The Program [Book Two of The Test]

Chapter Two

The Program

Chapter Two

My dad got engaged to Mary days before I turned nine. And that was the first time I met her. I immediately hated her, that freakishly red hair curled up and her face covered in make up, being all showy with the ring as Marcus looked at it and her completely amazed. What did I want to do? Spit on it, and i'm not talking about the ring. But I never saw what my dad liked about her. And on the day of his wedding, it was worse. You see, Mary wanted me to be a bridesmaid and being one meant I had to go with her to every planning thing that she did, or so she said.

But the whole reason for even thinking about that memory now is because I was angry and sad and ready to scream at anyone who touched me the day of the wedding. And Martha, John's mom, being Mary's best friend, was the maid of honor and thought it was her job to comfort Mary's newly aquired step daughter who had run down the aisle when the lovely couple shared their kiss. I flipped out and for reasons I still have yet to put together, Martha fell. So, that was Mrs. Evans' first impression of me. Why she still wanted me to date her son after that, I would never know.

"Is there a reason why your hands are knotted together like that, Lexi?" John asked beside me. I looked at them and sure enough my nervous hands had found their comfort by tangling together. I separated them only for my strange habits to take over again and then I was biting my lip. There wasn't even a reason to be nervous.

I ignored his question and asked one of my own as we pulled into the driveway of his house. "Why do I have to talk to your parents anyway? You do realize that the last time I saw your mom was at the wedding years ago, right?"

"Yeah," He started to laugh. But it sounded strained, like it was funny to him but at the same time he had some anger filling his emotions. "I also remember seeing her fall on the cake because of you and get a whole bunch of those, um what were they called? Oh yeah, those edible pearl things that go on wedding cakes, that's what they were. Anyway, there were so many of them stuck in her hair that night and she complained the entire car ride home." 

Fine, I may have left out of my story that when she fell it was into the extravagant beauty that was the overly decorated dessert I had never gotten a single bite of that night. But then again, because of me, no one else did either.

"Wait, you were there? I didn't see you." I said, staring at the house in front of me. It was a simple two story house, seeming to have been somewhat recently painted in white and the blue and very shiny roof was reflecting the sun horribly, causing me to shield my eyes as I got out of the truck.

"Well, you were pouting in the corner and avoiding people all night, that might have something to do with it." He replied, closing his door as I did the same with mine. "And I had these huge glasses back then, basically took up my whole face. Years later when we went on our, um, date, you probably didn't realize I was the boy back then that came over to help my frosting covered mother off the floor."

"So, that means the wedding was the first time we actually met?" I asked.

"Kind of, I mean, we still didn't know each other then and it's not like we talked." I accepted the answer but still needed one to a different question.