Before I Met You

Part 36

"Beatrice you need to get out of your room," dad says as he bangs his fist on the door.

"I'm reading dad," I reply and look back down at the page I was on. "At least I'm not doing drugs."

"Beatrice dinner is ready. You need to come down stairs," dad says sternly before leaving.

"Oh alright," I groan and bookmark my page before setting my book on my night stand. Dad isn't outside my door when I open it so I head down to the dining room. "I'm here."

"Thank you for joining us Beatrice," dad rolls his eyes and I stick my tongue out.

"Love you dad," I giggle and kiss his cheek, "I'll help mom bring out the food."

"Oh perfect!" Mom says once she sees me. "Susan and her family is coming over and I need you to set up extra places at the table."

"Wait when are they coming over?" I ask glancing at the clock.

"Probably 10 minutes by now," mom says stirring something on the stove. "The placemats are in the cabinet."

I quickly grab the place mats and silverware before I hurry to the dining room. I place down everything before I go back and make several more trips for the plates, bowls, and cups. Once I finally get that all set, with five more minutes to spare, I run upstairs and quickly find suitable clothes. I grab a black strapless dress that has a lace overlay and quickly put it on. Knowing my dad will freak over it I put on a light pink blazer. Once that is done I quickly brush out my hair and slip on a pair of black flats. This is the only time I'm grateful that Susan forces me to go shopping, otherwise I'd have no clothes to wear tonight.

"Susan is here," Caleb knocks on my door. I open it and see him completely dressed up. Caleb is not one to dress up. He is more of a simple guy, like jeans and a T-shirt or khakis. Never dress pants, a light blue button up, a dark grey tie, and shiny black dress shoes. He must've gotten a hair cut after we got home because his hair seems different. It's slightly spiked up, definitely not a lot, but enough for Caleb.

"Look at you," I laugh and walk past him, "who knew Caleb would dress up. Haven't you already met her parents before?"

"Yes but I still have a feeling they don't like me," he says and his cheeks get a light pink tint to them, "Susan says I don't need to worry but-"

"You're Caleb?" I finish for him.

"Exactly," he breathes out.

"You're fine," I laugh and head downstairs.

"Omg Tris!" Susan exclaims and gives me a hug. "You literally just disappeared last night," of course she is a nice person and whispers the last part.

"I'll tell you later," I whisper back and hug her.

"You better," she smiles as she pulls away. "Now Robert isn't here, just my parents."

"Where's he at tonight?" I ask which causes her to chuckle.

"With Cara," she says, "to help her with school."

"Oh my gosh," I laugh quietly.

"I'm glad he isn't here though," Susan says as we turn to go to the dining room. "He always just questions Caleb about everything you can think of."

"Isn't that was big brothers do?" I question and she nods.

"Sadly yes," she sighs. "Has Caleb ever done that?"

"With this guy back in Vermont beginning of sophomore year," I laugh at the memory, "Caleb may not seem like the toughest guy but he scared the shit out of West."

"You ever told me about this West," she acts offended.

"You never asked," I reply, "we dated all sophomore year but decided to break up because I was moving."

"That's so sad," she says and we finally get to the dining room. Caleb somehow got passed us and was already at the table with dad and Susan's dad. Our moms must be in the kitchen. We both sit down in chairs across from each other. Susan is next to Caleb and Caleb is next to dad. Susan's dad is across from Caleb leaving both spaces next to me open for our moms.

"Hi I'm Beatrice," I smile and shake Mr. Black's hand. "I'm Caleb's younger sister and a friend of Susan."

"Pleasure to meet you Beatrice," he smiles letting go of my hand. "You must be the one she is always going places with."

"That is probably me," I chuckle. "Susan loves to go places."

"We always thought Robert would be," Mr. Black jokes.

"Hey!" Susan defends herself.

"Here is dinner," my mom smiles placing a large pot on the table. It has vegetable soup in it, followed by a casserole dish. "Vegetable soup and Lasagna." It's not a casserole.

"Smells delicious Nat," dad smiles and kisses her cheek. Since when does dad call mom Nat? That's just gross.

"It does smell delicious Natalie," Mr. Black agrees.

"Thank you Noah," mom smiles in reply, "please help yourself."

Dinner was literally the most boring thing in my life. Dad and Mr. Black talked politics the whole times while mom and Mrs. Black talked about us as babies. The three of us just sat there eating. Susan though had convinced her parents to let her stay the night. It took a lot longer than I expected but I also forgot my brother and her were dating for a little. It's just weird that I tend to ignore it.

"Ok Tris tell me everything," Susan says jumping on my bed. I let her borrow a pair of my pajama shorts and a T-shirt. I'm wearing the same types of clothes as her just different colors.

"Well I'm not quite sure how everything happened but this is all I remember," I start. "When we got tot he party or whatever I wasn't going to drink. It's just gross, anyway I was listening to myself for a little while. That was until Uriah and Zeke forced this alcohol concoction down my throat. Then Four came out of nowhere and just seeing him made me want to forget. Which meant apparently getting drunk. I mean the games are kind of blurry, I remember Lauren glaring at me and you and Caleb were not leaving each other's side. Which was disgusting by the way. Ok I need to stop getting off track. So this morning I woke up in Four's bed. Guess you can what happened there. He was nice enough to give me clothes and leave so I could change before he brought me home. That's all that happened."

"Four! He's one of the hottest people in Chicago!" Susan squeals. "I thought you hated him?"

"I do which is why I was drunk in the first place," I sigh. "I wish I could remember."

"So do I," Susan sighs, "then I could get all the details."

"Ew! That's so gross!" I squeal and hit her with a pillow. Of course Susan just laughs at me.