For Your Eyes Only

12

"You mean to tell me that he slept with the telescope?" Milk threatens to come out my nose while I choke out the sentence. Nate's face is beet red as his family and I laugh at his dispense.

"For over a month!" Lucy giggles, looking fondly at her son. She reaches over and squeezes his forearm. He doesn't jump out of his skin when she touches him. Why only me? "Nathaniel was so happy when Tim and I surprised him on his birthday with it. You would have thought we bought the kid a space shuttle."

"Which he pouted about for another month because we said no to the space shuttle," Tim, Nate's father, butts in with a mouth full of his wife's meatloaf.

"Can we please move on to a topic that doesn't involve embarrassing me?" Nate pushes his green beans around on his plate, refusing to lift his head.

"Yes, sweetheart," Lucy hiccups from trying to silence her laughter, "of course. We're sorry."

"I'm not," I tease and look over at my anxious bio partner. I'm pleasantly surprised when Nate rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out at me. I can't help but throw my napkin at his face which, of course, hits him with no block. His hand searches for it in front of him where it has landed close to his plate and he tosses it back at me. With decent aim, it hits me right in the center of the chest.

Nate's family quiets and I don't miss how they are studying us. It's my turn to be slightly embarrassed now. I seem to forget how to function when Nate is around. I clear my throat as quietly as I can to not give off my now nervous exterior and Nate shifts uncomfortably in his parents' heavy mahogany dining chair.

"So are you two dating?" Charlotte, Nate's little sister, grins from her chair. She is the complete opposite to Nate. While Nate is quiet and reserved, Charlotte is bubbly and talkative. I quite like her. "My friend Missy says she is now dating this boy Ben from Ms. Dorran's class. It all seems very sophisticated if you ask me."

"No one asked you, Charlie," Nate grumbles. 

I peek under my lashes at Nate whose face managed to turn reder. I want to reach over and lace my fingers with his but I don't know how he would react to that. I also want to check his pulse to make sure he is still breathing but instead I look away towards the little girl sitting across from me. "No, Nate isn't that sophisticated."

"Nate?" Tim nods before looking back down at the fine china setting in front of us. Something tells me they are caught off guard by my nickname for their son. It's my turn to blush.

"I think it's lovely Nathaniel has made friends with such a nice girl," his mother coos, her hands placed under her chin while she grins widely.

"Mom," Nate whines again.

"Sorry," she retorts, once again picking up her fork and cutting off a chunk of meatloaf. "It's just nice. It's been such a long time since you've brought friends around. Feels like old times..."

The room grows silent. The hairs on my arms stand erect and suddenly the meatloaf no longer taste good. Guilt weighs on my stomach hot and heavy and I have to excuse myself to the bathroom. To his parents dismay, they aren't aware that I have been inside their home before so I don't interrupt them when they tell me that the bathroom is up the stairs and to the left.

I shut the door behind me and instantly crouch down to the toilet to empty my stomach. Only bile comes up but that doesn't stop the forceful tears from running down my face and smudging my makeup. Ugh, I hate throwing up.

I stand up and look at myself in the large mirror hanging over the his and hers sinks after flushing the toilet and washing my hands. My eyes look too big for my face and my skin looks pale and blotchy. I swipe my fingers under my eyes to rid the black mascara that had run from my tears.