Like A Dream | ✔️

Chapter 6:Awkward Tension

I shake away from Kendall's hold and walk up to Owen and Aunt Carrie. "It's not what you think!" I blurt out. They look from Kendall to me and from me, back to Kendall.

"And what is it that we think?" Owen asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

"I don't know. Whatever it is your thinking, it's not that. He just came over to get his notebook back. He's my classmate."

Aunt Carrie clears her throat and walks towards Kendall. "Nice to meet you! I'm Carrie Fabio, Violet's aunt. That's Owen, her older brother." She stretches out her hand.

Kendall shakes it and smiles. "Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Fabio and Mr. Peres. I'm Kendall Williams," he greets them, and I fidget in my spot, waiting to see Owen's response to this.

"Would you like to join us for dinner, Kendall? If I may call you that of course," Owen asks.

"Of course you may call me that, Mr. Peres, but I'm afraid I might be a bother." Kendall stands up to leave.

"It's alright, come eat with us and please, call me Owen." He leads Kendall to a seat at the dinner table. This is the first time I have ever seen Owen acting so mature. Usually, he'd play or joke around. I stand there confused at what is happening. "Violet, please finish making dinner so that we can serve our lovely guest with our special spaghetti today," he says. I nod slowly and turn around to continue cooking.

"I'll help you, dear." Aunt Carrie grabs the pan from the oven as I make another serving of pasta for Kendall. I take a peek at what Owen and Kendall are doing. They are having a conversation. I try to get closer to listen in on what they are talking about.

"How did you get to know my sister?" Owen asks, propping his head on his hands.

"Well, she made quite the entrance during freshman year. She registered later than the other students due to certain circumstances I heard. I had to look after her since she came later than the others, but we only started talking a few days ago about our project together. She's a very nice girl," Kendall spoke with such a sweet and understanding tone. Before they could continue, being the interloper, my aunt carries the plates of food and sets them onto the table.

"Food's ready!" she exclaims. I take the eating utensils and set them next to the plates. Then, I take a seat next to Owen while Aunt Carrie sits next to Kendall. For the first half of the dinner, we eat in silence. The atmosphere feels awkward, and I can feel the tension between all of us. Owen and Aunt Carrie would pause to look at Kendall eating. I can see that he feels uncomfortable. Oh how I want so badly to let him leave our house, but I'm sure they will not let him leave before furthermore interrogations.

Finally, Owen speaks up. "So, what's your background?" I quickly whip my head to his direction, with a look of 'what the heck are you doing?!' on my face. Aunt Carrie starts collecting our plates and motions for me to follow her to the kitchen. I reluctantly get on my feet and drag myself to the kitchen, giving one last glare at Owen who pays no attention to me whatsoever. He is deeply focused on Kendall.

"Well, my grandfather is the principal of Preston High. My father is a lawyer, and my mother is a university, math professor," he answers. Owen seems intrigued by his answer. I never knew that Principal Ford is Kendall's grandfather. No wonder he's the president of the student council and the golden boy. Well, I guess his family doesn't affect his grades and chances at being president though. He doesn't seem like the type to take advantage of his connections to get what he wants. Ugh, I just wish I can leave the house.