Truth.

Part III

Angelica lead the way, as Melissa and I searched for Mom and Dad.

“I wonder where they are.” I said. “They usually sit at table 9..”

“I know. Have you tried calling them?” Melissa asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Yep. No luck.”

“Whatever. They’re probably grabbing wine with Aunt Renee and Uncle Harold.”

“Aaaaand here we are! You guys, look who it is! It’s Lissa and Maddi!”

Melissa and I scanned our table to see if there were any familiar faces. I recognized our cousins, Adrian and Christina, and I waved to them. After greeting everyone, Melissa and I sat down next to Nick and Brandon, and went on our phones to try and avoid the awkward silence.

“I just noticed…” I whispered to Melissa.

“What?” She asked.

“I just noticed that more than half of our table is occupied by guys.” I said, feeling kind of out of place.

Melissa laughed and said, “How much do you wanna bet that they’re gonna try and get our numbers, and then we find out that they’re our cousins?!”

I burst out laughing, and I had to cover my face because I could feel myself turning red. I peeked through my fingers and saw that Melissa had done the same thing.

“Wow. It looks like we’ve missed a lot, Micah.”

“It sure does, honey.”

Lissa and I look up to see that our parents were standing in front of our table with huge smiles across their faces.

“Mommy!” I scream.

“Dad!” Melissa says still laughing.

I struggle to get out of my chair, and end up kicking it behind me. I run to my mother and father, whom I haven’t seen in over a year. I attack mom first, (with hugs of course) and then dad.

“Wow. You guys have really matured since the last time we saw you!” Dad says chuckling.

Melissa chuckles, and says, “Hah! You mean I’ve matured.”

I roll my eyes at her, and shove her in a playful way.

“Have you guys eaten? Go grab some food!” I loved hearing the sound of my mother’s sweet voice. It makes me feel like I’m a child again. Melissa and I get up, and grab some food from the huge buffet with a variety of food and beverages. I get back to the table first, only to see a surprising visitor waiting for me.

“Madison..? Is that you!?”

“Oh my gosh. Kenneth!” I exclaim. Kenneth was one of my friends as a kid. He moved to Northern California with his family, and we still kept in touch.

“Wow.. You look.. Wow..” He says. I can see him trying to stop smiling, but he can’t.

I can feel my cheeks beginning to flush.

“Thanks, Ken. You’re not so bad yourself.” I say with a smile. Kenneth pulls out my chair, and I walk over and sit. He then begins to walk over and sit in the empty chair next to me.

“So Maddi, I have some good news for ya.”

“Oh really?” I say while playing with the small-ish broccoli on my plate.

“Mhmm,” He says, as he plays with my curled hair.

“Wow. Your hair is super bouncy.. Anyway, back to the good news.”

“I’m listening.” I say, looking into his eyes.

“I’ve moved back here!” He exclaims, looking overjoyed.

“Wait… Here?! In LA?!” I feel my eyes getting wider, and I can’t help but smile.

“Yup! I live near Eastridge Mall!”

“Really!? Lissa and I live walking distance from there!”

Melissa comes back to the table with a crap load of food on her plate, and says,

“Damn. You two look happy. What’d I miss?”

“Kenny lives here now. He’s near Eastridge Mall.” I notice that right after I say that Melissa seems to be overjoyed as well.

“HOLY CRAP! REALLY!? You should come over after the reunion! We can show you around!” She says, sounding surprisingly happy.

“Oh yeah! I should. I’ll drop by your guys’s house later.” He says looking at me with a smile.