Why I wasn't meant for you

CHAPTER 5

“There’s our princess,” dad says immediately after seeing me before I enter the dining room. I just smile pathetically. Again.

"Just a moment, honey. Dinner will be ready soon," mom calls out as wel

I got a few moments to admire the interior of my parents’ house before I fully enter the dining room after dad acknowledged my presence. Everything that makes up this whole house is exquisite and mesmerizing. All the stuff here really compliments one another.

But it’s not only the interior of the house that have caught me a little off guard. As soon as I am done looking around, I see a woman, standing by the counter, helping mom prepare the table for dinner. Dad notices my confusing gaze at the woman and so he right away introduces me to her.

“Alex, this is your aunt,” dad gestures me to come closer. “Rebecca. Your mother’s sister.”

That explains the resemblance.

“Please, call me Becky,” the woman smiles as she puts down the bowl in the counter and then walks towards me excitedly. “It’s so nice to finally, FINALLY, meet you Alex.”

My aunt, Becky, gives me a genuinely tight hug. The kind of hug that seems impossible to get out of. Unfortunately, I wasn’t born a hugger. And so I just stand uneasily while Becky squeezes me in the moment. Being enfolded by her feels really weird, though. Then again, knowing that I actually have an aunt is much weirder. Well, I guess if Becky will be around during my whole stay here won’t be much of a problem. She seems nice, and approachable.

“Okay, dinner is served,” mom says ecstatically

From the looks of it, my mom sure knows a lot of different cuisines. Some dish laid on the table looks undeniably new to me. Mom’s cooking style is definitely distinct from what I was used to. But they look really delicious nonetheless. I bet preparing these dishes is the reason why mom wasn’t able to pick me up earlier from the airport. A considerable amount of time seems important in preparing these kinds of food. As for dad, well, I’m still clueless why he wasn’t available earlier. All of sudden, I feel a pang in my chest. Reminding me once again of how much I miss grandpa and grandma. I wish they were here with me right now.

The dining table was round so mom and dad got to sit on both sides next to me. Becky sits next to mom. However, the empty seat beside dad suggests that we are expecting another company.  

“Rebecca,” mom addresses Becky. “Where’s Kent?”  

“Well, I did tell him earlier not to miss anymore dinner.” Becky answers immediately and then nods her head in a disapproving manner.

I’m still lost, however. Why is Kent living with us? Is he aunt Becky’s son? Are we actually related? Or are my parents just too generous to help a homeless guy and let him live with us until he finds a family willing to adopt him? All these questions are making me hungry and insane. I just wish Kent would show up already so we can start touching the food in front of us. Related or not, I’m still extremely hungry.

“And speaking of,” Becky points at the door with a drink in her hand.        

They all turn their gaze towards the door while I feel all the negative vibe that Kent possesses as he nears the table.

“Just in time,” says dad as soon as Kent takes his seat.

“Alex, I believe you’ve already met Kent.” Becky tells me with a smile. It’s amusing how that smile on her face seems to never fade when she looks my way.

“Uh,” I turn to look at Kent who is handing my dad a bowl of God knows what that seafood dish is called. “Yeah. Earlier at the airport, he . . . uh, he,”

“I picked her up.” Kent interrupts as he now serves himself with one of the foods on the table. The sauce must have gotten into his finger so he instantly sips it away from his thumb.

Kent seriously needs to stop finishing my sentences though. His presence is enough to put me in a bad mood already. I do not know what is with this guy, but I really am not interested to find out about it either. For now. The way he talks, the way he gives me those teasing quick glances, the way he smirks whenever he’s made his point since the very moment we’ve met, it’s excruciating. I must divert my attention to other significant matters right away before he ruins the night.

The expression on Becky’s face tells us, however, that she’s more than ecstatic to know that Kent and I have finally cross paths. Mom and dad agree with her too. It’s hard to tell what her smile means when she looks at Kent and me, really. All I know is, Becky has a natural smiling face.

My lost expression must have put everybody in the room to their senses so mom explains why we have Becky and Kent here with us during this summer. Ever since mom and dad bought the house, every summer, Becky always visits them here at Holmes Beach until it then kind of became their tradition.  Sometimes, she also visits during holidays. Becky then cuts mom and tells me straightway about Kent being here too. Immediately, Kent stops munching his food and gives an expression that screams boredom. Hand supporting his head. His uneasy face gives me the notion that he doesn’t like it when people talk about him obviously. According to Becky, it’s Kent’s first visit again here at Holmes after a couple of years. The truth is, he only comes with her every time his dad grounds him for doing things he’s not supposed to do. Mostly due to his hard headed attitude. The past few years have been great between Kent and his dad until a horrid situation came up again. Becky looks at Kent and says how old habits really do die hard. The latter statement makes Becky let out a feeble laugh which kind of pissed Kent off a little bit.

“Obviously, I didn’t get the memo.” Kent interrupts before Becky could continue. “Nobody told me that this dinner was set to discuss about my deficiency to live life correctly.”

There. He’s successfully spread all the bad vibes into the atmosphere of the room. Every one is still for a moment. Even Becky who clearly loves to talk is speechless. This dinner is definitely not going as planned. Luckily, Becky breaks the awkwardness by asking me a couple of questions promptly. Kent must be relieved that the limelight is now sidetracked to me. I get the edgy feeling when all the attention is on you. Like when your professor calls you out to answer a death-defying question in class during recitation and everyone’s eyes are darted toward you. But he didn’t have to be rude though. He could’ve just chosen a more gentle approach. But then again, gentle must not be a word to describe Kent.

Becky continues to ask me how I find Holmes, what are my hobbies, what was it like being raised by my grandparents, how was school, etcetera, and etcetera as the night progresses. I notice that she’s undeniably doing a great job in getting to know me better than my parents. If this is how my parents pictured ‘catching up’ to be like, then it’s a little disappointing. They are both letting Becky do most of the talking. Or maybe Becky is just intuitively curious about where I have been all these years. As she asks me more questions, the more it becomes definitely evident that my parents only know so little of me. It saddens me how mom and dad badly pretend that they know me well by reminiscing memories of my childhood, which seems very vague to me however to the point that they’re almost nonexistent. I’m not going to waste my time here at Holmes pretending that every thing is okay. Because in case my parents haven’t noticed, I feel like a lost piece of walking scrap in so many levels. I’m seriously torn, however, between not wanting to be around my parents but at the same time dying to know the whole truth.

It is getting kind of late so my parents call it a night and suggests I take some rest already.

“Well, princess,” One of these days I am going to confront dad and tell him how I get really uncomfortable when he calls me princess. “I think you need to get some really good rest tonight for your big day tomorrow.”

I am about to get off my seat when I hear dad breaks it to me. What big day is he talking about? I feel all their eyes on me. Once again, I am confused. This timing must have been right so Kent took the opportunity to finally leave the room.        

“What . . . what big day?” Still puzzled, I look at mom then dad again.

“Guys, I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned it to her yet.” Aunt Becky walks near me and squeezes my shoulders and says, “Your parents are throwing you a welcome home party tomorrow.”