Winter in Spruceworth | Spruceworth 4.3 (Short Story)

9. Julian

9. Julian

       Something was up with Mom and Dad, and it was very evident when they suggested we all go out for dinner. We normally went out for dinner on special occasions; birthdays, graduations, straight A's on a report card.

       Never on such a random day.

       I wasn't the only one who though something was up. Once all of us were sitting down at a table in The Gold Mine, Noah said, "Alright, what's up? Why are we all here?"

      Dad furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? We're a family, and your mother and I wanted us to all have a nice family dinner."

       "At a nice restaurant?" I asked. "You never want a family dinner out unless it's a special occasion. Is there a special occasion?"

       Noah gasped. "Are you having another baby?!"

       "What?" Mom asked. "No, definitely not. You and Julian were our last children."

       "Technically Julian was because I'm older," Noah said. "So... If it's not that, then what is the special occasion?"

       "We told you, there is no special occasion," Mom said. "We just wanted to go out for dinner, especially because it's so close to Christmas time."

       I didn't believe them, but they weren't going to say anything about it, so we didn't question them anymore. I just hoped it wasn't about my early acceptance into McGill University, because I hadn't told anyone else yet and I still didn't know if I was going to take it or not.

       Shaw ended up being the waiter for us, and I couldn't help but notice the tension as soon as he walked up to the table with the menus. I didn't know why, but Mom and Dad looked a bit angry to see him.

       "My name's Shaw, and I'll be your waiter today," Shaw said, handing each of us a menu. "Can I start you all off with anything?"

       "Can we get a new waiter?" Dad asked.

       "Dad," Josh said, looking awfully confused. I felt the exact same way. What was with the hostility between our parents and Shaw? I thought they were close.

       "Sorry, but that's not possible," Shaw said. "Again, can I start you off with anything?"

       After we all said the drink we wanted and Shaw walked off to the kitchen, Josh said, "Alright, what was that about? Could you be any more rude?"

       "Oh, trust me, after what he did, I can be more rude," Dad said.

       "What did he do?" Noah asked, but neither Dad nor Mom replied.

       So we were just sitting here all confused as to what happened and why Mom and Dad were acting so hostile towards Shaw.

       "Holden?" a voice behind us suddenly said.

       I looked over to see a girl I didn't recognize, but obviously Holden did considering he said, "Jane!" before getting up from the table and pulling her into a hug. "What are you doing here?"

       "My grandma lives here, and I'm visiting her for the holidays," Jane said. "I didn't know this is where you lived."

       "Holden, who's this?" Dad asked.

       "Oh, this is Jane," Holden said. "She's my, uh... friend from boarding school. Jane, these are my parents and my brothers Julian, Noah, and Josh."

       "Why did you hesitate before you said friend?" Noah asked.

       "Did I?" Holden asked. "I don't recall."