It was the same look my mother had mastered on me whenever I tried to follow my own way of things instead of hers. 

"It's like she's not even real, Jace," he said patronizingly. I wanted to slap him.

"I know," Jace responded before I could. "She's something special."

"I'll say, Jace! Beauty and brains like that don't come along that often, hold onto her while you can."

I felt my cheeks heat up as the adoration from Jace's mom settled in the air. I suddenly couldn't look at anything but my empty plate.

"Well, as Caden would say, we're not dating—" he paused to nudge me with his knee before he continued. "But, I'm definitely not planning on letting her go anywhere anytime soon."

___________ 

After dinner, Jace and I had been spread out across his living room couch as we silently watched a movie I didn't remember the name of. He was the first to break the silence.

"I'm so sorry about my family's excessive questioning," he said from his side of the couch. "Especially my brother, I don't know what's gotten into him."

"It's okay, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, right?"

"Not when it's wrong."

I looked over at him to see him already looking at me. 

"You're more than what he's trying to make you out to be. You're more than your looks, Caden,"

"I definitely try to be," I said to myself more than him. 

"Keep doing what you're doing," he replied with a soft smile.

His hand noticeably slipped over mine and held onto my fingers which made my heart flutter as I moved a little closer to him. 

"Jace," I said.

"Yes?"

"What did you mean when you said you wanted me? In what way did you mean?"

"You're something I want to become an expert on. I want to understand all of the things that go on inside your head and your heart."

"How many girls have you said that to?"

"No girl matters right now except for you."

And then I looked at him. He was already watching me, probably awaiting the response I wasn't sure I wanted to give him. I knew I would regret it or contemplate it a lot later, but right now, at this moment, I felt that I wanted Jace too. 

He had been nothing but honest and straightforward with me from the beginning and I truly admired his effort. If he were really after my body, he would have been given up a long time ago. He truly was the kind of different I wanted to know.

"Caden?" he whispered softly due to my silence. 

I simply hushed him and laid my head on his chest, letting his arm drape over the curve of my hip. I felt his body loosen up as he slid lower into the couch and rested his chin on the top of my head. We stayed like that for a while, just enjoying each other's presence while I smiled at myself for making a good choice. 

I was on the road to conscious spontaneity with a boy I didn't know and a happy heart. I was surely in for a journey I would remember for the rest of my life and I couldn't wait to get it started.

"Thank you again for dinner," I whispered into his chest.

"Of course, I'm glad you liked it. Hopefully, this means you'll be back again soon?"

"We'll see," I laughed. 
"I'm also very sorry again about that surprise meal, I don't know what came over my mom."
"It's okay, I don't eat like that often so it was nice to get a refresher."
"I can tell, you seem different," Jace sighed. "I like different."

"I do too," I replied before letting my eyes close in the arms of the boy I'd decided to give a try.