Marriage By Contract

Chapter 22: Dinner

Jason and I decided to skip school today, just because we wanted to make sure tonight's dinner wouldn't have any flaws. The fact that both our parents decided to make the dinner on a school night kind of bothered me. 

"Oh! I'll prepare a feast!" Susan gushed. Jason went over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "This will be perfect!" Never have I seen Susan this excited. She was doing a chore-a job to be more precise. Yet she saw it as something fun. Something she enjoyed. I admired her for that.

"Lola, can you come with me?" Jason asked.

I hesitated. "Why?" 

"Okay, I suppose we can discuss how we'll act in front of our parents right here, right now."

There's no way. Susan looked up, giving us both questioning looks. "Oh," I mumbled. "We can go into the living room or something."

He smirked, and I suddenly wanted nothing more but to wipe that smirk off his face. The same way I did in chemistry. We walked into a living room and he sat on the couch first, taking a sip from his bottle. I took an opposite chair across from him, that way we'd be able to see each other.

Minutes passed before either one of us spoke.

"How exactly are we supposed to do this?" I asked. Jason's's eyes lurked my face for a second. He scooted to the edge of his chair. "I don't know exactly. Everything I'm thinking of seems awkward."

I laughed. He grinned and laid back in his seat.

"But seriously, how exactly are we going to do this?"

He sighed. "Maybe hold hands, hug a couple times." he paused. "Kiss each other...on the cheek that is." He stared at me before continuing. "Only if that's okay with you."

I looked at my hands. "Hugging and holding hands is fine. We kiss if we really need to."

"I'm fine with that." he smirked.

"Stop."

"Stop what?" he asked.

"Smirking, or else I'll wipe it off your face."

He grinned then chuckled. The room fell silent which caused me to look at the wall, anything that would help me avoid his gaze. I could feel his eyes. I bet he's eye-raping me. I stood up. "Okay, well that's been established. See you later." I turned to leave but remembered to ask a question. "Do we have to wear something formal?" I asked.

He looked me up and down. "Yes, I don't know about you, but these dinners are very important to my mom. I'm pretty sure she's forcing everyone to look their best."

He said "dinners", meaning this happens more than once or will be happening more than once.

I gave a quick nod and left the room. I spent the remainder of the morning and afternoon moping in my room. There was nothing interesting on TV to watch and all my school assignments were completed. There was a knock on my door and I looked up from my book. 

"It's open," I said.

Susan opened the door slightly, peeking in at the surroundings. She stepped inside and closed the door. "Hi." She greeted.

I bookmarked the page in my book before closing it. "Hey."

"I was wondering if I could help you pick out a dress for the evening." Susan looked down blushing. 

"Of course, I bet the family will be here soon anyway." I checked the time. 7:30 pm. Damn, I'm going to be late. 

"Help me now, please."