Declassified

Declassified Part 12 The Dog Park

      A week later, Thalia's internal alarm clock woke her at her usual time. Alex was still asleep, which was normal. Although they were both early risers, Thalia generally woke a little earlier.
      Carefully, she leaned over him and kissed him on his cheek before sliding out of bed. She went to the kitchen, stretching her thin figure as she went.

      She put food into the Great Dane's dish, and topped up his water as the big dog came over for an early morning scratch.
      "Morning, Thor." She said, rubbing his big head before putting coffee on. She went to grab a chair so she could get the mugs, but she noticed there was a stool in the corner. 

       Why would Alex get a stool? She thought, her cheeks burning in embarrassment. Andy is going to hate me. Not only am I spending so much time over here, but now he has to deal with furniture that is clearly just for my benefit.

      With a sigh she pushed the stool in front of the cupboards and grabbed two mugs, putting a little vanilla and milk in the bottom of each, before pushing the stool to the corner.
      While Thor went to his dish, Thalia poured herself a bowl of cereal and opened the newspaper to the World section.

      After a few bites Alex's brother appeared, still in his pajama bottoms and a badly fitting t-shirt. Thalia pushed a bowl and the Sports section to the other side of the table, smiling. As the coffee was now finished, Andy poured it and brought two cups over, pouring himself a bowl of cereal and smiling shyly at Thalia. This had sort of become their ritual. Cereal and newspapers before Alex was up. Thalia enjoyed the quiet, and she thought Andy did too, although he was hard to read.

      "I'm sorry about the stool." Thalia said halfway through her cereal, feeling her cheeks heat up. When Andy looked at her in confusion she went on, embarrassed. "I didn't know he got it. I don't mean to be over here so much. Alex just doesn't like my house very much."

      Andy didn't respond right away. "I got the stool." He said after a moment. "We have a lot of things on high shelves." He explained, shrugging. "I thought it would help."
      "Oh." Thalia was surprised. "It does help." She admitted.

      Andy smiled, but didn't answer, turning back to the newspaper. Thalia finished her section of the newspaper, folding part of it to put an article about Russia on top and sliding it over to Andy's side of the table.

      "Are you coming to breakfast tomorrow?"
      Thalia was surprised by Andy's sudden and unexpected question. When she didn't answer immediately, Andy spoke again. "Alex said he invited you." He shrugged one shoulder.

      Thalia felt her cheeks heat up because she hadn't yet worked up the courage to go. "I don't know." She admitted, not sure if she wanted to meet his parents. She looked at Alex's shy brother. "It's kind of awkward meeting the parents, you know?"

      Andy nodded, falling back into silence, picking up the article about Russia.
      Thalia ate her cereal, thinking. Alex had invited her to Sunday breakfast before, insisting it wasn't a big deal, but Thalia was hesitant.

      What if they hate me? She asked herself. What if they don't think I'm good enough for Alex? 

      She knew it was silly. There wasn't anything fundamentally wrong with her. She knew she was smart and attractive enough, and she had a good job. But she'd met Lily and Kate, and they were gorgeous. And from the sounds of it, Alex had dated women who were even better looking than them—including Leila, the model. At best, Thalia was cute. And the fact that everyone in Alex's family was tall and athletic made Thalia feel self conscious about her size. She felt like a child next to his brothers, and it wasn't a feeling she enjoyed.