all that glitters » david dobrik au

eight

"So, uh, Dad, this is my friend Mona," David gestured towards me with an awkward smile on his face.

After being caught trying to sneak out of his house, David lead me into his (ginormous, fancy) kitchen, where I was met with his dad, his brother, his brother's wife, and a chef cooking up some breakfast. The family was all sitting at the kitchen island (oddly enough, not at the visible dining table), watching as the cook placed plates of steaming hot food in front of them. Rich people were weird.

"Friend or girlfriend?" his father, a man in his late forties with brown but going gray hair, neatly combed and gelled into place, asked. He was wearing a gray suit, despite it being so early in the morning on a Saturday. David's brother was dressed similarly, in a dark blue suit with a gray tie. His wife had on an emerald green, flowing midi dress, and her red hair was in wild curls in a bun on top of her head. In other words, David and I were severely underdressed.

"Friend!" I chimed in with a laughed, pushing David away from me to create some space between us. "We're just friends, trust me. Actually, not even friends. I'd say acquaintances, if I had to pick a word."

"Ah," David's dad nodded all-knowingly, then gestured to the empty dining table. "David, why don't you and your friend make your way to the dining table? I'm sure she wouldn't mind joining us for breakfast, would she?"

All four members of David's family stared at me. There was no other option.

"Sure," I finally shrugged, making my way to the dining table with David following shortly behind. I knew it would be an uncomfortable and quite awkward meal, but I hardly had a choice. I was outspoken, but not rude (at least not to people who didn't deserve it). David's family was being kind to me, despite probably having an ulterior motive, so who was I to say no? "Is there, like, a place where each of you usually sits?"

"No," David laughed, pulling out a chair (that I assumed was for me) and plopping straight down into it. "We don't do this often. Not at this house, at least. Just sit here."

"Okay," I pulled out the chair next to him and sat down, nervously drumming my fingers against the wooden table. The rest of the family joined us, and a plate with bacon, pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns was set carefully in front of me. I leaned over to whisper into David's ear, "I don't like eggs."

"Okay?" he laughed, grabbing my plate and scraping the eggs off onto his. "Better?"

I blushed and nodded, embarrassed that his dad and brother might think I was high maintenance or rude. The whole reason I whispered was so his family didn't judge me, and yet, here we were.

We all traded introductions, and then Emily, Sam's wife, asked, "So, Mona, how do you know David?"

I laughed just at the thought of telling the story of how David and I met. I knew I couldn't say that in front of his family, of all people, so I went with a more simple, "I actually just started at Abernathy this week. I just moved to Vernon Hills. We have a class together."

"You can tell them, Mona," he nudged me lightly. "They aren't going to hate you. They'll probably find it funny."

"Okay, well, I'm going to look like a huge..."

"Bitch," David finished for me, after he realized I wasn't sure whether or not I should curse in front of his family. "Say whatever you want, Mona. You're 17, not twelve."

"Okay," I giggled to myself, finding it hard to look any of his family members in the eye. "Well, it was my first day, and I was walking down the hallway with the girl who was showing me around. I wasn't really looking where I was going, I guess, and I didn't expect a group of friends to just be loitering in the hallways doing nothing—" I sent a pointed look to David, who playfully rolled his eyes at my recount. "Anyway, I ran into him, and he said some... choice words to me, so I told him he was too short to have an attitude problem like that."