The House Project

Chapter 6- Do I make you nervous?

We walk up to the front door hand in hand and I ring the doorbell with a shaking finger. "Ready?" He asks, "ready" I reply, and someone answers the door with a gasp.

My sister stands in the open doorway looking at us. I clear my throat, "hi Jessica" I say, my voice as hard as ice and my eyes staring into hers accusingly. Calm down Isabella, calm down. "Hi Isabella... I didn't know that you were bringing a.. friend." Jessica says awkwardly. "I actually didn't think you were coming at all." She says as an after thought. "Well here I am, and this is Mike my-" I get cut off. "Boyfriend" Mike finishes for me "I'm Isabella's boyfriend." Mike says again, its kind of scary how real it sounds, what a good liar. I smirk. 

"Well, nice to meet you Mike, I'm Jessica." She says sweetly, sticking her hand out, I can already tell what she's thinking. You can see it by the way her eyes roam his body and the way her tongue darts out and licks her lips. She wants him, she's jealous already that me, the obvious outsider of the family has someone so gorgeous. Alright, that thought was kind of scary.. Mike's gorgeous? When did my brain start thinking that? Your losing it Isabella. Although Mike's not actually mine, but I'm willing to play along if he is. "I know who you are" Mike says, barely giving her a glance. She awkwardly puts her hand down next to her side and tuns around. "Follow me." She says, walking farther into the house. 

Mike and I exchange a look, both of us fighting back smiles, and follow my sister into the house. Mike closes the door behind us and we walk down the hallway, we pass a small table where a few presents nicely wrapped sit. I didn't bother bringing a present. We walk towards the kitchen where all the noise seems to be coming from. Before turning the corner, Mike tugs me back. "What?" I ask, curious as to why he's not letting me enter the kitchen. "Maybe we can fool your sister with just holding hands, but do you think anyone else will buy it?" He asks, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "What did you have in mind?" I ask with a smirk. " I think that on my cue, Ill say I need to use the washroom, then you will say 'me too why don't I show you where it is' then we will both leave laughing and we will come back 15 minutes later." He says winking. I gasp mockingly "naughty" I whisper with a giggle. "Very" he replies. I nod my head in agreement to his plan and then pull him into the kitchen with a big smile on my face.

Looking around the room I notice everyone that's here. My mother and Jessica are whispering intently to each other by the island. My brothers and father are drinking around the dining table and a couple of my sisters friends are talking among themselves by the far window. But the person my eyes fall to last has angry tears threatening to fall and has me squeezing Mike's hand. James. He's standing next to my sister, with one arm casually around her waist. My sister isn't even showing yet. 

All conversation stops when Mike and I enter the room. His thumb rubs soothing circles along the back of my hand, this surprisingly calms me. We're just friends right? I cant help the tiny part of my mind telling me that I don't want us to be just friends, I want more. But I push it into a corner and lock that thought up tight. I don't need anything clouding my vision today. "Hey pumpkin!" My dad says cheerfully oblivious to the tension in the room. He gets up out of his chair and walks over, giving my a hug. "Who's this?" He asks happily, looking at Mike. "Um dad this is Mike, my boyfriend." I say, my voice coming out stronger then I thought it would. As if it's even possible the room gets even quieter, you could hear a pin drop. I can feel James stare, it makes me feel uncomfortable.

"Oh" my dad looks surprised. "Well, nice to meet you Mike." My father says, extending his hand. "You too Mr. Grant" Mike replies, releasing my hand to give my fathers a firm shake before grabbing mine again. I smile up at Mike, telling him without words that my father already likes him. He gives me a crooked grin. "Why aren't you two cute!" My mother says, so obviously faking that its kind of funny. "Hi mother" I say nodding my head in her direction. "Hello dear." She says before turning her attention back to Jessica. After that the tension slowly fades. Mike and I walk over to the table were my brothers- Zack and Sam sit. Mike and I sit across from them. As the oldest in the family Zack got the full wrath of our mother, but it doesn't seem to have changed him at all. His raven black hair- courtesy of our father, is in its usual messy style and his green eyes, the exact same shade as mine can bore into your sole, and he sure doesn't look like he's about to turn 30. But I was always closest to Sam, we are only two years apart, him being 25 and me at 23. Zack and Sam could be identical, the only difference is that Sam has moms blue eyes and blond hair.