Hard to Speak || l.h.

Eight

            The next Sunday, and I had a day planned of laying on my couch and ignoring the world. Unfortunately, around three, there was a frantic knock on the door. There was Raine, in a black skirt and sheer white button up. Unsurprisingly, she was wearing her Vans.

            "Luke," she looked me over in my sweatpants. "I think I'm going to have to ask for that favor today."

            I leaned my temple against the door. "I'm going to have to dress nice, aren't I?"

            Raine's eyebrows knitted together. "My parents invited us to dinner."

            I stood up straight. "Your parents?!"

            We walked down the busy sidewalk in silence. Raine would look up at me encouragingly every couple of minutes, but I was too tense to smile back. I had never met the parents of any of the girls I had dated in this past, and they weren't nearly as poised as Raine. I didn't want them to hate me, but I knew that I didn't give off a perfect boyfriend aura. We had only been together for about a month- a month. I looked at Raine as I thought of this. We had been together for a month and she wasn't sick of me yet.

            Raine must have felt me looking at her, because she looked up at me with a smile. "Don't be so nervous," she reached up and touched my cheek. "They'll love you."

            "Are you sure? From what I've heard about your parents they sound very… upper class."

            "They'll like you because you're special to me," Raine said very seriously as we approached the restaurant. Before we got too close to the door, she stopped and turned to me. "Are you ready?"

            I looked past her at the restaurant. There was a man standing at the door ushering people in. I shook my head. "No, I'm not. Can we go back to your place and eat frozen yogurt instead?"

            "I wish," Raine laughed, adjusting my collar. "But, you know, if we go back you'll have to play me that song you've been promising."

            "Okay, okay let's go meet your parents," I nodded, standing up a little straighter. Raine goes up on her toes and kisses me lightly.

            "No matter what happens, I'll still be here," she looked so beautiful, I would have done anything for her. Raine took my hand again, and we went up to the man.

            "Reservation?" he asked.

            "Chambers? They should already be her-"

            "Yes, come with me." We follow the man through the busy restaurant, and he leads us to a round table where a couple was sitting. The woman, Raine's mother, had the same color hair as her daughter, but a slightly duller color. She had deep laugh lines from years of smiles, and I wondered if she laughed as much as Raine did. The man beside her was a burly man who must have played sports in his younger years. He had black hair unlike his wife and daughter, but when he lifted his face to look at me, I saw that he had the same green eyes that Raine did.

            "Mom, Dad," Raine goes to hug both of her parents while I stand, always awkward.

            "You must be Luke," Raine's mother smiled brightly at me, and it was the type of smile that made anyone feel welcomed.

            "We've heard a lot about you, son," Raine's father stood up and I shook his hand.

            "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Chambers," I said, sitting down beside Raine. When I looked over at her, she was trying not to laugh. The waiter hurried over now that he saw the table was full and asked for our drink orders. Once he was gone, Mrs. Chamber leaned forward in her seat to smile at us.