One Night ✔️

Chapter Eleven

I grabbed a dish off the counter and began serving the food with my dad alongside me. Better that, than standing in fear of what was to come. 

"Sienna tells me you recently moved back into town," my mom told Marlene.

"Yes we did. It's good to be back home," she replied, smiling warmly.

"I'm glad. How are you, Joseph? How has school been treating you?" Mom asked, taking a sip of her wine.

"Pretty good actually. My grades are mostly As and Bs," he answered confidently.

"That's excellent. What do you do outside of school?"

"Well, when I'm not studying, I'm snapping photos of the world around me or spending time with your daughter... and Alex."

"Remind me to show you my camera," my dad chimed in.

Joseph nodded as I cringed with a bowl of greens in my hand. I was expecting my mother's head to fly off at his statement, but it didn't. Instead, she smiled and moved along in her line of questioning.

"You seem like a bright young man. Have you thought about college?"

"I've thought about it. But if I'm being honest, I'm not too keen on the idea."

I immediately recognized the look on my mom's face. It was the look that said, "You better have a reasonable explanation or I will tear you a new one."

"Not too keen?" she asked in disbelief. "What do you plan on doing with your life?"

At that point I could have sworn Marlene had given my mother a death glare, but I didn't want to acknowledge the growing tension in the room. Instead, I finished bringing the rest of the food to the table and then took my seat on the left side of my father.

"Maybe photography, but I'm using the time I have now to figure everything out."

"Well," my mother scoffed. "While you're figuring things out, Sienna will be at Harvard."

I was more than confident Marlene was glaring now, but her face slightly softened at the mention of Harvard. "My sister graduated from Harvard," she said.

"Oh really, what does she do?" my mom asked, annoyance no longer lacing her voice.

"She's an oncologist, but I'm more interested in Sienna. Honey, what do you see yourself doing? Anything you like to do?" she asked sincerely.

I knew my mom wanted me to go to Harvard, but I never knew why I'd ever want to go there personally. What did I want to do? I didn't know, but I love to write, so I guessed I'd start there.

"Maybe creative writing if I had to choose right this second."

"Well, you do need to choose. This is your last year in high school, and you have very little time before you set off into the real world," my mom pushed.

Neither I nor Marlene acknowledged my mom's comment. The other two men at the table just laughed, engrossed in a conversation of their own. Typical.

Her hazel eyes lit up with interest. "Do you like to write?"

"Oh, I love it," I told her.

"You and me both, Sweetheart. I own a cleaning business, but I blog in my free time. I'm not sure if you've heard of it, but I write for 'Not So Average.''"

"Not So Average?!" my mom shouted from across the table. And that was the first time she genuinely smiled tonight.

~*~