I Try

Chapter 18 - You-Know-Who

Beth’s Point of View

“I said hold it straight! No, straight! Bryan, what do you think I’m saying to you?” I ask crossly, folding my arms over each other from my position on Bryan’s sofa. 

His smirk peeks out from behind the painting he’s holding. “I haven’t the slightest, I’ve been masquerading as gay for so long I’ve learned to tune out words like ‘straight’,” He tells me cheekily. I throw a decorative cushion his way and he ducks. 

“Come on, we have ten minutes to get to Choir.” I say, groaning as I get to my harder-everyday-to-see feet. I hand him the last nail. “Now, hold it steady.”

He shrugs his shoulder, hoists up the hammer, and impales the tool into the wall with a loud bam. The nail holds the frame in place, however crookedly. Seeming satisfied, Bryan jumps down from his stool and pretends to dust off his hands. 

“A job well done, if I do say so myself.” 

I roll my eyes. “I don’t say so, it’s crooked!” I point out my accusation, where the painting of a forest is hanging at least thirty degrees off kilter above Bryan’s fireplace. Men have no affinity for decorating, which is why Bryan made me get up early to help him hang it. At least, I thought that was what I would be doing, but when I arrived he stuck me on the couch with a cup of tea and told me to give him moral support instead. 

The beginning of September peaked breezy and crisp, and with only a month to go until I was in my second trimester, the cool weather couldn’t have come a moment too soon. My midriff was able to be hidden by a vast assortment of sweaters, scarves and sweatshirts, much to Bryan’s and my happiness, because it caused a lot less confrontation. 

“Get your bag,” Bryan ordered me, and with my tongue poking from between my lips I wandered into his bedroom to retrieve my backpack from where I had left it. I returned a few moments later and we left together, after he made a big show about locking his apartment door the way he always does. 

The walk to class was quiet until my phone buzzed in my pocket. 

Lauren: I know you won’t let me fit you for a dress, so can Bryan send me your measurements or make a guesstimate? Sorry to bring you down but Dad is breathing down my neck about it. The only reason he left me intact is because I promised you’d come to the wedding. -L

Yeah, and you have to protect me when you get here, because Daddy Flora is S-C-A-R-Y, scary! Love, Zack.

I managed to restrain my giggles after a few seconds, re-reading the message from my sister and her real fiancé. True, they weren’t engaged yet, but I expected it soon. And as much as I was dreading my long-awaited return to Flower Mound, it was going to happen at one point or another, and I may as well face the music. 

“What’s so funny?” Bryan asked. I showed him the text.